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Old 12-08-2006, 05:26 PM   #611
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Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic View Post
That is false. God needlessly killed lots of animals with Hurricane Katrina.
Where is your proof or "evidence", if you will, that is was the Gods of the Bible who created Hurricane Katrina?

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Sure he does. Millions of people are not reasonably certain that there is at least one being in the universe who is able to immediately create planets. If God exists, he could easily show up and create a new planet, in which case surely some people would become Christians who were not previously convinced. If Jesus returned to earth and healed all of the sick people in the world, which Christians doctors are trying to do because they know that good health is a wonderful thing, surely out of gratitude some people would become Christians who were not previously convinced.
The vast majority of these people that you mention also do not take the time to "study" the Bible like they would do anything else. They study physics, they study geometry, they study math, but they are taught that you dont need to study the Bible, you take it on Blind Faith, which is completely contrarty to Hebrews 11:1. Faith in God is not blind, its based on evidence and that evidence is contained within the Bible. You study it, you see how and if it could be applied in the real world and that is how your faith grows.

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Jefferson Davis was the president of the Southern Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. He was a Christian. He believed, like millions of other Christians did, that the Bible endorses slavery. Even if the Bible does not endorse slavery, Davis believed that it does endorse slavery. If God exists, he could have showed up in person and told Davis that slavery is wrong. Why didn't God do that?
http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=189054&page=2 - because the Bible completely opposes it and God doesnt need to baby-feed the truth to the people who dont have an inclination of wanting to find out what the Bible says about a certain subject, but instead wish to demonize the Bible and its Gods because they dont know the Bible.

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Why do you believe that God killed unborn babies and young babies at Sodom and Gomorrah?
I dont see any evidence within the scriptures that there were unborn and innocent babies in Sodom and Gomorrah, considering that they are all homosexuals and that Lot was the only one who actually had daughters and a wife, because he wasnt a homosexual and they survived.

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Why do you believe that God always discrimates against amputees who need new limbs, at least as far as we know?
Where is your evidence to say that God discriminates according to such a thing?

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Is it your position that Hurricane Katrina did more good than bad? Is it your position that hurricanes create themselves and go wherever they want to go?
I say that this irrelevant because you say that they were created by God specifically and you have no evidence to say that they were.

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Do you believe that it was right for God to refuse to give food to the one million people who died of starvation in the Irish Potato Famine, most of whom were Christians?
This is also irrelevant. You have no evidence to proof/show that the Gods of the Bible caused this particular famine.

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Would you tell someone to feed hungry people and refuse to feed them yourself? God does.
Evidence? You say that God says one thing and does another, but I see only here-say and assumption regarding this.

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Why doesn't God protect people from murderers, rapists, and terrorists?
Because you must live in this world and do what you will, with the world doing its own thing around you. In addition, it has alot to do with Deuteronomy 32:20, which, according to the context of that chapter, that is, the Israelites transgressions of all that God commanded them to do, their turning their back on him, God will basically say "Alright, you know what? Fine, you do what you want, its your choice, lets see what your end shall be".

That is the reason why.

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What evidence do you have that today, all tangible benefits are not distributed entirely at random according to the laws of physics?
You still have no specified what you mean by 'tangible benefits'

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Loving human parents are directly involved with the upbringing of their children, tangibly, in person. No loving God should do any less. Copies of copies of ancient texts are not nearly enough to give humans the help and supervision that they need.
God is involved in the upbringing of their children, but it depends on the willingness of them to learn and uphold their Laws. Aside from this, we have study aids and lexicons of the Hebrew and Greek to ascertain the meaning of the scriptures - there is no excuse for being ignorant.

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Regarding homosexuality, what evidence do you have that the Bible writers were speaking for God and not for themselves?
My evidence resides in the fact that the attitude towards homosexuality has remained consistant through-out the entirety of the Bible, both the Law and the Prophets AND the New Testament.

