Wow
Women are deceptive creatures.
the year 1 was determined 500 years after jesus borns by Dionysius Exiguus⌠and it is completely arbitrary; he failed with the calculations, Jesus was not born the year 1⌠Even the day and the month he was born is unknowâŚ
So I still dont understand whats are you trying to prove with thisâŚ
before Christ and 6 centuries after him, the years were counted based on Rome foundation.
Should we consider Rome a holy city?
i dont think soâŚ
The whole Gregorian calender system was calculated by Catholic scholars. Nothing wrong with Catholic scholars, but while they were astute mathematicians, they were a tad biased by supposed religious dates. The Gregorian calender was calculated to fix the errors in the Catholic created âJulianâ calender that drifted because the days were just shy 11 minutes too long. The churches could never get Easter coordinatedâŚ
Hence A. D or Year of our lord.
The math is stellar, but the name or initial purposes are hardly scientific.
A.D. and B.C. are not used any more internationally. It is now C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E (Before Common Era).
If Jesus was born whilst Herrod the Great was in charge of what is now Israel he can at latest have been born in 4 BCEâŚ
As Master Tang points out the dates where built around this by the church when they made the current calender, rather than the other way around.
Why do you have light skin (judging by your avatar) and other humans have dark skin?
Why do the finches in the Galapagos Islands have different beaks depending on the island?
It is all about fitting the local environment. We are not the descendants of chimps, we are the descendants of a different branch of the primate group who lived in a different part of the world. We have a common ancestor, but it is not them, gorillas, or any other living primate.
Neither of you know for sure, so thereâs no point arguing it. Either side is based on belief, so quit bickering over whoâs religion is the right one.
The fiscal cliff deal: Americaâs European moment | The Economist
Just another day in Brussels on the PotomacâŚ
Did you guys hear about that Newspaper in New York that received scrutiny for releasing a map that showed the names and locations of people who had guns.
Well, they just released one for all of Texas.
Dude, seriously? Although I do not share your atheism / evolutionistic beliefs, I will admit that I did afford you some respect based on the soundness of some of your posts on this forum, but the argument aboveâŚwow!
Can you elaborate on this different branch of primates and where exactly they lived on earth? Also, while youâre providing some proof of that, can you kill two birds with one stone and give me solid proof that my God doesnât exist as well? Oh, one last one - prove to me that God supports rape please.
I await your response eagerlyâŚ
Iâm still waiting for your expiation of Genesis, but it always seems to be the way. Move the goal posts, set the impossible task.
There is no way I can prove to you that your god does not exist. You will claim that your faith makes him exist, and that can never be disproven. Can you prove he exists? I mean in a credible, reproducible, way.
So what part of my post donât you believe?
That the beaks of the Galapagos finches (that share a recent common ancestor) have evolved to suit the vegetation of each of the different islands?
That humans have different skin colour and that my white skin is nowhere near as well adapted for Australiaâs sun as the Aboriginals whom have been here thousands of generations more and have more melatonin? Or did god create all the different skin colours in Adam; his perfect image, who just happened to have a spare rib⌠If Adam and Eve where kicked out of Eden for the original sin why did the Australian Aboriginals (amongst others) not feel the need for clothing? Did they miss out? Where they special?
As to the exact location of every primate species on earth at any given time, that I cannot supply. Iâm no expert in that, my background is in physics. All I can do is look at the physical evidence and the theological descriptions and see which seems the most probable. The physical evidence is overwhelming. We have DNA, and fossil evidence that shows waves of primates moving across Africa, and as they become more developed they then move into Europe and Asia. The fossil record is not perfect, however and so there are gaps in it, but they are shrinking.
Now on to rape in the bible:
1)Judges 21:10-24 God sends his men to destroy a town, but keep the virgin women as brides. As there is not enough virgins for all the men he tells them where a festival will be held and they can kidnap more virgins there.
2)Numbers 31:7-18 After following godâs orders to attack the Midianites the soldiers took captives. Moses is not happy with this and orders all but the virgin women killed, and they are to be given divided amongst the soldiers.
3)Deuteronomy 22:28-29 If a man is caught raping a woman, he must pay her father so that he can take her as his wife. She must be so happy about thatâŚ
4)Judges 5:30 When plundering a town there must be women and clothing to be divided amongst the men.
How many more examples do you want?
For johnnykanoo: If the world went dark at the time Jesus died why was this not noted in the excellent records of the Indians and Chinese?
