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eSineM

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #60 on: August 24, 2009, 03:43:44 pm »
lol  :o

vlsm23

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #61 on: August 24, 2009, 07:12:16 pm »
My friend the stores of the Bible are more than parables.  Besides being the Word of God, the Bible is also a historical document.  Queen Victoria once asked to give her a sentence that proved the Bible was true.  The answer was I can give you one Word to prove the Bible is true...JEW.   The Bible was not only given to us as a light to how to live but is so much more.  Everyday historians and scientist are finding more and more evidence to the validity of the Bible.  Some things are hid from human existance because God wants us to live by faith not by sight...for it says in Hebrews for without faith it is impossible to please God.  Just a thought.  Have a great day.

That does not even make sense.  The only evidence of the "truth" of the Bible is that other older religions have had similar stories with different names - the great flood, a carpenter savior, creation.  The word is faith and that is not fact. 

bldrdev

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #62 on: August 24, 2009, 08:17:26 pm »
All you have to do is read your bible and you will get all the answers you need.
You will never get all the answers just reading the Bible.  It is full of many things we will never be able to comprehend, until it is revealed to us when we get to Heaven.  If you believe in God, then faith that all things are possible and trust in God that all things have a purpose.

InKane

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #63 on: August 24, 2009, 09:39:54 pm »
The gods of the Greeks are now called "mythology." Other religions will suffer the same fate eventually, that is, if people start understanding the way things are.

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #64 on: August 25, 2009, 02:13:57 am »
Okay it looks like there is some 'religious experts' in here...I was hoping maybe to get a better explanation about this whole 'Noah's Ark' story...To me it is one of the many inconsistencies in all the many different translations of Bible(s)... The whole concept seems impossible to me...you would think there would be some more detailed info about this...since it was such an important part of this Existence today...I mean do I even have to explain...? just think about it, GOD supposedly chose two of each animal...as an example, so what kinda super breed of dogs did he choose...? lol I'm trying figure out so many different breeds/species of animals just came about into existence....and so on and so forth etc....

Peace
It wouldn't seem impossible if you believed in a God capable of creation ex-nihilo.

But to try to ask someone to explain how exactly something happened that no one today was there for is simply bewildering. There are too many variables involved in this story for us to know how many animals, how many breeds, what size of animals, how animals out of their climates would survive.

I also can't comprehend how out of all these different religions/sects/cults ...each one of say they have the "Truth" and the answers etc... lool.. who's to know which one is the right source...
Here was a comparative list I made myself:

Quote
HORUS (3000bc egypt)
born dec 25
born of virgin
star in east appeared at birth
adorned by 3 kings
teacher at 12
baptised at age 30
had 12 disciples
performed miracles
known by 'the lamb of god, the light, good shepard'
crucified
dead for 3 days
resurrected

ATTIS (1200bc greece)
born dec 25
born of virgin
crucified
dead for 3 days
resurrected

KRISHNA (900bc india)
born of virgin
star in east appeared at birth
performed mircles with disciples
ressurected

DIONYSUS (500bc greece)
born of a virgin
born on dec 25
performed miracles
known as 'king of kings, alpha omega, gods only begotton son'
resurrected

MITHRA (1200bc persia)
born of a virgin
born on december 25th
12 disciples
performed miracles
dead for 3 days
resurrected
known as 'the truth, the light'
sunday worship
Some of these have definite differences, and need to be researched more closely. I recall that there was one Indian deity person who was born of a virgin...sort of. What happened was that one of the Gods (I think) went swimming, and his seed got spread into the water. Then that deity person's mother went swimming, and got impregnated by the seed in the water. So many of these myths share a common idea of a woman giving birth to a God yet they were never with the explicit act with another male, but the means are different. Not at all like Mary, whose pregnancy was truly supernatural.

The common thread is there is one Truth, and all religions point to that Truth in some way. Some religions point to that Truth more than others, but all religions point towards the Truth. That's why there's common elements to many religions. Similarly, C.S. Lewis argues that each of these myths in some way foreshadow or give a glimpse of the fullness of the Gospel. Most pre-christian pagan myths contain, at some point or another, a god-man that dies and comes back (in some form or another). Lewis argues that these are preparatory to the actual coming of the true Messiah. This is one of the ways you can understand the bit about whole of creation groaning for a savior. Even pagan religions are looking for someone to destroy death. They get aspects of the story right, use similar images and characters, and they set forth the problems really well; in the end, though, their solution is always skewed in a way.

