The Atheist's Book of Bible Stories - new - The Long and the Short of It

by RunningMan 36 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • stevenyc
    stevenyc
    Again, doesn't say he was 13 feet (but I know you know that ; we are dealing with a form of polemics). I think the miraculous things in the OT are as beliveable as the resurrection. Even if you think it to be myth, most myth have some kind of history in it (I like how Schleimann used the Iliad to find Troy).

    Oh, absolutely. There are always truths in myths. Be it historical or rhetorical.

    As regards the dancing sun, I'll film it for you. Tomorrow if the clouds are right.

    steve

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    The LXX has a different version of the story in which Goliath's height was trimmed down to 4 cubits and a span (6' 9"). Some have used this as an argument for historicity as this is much more believable, yet this opens a can of worms for those who hold that the Masoretic text preserves the inspired text. It leaves readers of the Bible to pick and choose which presently available varient of the story to believe as inspired. The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal yet more ancient variations of the story, which explains why the present version appears to be a poorly pieced together collection of legends, it is.

  • RunningMan
    RunningMan

    "a poorly pieced together collection of legends" - Yep. When looked at as legend, it can be very informative. The humour comes in when you take it at face value. And, in my JW days, if the Bible said that donkeys talked and giants roamed the earth, then by God, it must have happened.

  • tdogg
    tdogg

    Im surprised at you all, don't you know gravity was different back in the Bible days. How else could Noah have gotten all those dinosaurs, mammoths, and giant sloths on the ark? Giants could have easily lived because gravity was weaker then and thats why animals grew so big and people lived so long. You guys really need to do your research.

    Your little calculations mean nothing, Runningman because moses didn't use the decimal system when he wrote the Bible and a cubit could be any size they wanted it to be. Everything was a cubit.

    "Hey, how much for a cubit of your finest wine?"

    "Well, that will be one cubit."

    "Here you go, one cubit"

    "And here is your change, a cubit."

    "Why thank you, Im going to head down the road a cubit to the next town"

    "Okay but be careful, down the road about a cubit there were some angry giants that were a cubit tall!"

    "Oh, maybe Ill go the long way then though its at least a cubit away."

    So there.

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Steven,
    Do you remember the book list I posted on the topic of Biblical interpretation? Try Henry Virkler's 'Hermeneutics' and Robert McQuilkin's, 'Understanding and Applying the Bible'. It behooves you to research what you appear to have discounted: the validity of proper scriptural exegesis.
    Rex

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Hey Runningboy,
    You also have no problem believing that a 'pig's tooth' is evidence for human evolution (see the Scopes 'Monkey Trial') and that life came out of nothing with no cause! LOL
    Rex

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Leolaia,
    The Hebrews used letters to represent numbers, therefore there is often confusion in these types of interpretations. Again, you are missing the point of the passage in question in order to belabor this point: to 'prove' scripture is contradictory or errant. I wonder if ex-members of other cults are this 'wooden headed'? BTW, that's not mean't to be literal, you don't actually have a wooden head! LOL
    Rex

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