Quote:
When people sometimes give up religion because God refuses to feed hungry people, and heal people who desperately need to be healed, how does that benefit God or anyone else? Trust must be earned, not merely declared in copies of copies of ancient texts. The writings of human proxies can fairly be questioned. Humans can lie, they can be guilty of innocent but inaccurate revelations, and they can be misinterpreted. If God exists, there not any comparable substitutes for his tangible presence. In the KJV, John 3:2 says "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." If that claim is true, we need evidence like that much more today that people did back then. If you claim that today, the Holy Sprit is evidence, I will tell you than in the NIV, Acts 14:3 says that even AFTER the Holy Spirit came to the church, the disciples still performed miracles and "confirmed the message of his grace". I will also tell you that the presence of the Holy Spirit and Jesus would be much more effective than just the Holy Spirit. Spiritual evidence is subjective. The followers of many religions claim that they receive spiritual benefits from their Gods. If the God of the Bible exists, it is a question of how much he wants to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell, and how much he wants to help us with our tangible needs. If God is not able to do anything more than he has done to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell, he isn't God. That is because by definition, a God is able to accomplish anything that he wishes to accomplish. God could do much more than he has done to convince people to become Christians without interfering with their free will.
There is no need for big bold miracles in this modern age like there were back in ancient times and the times of the disciples. The reason for this is contained in Hebrews 1:1-2. God has spoken to us through his Son, Christ Jesus and all the acts that is necessary and evident enough for us to believe, are written within the Bible.

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The Bible says that God is merciful. That is a lie. God endorses unmerciful eternal punishment without parole. If mercy is anything, it is forgoing eternal punishment without parole even when justice, in this case, God's justice, requires it.
If you wish to have a formal debate on whether or not there is an ever-burning flaming pit that people are being thrown into when Christ returns as punishment for their sins and that they will continue to be lit on fire for the rest of eternity, all-the-while experiencing each and every single excruciating moment of flaming pain, then I would be more than happy to oblidge you.

What say you? Want to have a formal debate? Are you up for it?
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Old 12-09-2006, 02:58 AM   #612
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Let me ask a simple question: 1 Samuel 15:1-3. This says:

'Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [a] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "

What you read above is not God allowing an atrocity to take place. It is God COMMANDING that an atrocity take place. The slaughter of an entire people. In modern parlance this is ethnic cleansing. Thousands of men, women, CHILDREN and INFANTS were to be systematically exterminated by Saul at God's specific instruction. As you read on you find that all the amalekite men, women, children and infants were subsequently exterminated but the animals were taken as plunder. This displeased God who showed no displeasure at the butchering of women, children and babies but was so enraged that his commands had not been executed to the letter that he removed the kingship of Israel from Saul and gave it to David.

This is an accurate portrayal of the biblical account. So to those who believe that this is the word of God and an accurate history of God's actions:

1. State that you agree that your God commanded and oversaw the extermination of men, women, children and babies.
2. State that you agreed that this was the action of a loving God.
3. Please spend some time rationalising how the old testament ethnic cleansing was not in fact ethnic cleansing because the people cleansed would have been SO evil that there would have been no redemption for them and their children even their babies so tainted by evil that there would have been no point in sparing them. After all a sword through a babies head is a particularly humane way of dispatching a baby isn't it? Better than having them starve to death in a city full of dead men and women. Wasn't it? Shame that there weren't any gas chambers or barbed wire back then. Wouldn't have had to get all that disgusting amalekite blood on those Israelite swords and baby brains is hard to remove from Israelite armour.

Mind you, overall, baby brains and disembowelled and beheaded children aside God was actually quite nice wasn't he? I understand that Stalin was very nice to his Grandchildren. Shame about the 17 million odd people that he killed but his family thought he was great.
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:26 AM   #613
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic
That is false. God needlessly killed lots of animals with Hurricane Katrina.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
Where is your proof or "evidence", if you will, that it was the God of the Bible who created Hurricane Katrina?
Who do you suppose originally created the weather? Who do you suppose controls the weather at this time?
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:30 AM   #614
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Originally Posted by JohnnySkeptic
What evidence do you have that today, all tangible benefits are not distributed entirely at random according to the laws of physics?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
You still have no specified what you mean by 'tangible benefits'.
For example, having enough food to eat, physical healings, and protection from murderers and rapists.
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:32 AM   #615
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You know, would'nt it be funny if the whole point of the bible was to see which human beings were bright enough to spot the issues with it and reject it. Maybe the whole point was to breed a race of intelligent free thinkers. Maybe god really does exist, and when the rapture comes, only those who have rejected organised religion in favour of self determination will survive. All other methods of working out who should live would be complicated, but not this one...

