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Originally posted by dooper
Anyone who reads the Bible expecting it to be a scientific text is going to be disappointed.
If you don't believe it, then don't bother reading it.
Originally posted by the siren
Originally posted by Pauligirl
That article was actually about anomalous radiocarbon ages.
Radiocarbon dating is carbon 14 dating.
Radiocarbon dating, or carbon dating, is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years.
wikipedia
Originally posted by Praetorian Guard
And, again, free will was involved...Adam ate because he wanted to. He wasn't forced to eat that fruit. He desired it. But it's true...this event...and actually all events, down to the unseen deaths of little sparrows...was predestined before the universe even came to be.
Originally posted by amazing
Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I seem to have a real problem with a couple of things here. If god already knows who's going to hell or not or even what prayers I will or will not make then what is the point? What you are saying is that from the moment of birth our entire life is set in stone and that your choice matters not. I cannot accept this.
I have free will and although I do not believe in hell, I do believe that if there were a hell, it would be my choice alone if I ended up there or not. If everything is predestined then why are there misionaries? They make no difference? This cannot be true because it is so illogical to me (not that I'm the smartest guy in the world...i'm not). The other issue is with the books offered so kindly above to help explain the bible. Although I understand, I find it unthinkable that god would create a book for the normal population like myself who is of average intelligence, that cannot be understood by myself. God wouldn't do that.
He would know that this book would confuse me...wouldn't he. (understood that god could be a woman or something else. I just find it easier to write in the masculine form)
Keep in mind that i'm really debating Calvinism and predestination and appolize if i'm off topic. I do feel its pertinant to the discussion.
Originally posted by amazing
Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I seem to have a real problem with a couple of things here. If god already knows who's going to hell or not or even what prayers I will or will not make then what is the point? What you are saying is that from the moment of birth our entire life is set in stone and that your choice matters not. I cannot accept this.
I have free will and although I do not believe in hell, I do believe that if there were a hell, it would be my choice alone if I ended up there or not. If everything is predestined then why are there misionaries? They make no difference? This cannot be true because it is so illogical to me (not that I'm the smartest guy in the world...i'm not). The other issue is with the books offered so kindly above to help explain the bible. Although I understand, I find it unthinkable that god would create a book for the normal population like myself who is of average intelligence, that cannot be understood by myself. God wouldn't do that.
He would know that this book would confuse me...wouldn't he. (understood that god could be a woman or something else. I just find it easier to write in the masculine form)
Keep in mind that i'm really debating Calvinism and predestination and appolize if i'm off topic. I do feel its pertinant to the discussion.
Originally posted by one4all
We all have to read the bible with a young child who hasnt been exposed to ANY RELIGON AT ALL.Try it,IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND.
While at Bezek they encountered King Adoni-bezek and fought against him, and the Canaanites and Perizzites were defeated. Adoni-bezek escaped, but the Israelites soon captured him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-bezek said, "I once had seventy kings with thumbs and big toes cut off, eating scraps from under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They took him to Jerusalem, and he died there. The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it, killing all its people and setting the city on fire. (Judges 1:1-8 NLT)
One cause for the abuse of religion may be the prevalent view of religion as an external authority. When people view religious truth as superior and human beings as subordinate to that truth, then universal human values - such as respect for life, human equality and empathy for others - become secondary and are easily compromised.