Take The Oresteia for example. Aeschylus uses very biblical imagery to describe justice (blood thick in the ground, crying out for vengeance). Yet at the end of the story, the problem is solved with an appeal to Athenian judicial procedures, and Athena is able to use rhetoric to convince the Furies to calm down. What is the message of this story? On one level, yes, that murder requires payment in blood. On another, though, it's that politics and rhetoric are what saves us from this vicious cycle of death.

Another better approximation to the Gospel is Orpheus, who descends to the dead to bring back his loved one. Here's a hint to life, love and other mysteries: If you're reading a story, song, epic poem, play or haiku, and someone goes underground, in a cave, a dark place, etc., they've just died. If they come back, it's a resurrection. If they go down to save someone, they're a Christ-figure.

And that's why I hated Bacchae so much. He doesn't even technically get imprisoned; a bull does it for him. I always forget my heresy names, but this is close enough to one of them to make me giggle.

I do believe in a GOD(creator, higher force or whatever) and that IT made us to enjoy this life...I believe he guides me everyday... I just don't think he has anything to do with any man made belief... and I believe it is wrong to even try and comprehend our Creator.... To me the best Faith is ignorance... i mean how can anyone say they understand who our Creator is...
The basis of your faith cannot supprt your claim, unless you accept to grant the fundamental assumption, if only for argument's sake, that God can exist as an object for knowledge, even imagined or delusional knowledge.

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #65 on: August 25, 2009, 02:14:15 am »
So your question is basically: Can someone give me a relatively simple, logical, realistic explanation for the story of Noah's Ark?

Probably not.
Depending on what sort of God he believes in, your argument may be baseless.

So your question is basically: Can someone give me a relatively simple, logical, realistic explanation for the story of Noah's Ark?
His question is probably futile since his assumptions (naturalistic ones) and worldview conflict with the nature of the story that a 'relatively simple, logical, realistic explanation' would be absurd.

Flood "epics" appear in quite a few ancient texts.  The idea of such a story was nothing new around the time the Bible is dated.  The story of Noah is quite similar to that of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the character, Noah, shares a good deal of similarities with the Sumerian fictional character, Tagtug.  A very brief explanation of Sumerian tale of Gilgamesh (more can be found, but I'll leave that to you):

Quote
The Sumerian hero Gilgamesh traveled the world in search of a way to cheat death. On one of his journeys, he came across an old man, Utnapishtim, who told Gilgamesh a story from centuries past. The gods brought a flood that swallowed the earth.

The gods were angry at mankind so they sent a flood to destroy him. The god Ea, warned Utnapishtim and instructed him to build an enormous boat to save himself, his family, and "the seed of all living things." He does so, and the gods brought rain which caused the water to rise for many days. When the rains subsided, the boat landed on a mountain, and Utnapishtim set loose first a dove, then a swallow, and finally a raven, which found land. The god Ishtar, created the rainbow and placed it in the sky, as a reminder to the gods and a pledge to mankind that there would be no more floods.
So what?

and any contemporaneous record is likely to be referring to a previous event or is based on a previous epic/tale/myth of another culture.
What's the basis of your claim?

There is a good deal evidence that supports large scale floods (NOT global) throughout history.  The Black Sea flood hypothesis matches up somewhat closely to many ancient stories of large scale floods.  It's still quite a controversial proposal though.

The point is there is currently no geological, paleontological or archaeological support for any serious flood at the period indicated, and any contemporaneous record is likely to be referring to a previous event or is based on a previous epic/tale/myth of another culture.
Certainly if you're a naturalist or materialist it would appear that way. However, a Biblical theist is less inclined to agree with you.

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #66 on: August 25, 2009, 02:14:27 am »
I believe that people take the Bible to literally.  I think they were stories gathered together to be a "moral compass".  I mean if you ask any person today if they believe that a shrub will talk to them, and if it is possible, a majority will tell you no.

I think that if you want to believe in God, He will be satisified if you believe in your way.  You don't have to believe the way man tells you to. Just my opinion, not disagreeing with anyone here...

