ps418

Have I missed something? Where does the bible say that there are volcanoes on the ocean floor?

I hope God's understanding of sea-floor geology is better than that of the author of this "evidence." "Fountains" and "springs" are not volcanoes, obviously. And underwater volcanoes are not "adding extra water to the oceans," they are simply hydrothermally recycling water through fissures and cracks in the sea-floor basalt.

Patrick

Mageth

Something I failed to mention about Mitochondrial Eve: ME is calculated to have lived @200,000 years ago. This obviously conflicts with literalist dating of when Biblical Eve was supposed to be around. Further, ME is not proposed as the first female human. Now how exactly is the story of Biblical Eve supposed to be "scientific"?

Hawkingfan

Magus55,

Please clarify the following scientific absurdities found in the bible (compiled and paraphrased by Donald Morgan at the Secular Web Modern Library):

GE 1:3-5, 14-19 There was light ("night and day") before there was a sun. (Note: If there were no sun, there would be no night or day. Also, light from the newly created heavenly bodies seems to have reached the earth instantaneously though it now takes thousands or millions of years.)

GE 1:12, 16 Plants began to grow before there was sunlight.

GE 1:29 Every plant and tree which yield seed are given to us by God as good to eat. (Note: This would include poisonous plants such as hemlock, buckeye pod, nightshade, oleander.)

GE 6:4 There were giants on the earth at one time. (Note: No evidence exists to supports this assertion.)

LE 11:20-21 There are winged creatures (birds or insects) that go around on all fours. (Note: There are no birds that go around on four legs, and all insects have six legs.)

LE 11:6 (States, incorrectly, that the rabbit, or hare, chews its cud.)

PS 58:8 Slugs and/or snails melt as they move.

PS 121:6 It is apparently possible to suffer moonstroke as well as sunstroke.

DN 4:11 Daniel dreams of a tree so tall that it can be seen to the ends of the earth. (Disregarding the fact that the tallest known trees on earth only grow a couple hundred feet and that this was a dream, this statement implies a flat earth. Because a tree could grow to an infinite height on a sphere (which the earth is), but the people on the other side would never see it).

MT 4:8 There is a high mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world can be seen. (Note: This implies a flat earth.)

Mageth

I'd like to see Magus first answer my challenge to his post:

And you still haven't explained how 3000 years ago they knew of Orion and Pleiades since they weren't named or even noticed until thousands of years later.

The challenge (reworded):

I challenge Magus55 to critically examine this claim and, with properly-applied reason, logic, and research, see if he can come up with at least some problems it might have. This, of course, should be approached as objectively as possible on his part.

He can report on the process, and his conclusions, here. If he wishes, he can list the problems with the claims and give his rebuttals to them.

I think that's a fair challenge, esp. after Magus' comment to me:

For you to dismiss those facts on that page would truly show that you have absolutely no desire to find out if the Bible and God are true, only to be closed minded and not let anyone prove you wrong.

If Magus really has a desire to find out if the Bible is true and to be open-minded, then he should be more than willing to accept the challenge.

lpetrich

Orion having a "band"? Orion is just a region in the sky. Its brighter stars may once have been in a cluster, but they are now scattered.

Also, check out this page on Islam, which discusses similar claims made about the Koran, that the Koran had correctly described embryos, the origin of life from water, the Big Bang, etc. Will Magus55 convert to Islam on account of such claims?

And check out the Old Norse story of creation, in which the familiar Universe had its origin from the dismembered body of the slain giant Ymir:

Ymir's skull became the sky -- both have a vaulted shape
Ymir's brain became the clouds -- both are puffy
Ymir's blood became the sea -- both are salty
Ymir's bones became the mountains -- both are mineral
Ymir's flesh became the soil -- both are soft
Ymir's hair became the vegetation -- both grow out of flesh/soil
Ymir's eyes became the Sun and the Moon -- they are two objects, they are round, and they have the same apparent size

So will Magus55 convert to Asatru/Odinism on account of such claims?

lpetrich

Also, I wonder when the fundies will start to brag about how the Bible described evolution well before the rest of the world did.

One could use its numerous genealogies to argue that descent relationships are important and worth looking for -- which leads to evolution.

And from Matthew 3:10, "the tree that does not bear good fruit will get chopped down" -- that may be interpreted as the action of natural selection.

scigirl

Magus55,

I wonder - even if the Bible does occasionally contain scientific insights, is this because of an inspiring Deity or simply the result of insightful humans? I know there is an indirect mention of hemophilia in the Torah (something about - if your son bled to death after circumcision, you don't have to circumcize the next one). But - that's just common sense wouldn't you say?

My problem isn't what's in the Bible, it's what isn't. No mention of DNA, or microbes. Highly important biological concepts, wouldn't you say? Either the Bible wasn't meant to be a science text, or. . . . it was written by primitive men (and 2 women) who did occasionally have it right but were mostly confused about their world.

Magus - if you found out that a doctor was only using the Bible to diagnose your illnesses, would you be concerned?

scigirl

scigirl

Genius, sheer genius! Hmm, we should email Kent...

scigirl

scigirl

I beg to differ that the Egyptians had no clue.

Egyptian Culture and Science
Egyptologist Suggests Pyramid Builders Aligned Their Monuments Using the Big and Little Dippers
scigirl

scigirl

Ok I know I already posted too much in this thread, but this excerpt from magus55's site was priceless (italics added by me):

Ha Ha Ha Ha! Oh my side hurts from laughing! The buy-bull says "you should know stuff cuz knowing stuff is cool." Therefore, God MUST exist!

Too bad a lot of Christians don't actually follow this advice and trust the laws of physics (i.e. radioactive decay laws prove the earth is 3-4 billion years old, the laws of thermodynamics do not contradict evolution, etc etc.) :banghead:

scigirl