WWFStern

I've heard some Christians argue that one genealogy is actually that of Mary. However, they simply assert this, citing no textual evidence whatsoever.

The genealogies really are problematic for Christians, in large measure because they have very little crossover. One cannot simply say "A few generations were skipped," because the crossover is nearly nonexistent.

They are irreconcilable, as far as I see. Thus, errance is proved.

mens_sana

Both genealogies provided an important "connection" for the infant messiah. It had nothing to do with whether they were true or not. They provided "proof" for the believer of the special status of Christ. There isn't that much difference between them and the two routes Moses took from Kadesh to Heshbon. One of the routes had unknown stops, the other more Eastern route had well known stops. Strangely, the well known stops were those of a trade route, well traveled in a later day. The genealogies and the trade route offer an anchor of what we might call verisimilitude for the reader.

Jaecp

Closer to 35000 actually.

Bob K

35,000 distinct Xn denominations?

What source(s) do you have which support this number?

Educated guesses are not helpful herein.

WWFStern

More solid evidence for biblical errance: http://www.passionoftheatheist.com/D...aspx?tabid=277

I didn't even exploit these examples!

Wolfie

When I was a postgrad student in London in the 1970s I encountered a fellow postgrad who was 2 years ahead of me. Now this fellow, nice enough but decidedly strange, did his very best to 'live his life through the Bible'. This meant that he more or less ignored everything in modern life that was not mentioned in the Bible...

He walked to the campus as there was no mention of public transport. He used no electricity in his house... You get the idea- so I won't labour the point ad nauseam.

OK - I had a weird sort of respect for this person. What I failed to understand is why he was carrying out postgraduate research into autoxidation reactions - I'm sure they never featured in the good book. He didn't have any objection to using the various electrically powered pieces of laboratory equipment... How coud he have managed the undergraduate course? When questioned as to this apparent anomaly, his answer was that it was the will of God.

Yeah, right.

He unerringly accepted the Bible as being an absolute truth. His repsonse, when challenged with the obvious inconsistencies, was merely to say that both arguments/descriptions were correct because they were in the Bible and therefore, by definition, true.

WWFStern

This does not necessarily have to do with Biblical inerrancy, but I think it's a worthy--if tangential--question to ask:

If Christianity is the one true faith, and God wants everybody to go to Heaven by accepting it, then why did it take our species (which is about 195,000 years old) approximately 190,000 years to discover it (while in the meantime worshipping all manner of "false" gods and following scores of "fake" religions)?

It doesn't really make sense, does it?

Craigart14

As I'm sure everyone here already knows, both genealogies are nonsense because they pass through Joseph, who was not Jesus' father. As for the "Mary" line, it states clearly that it is the genealogy of Jesus.

Regarding the mythic Jesus vs. HJ, I don't think his existence as a real person is all that unlikely. It's pretty unlikely that he performed any miracles, though. Paul said something a bit odd in First Corinthians 15 when he recounts Jesus' various post-resurrection appearances, stating that Jesus appeared to Cephas, the apostles, to five hundred brethren, to James, to "all the apostles," and "last of all . . . he appeared also to me." Did he appear in the same way to all? Paul says elsewhere that he never knew Jesus in the flesh, but only through his "vision" on the road to Damascus. Were all of his post-resurrection appearances "visions"?

Craig

Bob K

The immorality of murder can be measured by what would happen to the human species if murderers were not prevented from murdering--the human species could be endangered, and, therefore, the innocent individual (who does not intend to injure--threaten to cause or actually cause a loss of life/limb/liberty/property/family--another innocent individual who does not intend to injure any other innocent individual, etc.) and his family are to be protected.

Although this measurement is not strictly scientific, because lab experiments inre unchecked murderers are not likely to happen inre humans (perhaps experiments with animals could be conducted), a thought experiment--legitimate in science provided that there is a physical basis for the premises--suggests that an unchecked murderer, particularly a psycho who is unable to reason that killing all other humans might jeopardize his own existence, would threaten innocent individuals and their families and ultimately threaten the existence of the human species.

A natural morality exists--no gods needed: http://www.bobkwebsite.com/naturalmorality.html

The ultimate standards of natural morality--the justifications for following natural morality--are (1) the survival of the innocent individual and his family and (2) the survival of the human species.

By applying these ultimate realistic physical standards we can establish a set of guidelines for human behavior.

Bob K

See http://www.bobkwebsite.com/belmythvjesusmyth.html for comparisons of Assyrian/Babylonian/Egyptian myths and the Jesus myth for pre-existing mythological parallels which reveal the Bable's NT J-myth to be fabricated.