I do believe in evolution, BTW, but who is to say that God didn't do that too? ;)
The problem here is this betrays a very ahistorical, abstracted view of Christianity, which can tend toward all sorts of Christological heresies (i.e., referring to anything in the Bible as "allegory" presupposes a kind of Gnostic world via vacuum reading the Bible through the fact/value dichotomy: either it's all "literal fact" or it's all moralistic allegory.)

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #67 on: August 25, 2009, 02:14:38 am »
Almost every culture has stories like these (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_myth)
If he believes in the bible, then they could be re-tellings of an event by his descendents. But I'm not sure.

Liljp617 knows his stuff. Everything he said is completely logical and rational...
ESineM, I can conclude that you're either a or on your way to being a very intelligent and open minded being....just ignore them because you will find yourself frustrated from stupidity and ignorance of raw proven facts. KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS, look for answers, and try not to step in the BS.
"Raw proven facts" doesn't seem to matter too much in a discussion where there are commitments to different presuppositions.

"Oh yeah the flood happened! That's why we dont have dinosaurs! Noah forgot them!"
Nobody is claiming this. Who are you talking about?

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #68 on: August 25, 2009, 02:14:55 am »
I meant to say the best faith is knowing you are ignorant.. the truth is everyone is ignorant even if they choose to pretend differently.

Nobody knows the true "god" or spirit, or religion etc.

find it funny how that supposedly god cannot be described, is not physical, and is completely behond comprehension.. .So how is it people still think they can explain god? haha, they use physical terms, and comprehensible information which obviously cannot be accurate at all... Its kinda like trying to describe something thoroughly by using only incorrect descriptions. If you keep adding more and more incorrect descriptions, at no point will it become clear what you are describing... in fact the more info you hear, the less you know and more confusing it is! haha. God and spirit are an experience and something you live, not something you can read about and describe to others.

The bible in its original form is unseen, the bible(s) that we do see have all been written and manipulated by oppressive forces.... Can anyone honestly read the "king james" version and not think about the irony that you are supposedly learning morals from a "king" which are generally accepted as the most oppressive force out there ? hehe. A long line of political tyrants have controlled the publishing of books for centuries, and people honestly thing the bible was somehow immuned to corruption, as if those in power wouldnt realize the power of the bible and the words contained inside. Of course they have been manipulated, and who can even vouch for those who wrote the very first draft? Every author was honest and talked to god etc.? none were corrupt? the amazing thing is not the belief in an invisible being in the sky,. the real amazing thing is that people actually trust the AUTHORS and publishers of these books as if they were written by god himself! (literally!).
Strawman.

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #69 on: August 25, 2009, 02:15:09 am »
Who here has watched Zeitgeist... and what did you think of it?
Interesting documentary. Very ‘persuasive’ but sadly misconstrued. Esp the Christian/Pagan comparison, which has been around for centuries.

This really is a silly movie that thinks it has somehow proven things.

So you don't think there's any possibility Christianity is based off an Egyptian Myth..? Then what's your theory?
This may or may not be true in certain cases. Generally the "astonishing similarities" between Greek/Egyptian stories and the Jesus of the Gospels are taken from the mystery religion versions of these cults, which involved later forms of the stories. So, for instance, the stories about Horus in 1000 BC differed plenty from the stories about Horus in 50 BC-150 AD. It's the "mystery religion" versions of the stories that are supposedly so similar to those of Jesus; the case is only made once they've got several centuries worth of stories to pick and choose from.

Usually people who forward this kind of assertion aren't taking into account the fact that the mystery religions (like Horus, Osiris-Dionysus) were (more) grounded in Plato’s worldview (if you actually study them and read their stories outside of the web) while the Gospels and Paul are rooted in the Old Testament, so despite the “astonishing similarities” between Greek/Egyptian stories and the Jesus of the Gospels, every single word means something completely different.

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #70 on: August 25, 2009, 02:15:22 am »
So you don't think there's any possibility Christianity is based off an Egyptian Myth..? Then what's your theory?

Christianity is based off a great number of cultural traditions, myths, and beliefs.
It's true they're related but 'based off?' No, I'm not buying it, since I've seen has been scholars saying, "Hey, look, there are similarities! X must be based off Y!". I can sort of see it if I were an atheist and believed religion evolved over time, but, then again, religious studies is one of the reasons I reject naturalism.

