> It is a story. It is allegory. It teaches morals and
> truths - NOT facts.
Tell me. Do you allegorize the virgin birth and resurrection, too?
How about the miracles of Christ and the Second Coming? Are those allegorical?
Where do you draw the line?
And if there are those that draw the line differently than you, does that make them stupid in your most elevated estimation?
If the Bible clearly presents something as FACT, and you “know” it to be FALSE, then how can you rely on anything at all in the Bible?
If you’re just looking for a good book of morals, you could probably write one yourself.
And it would be every bit as valid as a book of morals written by, say, Mahomet or Karl Marx. N’est ce pas?
And, no, I don't believe in the virgin birth, second coming or the resurrection as being anything more than:
A) exaggerated stories passed down and mutated.
B) some folks with technology and smarts greater than anything or anybody else 2000+ years ago.
C) Outright lies designed to cowl a then ignorant, uneducated population into submission.
Anyone else can rely on the Bible all they want for their personal beliefs. It doesn't make them stupid - nor would I ever denigrate someone for it. It's MUCH better than relying on the Quran - that's for sure.
I see God in Nature, Math, Logic & Physics.
And I use Nature, Math, Logic & Physics to determine that "evolution happens".
I've said many times on many threads that I think God would be sorely disappointed that folks placed their faith in a 2000 year old book written by a bunch of dead, greedy, power-hungry politicians rather than by studying his creation and learning from it.
And, I think he'd be pissed that folks would deny his incredibly beautiful, complex evolutionary process in favor of a bunch words written by men.
To me, believing in the Bible over the evidence God puts in front of us every day is - for lack of a better word - blasphemy - and an insult to the creator you say you believe in.
A simple analogy to me would be assembling an item from directions - when what the directions say and the way the item goes together are obviously different. You don't keep trying fit tab A into slot B when they are obviously not there. You look at the parts and put them together the way that they logically go - even if it differs from the directions You use your eyes, your brain, your skills and your logic. You don't keep trying to screw in a screw where there is no screw hole. You realize the directions are wrong.
Evolution is the same way. I am a "naturalist" for want of a better word. I have studied plants, rocks, bugs, birds - almost all natural things and systems extensively. And, I can, with my own eyes, brain, logic and experience say that "evolution happens". And, like the shelves from Ikea, I trust MY God-given eyes, logic & reason much more than I trust the words of ANY man - especially 2000 year old politicians - which, like it or not, is who wrote the Bible.
I can remember being 6 years old and figuring out that all the continents had, at one time, been joined together - you can see the pieces and how they fit just like a jigsaw puzzle. Slide Africa over in North & S. America. Push up Austrailia...even then it seemed obvious.
Science has since proved what my 6-year old mind already "knew".
Well, I have also looked at hundreds of thousands of insects, reptiles, trees and fossils since then and I "know" that evolution occurs.
You can believe the dead politicians. I'll believe in the brain God gave me. I figger of God wanted his "children" to just take for fact some words on paper, he wouldn't have bothered with men at all and would have just created dogs that listen and obey without thinking for themselves.