Posts by Analysis

When I said; "It seems that you are the one that abandoned a belief with just some tough questions; In only a matter of just a few days." To Zechariah, it was because is claimed I had lost my faith over simply touch questions. I wanted to point out to him that he was capable of the same.

I for one have found that the more I study the scriptures the more unanswered questions I have. So I too am looking to grow. I however am driven by intellectually honesty.

To Zechariah

First you dont know what my objective is nor yet what I believe. I enjoy debating and will join in on both sides of an issue if I think that will result in revising my own belief system or thought process.

For you to state:

"I am a man of faith. I have no obligation to be intellectually honest."

This just confirms what I have already seen from you; which are that you will go to any length to support your perceived truth. The Bible states God are truth. I can not separate truth from intellectual honesty. You are just like the religious leaders who condemned Galileo. The Bible doesnt teach that Earth is the center of the universe, but they had their preconceived belief and they used intellectual dishonesty to condemn those whose beliefs were different then their current worldview or beliefs.

The Bible does not say how God created the universe, earth, man or the animals. It just states that he did create them. Yet you have a preconceived view and you condemn me when I ask simple questions.

You stated:

"I am not a believer that everything the Bible says is to be taken literally."

So I ask again:

Who decides what is literal and what is not? Or is it up to each individual person to make those determinations themselves and in the end it is between them and God. Is God going to condemn me if I were to make a mistake in that determination? Am I condemned if I was raised in a part of the World that did not have access to the Bible?

None of these questions show any contempt for God. But, they are valid topics for seeking the God of Truth. Are you telling me that if God wanted to, that he could not have used evolution as his way of creating mankind? Or that during his creation he decided that some of his creations would survive down to our day while others had already served the purpose they were created for so that he no longer needed them? Or that he is not powerful or resourceful enough that he could not make improvements to his early creations? Could he have used the Big Bang to create the Universe?

Just my two cents, I could be wrong. The Truth is Out there!

66

Kangaroos and the Flood

by Zechariah in

jw
friends

noahs descendants .

genesis 10. the table of nations .

the japhethites .

Analysis

Zechariah:

OK so now you realize that it was only a Regional Flood. As I stated I believe the Bible account of the Flood was based on some event in the Pre-History of man.

You said in reply to my questions:

"You had so little faith that you are willing to abandon belief just because tough questions are raised. Trust in God on these occasion

(s) will lead you to satisfactory answers."

It seems that you are the one that abandoned a belief with just some tough questions; In only a matter of just a few days. Here you have spent a great deal of effort to support your Biblical beliefs, even reading into scriptures things that were not there, but also adding your own human speculations. That is what most religious people have been doing for the last two thousands years.

So how is the Ice Age explained by a regional Flood? Some might say the melting of the Ice is what caused the flood.

What about the question of rain in Genesis the second chapter?

And how do you account for the people who lived in other parts of the world prior to the flood?

You stated:

"I am not a believer that everything the Bible says is to be taken literally."

Who decides what is literal and what is not? Or is it up to each individual person to make those determinations themselves and in the end it is between them and God. Is God going to condemn me if I were to make a mistake in that determination? Am I condemned if I was raised in a part of the World that did not have access to the Bible?

66

Kangaroos and the Flood

by Zechariah in

jw
friends

noahs descendants .

genesis 10. the table of nations .

the japhethites .

Analysis

Zechariah said

"I don't think there is any doubt about what the Bible teaches about the flood. Its whether we believe it or not. Do you deny the evidence that from the descendants of Noah the nations spread out over the earth. Just like the scriptures say."

Yes in your defense modern science with their improved understanding of DNA has proved that all of mankind came from one Modern Woman. That does not prove your point on the flood, but only supports your point.

Zechariah said

"I am well aware of the different uses of the word "world" in the Bible. That is not what we're faced with here."

According to you that is not what we are faced with here.

Did you not state in another thread, that no change in DNA was ever beneficial? And here on this thread you claim that all the diversity of the animal kingdom came from your 150 to 200 kinds? In only 4,000 years? If you really believe that, then you have already accepted the concept of evolution. And I might say you believe it happens at a much faster pace then even the most ardent supporters of evolution.

Five years ago I too was convinced that the Bible was correct concerning the accounts of creation and the flood. I like you attempted to twist things around to convince myself of that fact. Even now I believe that the flood account is based on some major event in the pre-history of man. Science has proved that civilizations existed, where today we find only water. But that does not prove a global flood.

Think about what you believe.

Explain the Ice Age with the Bible and then advise me how that goes with Genesis the second chapter about rain?

Explain the natural killers like sharks by the Bible

Explain how Civilizations existed prior to the flood in such diverse locations as Australia and the Americas. Did God have Noah preach to them so that they could repent?

