TriggerDan

Hey everybody. I'm new here and I'm very impressed with the members of this forum. You all give very educated and thought out answers.

Maybe you can help me with this problem. A friend of mine brushes off my questioning of the bible with remarks such as "It's a book of interpretations. It depends on how you interpret it"

How can I make him realize that he's living in denial? I mean, I asked him "well, how do YOU interpret the impossibility of Noah's Ark?" and he just said that's MY interpretation.

I want a way to really ZING him and make him realize he's wrong. I'm afraid that soon I'll stop being his friend cuz he's such a moron for thinking the bible is "god's word".

Thanks.

cjack

Welcome.

The short answer is: you can't.

The reason is he doesn't want to not believe.

There are a few biblical literalists here who would surprise you with the mental gymnastics they can do to rationalize their "interpretation."

Just look at any of the Noah's Ark threads and you'll see that these folks don't respond to the kind of reasoning you'd likely use to make them "realize" that they might be wrong.

You can try, but you'll probably just piss off your friend.

Amos

Hi Trigger, one interpretation is that we built our own ark while we are under the yoke of religious obligation and we do this so this ark will carry us if and when the world we have created around us begins to cave in on us. The ark is symbolic of our faith and the flood is just an metaphor used to indicate that our wold is just a figment of our imagination that can wash away.

So maybe your friend is not so wrong after all but just appears to be wrong from your point of view.

TriggerDan

Yeah, I tried asking him about the millions of species of birds, penguins, kangaroos, and insects that were supposedly taken into Noah's Ark and he got really nervous and started to stutter. Eventually, he got kind of pissed off because I was making him doubt his faith.

All I want is for him to sit down and just think on his own. I think it was Rene Descartes that once said that in order to be fully knowledgeable, you must doubt everything.

TriggerDan

So is the bible basically a metaphor from cover to cover ? I ask this because it is not fair for children, who are uncapable to comprehend the difference between myth and reality, to be taught these stories.

Sure, a kid knows that Jack and the Beanstalk is totally bogus. But when you throw in an "almighty god" into the mix, then a magic beanstalk doesn't sound too crazy.

Amos

Yes but he was like an idiot who doubted his own ark and jumped overboard long before it could float.

Amos

In Catholic theology even adults are not encourged to read the bible so I don't see what you are worried about.

TriggerDan

quote:
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Originally posted by TriggerDan
I think it was Rene Descartes that once said that in order to be fully knowledgeable, you must doubt everything.
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can you please elaborate more on your metaphors?

First of all, how do you know that Rene Descartes "doubted his own ark and jumped overboard"? You can't assume to know what was going on inside his own "ark". Maybe he did stay inside his ark because in his mind, he made the ark out of steel or something. To have a discussion through metaphors is not being able to tell between myth and reality. I can simply say "well, Rene Descartes's ark had a jet pack and he shot off into space while the Earth's great flood dried out."

TriggerDan

Well, then what do you base your faith on? If the bible isn't encouraged to be read, your faith would be a blind faith.

What drives you to believe that there is someone watching you from heaven or the skies right this second as you're typing?

SharonDee

So... the answer is... to convert his friend to Catholicism?