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originally posted by: SLAYER69
How close are you in believing ?
DNA
Is a code.
Who created the code, it's parameters, it's potential and why?
which is your opinion. but what if you're wrong and a Higher Truth is right?
I mean no disrespect to you or your family, but according to your beliefs what does it matter? Soon you will enter the endless oblivion hypothesized by atheist ideology and all of your life will be for naught. I know how you feel because I used to believe this - I remember sitting in my bed around the age of 13 thinking that the whole God/higher purpose was a farce and I contemplated my eternity of nothingness after this life. It is a dark road to go down, and I promise you there is meaning to this life for those who seek it.
massive rectangular pyramidal structure, oriented to true North, 210 by 150 feet, constructed with three levels of terraces, standing originally between 70 and 100 feet high. Three monumental staircases led up to a gate at the first terrace level. Next, a single staircase rose to a second terrace which supported a platform on which a temple and the final and highest terrace stood. The core of the ziggurat is made of mud brick covered with baked bricks laid with bitumen, a naturally occurring tar. Each of the baked bricks measured about 11.5 x 11.5 x 2.75 inches and weighed as much as 33 pounds. The lower portion of the ziggurat, which supported the first terrace, would have used some 720,000 baked bricks. The resources needed to build the Ziggurat at Ur are staggering.
originally posted by: holyTerror
After pages of derailment, how about we get back to the OP?
Did anyone else watch the video series that was posted? If so, what are your thoughts on the presented material and how it may or may not relate to a higher power?
Slayer, I would like to hear your conclusion and discuss it with you.
The Bible's description of Solomon's Temple (also called The First Temple) suggests that the inside ceiling was was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The highest point on the Temple that King Solomon built was actually 120 cubits tall (about 20 stories or about 207 feet). According to the Tanach (II Chronicles): 3:3- "The length by cubits after the ancient measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits". 3:4- "And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold." Solomon spared no expense for the building's creation. He ordered vast quantities of cedar wood from King Hiram of Tyre (I Kings 5:2025), had huge blocks of the choicest stone quarried, and commanded that the building's foundation be laid with hewn stone. To complete the massive project, he imposed forced labor on all his subjects, drafting people for work shifts that sometimes lasted a month at a time. Some 3,300 officials were appointed to oversee the Temple's erection (5:2730). Solomon assumed such heavy debts in building the Temple that he is forced to pay off King Hiram by handing over twenty towns in the Galilee (I Kings 9:11). When the Temple was completed, Solomon inaugurated it with prayer and sacrifice, and even invited nonJews to come and pray there. He urged God to pay particular heed to their prayers: "Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built" (I Kings 8:43).
Solomon's Temple (966 BC - 586 BC) "In the 480th year after Israelites had come out of Egypt," (i.e., 12 x 40 years ) Solomon began to build the temple, (1Kgs. 6:1). Solomon's temple was 36,000 cubic cubits, built by 3,600 foremen, (1Kgs. 6:2; 2Chron. 2:2). The Most Holy Place was inlaid with 600 tons of gold, the weight of 36,000 golden nails, (2Chron. 3:9). The Most Holy Place was 20 cubits wide; the Holy Place was 40 cubits wide, and the portico was 10 cubits wide, a total of 70 cubits. The temple is arranged in (the doubling of) the "time, times, and a half-time" pattern. [I.e., "one year, two years, and half-a-year."] The fact that it is doubled emphasizes that the portico represents the 7th day or year. [3½ x 2 = 7.] It, thus, is patterned after the creation narrative. Most scholars (according to my research) feel that the portico was 20 cubits high. If so, then it had 4000 cubic cubits of space, thus a total of 40,000 cubits since the temple proper was 36,000 cubic cubits. Compare this 36,000 + 4,000 = 40,000 pattern with the basic 36 + 4 = 40-year cycle of the 360 calendar. Notice that the 4-years cycle is the last of 7 cycles thereby patterning itself after the creation also. "God rested on the 7th day and separated/sanctified it."
DO NUMBERS have hidden meaning? “Of course!” some exclaim, pointing to an intriguing example—the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
“The moment I heard the news,” says one numerologist, “I noticed the date: 9-11-2001.” The number 11 is generally considered to be one of the “master numbers” by numerologists. So numerology enthusiasts have compiled a list of various items related to the terrorist attack that point to the “master number” 11. This is just a portion of what they found:
▪ The tragedy occurred on the date 9/11. 9 + 1 + 1 = 11.
▪ September 11 was the 254th day of the year. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.
▪ The airplane that hit the north tower was Flight 11.
▪ That flight had 92 people on board. 9 + 2 = 11.
▪ The airplane that hit the south tower had 65 passengers. 6 + 5 = 11.
▪ The Twin Towers resembled the number 11.
▪ In English the expression “New York City” has 11 letters.