Edited by - Analysis on 12 November 2002 15:10:33

Edited by - Analysis on 12 November 2002 15:11:54

44

Top Five Forbidden Watchtower Subjects

by metatron in

if you are an 'old timer' and wonder why the watchtower and awake.

magazines are so bland and lacking in content, it may come as no surprize.

to you that it's often because a number of topics are 'off limits'.. that is, certain subjects are so troublesome to the watchtower leadership.

Analysis

IslandWoman

Point taken, I just have not had the opportunity to meet the type you have described.

44

Top Five Forbidden Watchtower Subjects

by metatron in

if you are an 'old timer' and wonder why the watchtower and awake.

magazines are so bland and lacking in content, it may come as no surprize.

to you that it's often because a number of topics are 'off limits'.. that is, certain subjects are so troublesome to the watchtower leadership.

Analysis

IslandWoman

Would you like to provide details on why you believe him to be wrong?

You really need to question anyone who is in fine standing in the Organization when they all of a sudden start partaking.

I mean it goes against everything they have been taught.

7

JWD Scopes Monkey Trial continues

by Zechariah in

jw
friends

the creation (belief) vs. evolution (unbelief) debate is like a trial.

the new scopes monkey trial i spoke of weeks ago.

i accept now the trial has already begun and continues to rage.

Analysis

Liberty, you have made some very good points.

Zechariah as with all court cases questions are asked. So here are two for you.

First Question

If we assume for a moment that God provided the Bible and he wanted us to follow him, then why do we have conflicts in the actual teachings? I am not referring to things that modern people claim differences on, but where the Bible actually contradicts itself.

For example it is clear from the Bible that Paul and James had very different viewpoints as to what was required to be acceptable to God. James maintained a very Jewish approach to Christianity and with that applying the Law and the Temple. While Paul maintained that our eternal future was a gift of God based solely on Faith. Would not the two authors God selected to pen the Bible have the same understanding? If you review the Book of Acts, this conflict was basis for Pauls trial in Rome and his actual death.

Second Question

If God is the Creator and the Author of the Bible, shouldnt they be in complete harmony?

Briefly explain how the Bible and Nature are in Harmony on the following topics.

A. The Ice Ages, the flood and the statement concerning rain at Gen. 2:5 & 6.

Sharks and other animal killing machines and the Bibles concept of a Garden of Eden where all the animals got along together.

17

Is 1914 date flawed?

by badboy in

jw
friends

reasoning from the scriptures says on pp95-97 that months consist of 30 days.. years therefore would be 360 days long.. i have calcaluted(sic)that for every year in the `western'calender such a 360 day calender would fall 4/5 days depending on whether it was a leapyear or not.

now over a period of 2520 years,a 360 day calender would be 9,940 days behind a 364/5 day calender(25 years!

) therefore 2520 years according to book of daniel would fall in 1889!.

Analysis

Compton

I just read those two chapters. Interesting.

22

Do you think this 1st century relic is authentic?

by Gopher in

jw
friends

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021021/ap_on_re_us/jesus_inscription_6

scholar touts oldest link to jesus mon oct 21, 5:11 pm et.

by richard n. ostling, ap religion writer.

Analysis

Question

In the Washington Post they stated the actual writing was Jacob son of Joseph, not James. They indicated that James is the English rendering of Jacob. Since we have Jacob also in the Bible why would they have translated Jacob in the Christian Greek Scriptures to James? Is that valid?

19

Intelligent Design in the Universe

by metatron in

jw
friends

this will be complicated ( if you think any watchtower study article is 'deep', .

give up now).

so, according to popular images, god sits on a throne.

Analysis

Zechariah

If you are going to fight fire with fire, you better go out and get some matches and some type of fuel. By what I have read of your posts so far, you are currently out of both.

An analogy that I read a few years back on the genetic code, is that it is like software. Within the DNA we are given certain attributes that dictate both our physical and emotional makeup. Then based on what happens to us in the womb and with life itself, we become the individual that we know as ourselves. Identical twins have the same DNA, but as life proceeds that have different likes and dislikes. While much has been written about the similarity of identical twins, they are all different.

Whatever ones feels the source of life and intelligence or creative design is, lets take this one step further.

The design or building block of life is found in the DNA. This genetic code has the ability to replicate. In the case of humans this replication is a combination of genetic code from two distinct individuals. Every so often the replication is not perfect. Creationists will tell you that this in-perfection is because of original sin. However, sometimes these replication errors are actually beneficial for the resulting offspring.

So in a weird distorted way we are the product of a form of software (the genetic code in DNA) that can replicate itself and over time make software enhancements to the original code. At times these enhancements are not all that desirable, but hey even Bill Gates has to come out with software upgrades.