Bible prophecy has already been invalidated. There are no unambiguous fulfilments of Bible prophecy yet on the other hand there are a hundreds of prophecy failures from the Garden of Eden right through to Revelation.
Would human settlement of Mars invalidate Bible prophecy?
by truthseeker 61 Replies latest jw friends
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punkofnice
50%plantain - Failed Bible prophecy = Joshua said that God would, without fail, drive out the Jebusites and Canaanites, among others (Josh. 3:9-10). But those tribes were not driven out (Josh. 15:63, 17:12-13).
Ezekiel said Egypt would be made an uninhabited wasteland for forty years (29:10-14), and Nebuchadnezzar would plunder it (29:19-20).
Neither happened but I imagine apologists will have some mental gymnastics around the failure of the Bible. I await grumpy comments with deep glee.
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Drearyweather
Human settlement and colonization of Mars would require complex life support measures and artificial environment. This is greatly due to the reduced air pressure and 0.1% oxygen in the atmosphere there. With 95% carbon dioxide in the air, the residents on Mars will not be able to go outside their 'homes' without pressure suits and bottled oxygen!
On Mars, it would be just about surviving in the environment there, rather than living. Whereas, we humans are made to live and enjoy and the atmosphere available on earth is just suited for that.
Hence the planned colonization of Mars would just mean to create earth-like atmosphere in controlled systems so that humans can survive.Mars would need a great amount of terraforming to allow humans to live unaided.
Mars can become a second home for humanity only if science is able to transform Mars so that it becomes a place where humans can live and breathe and enjoy unaided and not just create rooms and colonies with earth-like atmosphere where people would be spending their lives adjusting and surviving in an un-conducive environment.
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David_Jay
Punkofnice,
The Jebusite and Canaanite people likely merely merged with the Jews. The Hebrew Scriptures are a liturgical work (not historical nor a basis for Jewish theology). The narratives of Jews "conquering" these people is neither historic nor archeologically sound, and while we Jews know these things aren't literal reports, people prefer the Gentile Fundamentalist Christian interpretation over our explanation of our own writings. This is legendary politico-narrative explaining in religious terms how a heathen people "disappeared" once the Davidic dynasty made worship of YHVH the state ( and therefore only legal) religion in the Fertile Crescent. They didn't really go anywhere. Jews are partially composed of these (and other) Semite peoples.
This is why the text says these groups were never driven out. It is merely a liturgical narrative, meant for liturgy. Jews ARE these people. We didn't come upon ourselves and conquer ourselves in war.
The Ezekiel "oracles" (not "prophecies" that foretell events as if our prophets were mediums, a concept Gentile Christians invented and believe in) are describing why the plan to trust in Egypt's help will not save Judah from Babylonian attack and exile. Egypt is "reduced" to its legendary "plague-like state" of the Exodus in a series of symbolic pronouncements (which is what an "oracle" is). If it did foresee anything, it was merely that Judah's political intrigue with Egypt proved to be unhelpful in time of crisis. Nebuchadnezzar proved more powerful than this union between Judah and Egypt. But this may have been written during the events of political failure or merely have been a smart forecast based on reading the political scene well. It isn't the literal prophecy Christians claim it is, and anyone with a critical thinker would have the smarts to look this up in a Jewish commentary to know that.
I reiterate: the Christian idea that the Bible is some sort of magical book that works like a crystal ball to show people the future is reducing it to a grimoire. The Gentile obsession with spiritism has never been totally eradicated from Christianity, and so Christians have attributed magical powers to liturgical books of a people that despise fortune tellers or those who claim they can foresee the future. The Tanakh is not a Magic book that forecasts the future.
These are not prophecies of the future. Blame your mistaken view that they are on Christians who can't let go of their heathen and pagan ways that they need to make Jewish writings into a Magic 8 ball. When you do that, or course the so-called prophecies which Christians claim are there fail. They weren't prophecies to begin with.
It isn't Jewish writings that have failed. It is Christian claims that these are prophecies that are failures. Stop listening to them. Crack open the Jewish Study Bible and go through the critical analytical discussions there for a historical and current look at how Jews understand these texts. Would you listen to people who can't read Chinese explain ancient Chinese legends to you? Why listen to Gentiles explain the Bible to you? They can't even read Hebrew. They have to have it translated for them to read these texts, and often they won't translate them according to the ways Jews would. It's not smart to listen to people like that about the Hebrew Scriptures.
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Village Idiot
Half banana, Punkofnice & David Jay, please let's not get off topic.
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punkofnice
VI - Not me VI.................
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blondie
Thank you, VI, for mentioning that. Sometime when I look at these threads, the OP has not resemblance to the newest post I look at.
Why not start a new post and invite those interested to come over there?
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snowbird
The Bible's Message/Prophecy is that ALL of us have an accounting with the Creator.
Amos 9:2 makes it plain that no matter where we are, when the time comes for that to happen, it's gonna happen.
Sylvia
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Christian Gutierrez
Very interesting question and reference, I never thought of that one. Maybe the Watchtower will just revise it's "new understanding" on that?