Egyptian is one of them, so yes. There's hardly anything (if any at all) in Christianity that is a unique idea.
I realize that those incorporating themselves into the pagan culture around them were, in many ways, abandoning Judaism's origins and purpose. I don't deny that there was a mixture; I do deny that the primary tenants of Judaism, and of Christianity, came from paganism. Maybe altered, maybe cast in a new light, but not originally from outside. And I see no reason to resort to that explanation.

This is one of the things brought up often...

http://www.aldokkan.com/religion/creation.htm
Not only is this a vast misrepresentation of Gen 1 (in contrast with other ANE cosmogonies, it's not about an indicative struggle), it's missing the marked differences between the Hebrew versions of various stories and other versions common in the ANE. The differences are what show us the strong distinctives of Hebrew thought and practice over against the surrounding cultures.


Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #71 on: August 25, 2009, 02:15:46 am »
So what part of Zeitgeist did you think was made up...?
There's so much disinformation I don't know where to begin. Ever heard of popular mechanics?

But here's just a few things in this amazing documentary that I'm talking about in Part 1.

First off, sunset is not a reference to “Set.” I worry about anyone who gullibly made it past that part of the video. I’m pretty sure “horizon” doesn’t come from “Horus is risen,” but I’m confident “Sunset” is not a reference to Set. That set off huge bells.

Quote
"Conflict between Horus and Set

By the Nineteenth dynasty, the previous brief enmity between Set and Horus, in which Horus had ripped off one of Set's testicles, was revitalised as a separate tale. According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set was considered to have been homosexual and is depicted as trying to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and then having intercourse with him. However, Horus places his hand between his thighs and catches Set's semen, then subsequently throws it in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set. Horus then deliberately spreads his own semen on some lettuce, which was Set's favorite food (the Egyptians thought that lettuce was phallic). After Set has eaten the lettuce, they go to the deities to try to settle the argument over the rule of Egypt. The deities first listen to Set's claim of dominance over Horus, and call his semen forth, but it answers from the river, invalidating his claim. Then, the deities listen to Horus' claim of having dominated Set, and call his semen forth, and it answers from inside Set.[6] In consequence, Horus is declared the ruler of Egypt."

And Horus was not crucified. I think that’s the part where I became livid, not necessarily because I was religiously offended, but intellectually. It’s hard when someone is just spouting lies to me directly.

Zeitgeist appears to have an impressive and verifiable source-list but I'd hardly call it impressive as they've also been debunked. Those sources are based off the old "Jesus Myth" where these kinds of arguments were popular in so-called “history of religions” circles until several decades ago, but they were generally abandoned.

Here was a brief list I made myself:

Quote
HORUS (3000bc egypt)
born dec 25
born of virgin
star in east appeared at birth
adorned by 3 kings
teacher at 12
baptised at age 30
had 12 disciples
performed miracles
known by 'the lamb of god, the light, good shepard'
crucified
dead for 3 days
resurrected

Compare the Wikipedia article on Horus with the website's claims.  Notice that they don't describe Horus as somebody who lost an eye that was then restored, or associated with the Falcon, or that his eyes represented Sun and Moon, or that semen was the weapon of choice in a major battle with Set -- even though these are central features to Horus.  Notice that his "virgin birth" (say, reproduction by masturbation) and "death and resurrection" (closer to reincarnation, if anything) are nothing like the "virgin birth" or "death and resurrection" of Jesus.  Obviously what's going on is that somebody is looking for little data points that can be given labels that sound like the labels we give to parts of Jesus' life.

Even so, let's see which looks better -- that the stories about Jesus came from the Old Testament or from mystery religions.

born dec 25 -- Jesus wasn't born Dec 25

Christians don’t actually believe that Christ was born on December 25th, but decided to celebrate it that day. That alone proves the site’s material is dubious, poorly researched, and extremely unreliable. The author’s clearly manipulating data to contrive arguments and evidence.

born of virgin -- unique births commonly appear for special people in OT (e.g., Isaac)

(Additionally, Horus was not born to a virgin in the vast majority of the myths I’ve heard. At one point, he was regarded as Isis’ husband. But one of the most established myths is that he was regarded as the son of Osiris and Isis - so he was not born of a virgin. In most stories of this well-regarded paramount of Egyptian storytelling, Osiris was dismembered, then put back together by his wife, who copulated with him, his detached phallus, or a stand-in for his phallus.