Numerology—in which special significance is attached to figures, their combinations, and numerical totals—has been a widespread practice in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Why the allure? According to one Web site, decoding the letters of the alphabet used in names—one popular aspect of numerology—“yields accurate information concerning personality, nature, qualities and shortcomings.” According to this source, studying our “date of birth uncovers our life path, with its joys and trials.”
Are these claims true? Or could there be hidden dangers in the metaphysical study of numbers?
The Allure of Numbers
IMAGINE a world without numbers. There would be no money. Trade would be restricted to face-to-face barter. And what about sports? Without numbers, not only would we be unable to keep score but we could not even define how many players should be on each team!
Besides their practical application, however, numbers carry an aura of mystery. This is because they are abstract. You cannot see, touch, or feel numbers. To illustrate: An apple has a distinct color, texture, size, shape, smell, and taste. You can check each of these properties to see whether a certain object is indeed an apple, a lemon, a ball, or something else. A number, however, is not like that. One collection of seven items may not share anything in common with another collection of seven items—other than their “sevenness.” Hence, to comprehend the meaning of numbers—for example, to discern the difference between six and seven—is to grasp something very abstract indeed. And this is where number mystics come into the picture.
From Pythagoras to Pseudoscience
Attributing special meaning to numbers was common in ancient societies. Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived during the sixth century B.C.E., taught that all things can be reduced to numerical patterns. He and his followers reasoned that the whole universe exemplifies order and proportion. Could it not be, then, that mathematical relationships are inherent in all material things?
Since Pythagoras’ day, numerical readings have been used for prediction and dream interpretation as well as for memory aids. They have been employed by Greeks, Muslims, and members of Christendom. Using a system of numerology called gematria, Jewish Cabalists assigned a numerical value to each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and thereby claim to have found hidden meanings in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Modern-day numerology is similar. Often, your name and birth date will be the starting point. A numerical value is assigned to each letter in your name. By adding these—along with the numbers of your birth month and date—a numerologist establishes your key numbers. He then ascribes special meaning to these numbers, which he feels provide a complete description of you—including your personality, your unconscious desires, and your destiny.
Perhaps the real attraction of numerology lies in the seeming accuracy of its analysis. “Many people have come to believe in numerology through finding how closely the numbers fit those to whom they are applied,” writes Edward Albertson in his book Prophecy for the Millions. Yet, numerology has also been labeled a pseudoscience. Why? Are there reasons for you to be suspicious of its claims?
HIDDEN MESSAGES IN THE BIBLE?
In his book The Bible Code, journalist Michael Drosnin claims to have discovered hidden messages by means of computer analysis of the Hebrew Scriptures. According to Drosnin’s claims, the “code” yielded the words “assassin that will assassinate” along with the name Yitzhak Rabin—and this was found a year before Israeli Prime Minister Rabin was killed.
As expected, The Bible Code created its share of controversy. Dave Thomas, a mathematician and physicist, demonstrated that computer analysis of any text will produce what appear to be cryptic messages. Analyzing Drosnin’s own text, Thomas came up with the words “code,” “silly,” and “hoax.” “Hidden messages can be found anywhere,” Thomas says, “provided you’re willing to invest time and effort to harvest the vast field of probability.”
With its capability of making an unlimited number of calculations, a computer would likely find some combinations of letters that could be used as some sort of prediction. But this is merely a coincidence and does not prove that the Bible contains hidden messages.*
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I took my first Honors Bio course in 9th grade, and then AP in 11th grade. I got a 5/5 on the AP test. I took biology again while studying neuroscience at the university level. It was my studies of the endless intricacies of neural systems that made me realize our brain is way too complex to have been created through the proposed evolutionary mechanisms.
The depth of complexity involved with this processing is unfathomable - there are approximately 140 million neurons and 1.1 billion glial cells that are in the visual cortex alone. Riddle me this - how could evolution, by piecewise mutation, account for all of these cells, not to mention, allow them to work in a synchronized fashion?
You're fixated on what you view as extreme complexity. It may be black magic to you, but the anatomy of the eye and how it functions isn't a mystery to your ophthalmologist when you go for a new pair of glasses.
originally posted by: Phantom423
a reply to: cooperton
Nature fills the requirement of an organism by allowing it to adapt, change and evolve for its survival.
But you're very eloquent, I'll give you that. Perhaps a script writer for a movie is in your future? That's not an insult - I'm serious - write a novel or a movie script. The world can always use a great new lover.
The more you understand about the interdependence of molecules, cells, organs, and organ systems, the more you realize the impossibility of adding intelligible features by piecewise mutation one nucleotide/codon at a time!
originally posted by: PhotonEffect
a reply to: Phantom423
But evolution, as per the theory, can only occur after the structure is already present. Evolution can't account for the origin of novel morphologies or functions. I think this point tends to get lost in the shuffle of the debate.
You casually mentioned "self assembly". Where in evolutionary theory is this accounted for? Is this a matter of biophysics?