by xelder 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Well done Flat_Accent, you beat me to it, apologists love to talk of the shortcomings of carbon 14 dating, and ignore the firm evidence given by other methods.
As to the " water conopy" no such thing could have existed after land based life began on Earth, for a variety of reasons, one being the air pressure below the canopy.
There is no evidence one ever existed as far as I know, but it certainly is just another element of the story of Noah's Ark that shows it to be total fiction.
As to the " water conopy" no such thing could have existed after land based life began on Earth, for a variety of reasons, one being the air pressure below the canopy.
It appears to be a reflection of the ancients' ideas about the cosmos.
Ann, i've seen that image many times before. I'm wondering if you know the origin of it? How do we know that is what the ancients (nation of Israel in particular) believed about the earth? The JW's would have me believe the Jews knew the earth was spherical.
I don't usually play devils advocate, but I'm quite interested to find out any info on the source of that ancient flat earth idea.
Flat, here is a good overview en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_views_on_evolution
I don't know the origin of that particular drawing, Flat. It's shows up all over the place in an image search. I think I first saw it in an article about Sheol - http://www.storyofscripture.com/sheol/ - but the site probably borrowed it too. How do we know it's what the Hebrews believed? Well, it seems to be suggested in Scripture. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_cosmology
What of the lineage of Jesus all the way to Adam?
It's a pickle, it surely is. I haven't sorted it all out in my head yet to be able to pontificate like I do on other subjects
To me it's simple. Is man really older than Adam? Gobekli tepe. Unless archaeologists are wrong in their dating methods.
After that, doesn't it all kinda fall apart?
To me it's not that simple. Thinking objectively, if man is older than Adam, how does one understand the chronologies in Genesis and, in light of this, the claims of Christianity? Many Christians somehow manage to reconcile it all. How? That's the part I haven't unravelled yet and I'm taking my time.
[Oopsie - double post.]
AnnOMaly, ultimately the question is, is the Bible the Word of God?
I'm struggling with this myself. While I can't see stories such as Babel, the Flood, or the multiple genocides happening, I still think about texts like Isaiah 40:22 and Job 26:7 and of prophecies like the fall of Jerusalem in 587, which you argue so well, and it's prediction of Cirus coming to rule.
I also see things like prayer as a placebo. I don't think God answers prayers, if he exists.
If you want to talk more in depth, feel free to pm me. I ponder on topics like this a lot.
The only real reason Christians have a hard time rejecting the 6000 years of man myth is that there is no source of Original Sin without Adam and Eve. Otherwise, as Christopher Hitchens would have said: 'God has created us sick and commanded us to be well'.
It's interesting that you bring up prophecies, knowsnothing. This was one point I struggled on as I was pondering leaving the JWs. However, if you consider what Biblical scholars say about the writings of Jeremiah, or Daniel, or any prophetic utterance for that matter, you'll see there's no particular reason to think they were real prophecies, written prior to the event. Most were written well after. Consider the book of Isaiah, who most scholars now understand to be a compilation consisting of several writers.
Have a look at these links:
http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Prophecy
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Failed_biblical_prophecies
As for prayer having a placebo effect, this news article might interest you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?pagewanted=all
-AnnOMally