Quote
"Conception:

Isis had Osiris' body returned to Egypt after his death; Set had retrieved the body of Osiris and dismembered it into 14 pieces which he scattered all over Egypt. Thus Isis went out to search for each piece which she then buried. This is why there are many tombs to Osiris. The only part she did not find in her search was the genitals of Osiris which were thrown into a river by Set. She fashioned a substitute *bleep* after seeing the condition it was in once she had found it and proceeded to have intercourse with the dead Osiris which resulted in the conception of Horus the child.[5]"

Likewise, I’m not sure “Meri” or “Mary” was ever a name attached to Isis. I’m also fairly sure Horus wasn’t born in what became our December. Other sun-gods may have been, but not Horus. A big bell also went off the video asserted Horus was born in a cave or a manger similar to Christ - he was born in a swamp.)

star in east appeared at birth -- Perhaps they're thinking of Magi (people) from the east who followed a star?  East is first prominent at the beginning of Genesis, when Adam & Eve are kicked out of the Garden.

adorned by 3 kings -- There weren't 3 kings who adorned Jesus

teacher at 12, baptised at age 30 -- This is on the level of, "Started driving at age 16."

had 12 disciples -- 12 tribes of Israel

Nevertheless, this video was the first time I heard the assertion (without proper documentation) that Horus had twelve disciples - I doubt this claim greatly. There are tales of an inner circle coming to him for guidance and advice in warfare, etc. but not a specific number twelve, and not ones that followed him around in an earthly ministry.

performed miracles -- Moses, Elijah, etc.

known by 'the lamb of god, the light, good shepard' -- "Light" motif starts in Gen 1.  Lamb of God is Passover Lamb.  Good shepherd appears in the famous Psalm 23.

crucified, resurrected -- death and resurrection is the hope throughout the Prophets

And I didn't even have to take things out of context.  ;)

Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #72 on: August 25, 2009, 02:16:00 am »
Personally, I don't feel that evolution and Christianity are mutually exclusive. Evolution is just a part of God's plan, and the mysteriousness of his ways.
The Christian should presuppose that God has been actively involved with His creation. Therefore, what is commonly referred to as supernatural, is really completely natural, but it is simply divine. Anyway, my big problem with theistic evolution is that it borrows faulty naturalistic presuppositions. When we look at the universe, it only appears to be billions of years old if we presuppose things occurred naturally. The only reason we would have to explain away why stars appear to be millions of light years away is if we presuppose that the light had to come to earth naturally. As a Christian, I should reject that sort of presupposition. Why? Because they’re contrary to what I believe. If I don’t believe the earth was created through natural means, why would I look to the universe using naturalistic presuppositions? It doesn’t make sense. Its like playing a “what if” game in my mind and then letting my mind get the best of me. And I’m not certain how making predictions about the age of the universe is in the same ball park as looking through a telescope and realizing the sun is in fact not the center of the universe.

Further, I’m really not concerned with explaining why figurative language shouldn’t be taken literally or why a book written 2000 to 3000 years ago doesn’t conform to 21st century western science textbook standards. And most Christians reject certain evolutionary theories and other scientific explanations because they come from secular science rather than Scripture. Sure I can interpret Genesis to be figurative, but if I do so I’m doing so because of secular science not because the Bible does so. I’m letting science interpret Scripture instead of letting Scripture interpret science, which is what the Catholic Church appears to be doing, using the 'theory of evolution' to 'factualize' their faith, representing their faith as scientific fact, which I have a problem if someone tries to say that the existence of God is more 'fact' than faith. Again, your observation shows us that "creationists" (and I quote because I'm not using it in a general sense) can use "incompatible logic" to explain how God created everything. IOW, religious people trying to justify their beliefs by interpreting their scripture by science instead of exclusively sticking with their own theistic beliefs. There's no room for evolution in the place of religion, at least in the bible.



Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #73 on: August 25, 2009, 02:16:10 am »
Personally I believe in the bible however some of the translation by man could have gotten messed up
This is mostly trivial...

not to mention figuring out what is to be taken literally and metaphorically.
This would only be a problem if one falls into the trap of modern dualisms.




Stealth3si

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Re: Please explain Noah's Ark to me ...
« Reply #74 on: August 25, 2009, 02:16:19 am »
The whole point to understanding is FAITH, you have to believe to understand.  
How do you define faith, biblically?


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