You probably don't know what to write because the bible is a very confusing book. Most believers would say, "oh, is because you don't have faith" (NO! I DON'T!) but what does that have to do with the price of tomato in china. I don't have faith, but seem to be a better person than the one who believes in a god and has faith. For example, check post/related post https://www.f150online.com/forums/ge...es-around.html
Any ways, coming back to your question, lets start with the first confusing part of the bible, "The creation of man." In the book of Genesis chapter 1, the "infallible word of God" state that he created animals first, then he created both man and woman and made them rulers of his creation. But in Genesis 2 there is a very different creation story from Genesis 1. In this second creation myth, God creates a man first and then the animals. After man tells God that he can find no companion from among these animals, god makes a woman from man's rib. Even today, many still incorrectly believe that males have 1 less rib than females.
Are there also supposed to be great moral truths hidden in this myth. As a skeptic I ask, other than the cynical one that woman was just an after-thought in god's mind? If this myth is correct I can definitely informs you that man is the "mother" of all humans (Eve came from Adam's body). I also ask, is this embodying still another great patriarchal truth? And how about the part in Genesis-2 where God Condemns all of humanity to pain, torment and death just because the first couple disobeyed Him over what today would be considered a very minor offense, an offense for which they were never even told ahead of time what the horrible consequences would be? Does this embody a great, moral truth? But my main question is: how can any one know which biblical myths are supposed to carry the "great truths" and which are just to be ignored?
Believe me when I say I still haven't found a reasonable answer to these questions. But maybe there are some of you who would give a reasonable explanation other than the, "you don't have faith", and in turn this will give you some incite on what to write about the old testament.

 

Unless of course, when we die, we die and thats all there is to it. We just die and rot like the organic creatures we are.

Of course nobody really wants that to be true, and you certainly can't scare the hell out of people, take their money and turn them against other people if there's no threat of eternal suffering, or reward of eternal "vacation". That's just not a politically powerful idea...

Honestly though, don't you think Heaven would get boring after 10,000 years?

And what if your idea of Heaven is spending eternity with someone, but that someone wants nothing to do with you?

I'm not trying to be snide or condescending, but honest questions that I would want answered if I believed in that kinda thing.

- NCSU

 

Though it's an age old scenario that has played out for thousands of years, it's all about Faith and decisions made based on that Faith.

 

^

So then is the God you believe in the One True God for the whole universe? That all the possible life that ever is, was and will be, in all the far corners of the billions of light years of what's out there fall under Him?

If, somehow, you believe that there isn't, wasn't or won't be life somewhere else out there, then why did God create all that wasted space, but filled it with an unthinking number of planets and stars?

- NCSU

 

According to history, Galileo, an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, a scientist in other words, was persecuted by the Catholic church who condemned him because they believed his findings, that the earth is not the center of the universe, is not flat and it does move, were "false and contrary to Scripture".
I take that most of you Bible believers still widely hold the believe in a young earth which is flat, sits on a foundation and does not move because your God created it that way.

1 Chronicles 16:30: “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable.”
Psalm 93:1: “Thou hast fixed the earth immovable and firm ...”
Psalm 96:10: “He has fixed the earth firm, immovable ...”
Psalm 104:5: “Thou didst fix the earth on its foundation so that it never can be shaken.”
Isaiah 45:18: “...who made the earth and fashioned it, and himself fixed it fast...”

 

Slavery is another confusing subject I've found written in the Bible. I am often puzzled on the origin of the many different human races. According to most religions and cultures, their mythical answer to this question is that all humans originated from Adam and Eve. Throughout much of the "White", Cristian population in the past and today's two possibilities existed, "lower" races (which usually meant the colored people) degenerated from that "original perfection." This was believed to have happened either a) through Cain who killed his brother Abel (the mark of Cain-Genesis 4: 15), or b) through Ham who was cursed for being disrespectful to his drunken father, Noah. In fact, the creation "scientist" of today still believe that Ham, who supposedly lived only 4,500 years ago at the time of the biblical flood, was the father of all the "colored" people living today. The following are 2 claims made by major religious organization in the United States. "As a result of his rebellion, Cain was cursed with dark skin: He became the father of the Negroes and those spirits who are not worthy to receive the priesthood are born through his lineage."
"Color is the emblem of a curse visited by God on the sons of Ham. As the curse is lifted, the hue lightens. Thus the black man still bears the full weight of the original curse."
The third belief held that Adam and Eve were the ancestors of white folk only. The other race (the ones in the distant lands that Cain traveled to -see Genesis 4:16-17) had been separately created by God.
In both cases, however, the Indian, Negro and other "lower" races were generally seen as having been given brains by God that were incapable of advancing, civilization. Therefore, the African slave trade, colonialism (control of third-world countries by the industrialized nations), the wide-spread extermination of the American Indian, and other social doctrines of inequality could be more easily ethically and religious justified by those in power. But I must clarify, the Bible didn't create racism, of course, which undoubtedly existed long before. But, by not speaking out against racism and by not condoning, and even supporting slavery in several passages, the Bible, in the hands of ardent Fundamentalist who believed it to be the infallible "Word of God", became still another obstacle to ending slavery and to Blacks (not to mention women and homosexuals) achieving equality.

