Yes, they are revealing that they are celebrating God's great gift to mankind of unique self-awareness, intelligence, curiosity and enlightenment.
Either God has constructed an elaborate logical mirage known as science or - just maybe - somebody was creating tall tales to explain unfathomable earthly concepts 1500 years ago.
I believe the earth is older than 6000 years and revolves around the Sun. That's what God gets for blessing a bum like me with rational thought.
Eating from the Tree of Knowledge are ya?
Well, now, exactly whose definition of self-awareness, "intelligence", curiosity and "enlightenment" are you referring to? Adolf Hitler's? Karl Marx's? Al Qaeda's? The "self-awareness, intelligence, curiosity and enlightenment" of fallen mankind has led to some of the worst atrocities imaginable. Man, apart from God, is ignorant, unwise, foolish, and gullible. Making a statement such as "the Bible is not literally true" is proof positive of all that God has said about the pitiable, sin-sick, doomed condition of man apart from faith in Him.
just maybe - somebody was creating tall tales to explain unfathomable earthly concepts 1500 years ago.<.i>
Are you referring to Scripture? I'll go back to what I said in my previous post - apart from the revealing work of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for man to understand the Word of God. If you are referring to Scripture, your describing it as "tall tales" underscores my point.
I believe the earth is older than 6000 years and revolves around the Sun. That's what God gets for blessing a bum like me with rational thought.
God certainly gives you free will to believe what you want - even if it is contrary to His Word. There will be, of course, a day of accounting when you will have to explain to Him your rejection of His Word, but, until then, you can believe whatever you like. As far as "rational thought" goes, serial killers do what they do based on their definition of "rational thought". The "rational thoughts" of fallen mankind are frightening indeed.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12P
Here God gives us His opinion of man's "rational thought" and "self-awareness, intelligence, curiosity and enlightenment". He doesn't appear to be too impressed at all.
Jesus explained many concepts through the use of parables. In the telling of a parable, He would relate it as though it actually happened. His listeners understood that the parable was illustrative, rather than being an account of an event that literally happened in all details.
When reading of the Good Samaritan, how many Christians here think Jesus was relating a story that occurred in exact detail?
It's interesting that when Philip Henry published Omphalos, it was met with opposition primarily from theologians.
God essentially created two conflicting accounts of Creation: one in nature, and one in the Torah. How can it be determined which is the real story, and which is the fake designed to mislead us? One could equally propose that it is nature which presents the real story, and that the Torah was devised by God to test us with a fake history! One has to be able to rely on God's truthfulness if religion is to function. Or, to put it another way -- if God went to enormous lengths to convince us that the world is billions of years old, who are we to disagree?