Hard to believe that BabyPips allows such offensive images like that, but regardless.
To be completely honest with you, I did actually write out a reply regarding the garden of Eden but then I remembered that this is the internet and Iâm completely wasting my time and effort, as you have with your posts. Nevertheless, I will respond. If God created us to be mere ârobotsâ i.e. not choosing to love him, but being programmed to love him and to do no wrong, then what on earth is the point of creating us in the first place? Our love and worship for him would be fake and irrelevant. Adam and Eve had free will. God was akin to the fact that man would sin eventually - so He sent Jesus (who existed before the world existed (in Genesis the reference is to âWeâ, not âIâ i.e. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit)) to redeem us of our sins.
I love the verses which you have meticulously selected. Thanks for proving my point that you have read the Bible out of context.
Since this is all Old Testament focused (as always), here is what God told the Jews:
Deut 21:10 âWhen you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.â
Every verse that you quoted is regarding the âspoils of warâ which you incorrectly believe was Godâs instruction to rape the women that they found. Yet, the verse above specifically instructs the Jews to marry and care for these women if they wanted to have any sort of relationship with them. Now, take that into account with all the other verses about what it means to be married (read the New Testament for a change) and I think youâll be hard-pressed to prove that God is saying ârape all the women you findâ. Youâve got to be pretty mentally unstable to believe that God honestly upholds rape.
In any event, like I said, this is an internet forum so arguing something like this is an exercise in futility.
Hard to believe that babypips allows such offensive commentaries like thatâŚ
An offensive commentary - Pfff! Are you reading my commentary with a biased mindset perhaps? I did not once insult Cycoâs atheistic / evolutionistic view - something which he continues to do regarding Christianity. I mentioned that he has read the Bible out of context, which I then substantiated. I mentioned that we are both wasting our time posting on an internet forum. How, pray tell, did I offend you or your dear friend?
was not refering at the whole commentary, just the part I quotedâŚ
posting that some opinions should be banned just because they point a different view from yours is an offense to freedom and inteligence. Catholic Church has carried out the biggest opresion from the last 1500 years in occident, punishing and killing everybody with a different mindset⌠we are still not able to criticize it without being banned?
The truth is that you have not offended me, you disapointed me.
I know was not your intention to offend anybody, like is not my intention to offend you with this post.
So a being so powerful that he can create an entire universe needs to create an animal (humans) to love him so he feels good about himself. Maybe its just me, but that seems kind of strange.
Now to the whole Genesis story. You are saying he knew that Adam and Eve would sin and eat the fruit. By putting it there he must have wanted it to happen so we would spend the rest of time trying to get back onto his good side. So to help us get back on his good side he sent his son, who is himself, to die to help redeem us, but that still isnât enough, so we have to pray for atonement for our sins, from someone who know we would make them in the first place. Does this really make logical sense to you?
Iâm sorry if you feel you have a need to apologise for the majority of the book you believe in.
So taking a woman as a âspoil of warâ and making her your wife, after a month, irrespective of her desires doesnât seem at all like rape to you? She is your captive, she has no choice in the matter, but thatâs ok â you gave her a month to come to terms with it 1stâŚ
You were correct, I didnât feel insulted.
I was just amazed that a person that was seemingly intelligent could ignore so much scientific evidence.
If the earth is only 6000 years old (which you havnât stated, but seem to imply you believe by questioning a post supporting evolution) why do we have no evidence of dinosaurs co-existing with humans?
We have cave paintings in Europe and Australia dating back 2-30,000 years with animals that are both alive and extinct, but no dinosaurs in themâŚ
You are right though, I am wasting my time. You (and others) will never give an intelligent answer to this, or the other questions raised over the last (10?) pages of this thread
[QUOTE=Cyco;438435][/QUOTE]
RE: the picture festâŚ
Well itâs good to know where Hollywood stands on the âGod issueâ. Come onâŚif youâre looking to Hollywood for answers, may as well ask the cat!
Anyway the âwhoâs whoâ list is partly propaganda. I know for sure some of these people would be offended being characterized as âatheistâ.