*do you BELIEVE!
*YES!*
*Zap.
.............
*NEXT.
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:36 AM   #616
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic
Why do you believe that God always discrimates against amputees who need new limbs, at least as far as we know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
Where is your evidence to say that God discriminates according to such a thing?
Many people recover from a variety of illness, but amputees never get new limbs, at least as far as we know. Many Christians ask God to heal them, but I am not aware of any Christian amputee that has asked God for new limb. Are you? If God sometimes heals people of illnesses, why doesn't he sometimes give amputees new limbs?
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:53 AM   #617
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnySkeptic
Do you believe that it was right for God to refuse to give food to the one million people who died of starvation in the Irish Potato Famine, most of whom were Christians?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
This is also irrelevant. You have no evidence to show that the God of the Bible caused this particular famine.
Cause is not the issue. Feeding hungry people is the issue. James 2:14-20 say "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

Are you actually proposing that food should be withheld from starving people if they fail to plant their crops properly, or if locusts cause a famine? Now what do you suppose causes locusts to eat crops?
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Old 12-09-2006, 05:59 AM   #618
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Originally Posted by JohnnySkeptic
Regarding homosexuality, what evidence do you have that the Bible writers were speaking for God and not for themselves?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
My evidence resides in the fact that the attitude towards homosexuality has remained consistent through-out the entirety of the Bible, both the Law and the Prophets AND the New Testament.
Attitudes and consistency don't prove anything.
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Old 12-09-2006, 06:16 AM   #619
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Originally Posted by JohnnySkeptic
When people sometimes give up religion because God refuses to feed hungry people, and heal people who desperately need to be healed, how does that benefit God or anyone else? Trust must be earned, not merely declared in copies of copies of ancient texts. The writings of human proxies can fairly be questioned. Humans can lie, they can be guilty of innocent but inaccurate revelations, and they can be misinterpreted. If God exists, there not any comparable substitutes for his tangible presence. In the KJV, John 3:2 says "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." If that claim is true, we need evidence like that much more today that people did back then. If you claim that today, the Holy Sprit is evidence, I will tell you than in the NIV, Acts 14:3 says that even AFTER the Holy Spirit came to the church, the disciples still performed miracles and "confirmed the message of his grace". I will also tell you that the presence of the Holy Spirit and Jesus would be much more effective than just the Holy Spirit. Spiritual evidence is subjective. The followers of many religions claim that they receive spiritual benefits from their Gods. If the God of the Bible exists, it is a question of how much he wants to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell, and how much he wants to help us with our tangible needs. If God is not able to do anything more than he has done to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell, he isn't God. That is because by definition, a God is able to accomplish anything that he wishes to accomplish. God could do much more than he has done to convince people to become Christians without interfering with their free will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Berggy
There is no need for big bold miracles in this modern age like there were back in ancient times and the times of the disciples. The reason for this is contained in Hebrews 1:1-2. God has spoken to us through his Son, Christ Jesus and all the acts that is necessary and evident enough for us to believe, are written within the Bible.
God has most certainly not done all that is necessary if his chief desire is to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell. Surely you will agree that God is able to convince more people to accept Christianity. If the God of the Bible exists, that majority of the people in the world are not aware of it. It is impossible to reject a God unless you know that he exists. Under our legal system, a man can be punished for breaking a law that he is not aware of, but no man can be sentenced to life in prison or death for breaking a law that he was not aware of. Millions of people are not certain whether or not at least one being exists who can instantly create a planet. If God has the power to do that, he could easily show up and demonstrate to everyone that he can do it. It is question of how badly God wants people to go to heaven, and not to hell. Logically, spiritual AND tangible evidence are much more convincing than spiritual evidence alone. That is just plain old common sense.

