Biblical Evidence for Long Creation Days

http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/longdays.html ^

[James C. Bennett]

 

The “social organization” of early humans is pure conjecture based on the religion (beliefs) of anthropologists and other “experts” who, apparently, are trying their hardest to make humans into mere animals.

What? You call this “science.”

It's still that, based on archaeological, cultural and anthropological evidence, against mythology. Why should the latter deserve to be kept at a higher pedestal, especially when it is filled to the brim with unbelievable and grossly exaggerated details? Magic, miracles and things like that, which no scientist of repute can take as fact. Even in medicine, which is where most modern "miracles" tend to occur, no amputee has ever gotten a whole limb to grow back.

 

BTW - I asked what YOU believe: do YOU really think animals operate under the Golden Rule?

Yes, they do, otherwise they wouldn't be able to build social structures.

 

And no, I don’t think humans and animals have similar morals. I merely assert that the same God created them both, and any apparent similarities reflect His divine intent/purpose, as do their obvious differences.

But some of their morality aspects are similar, a la the Golden Rule.

[James C. Bennett]

 

What makes your brain function, e.g., make the decision to eat a peach instead of a strawberry, or rob a bank instead of getting a job?

This would purely be based on aspects involving past experience, individual judgments of pleasure, and a bit of chance.

I decide, and YOU decide. Do you think the decisions of men (and animals, if you choose to include them in your deliberations) are completely and totally material/corporeal/comprised of matter (however you want to say/understand it) and involve nothing apart from “matter?”

 

Almost always a matter of balancing priorities. One weighs the benefits against the drawbacks, mentally. Not merely physical or tangible ones, but also the intangible. One weighs short-term gains vs. long-term consequences. This is why morality becomes flexible, in a way, depending on circumstances, and not robotic or rigid:

WATCH: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code.html

[James C. Bennett]

So how can you “freely” respond to a post? Or “love” to post?

By balancing priorities. If I had another task at hand that demanded my attention, then no, I wouldn't be posting. If I gauge that discussing here would help me and you better understand the world we are in, which would be among my priorities, then yes, I'd be compelled to continue the discussion.

 

Are machines free? Do machines love?

Can machines think? If no, can they ever acquire the ability to think, in future? If you say no again, and if they do acquire, would it shatter all religions?

 

[James C. Bennett]

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a021.html

A few big problems with the reasoning presented above, based on a quick perusal:

1. If a ziggurat is what the Tower of Babylon was, then what about all the other ziggurats lying around?

2. Is there evidence for one single, massive ziggurat reaching for the heavens?

3. Was this ziggurat the tallest thing ever built by humans? Would it have eclipsed the heights of Burj or Petronas Towers, that exist today? If yes, how did they accomplish it with merely stone, brick and wood? It is an engineering impossibility, to be able to do so without steel.

4. If the Tower of Babel's destruction was for a particular reason, does the same reason hold today, with the English language being a universal one, and towers still constructed to celebrate human achievement? Why aren't these struck down?

5. The Tower of Babel description reinforces the primitive beliefs of the ancients that the gods live "above" the sky. This also emphasises their understanding of the Earth being flat, and occupying the lower-mid stratas of their understanding of the universe.

[srweaver]

So to summarize your thrust, all you believe exists is a physical universe with NO immaterial beings (spirits).

Correct?

[sirchtruth]

I believe that with God, anything is possible.

What makes you believe this, and why?

[James C. Bennett]

Yes.

More accurately, it would be that I do not see enough evidence for the existence of any supernatural beings as detailed by any known religion today. One way or another, they nullify themselves, by their own scriptures, by philosophical arguments, or by science.

[stuartcr]

Just something inside me, self-evidence for want of a better term.

[srweaver]

You are not the first “boy” I have met who desires to be Pinnochio, though it is usually the other way around.

Like “Data” aspiring to human emotions.

Or R2D2 and C3PIO being given personality traits.

Hopefully your regress into/embrace of naturalism will be rewarded with survival (if you happen to be one of the fittest).

You still haven’t begun to address in any way, shape, or form the freedom and choice of humanity from a scientific “physics” perspective — and I’m not sure you even understand what I’m getting at, but I tried.

Happy machinedom!

[James C. Bennett]

Thanks, I guess, but I’d rather “regress” into the depths of science, philosophy and knowledge, than desert nomad mythology. Free will is not free, if one is blackmailed into belief by eternal torture, the very concept of which is rather reflective of Man’s primitive urge to control others by way of substitution and / or of malevolence of the said, created “divine” entity all Semitic religions speak of.

I can only hope that you, and others, continue to challenge and question your beliefs every moment you can. So will I.

[srweaver]

If you are speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, you have not advanced one truth, scientific or otherwise, that disproves what you call “desert nomad mythology.”

For one who takes a refuge in what you call “science,” you have only advanced your own subjective mythology, leaving me wondering “where’s the beef?”

[srweaver]

Also, your understanding of “free will” and “blackmail” are rather childish.

If I tell you not to play in the street so you don’t get run over by cars, you could see me as limiting your freedon or saving your life — your choice.

If I tell you not to be immoral, because there is justice in the universe, and moral judgment, or rewards and punishments, you could see me as threatening you or offering you wisdom — again, your choice.

Why do people have so much trouble accepting moral realities — they live with the physical ones everyday.

[James C. Bennett]

I did, but your choosing to stick with mythology and your continual refusal to adopt the same standards for evaluating it, as you seem to do so, while arguing against science, is something I cannot help you with.

For the inconsistency in the “moral message”, let me just take an example from the Bible: 1 Samuel 15:3. Children and infants are ordered to be slaughtered here. What’s the beef, as you would say?

[James C. Bennett]

Also, your understanding of “free will” and “blackmail” are rather childish. If I tell you not to be immoral, because there is justice in the universe, and moral judgment, or rewards and punishments, you could see me as threatening you or offering you wisdom — again, your choice.

Problem is, the Golden Rule perfectly works with things relating to morality, and the "eternal torture" is not pertaining to anything even close to the issue of pure morality, but rather, of forced, blackmailed belief in supernatural and superstitious entities.

[srweaver]

God is passing the sentence of death on a culture or people, the Amalekites, for their personal and collective “sin,” just as he told Adam and Eve when they sinned they would die. Moral consequences of their own behavior.

Thankfully, beyond the grave, God is able to absolve or recompense the “innocent” children and infants among the Amalekites, something that will no doubt NOT compute in your mentality — but nevertheless true.

IOW, there is no ultimate justice this side of eternity, only human approximations of it, based on God’s unchanging moral standards.

[stuartcr]

Perhaps one reason people have so much trouble accepting moral realities, is because they are individuals and their lives, situations and decisions differ, which directly affects their moral realities. The physical realities are usually similar for everyone or at least larger groups of people.

[sirchtruth]

Yes. I see what you mean. When people ask me how I know there is a God, a good God, a pure God of love I could answer the same way.

May I ask what religion if any you subscribe too?

[srweaver]

And who hasn’t wondered why “good” people suffer while “bad” people prosper.

Nevertheless, there are moral realities and a moral “ecosystem” which we ignore to our own peril.

And the average person knows it.

[James C. Bennett]

That’s the same sort of “justification” Muslims give, too.

It completely contradicts the essence of the Golden Rule.

[srweaver]

Perhaps the average Muslim has a greater respect and appreciation for the justice of God than you.

“essence” ... is that an immaterial thing, I thought you were totally materialistic (pun intended).

I will leave you with Jesus’ words:

Luke 13:1-5  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.