Albert Einstein, for example, when asked about the existence of God answered in humilityâŚ
" [B]Your question [about God] is the most difficult in the world. It is not a question I can answer simply with yes or no. [/B][B]I am not an Atheist. [/B][B]I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist.[/B] The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinozaâs PantheismâŚ"
[from interview published in 1930 in G. S. Viereckâs book Glimpses of the Great]
In fact, According to biographer Walter Isaacson, [B]Einstein was more inclined to denigrate disbelievers than the faithful[/B]. Einstein said in correspondence, â[B]The fanatical atheistsâŚare like slaves who are still feeling the weight of their chains which they have thrown off after hard struggle. They are creatures whoâin their grudge against the traditional âopium of the peopleââcannot bear the music of the spheres.[/B]â [so Einstein was also a poet!!!] Although he did not believe in a personal God, he indicated that he would never seek to combat such belief because âsuch a belief seems to me preferable to the lack of any transcendental outlook.â
As to Pantheism, it has been described as the [B]polar opposite of atheism[/B]. Pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent God. It is the philosophical basis for the Hindu faith. Can you picture Einstein and John Lennon together on a pilgrimage to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in search of âenlightenmentâ?
Iâm not defending any particular religion here. But if God does exist, think about the humor in the arguments over these last several pages. One says, âGod exists!â. The other says, âNo he doesnât!â. All the while God is standing in the room saying, âIâm over here, guysâ. If one is honestly concerned about this question, arguments donât help, they only run in circles. Instead, maybe we should just pray about it. Pray into the mysterious void that confounded even Einstein. Who knows, you may receive an answer. Many have claimed as such.
You canât just walk in on somebodyâs conversation and except to know all about it after hearing one thing. You canât just pick a verse out and expect know all about it. Heck, you might not even know who is saying it.
Believe in me or die.
Worship me or die.
Obey me or die.
Love me or die.
Am I off when I say that?
Well we can definitely count this guy out as a prophet!
Have you ever once considered the fact that humans might not be gods? For argumentâs sake, letâs say that we were created by God. Do you think that he would create us to have all knowledge of all things? Or even better, letâs say evolution is correct - have we evolved from our primate ancestors sufficiently to understand every mystery of the universe? This again makes it pointless for God to create us in the first place if we are all just âmini-godsâ. Is it possible, however unlikely, that we DONâT know and understand everything as humans? I am perfectly content with the story of the garden of Eden thanks, and with Godâs entire plan for humanity.
Just out of curiosity, what makes you think that God created us to make him feel good about himself?
Iâm sorry if you feel you have a need to apologise for the majority of the book you believe in.
So taking a woman as a âspoil of warâ and making her your wife, after a month, irrespective of her desires doesnât seem at all like rape to you? She is your captive, she has no choice in the matter, but thatâs ok â you gave her a month to come to terms with it 1stâŚ
Iâm intrigued by that - when did I apologise for the old testament? I implied that atheists mostly target the old testament when it comes to criticising the Bible, yet the majority of them donât understand the contrast between the old and new testaments. Can you provide me with a Biblical perspective of what marriage entails? I would love to hear that and then apply it to the situation you have mentioned above.
That aside though - is this verse indicating that God is supporting (definition: to uphold or defend as valid or right) rape? Yes or No? Simple answer.
You were correct, I didnât feel insulted.
I was just amazed that a person that was seemingly intelligent could ignore so much scientific evidence.
Itâs good to know that I was once seemingly intelligent 
Iâll remain âstupidâ and ignore the all-powerful humanityâs scientific evidence thanks.
If the earth is only 6000 years old (which you havnât stated, but seem to imply you believe by questioning a post supporting evolution) why do we have no evidence of dinosaurs co-existing with humans?
We have cave paintings in Europe and Australia dating back 2-30,000 years with animals that are both alive and extinct, but no dinosaurs in themâŚYou are right though, I am wasting my time. You (and others) will never give an intelligent answer to this, or the other questions raised over the last (10?) pages of this thread
Thankfully we agree that this argument is a waste of time. Letâs be honest though Cyco, no matter how intelligent an answer I (or anyone else for that matter) provide, there is no answer which will ever satisfy you besides me agreeing that you are correct. Letâs just agree to disagree and move along. The passage of time is the only thing which can reveal the truth once and for all. Neither of us can speed it along. Iâm sorry that things did not work for you with God, but please donât project that disappointment to mean that everyone else who believes in Him is an idiot.
A good point, but Iâm not entirely sure who you have directed this comment to.
Believe in me or die.
Worship me or die.
Obey me or die.
Love me or die.Am I off when I say that?
Yes, you are âoffâ. Please donât paraphrase scripture or make up your own.