Posts by cappytan

174

The Bible is NOT Error-Free

by FusionTheism in

for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

cappytan

Fisherman: One cannot prove a negative. All that can be done is to report a lack of evidence for the positive.

Either the Bible's being divinely inspired has evidence in favor of it, or it lacks evidence.

If one's position is that it is NOT divinely inspired, they do not have to present evidence. The "evidence" of a negative is by definition a lack of evidence.

Most of us exJW's have read the Bible multiple times and looked for the evidence ourselves.

Your position, unless I am mistaken, is that the Bible is inspired of God.

If so, present the evidence in favor of that assertion.

For something as important and universally impactful as the Bible being the inspired word of God, would you not agree that the evidence must be clear and empirical?

174

The Bible is NOT Error-Free

by FusionTheism in

for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

cappytan

Just because you claim that you have not seen anyone else say it, does not mean that someone else has not, does it?

Oh, so you mean to tell me, that just because someone or something claims something is true, it doesn't mean it's necessarily true? Wow!

Now, take that principle and apply it to the subject of this thread.

174

The Bible is NOT Error-Free

by FusionTheism in

for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

cappytan

Cofty aka Vivian? And I am not the only poster on this Forum that has stated this suspicion.

Yes. Yes you are. You are the only one I've ever seen make that accusation.

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

cappytan

Village Idiot: if you can't see the distinction between the two statements, then there's no point in discussing this further.

35

Hitler admits the truth about the truth....

by _Morpheus in

submitted by the governing body for your approval!

credit freemindfade with on the script.... http://youtu.be/ldiwqqbcd5w.

cappytan

Dammit! I started working on it earlier today. Thanks for the head's up. :P

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

cappytan

Ending slavery was everybody's business.

I didn't say it wasn't.

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

cappytan

...the same basic use of imagery used by the same type of mentality as the neo-nazi knuckle-heads of Europe.

It really is sad that the imagery of the confederate flag has been commandeered by hate groups.

In my mind, it's a piece of history, and promotes that heritage of telling Washington to mind their own business.

In the 80's my favorite TV show was The Dukes of Hazzard.

Whenever I see the confederate flag, the last thing I think about is hate and slavery.

If I ever get a 1969 Dodge Charger, it's gonna have the General Lee paint job and that has nothing to do with hate.

109

The Confederate Flag

by Simon in

the latest controversy over the confederate flag just sums up to me the state of dysfunction that exists in american society.. in summary: a white supremacist nutter shoots 9 black people dead in a church.

he's clearly inspired by the messages of others which the confederate flag is often a symbol of.. it seems like a no-brainer to remove it.

not only isn't it removed, it isn't even lowered at all as a mark of respect.. and of course now there are the people who want to defend their right to have it.

cappytan

The Confederate States of America only existed for ~4 years.

Slavery existed under the U.S. flag longer than the Confederate flag.

When it comes to issues of the Civil War, though slavery was a tipping point, there were also issues of State's rights and a fear of losing political clout on a federal level that were in play.

Lincoln won the election, the secession started.

The Emancipation Proclamation happened well after the outbreak of the Civil War. Slavery was still federally legal in the U.S. when the first shots were fired.

So to equate slavery as the sole issue in the civil war is to be uninformed and ignorant of the other political issues of the time.

Comparing it to the Swastika is also a false equivalency. The German Government of the WWII era took specific steps to exterminate the Jews. The Confederate Government only had a policy of keeping the status quo. Yes, it was a horrible status quo, but the atrocities committed against slaves were committed by private individuals, plantations and not by official state action.

The idea of allowing that private activity to continue is reprehensible. However, it is very different than having an official state sanctioned policy of extermination.

2

Interesting Article on Bart Erhman's Blog about Papias beliefs about a Paradise Earth!

by skepticSam in

i doubt the early wt thought papias had much to say when the subject came to the transformation of the earth in to a paradise.

there's some strange things he claims he heard by close associates with jc, bart erhman has up on his paid blog more information about this topic.

the basics are that papias claimed jesus said "the earth will sprout so much food" that those gigantic cluster of grapes brought in by joshua and caleb are nothing compared to what's in store for followers of jc.

cappytan

The idea of a paradise came from the Egyptians, they thought after they died and went threw the underworld going through some triles and tribulations that after thier last test having thier heart weighed if they past the test they would live forever. This place was called the field of reeds. If they did not past the test and thier heart was unpure they would be eaten by a beast and die a second death forever gone.

I can see the Watchtower taking this factoid and twisting it to "prove" that it was well known among the nations that a Paradise Earth was God's original purpose for mankind.

174

The Bible is NOT Error-Free

by FusionTheism in

for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

cappytan

Are you honestly suggesting that the Golden Rule and Good Samaritan and Prodigal Son morality has no place in the 21st Century?

That morality is not exclusive to Christianity. The Bible does not have a monopoly on morality.

Also, if you can pick and choose through the Bible, a book that as a whole is morally bankrupt, to put forth the premise that it is a source of good morals, then can't you do the same with Mein Kampf? I'm sure there may be one or two things in Mein Kampf that amounts to common sense and we can all agree on. But does that mean that the overall message of Mein Kampf is positive and moral, just because of a couple of passages?