Nickolas

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Posts by Nickolas

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  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

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  Nickolas

  That was absolutely amazing, Shelby. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

  That's not accurate, dear one. Both dear tec and I... and others... have offered that there IS evidence: His Son, for one. That you and others REFUSE to consider the evidence offered... because it is not PHYSICAL and so cannot be "proven" pursuant to the proscriptions of what it takes to prove something PHYSICAL... is our fault, how?

  It is just so difficult for me to consider evidence I cannot perceive. Is it your fault? No, I suppose not, but you should be able to comprehend the conundrum it presents. Like trying to describe the sunset to a blind person, perhaps. Or the fourth dimension to someone who can perceive only three. I am left with two possibilities. Either I just don't have the ability to perceive the things you do, or perhaps the things you perceive don't exist. Stalemate.

  Anyway, basically I'm reading into your post that at least parts of the Bible are, indeed, not an accurate source of information for one to know God and there are other apocryphal works that need to be considered in addition to the parts of the Bible that are ok. Also that one who believes as you and Tammy do is free to hear what he wishes and refrain from hearing what he wishes not to. It sounds a little like cafeteria Christianity except that you get to fill your tray with the food from other restaurants too. I do get the distinction that the Bible is a volume of books rather than just one, but the central characters are all pretty much connected. As a body of technical writings it is not something to which I would refer if I had a question. But I do prefer steelhead to bass and bass to tuna, now that you mention it.

  I think I'll have to reread your post tomorrow when I'm not so knackered.

  Are you recommending it?

  It is non-addictive (although it can be habit forming in those who are not disciplined, so that doesn't apply to you) has no known lethal dose and is reported to produce satisfactory results in terminal cancer patients. If I was in chronic pain I would at least try it.

  Good night, all. Off to TIFF tomorrow but will pop in to take a pulse in the morning.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  I can't put my finger on it . . . but there's something mildly disturbing about that.

  Allow me, sizemik, to quote from the Richard Le Gallienne translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, written around 900 years ago:

  And do you think that unto such as you
  A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew
  God gave a secret, and denied it me?
  Well, well—what matters it? Believe that, too!

  Seemed it bothered Omar Khayyam, too.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  Likewise, m'lady.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  Some of what the Bible reports on is grounded in fact but that is common literary legere de main. Fiction incorporating an authentic thread of history is still fiction. The works of Shakespeare is an apropos example. Here's another. I'm a film fan and I regard Oliver Stone's movie JFK as complete fiction, despite it being based on an actual event. The Bible is in the same category. Presenting what cannot be proven within the context of what can be proven constitutes not a proof but imaginative fiction. It's up to you to decide whether or not to believe it. That's just the way it is.

  Peace back, Tammy.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  But I ask you... why do you listen to the people who have a small view?

  Alas, Tammy, I perceive you have taken the small view, yet I still wish to listen to you and what you have to say.

  (I am not offended, and you won't offend me by speaking your mind. I am interested in the answer)

  Thank you for that. I do appreciate the opportunity to be candid without being perceived as aggressive or insulting.

  God is not limited to the pages of the OT, though, or even the NT. He is Spirit. Something many people cannot grasp, and that many other people cannot help but to seek out.

  But you offer no evidence to support this, Tammy. You are asserting that you are aware of the existence of a spirit world that I cannot see and further that you know what goes on in that world. I am unable to act on faith. Call it a personal failing but I've been fooled once before by faith. You have to show me evidence if I am to believe the incredible things you are telling me. It is really as simple as that.

  I have a question though, and this is just a side point... it might not be for you, because you might not have made the comment. But someone said that they were not interested in the Apocryhpa because they had already read all they need to know about Yahweh in the OT. How is that different from me saying, "I don't need to read anything to do with Darwin... I know all I need to know about him through what I've read about social Darwinism"?

  Yes, the comment belongs to me. I regard the Bible as complete fiction. No offense. I would liken it more to me saying "I don't need to read anything more of J.R.R. Tolkien's because I have read quite enough about the Hobbits and other creatures of the underworld." The Bible is boring, has a choppy plot and story line and an even more disappointing climax. I think you can understand why reading the Apocrytha with that perspective would have no appeal. Also, I don't know what social Darwinism has to do with the conversation, Tammy. Darwin did not author any papers on human societal issues. He wrote only about the evolution of species through natural selection as an alternative to the widely held belief in the Genesis account of creation. Social Darwinism is an appropriation of his name, not his ideals.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  Allow me to paraphase what I think really happened.

  Then Man said, "Let us make God in our image, in our likeness, and let us rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  I see it as the opposite in the sense that instead of making God smaller, these things make God bigger. Our understanding of Him anyway. He is as He has always been. It is us who are limited.

  There's where I have a problem, Tammy. God just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. He is just so unquestionably perfect in every way that no matter how much more we come to understand the context, He just expands magnanimously to fill the space created in the minds of those who believe in Him and who are completely incapable of challenging their beliefs. But look how small He really is. How human-like he is. Make no mistake. People believe in Yahweh because of the Bible. Belief in Yahweh comes from nowhere else. People can dismiss the OT saying it was just the way man understood God at the time or yeah-but about the Apocrypha and how it really tells the untold story or cite the New Covenant of the NT but it all comes down to the same thing. The limitation you speak of is absolute unquestioning Faith. Faith handed down from generation to generation in the form of the Holy Bible. I have read the Bible in its entirety. Twice completely plus large chunks of it piecemeal. God does some very human things in the Bible. Some sociopathic and psychopathic things, too. How is he any different from all the other gods humankind has abandoned along the way?
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  Perhaps, Gerry, but I don't see any conclusions being formed or defections to either side of the conversation. Please feel free to wade in, if you'd like to redirect.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  (52 in 2.5 weeks).

  Pffft. A mere child.

  if anyone out there has ANY suggestions on dealing with post-surgery shoulder pain

  have you considered trying medical marijuana?

  SA, on her own... with apologies to dear Nick (peace, bruh!) for the personal "deviation"...

  Lots of deviant behaviour in here, Shelby old girl. Not to worry.
• 
  269

  The Hubble, Yahweh, the Bible, and faith.

  by Nickolas in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there have been several threads in which the views of the universe provided by the hubble space telescope have been discussed.

  i guess this will be another one.

  there's a new series being broadcast here in canada on the oasis hd nature channel entitled hubble's canvas.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nickolas

  Whew. So much new to digest.

  Could a believer not say the same of an unbeliever... that faith ALLOWS us to see... and LACK of faith is "why the UNfaithful cannot see what [we] see?"

  yes, Shelby, but the believer cannot say the same if he or she has never seen what I have seen as a non-believer. From my admittedly limited perspective, I was a believer at one time and that did prevent me from seeing the alternatives I see now. Many years ago I would have been entirely disposed to see things the way you and Awen and Tammy and Paul do because those things would have been more or less consistent with what I believed on the strength of my faith in God. Strip that faith away and the perceptions don't mesh any longer.