Quote an old book written by superstitious people?

 

Mrfun, I am returning to this issue, because I missed pointing out, in my first answer, some most important facts that pertains to what you have written.

First, I will paste here a copy of your statement, which I want to address:

 

 “I read a bit of www.doesgodexist.org.  Here is a quote from it:  

  ‘If we know the creation has a beginning, we are faced with another logical question–was the creation caused or was it not caused? The Bible states, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Not only does the Bible maintain that there was a cause (a creation) but it also tells us what the cause was. It was God.’

 

It apparently feels no shame in quoting an old book written by superstitious people as evidence from the get-go. Find an argument that doesn’t require circular logic.

It’s better to say “I don’t know, I have no confidence in the present explanations” than to say “I know for sure without even remotely convincingly evidence… and you admit you don’t know, so I win!”

 

 Yes. Mrfun,  This is a very important point, which is very strong evidence in itself, that the books of the Bible could only have been written through the divine inspiration of God himself. Note that the Bible consists of 66 books (not one), written by 30 people. Among its authors were a tax collector, a herdsman, a doctor, some fishermen, a philosopher, a preacher, some prophets, a statesman, a king, and a rabbi. It was written over a period of about 1,500 years. Yet it has been found to be in perfect harmony, 100% accurate, scientifically, medically, and prophetically. (Compare the Bible, in these regards, with the Qur’an, or any other religious holy books of men). How can you explain this miraculous phenomena?

 Mrfun, You are absolutely correct, in saying that these were superstitious people of the time. Yes; they believed all kinds of strange things, such as the earth being flat, the earth being carried around on a turtle’s back, or Atlas, and such. Also, they did not have the medical and scientific knowledge that our world possesses today. Why do we not see such errors written in the Bible, these things that the people believed at the time it was written down? The Bible is packed with medical and scientific and prophetic knowledge far beyond the time it was written, and it is found to be 100% accurate, to this very day.

 

Let’s look at the Bible. Is it inspired by God? Is it accurate? 

 

First, I will post a fact as stated in the Bible, followed by the Biblical reference. And then, I will show the common belief of the day in which the author lived: 

 

Fact: Blood is essential to life. (Lev. 17:11-14)

Belief: Disease and spirits reside in blood. To cure disease, bleed patient.

Fact: Both male and female possess “seed of life.” (Gen. 3:15; 22:18).                         Belief: Male has baby in him. Woman = incubator.

Fact: Eating blood of animals forbidden. (Lev 17:12, 14)                                                 Belief: Raw blood used as beverage.

Fact: Do not eat animal that died naturally. (Lev. 17:15)                                                Belief: No restrictions on manner of death.

Fact: Quarantine of certain diseases. (Lev. 13-15)                                                            Belief: No isolation of diseased.

Fact: Do not eat pork, scavengers (in Moses’ day). (Lev. 11)                                      Belief: No food restrictions.

Fact: Principles of avoiding bacterial contamination — one person to another. (Lev. 15:19-33)                                                                                                                                 Belief: No rules of hygiene or isolation.

Fact: Human waste products to be buried. (Deut. 23:12-14)                                           Belief: Human waste left on ground.

Fact: Human body can be opened for surgery. (Gen. 2:21)                                                  Belief: First operations done secretly because populace threatened doctors.

Fact: Burning clothes, washing self after contact with deceased man or animal. (Num. 19:5-22)                                                                                                                                   Belief: No recognition of contagion problems.

Fact: Earth is round, day and night taking place simultaneously. (Isa. 40:22; Prov. 8:27; Luke 17:34)                                                                                                                                 Belief: Earth is flat.

Fact: Earth is not physically supported. (None mentioned and Job 26:7)                            Belief: Earth is held up by four elephants or Atlas (a man), etc.

Fact: The North is empty (Our North Pole points out of our galaxy). (Job 26:7)                 Belief: Seeing a few stars to the North refuted this idea until 1932.

Fact: Space and stars are too large to be measured or counted. (Gen. 15:5; Jer. 33:22) Belief: Attempts to number the astronomical bodies went on until 1932.

Fact: The creation sequence — plants, water creatures, birds, mammals, man, in that order. (Gen. 1:11-28)                                                                                                             Belief: Most had man first. All varied from the correct concept.

Fact: The age of everything in the creation is the same. (Gen.1:1)                               Belief: Different times for different objects.

 

　

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

　Evolutionary Man

 

 

 

My post on Larry King Live, Defending the Bible as the word of God

Posted 7/9/2009 7:43 PM EDT on dailyrecord.com

Donald Cole, Dover NJ July 9th, 2009 7:05 pm ET

To Amand L. Archambeault,

You are free to disagree, but I do not see how the evidences hold up to what you have said here, about the Bible not being of the word of God. I suspect. that you have been ill taught, parroting your own religion’s teachings, without having done any real research yourself, to see if these things are true. Of course, what any one believes doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, unless they have substance or evidences to back it up. So following is, –what say I:

First of all; realize that there is good and bad science, as well as good and bad theology. For example, this business of some preachers saying that through the Bible, we can tell how old the earth is, –is totally false. Every good scientist knows that the earth is a lot older than 6-8000 years old. The problem is not with the Bible; the problem is with the preachers. The Biblical means used to arrive at their conclusions do not hold up. The Bible does not say how old the earth is, and one can not use the geneologies shown in the Bible, and such, for that purpose, for which they were never intended. It’s scientists vs. preachers, not science vs. the Bible.