 

there was also a time when the greatest minds in the world said it was impossible to fly or go to the moon. with time they have been proven wrong. Like you mentioned and I said the church has had a major impact on what the bible says.

explain to me how we could have accurately translated the bible when the original text has 24 ways of saying the word "the"?

 

Easy! We simply translate/rewrite it to suit our preconceived prejudices/needs! Problem solved! Isn't this kind of how Henry VIII established the Anglican Church? The Catholic Church didn't suit his needs, so, he "invented" a new one!

- Jack

 

Scientist today still can not explain where this universe came from. The times when people were persecuted for new ideas, were known as the "Dark Ages"
Todays science says our universe came from a singularity(nothing). So where did all this matter come from? , Science says that it came from nothing. A simple rupture in a singularity and now there is all of this dust, light, and mass. Pretty extraordinary don't you think?
Even before the belief in a Gnostic God. There were Idols, people created something to place their faith. It is pretty easy for us to say "There is no God". We think we control everything because we pretty much have overcome the adversities of life. But, when all else is gone, and we are nearing the end of our life, we still look for answers to these questions. Some find answers sooner than others. But one day everyone comes to the realization, that they are powerless over their own life. That is when they find faith.
When a person makes that connection, it actually changes the way they think. To others that have not made that large step, it all appears as BS. But it seems to be programed into us to seek faith. When you find it, there is nothing like it. You simply know! That is what self awareness is all about. Life takes on a whole new meaning. You can also look at another person and see their faith, or lack of. But until they are ready to find it, there is no helping them, because they already have the answers.

 

My point exactly, check post https://www.f150online.com/forums/ge...own-image.html

 

Yes idols were created. Images of Gods. Books were written. I have your point. Christians were persecuted for their belief in the following of a man who would not even fight for himself. But he didn't have to. His faith was so powerful. He knew he would overcome, even when he felt he was forsaken. His ideals live on today.
We all know the history, Europeans decided to free the Holy land as they called it, because it kept them from fighting each other. A common enemy always rallies people together. An enemy make a people strong. The lack of an enemy makes them weak. I didn't write the rules, but I do understand them.
We fight wars today, but the question is, "Do you want to fight them there, or do you want to fight them here?". There will be war either way. We didn't destroy our own buildings.

 

In science, it's the evidence that counts, not a trial to be decided by some judge or jury. Regarding the origin of life over 3.5 bya, there are still many unanswered questions. Thus debate and experimentation continues. Solid new evidence can lead scientists to change their minds and reject old hypotheses in favor of better ones. Knowledge progresses, this is science in action, not some ignorant, wishy-washy witness at a trial.
Also, the origin of life on our earth is just the first chapter in the extremely large book of evolution. Scientists have already uncovered and pieced together enough pages to know that there's a book and its overall plot. True, many pieces of the evolution puzzle are still missing. But more than enough pieces have been found to know that a puzzle exists and what the general picture looks like.
Biological evolution is NOT a theory of everything. It has nothing to do with the origin of the universe and as just mentioned, little to do with the actual origin of life on Earth. The evidence supporting our evolution comes from the millions of already discovered fossils , plus numerous other lines of evidence. As an analogy, one doesn't have to understand where all the atoms came from that make up a fertilized egg to accept the fact that a fertilized egg actually does grow into an adult.

 

There is only one God. He created everything. It's all right there, broken down day by day in Genesis.

 

Again, it's not about religion.

 

I simply don't have the answers you're looking for. I can tell you we are here by design. Some scientist even have the theory that spores were hurled through space. That idea would be possible, if a civilization saw its own demise coming. We could send our genetic structure to another place. But we did come from somewhere, it simply is to complex for evolution to happen by accident.
There is a riddle to our existence. Why does it take a male and a female to make offspring. These questions could go to infinity. We came from a singularity, that is the most important thing science and religion agree on.