Why do you suppose that Jesus told the disciples to spread the Gospel message to the world, and God deliberately withheld it from everyone who lived in the first century who lived in remote regions of the world? This suggests that the Gospel message was spread entirely by human effort according to the prevailing means of communication, transportation, printing, and translation. That was most certainly not a good way to tell the world about a supposedly "better covenant", reference the book of Hebrews.
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Old 12-09-2006, 10:22 AM   #620
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Originally Posted by Johnny Skeptic View Post
Who do you suppose originally created the weather? Who do you suppose controls the weather at this time?
The planet was originally created by the Gods of the Bible, but that in no way means that because a natural disaster happens that it is their fault.

You cannot prove that God is the cause of all the natural disasters that happen within this world.

Quote:
For example, having enough food to eat, physical healings, and protection from murderers and rapists.
Having enough food to eat and having physical healings and protection from murderers and rapists has no bearing on whether God exists or whether they caused evil to exist or to hurt either you or someone else. Your trying a cheasy cop-out way of trying to prove that because things arent perfect, that God is responsible and therefore, the Bible is wrong.

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Many people recover from a variety of illness, but amputees never get new limbs, at least as far as we know. Many Christians ask God to heal them, but I am not aware of any Christian amputee that has asked God for new limb. Are you? If God sometimes heals people of illnesses, why doesn't he sometimes give amputees new limbs?
Just because an amputee doesnt get their leg/arm or whatever back doesnt mean that God discriminates. You grapsing at straws here to try to slander the Bible and their Gods....again.

Quote:
Cause is not the issue. Feeding hungry people is the issue. James 2:14-20 say "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

Are you actually proposing that food should be withheld from starving people if they fail to plant their crops properly, or if locusts cause a famine? Now what do you suppose causes locusts to eat crops?
Stop trying to put words into my mouth - I specifically told you that James 2:14-20 speaks of someone who profess' to have faith and knows of someone, their brother or sister that is naked and doesnt have daily food that if they say they are going to pray for them and whatnot, but dont give them food and clothing, then their faith is dead because they have no works to prove or show that that they are true about their faith

Just because famines happen doesnt mean that God is evil.

Quote:
Attitudes and consistency don't prove anything.
Attitudes and consistency prove "everything". I know what the Law and the Prophets state about homosexuality and I know what the New Testament States about it. Since God's Law is against it and the prophets of the Old Testament and New Testament agree with it, thats how I know they werent speaking only for themselves.

Quote:
God has most certainly not done all that is necessary if his chief desire is to help ensure that as many people as possible go to heaven, and as few people as possible go to hell. Surely you will agree that God is able to convince more people to accept Christianity. If the God of the Bible exists, that majority of the people in the world are not aware of it. It is impossible to reject a God unless you know that he exists. Under our legal system, a man can be punished for breaking a law that he is not aware of, but no man can be sentenced to life in prison or death for breaking a law that he was not aware of. Millions of people are not certain whether or not at least one being exists who can instantly create a planet. If God has the power to do that, he could easily show up and demonstrate to everyone that he can do it. It is question of how badly God wants people to go to heaven, and not to hell. Logically, spiritual AND tangible evidence are much more convincing than spiritual evidence alone. That is just plain old common sense.

Why do you suppose that Jesus told the disciples to spread the Gospel message to the world, and God deliberately withheld it from everyone who lived in the first century who lived in remote regions of the world? This suggests that the Gospel message was spread entirely by human effort according to the prevailing means of communication, transportation, printing, and translation. That was most certainly not a good way to tell the world about a supposedly "better covenant", reference the book of Hebrews.
Just because there is no big booming voice that slams you to the ground and announces that He/She/It is God/Goddess doesnt mean that they dont exist. They dont "have" to do things "your" way or appease "you" in the manner "you" want in order to be what they are and/or who they are.

All the evidence that one needs concerning God is written within the Bible, like I have shown previously. If you refuse to heed this, then thats your problem, not mine.

In addition, the so-called "Great Commission" as to where Christ said to go to all the world is not what you think it is. The disciples were commanded to go to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. If you dispute this; then debate me, formally.

I find it interesting that you didnt respond to my challenge to you to a debate concerning my last post to you. Whats the matter? Cant prove your side of the arguement, so you just instead twist the subject into something else so you can keep slandering and demonizing the Bible?
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