Posts by peacefulpete

46

Evolution vs. Creation (on Earth)

by StinkyPantz in

i didn't necessarily start this thread as a debate but moreso as kind of a survey.

i just wanna know what people think and a brief reason why.

i want to know how you think life originated on the earth.

peacefulpete

The recent discoveries of exteremly simple and durable bacteria in deep sea vents has shifted the focus away from shallow solar heated pools. It is very likely that life first generated there or at least was incubated there if it did initially arrive via a meteorite from another wet planet. It would have been safe there from the intense solar radiation and the extreme climate fluxuations resulting from the numerous astreroid impacts of the time.

Edited by - peacefulpete on 2 January 2003 12:58:47

106

How do I know the Bible is True?

by SwedishChef in

how do i know the bible is true?

by thomas schaff.

external evidence.

peacefulpete

Thanks rem for the hebrew word for sphere....The metaphor is lost when literalism clouds the brain doesn't it. It should have occurred to us that the Catholic church would have accepted the roundness of the earth had they understood Isaiah to have meant sphere.As obsessd as they were about bibical cosmology. This is a modern interpretation cooked to salvage the Bible from the world of myth.

106

How do I know the Bible is True?

by SwedishChef in

how do i know the bible is true?

by thomas schaff.

external evidence.

peacefulpete

swedishchef...Since you brought up Jonah and the fish earlier lets look again. How did Vishnu (hindu god 3000 b.c.)get swallowed by a great fish and transported safely to another shore? Did Yahweh do it? Or how about Hercules (greek god/son of god)when he was swallowed by the great fish and was in it 3 days before returning to Joppa? Did Jehovah do that too? Bible stories are localized adaptations of much more ancient ones. Heros did certain things, gods did certain things, saviors did certain things. Religious concepts were expressed through story telling, and recurring motifs gave these stories a sense of pious familiarity.

33

Who Is Jehovah?

by reporter in

christians should all honestly and thoroughly investigate the contradictions between the old and new testaments in terms of the descriptions of god.. .

the god of the new testament is described as a god of love, mercy and peace.. .

the god of the old testament is described as jealous, vengeful god, a war-monger.

peacefulpete

bona dia....It only appears comforting to believe noone knows the answers to these questians. Ignorance is not bliss however, it is pitiable when the the result of disinformation, reprehensible when due to contempt for learning. Learning is progressive yes but forward moving. Leaving behind ideas we once believed to be "gospel" is the normal path of growth. Perhaps what you distain are the fruitless debates over interpretation masquerading as scholarship. I share that opinion if so. Yet this exercise succeeds in creating questions and it may be that this is the first step in honest self evaluation and a hunger for less subjective answers.

106

How do I know the Bible is True?

by SwedishChef in

how do i know the bible is true?

by thomas schaff.

external evidence.

peacefulpete

I apologise for not providing more detail but you are mistaken about the circle=shere thing. The Hebrew language did and does have a word for shere or ball,and it would have been used if it was suggesting the shape of the earth was round. I found this out by reading the arguements of the opposition. The verse in fact was only using a familiar metaphor. We still do today refer to our "circle" of friends, etc. Therefore the writer simply meant the whole land as he knew it. The verse is used eroneously to support the "scientific accuracy" of the Bible. By the way Egyptian,Greek and Chinese educted men knew the earth was sherical at the time this verse was supposed to have been written so the point is mute.It was only during the Dark Ages when Bible literalism suppressed this knowledge did Europe forget.Mythology wherein the earth was supported upon Atlas or beasts were just that Mythology and not reguarded by the educated people as more than religious conceptualizations. The "hanging the earth(ground erets) from nothing" verse is evidentally the result of the writer looking up and seeing no strings above his head. Therefore it was a miracle the ground did not fall to sheol or some place. No evidence of inspiration here.

45

Jesus Is God (John 1:1)

by JesusISJehovah in

according to john 1:1, jesus is god.

how do jehovah's witnesses rationalize that blatant statement of jesus' deity?

peacefulpete

Once again the simple answer is that the Bible reflects the evolving theology of a group of disheartened and disappointed Jews who readily incorporated themes and metaphor from surrounding religious traditions. It is obvious that the earlier layers of text in the New Test. are not overtly Trinitarian yet in just a few years this teaching gained popularity so that we see verses like those in John 1:1 that do show a change in understanding their "Savior". The debate only exists among Bible literalists who fail to recognize the shiftng nature of religion.

6

If Jesus Was Without Sin....

by Robdar in

i was watching discovery's program about jesus.

an interesting point was brought up: if jesus was without sin, why was he baptized by john the baptist?

opinions, anyone?.

peacefulpete

Water baptism was an ancient sacrament by the time Jesus arrived. Nearly all of the Greek, Persian, Indian and Egyptian Gods were baptised (usually in rivers) and or baptised others as a symbol of death and new life. It was only natural for the Christian story to incorporate this element into it's theology.

22

About that pesky number 666...

by czarofmischief in

as a horror fan, i've seen every antichrist movie from the omen to the omega code.

and that number 666 keeps popping up.

so, i was thinking about that number, and how it's actually written in the bible is a bit odd.

peacefulpete

I'm the Anticredulity

18

JESUS shared a secret with marymagdalane,what was

by nightwarrior in

what was the secret jesus shared with marymagdalane ( was she his wife) .

any one know about these questions,if so please share them with us .

.as we are doing some research along, different avenues .

peacefulpete

It is an interesting comment found on the Magdelene web site that the charactor of Mary reappears in other religions. This is so. In fact the Gnostics immediately associated the Mary Mag of the bible with their own Sophia. Sophia was healed of a 12 year flow of blood by Horus the Egyptian Savior.(500 bc) Also it was recognised by the Church Father Irenaeus that the tale about Mary Mag being freed of 7 demons was mirrored by the contemporary Samaritan story of Simon Magnus casting 7 demons out of the woman Helena, who by the way was a prostitute. A close examination of the Bible and other religious stories in their historical context reveals recycled tales and well worn imagery.

Edited by - peacefulpete on 31 December 2002 9:21:21

22

About that pesky number 666...

by czarofmischief in

as a horror fan, i've seen every antichrist movie from the omen to the omega code.

and that number 666 keeps popping up.

so, i was thinking about that number, and how it's actually written in the bible is a bit odd.

peacefulpete

Right-wing fundementalist interpretation of scripture have shaped U.S. middle east policy for 40 years. All this recent excitement about "Babylon" as portrayed on televangelist programs have contributed to the blinding nationalism again arising in America. A lack of critical thinking skills is not just sad it is deadly dangerous. The most powerful militery in history is about to slaughter an unarmed (albeit backward) nation. This is not a war this is butchery. And while it is certainly true that oil remains the primary obective, Christian religious zealotry has fueled the cause by it's stupor inducing spin on verses pulled from their historical context.