Posted on 10/25/2011 4:25:57 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Nowhere in my reply did I say or imply that any part of God's word was false.
It is open to interpretation, that's why we have so many branches of Christianity.
Good point. Many people (Jesus Project for one) sit in Higher Criticism of what is true and correct, and what is not, regarding the scripture. Did not intend to smear you by throwing you in with that lot! Regarding creation, we should then debate what is literal, and what is allegorical, figurative, or some other literary device. For example, when Genesis 1 states
"And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day",
and repeats this formula 6 more times, I believe it means 6 literal 24 hour days, for that is the plain meaning of the scripture. It also numbers the days from first, second... etc. To reinforce the point, in Exodus 20:8-11 God instructed the Israelites to keep the 7 day holy, because:
"...in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
Again, the plain reading of scripture was 6 literal 24 hour days, just like the days we experience in modern times. Don't want to argue the point, I am well aware of several aspects of the debate, this is just food for thought, in case you have not considered it.
First off you would have to jettison your misconceptions and escape from the "interpretation" box you've been STEERED into.
For instance:
On the Probability of God's Certainty
"Only animals are atheists. But even then, not really. That's an insult to animals, being that no animal has the unnatural stupidity to deny its own intelligence, instinct being equivalent to animal intellect, just as man's uncreated intellect is his central instinct. Which is why the vast majority of people are instinctive theists. It just means their intellect is more or less intact. A human who denies the divine is like a flower who turns from the sun. When that happens, your intellect can no longer engage in photosynthesis, which is simply converting spiritual Light into thought. I mean, you can still do it, but don't be surprised that your beleafs are so yellow and withered, perhaps even tenured. ...."
<>MORE:
Religious truths are conveyed through symbolism and analogy (with the assistance of grace), more like a great work of art than a mathematical equation. ...Although not merely logical, it would be a grave and simplistic error to suggest that the great revelations are illogical, any more than a Shakespearean sonnet or one of Beethoven’s symphonies are illogical. Rather, they are translogical.
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Why Darwinists Reject Evolution
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If "STEERED into" means a simple reading of the scriptures taken at face value, then you hit the nail on the head. I categorically reject the idea that man "evolved" from some lesser life form, simple because Genesis plainly states "7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7, and Jesus confirmed this when he said “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ Matthew 19:4.
I would suggest, however, that your ability to metaphorize the simple meaning away is because you have been "STEERED into" believing theoretical science over the Bible.
Arguing this is fruitless, I shan't continue. We both need to be comfortable, and fully convinced, of our own opinions, and be able to reconcile them with Jesus' statement in Matthew 22:29 to the Sadducees: Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God."
"Simple" is the operative word. :)
Agreed. Helps one to avoid Gnosticism.
Yes..."Gnosticism".
It's a shame when one perfectly good word gets tarred by another through no fault of its own.
RAPTURE NOW!!
I can't put my finger on the verse but another part of the Bible says that to God, a day is as a thousand years. If so a day could as easily be a billion years.
A billion year long "day" or a literal 24 hour day, doesn't affect yours or my salvation.
Pretty funny...in light of the fact that a "demand" is not an "opinion".
Even worse, it's a hard-core "demand" for God "to act NOW" and fulfill a particular premill-dispensationalist zealot's interpretation of Scripture. And any Christian holding any other interpretational "opinion" will "go to hell" unless they change their minds and accept the zealot's "truth".
Sad, really.
Indeed it is....
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