Wow, I love these discussions. As an agnostic, I will say that the idea of grownups believing in invisible deities is interesting at best. The Bible is an excellent resource for morals and many things that are written in this great book could conceivably have happened. I consider it a ?must-read? for everyone. I also consider it a work of fiction loosely based on events that were perceived to be true. It is in no way fact, until it can be proven otherwise.
There are so many items were demonstrated to have been borrowed from other cultures. ?Woman from Man,? ?The Great Flood,? ?The Creation,? etc. All have been done before, most many times. The argument should not be ?if so many cultures wrote about these events, why couldn?t they be true?? The real question is one of timeline. ?Why are these two stories so similar when they are written thousands of years apart?? The answer is most likely that one culture borrowed and edited the story from another to suit their needs and beliefs as they evolved.
The Bible cannot be taken literally. Read
101 Myths of the Bible to see some glaringly obvious mistakes or interpretations.
?indyt? said:
After the flood the water would simply evaporate or be absorbed in the ground.
You are not making a valid point here. This is clearly impossible. Water can evaporate, but it has to evaporate to somewhere. Water is in a constant cycle -- it evaporates from the ocean, travels through the air, rains down on the land and then flows back to the ocean. It does not disappear never to be seen from again. Are you saying all this water is floating around in the sky? In a similar concept, you can put ice in a glass and then fill the glass to the brim with water. When the ice melts the glass overflows, right? Of course not. The earth maintains similar balance.
About 1.6 percent of the planet's water is locked up in the polar ice caps and glaciers. Another 0.36 percent is found underground in aquifers and wells. Only about 0.036 percent of the planet's total water supply is found in lakes and rivers. Keep in mind that water stays level. To raise the water over 30% of the earth?s land mass to a depth of 50 feet, for example, the water will have to raise 50 feet in the oceans as well. It is not physically possible.
See link for figures
?TennesseeR? said:
They would not have to carry a cocker spaniel, and a bulldog, and a lab, etc, only a pair of dogs, a pair of horses, etc.
But for this argument to be valid, religious folks have to take into account that there are many species now. If we derived many different species from one, isn?t that part of evolution? I realize that is a bad word to the religious, but it happens. If it happened to the animals, why not people? Not necessarily drastically, like from apes either.
Religion is faith-based. There are probably some facts, but the majority of religion is that you need to believe in something that cannot be seen or proven. If you are bad you will be punished and if you are good you will be rewarded. Just like Santa Claus. Show me the facts that prove God exists and I will be His biggest worshipper.
Until then, the Bible is not fact and simply a terrific collection of stories that have many excellent values. Also, one of the most violent books you will ever read.
To add some levity, have any of you heard of the
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? It is a humorous look at intelligent design. If you cannot disprove it beyond a doubt, you cannot ignore it. Interesting theory?