Are we alone in the Cosmos? The Bible vs Evolution...

[John Picard]

Man has been the same since he stood in the garden of Eden, and was never a chattering, gabbering ape.

In reality he has never been otherwise.

I love the constant misconception that man descended from ape.

 

[Pauln6]

The Bible is not the word of God. He/She didn't write it. It is written by numerous people over time perhaps believing--or wanting to believe--that it's the word of a supreme being. In all likelihood it's a work of mythology no different than that of the ancient Greeks or any other culture. It's an attempt to explain a world full of mysteries people of ancient times couldn't understand any other way. It's literature and mostly one of fiction.

The story of God, creation of the Earth and of Jesus is a story retold over and over again in many cultures dating back into the mists of time. The same elements appear again and again.

This is it in a nutshell. Believing in a Higher Being is one thing; believing in one specific religion is entirely cultural. God not dictate the Bible, and the modern Bible isn't even the whole thing. It has been translated and edited on several occasions by humans. You only have to look at the divisions within the same religions, including the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim variants as broadly one religion, to know that culture is more important than the so-called Word of God. In some cases, different sects of the same religion actually kill each other - that's bonkers from God's perspective but it makes sense when you apply minimal group paradigms and Darwinian principles such as completing for scarce resources (whether land or followers).

I agree that dinosaurs were dumb because they didn't have to smart. That is also why they died out - because they DID have to be smarter (and smaller).

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Actually, they died out because their environment changed suddenly and catastrophically. We'd fare no better.

 

[Rack of T'Pol]

Every single "Born Again Christian"...Those who have literally "Accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior" (Maybe that's the way to put it, more specifically.), that I've ever spoken too, believes the bible is literal truth, the world is only 6000 years old, God created the heavens and the earth in 6 24 hour days, and then rested on Sunday, and man walked with the dinosaurs.

Keep in mind, though, that in most parts of the country there's a really big difference between "Christian" and "Born again Christian." The "Born Again" movement is a sales pitch for the Evangelical movement, of which Young Earth Creationism is a significant (and highly influential) subset. It's not the kind of crap you usually hear from, say, Methodists or Catholics, but mostly Evangelicals and southern baptists hold this as an article of faith at least as important, if not more so, that the divinity of Christ.

Yes...I was speaking of "Born Again Christians"...I should have made it more clear.

Did I miss something here? You cite that every single Born-Again Christian you've ever met is a young-Earth creationist ... after excluding anyone who isn't a young-Earth creationist from your definition of Born-Again Christian. What a surprise!



BTW, I'm a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, but I do not believe in a Creation of 6 24-hour days, a 6000-year-old Earth, or a global flood.

Feel free not to count me, but then I'm not sure what it is you are counting.

I would say that I've known, closely (Meaning, I've had long, respectful conversations about their beliefs), about 20 "Born Again Christians". All of them believing the bible is the literal word of God, Man was created in His image, and the universe was created by God, for Man...And it was all created within 6, 24 hour days...And, Man walked with the dinosaurs.

Of course I have known other Christians who do not believe in the same things.

Hope that answers everyone's questions about where I'm coming from?

 

[Pauln6]

Actually, they died out because their environment changed suddenly and catastrophically. We'd fare no better.

Some of us would fare slightly better because we can adapt using artificial habitats but maybe not over the time scale throughout which the dinosaurs died off. If global warming, whether man made or not, reaches tipping point then huge sections of the human race will be in real trouble. Mass migration is bound to lead to war and so is diversion of fresh water sources.

I wonder how the Promised Land is likely to fare if sea levels rise? I don't know how low lying the area is and who knows how long it might take before sea levels recede again?

Of course it's all moot if a nearby star goes nova.

 

[scotpens]

I love the constant misconception that man descended from ape.

Yes, to say man descended from the apes is a bit like saying Mork and Mindy descended from Laverne and Shirley.

(For those unfamiliar with American TV sitcoms of the 1970s, Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley were actually both spin-offs from Happy Days.)

Humans and modern apes descended from a common, ape-like ancestor.

Another thing that tickles me is when creationists ask, "If apes evolved into men, why are apes still here?" That's like asking, "If Christianity started as a Jewish sect, why are there still Jews?"

 

[GalaxyX]

Every single "Born Again Christian"...Those who have literally "Accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior" (Maybe that's the way to put it, more specifically.), that I've ever spoken too, believes the bible is literal truth, the world is only 6000 years old, God created the heavens and the earth in 6 24 hour days, and then rested on Sunday, and man walked with the dinosaurs.

Yes...I was speaking of "Born Again Christians"...I should have made it more clear.

Did I miss something here? You cite that every single Born-Again Christian you've ever met is a young-Earth creationist ... after excluding anyone who isn't a young-Earth creationist from your definition of Born-Again Christian. What a surprise!



BTW, I'm a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, but I do not believe in a Creation of 6 24-hour days, a 6000-year-old Earth, or a global flood.

Feel free not to count me, but then I'm not sure what it is you are counting.

I would say that I've known, closely (Meaning, I've had long, respectful conversations about their beliefs), about 20 "Born Again Christians". All of them believing the bible is the literal word of God, Man was created in His image, and the universe was created by God, for Man...And it was all created within 6, 24 hour days...And, Man walked with the dinosaurs.

Of course I have known other Christians who do not believe in the same things.

Hope that answers everyone's questions about where I'm coming from?

Yes, and it's unfortunate.

Most Christians take as fact anything their pastors tell them, or whatever HIGHLY BIASED websites tell them as well.

I believe the universe is billions of years old, I am borderline on man evolving from ape like ancestors but do not reject the idea.

Actually logically speaking, for an eternal God that has existed, 15.9 billion years of universe and 65 million years of man evolving is a drop in the bucket, and actually makes more sense to me for a God that claims to have patience as a virtue.

I can believe this and still be 100% committed to my faith that Jesus Christ is God.

 

[Deckerd]

If we could see into the future and the question is asked “what is the most amazing thing created by the Milky Way?”; there is every chance that the answer will be homo sapiens.

Presumptuous much? For all we know, there are species out there that compare to Homo sapiens as we compare to bacteria.

Sneeringly supercilious much?

As to your second, that's just being silly. That's exactly what I mean by familiarity breeding contempt.

 

[John Picard]

If we could see into the future and the question is asked “what is the most amazing thing created by the Milky Way?”; there is every chance that the answer will be homo sapiens.

Presumptuous much? For all we know, there are species out there that compare to Homo sapiens as we compare to bacteria.

Sneeringly supercilious much?

As to your second, that's just being silly. That's exactly what I mean by familiarity breeding contempt.

Deckerd,

You're *SO* British

 

[Deckerd]

Ain't no such thing as 'British'. Ask anyone from Britain on the board. We really need to edumacate youse guys. The only time it's ever used for an individual from this island is in front of the word 'passport'.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Did I miss something here?

Clearly you did. You missed this:


Then there's a 90% chance you are not a BORN AGAIN Christian.

(And apparently there's a 10% chance that I am. )

Okay, so? What does that have to do with anything?

In certain parts of the country the Born Again movement has a general monopoly on the spiritual culture of the region. Rock evidently lives in one of those regions.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Man has been the same since he stood in the garden of Eden, and was never a chattering, gabbering ape.

You mean to say that we are NOT chattering, gabbering apes?