Here are some of the Historical and scientific reasons to believe that the Bible is God’s Word:

Fulfilled Prophecy: While the account of Jesus’ ministry may have been brief, it was, nevertheless, complete enough to establish the Bible as the indisputable Word of God. Writing history in advance or prophesying with absolute accuracy is something only God can do. In harmony with this, we find that Jesus’ ministry was preceded by several hundred prophecies, which served to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was the true son of God.

Checkability: By checkability, we refer to statements in the Bible that can be checked to see whether or not they are accurate.

Brevity: When historians or storytellers write and politicians or preachers speak, they are seldom brief. Conversely, the Bible is simple and to the point, especially in the Old Testament Genesis account of creation and in the New Testament style of writing in general.

The Author: Perhaps the most important reason to choose the Bible as the Word 0f God has to do with its author. When we examine the other religions in the world, we find that all of the responsibility for establishing a relationship with God falls upon the seeker—humanity must reach up to God. God does not help at all in these religious systems. It is up to each individual to reach the goal—whether the goal is Nirvana or Brahma or whatever it might be. If a person is not capable of reaching the goal using his own strength and merit, than he may have to make repeated attempts by being reincarnated over and over again.

Checkable Biblical Accuracy:

In each of the following cases the Biblical writer had an opportunity to either state the widely held erroneous belief of the day, or to state a factually true description. In each case what was stated was true, demonstrating knowledge beyond the writer’s ability and thus necessarily from God.

First will be: Fact As Stated In Bible, followed by Biblical Reference, and then the Common Belief Of Day In Which Author Lived:

Blood is essential to life. (Lev.17:11-14). Disease and spirits reside in blood. To cure disease, bleed patient.

Both male and female possess “seed of life.” (Gen. 3:15; 22:18). Male has baby in him. Woman = incubator.

Eating blood of animals forbidden. (Lev.17:12, 14). Raw blood used as beverage.

Don’t eat animal that died naturally. (Lev.17:15). No restrictions on manner of death.

Quarantine of certain diseases. (Lev.13-15). No isolation of diseased.

Don’t eat pork, scavengers (In Moses’ day). (Lev.11). No food restrictions.

Principles of avoiding bacterial contamination – one person to another. (Lev.15:19-33). No rules of hygiene or isolation.

Human waste products to be buried. (Deut.23:12-14). Human waste left on ground.

Human body can be opened for surgery. (Gen.2:21). First operations done secretly because populace threatened doctors.

Burning clothes, washing self after contact with deceased man or animal. (Num.19:5-22). No recognition of contagion problems.

Earth is round, day and night taking place simultaneously. (Isa.40:22, Prov.8:27, Luke 17:34). Earth is flat.

Earth is not physically supported. (None mentioned and Job 26:7). Earth held up by four elephants or Atlas (a man), etc.

The North is Empty (Our North Pole points out of our galaxy). (Job 26:7). Seeing a few stars to the North refuted this idea until 1932.

Space and stars are too large to be measured or counted. (Gen.15:5; Jer.33:22). Attempts to number the astronomical bodies went on until 1932.

The creation sequence – plants, water creatures, birds, mammals, man, in that order. (Gen.1:11-28). Most had man first. All varied from correct concept.

The age of everything in the creation is the same. (Gen.1:1). Different times for different objects.

The continents have floated away from a singular original land mass. (Gen.1:9; Gen.10:25). Each continent was autonimous
(until 1970).

Hubert Spencer’s scientific principles. (Gen.1). No scientific system of statements.

Lightning is produced naturally. (Jere.10:13; 51:16). Gods throw lightning bolts.

All men are blood relatives. (Acts 17:26). Men have different origins.

The water cycle. (Eccl.1:7, Job 36:27-28). Gods pour new water on land continuously.

Use of genetics in livestock. (Gen.30:30-43). No recognition of inherited physical properties.

Snow and ice seen as valuable. (Job 38:22). Snow and ice seen as a scourge and waste.

Seaworthy ratio for ship construction 30-5-3. (Gen.6:15). Ship ratio not considered; only the beauty.

Concepts of id and ego. (Rom.7). God induced behavior explanations.

Animals can be changed (mutated). (Gen.3:14). No change possible.

Directional correctness. (Luke 10:30). Directional error.

Distance accuracy. (Luke 24:13). Errors in distances.

Hittite nation’s existence. Denied until 1906.

Now, I myself am no scientist, but I do listen to scientists.
For starters, I suggest you check out renowned scientist, and ex-atheist, John Clayton’s web-site: www.doesgodexist.org You will discover much of what I have said here, therein, –and much more on this subject. –dc

http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/27/larry-king-live-discussion-thread/