Posts by TonusOH

19

What was really going on with Abel? Does anyone find the story of Cain and Abel screwed up.

by liam in

ever wonder about the story of cain and abel?

why did jehovah like abel's sacrifice more than cain's?

maybe there's a subtle reason why jehovah likes animal sacrifices.

TonusOH

The story of Cain and Abel is also very brief and lacking in details. From their birth to Abels' death is only eight verses in Genesis.

The story does not give any clue as to why God rejected Cain's offering. It seems as if the story is more about Cain's reaction to the result. It sounds more like a cautionary tale about jealousy. I'm not sure if there is any meaning to the way the story assumes that the world was already well-populated with at least one established city. It would indicate that Cain and Abel had lived quite a long time before they offered up these sacrifices and before Abel was murdered. Cain only took a wife after this happened. It has all the hallmarks of a fable.

67

Dinosaur Soft Tissue

by Sea Breeze in

back when the dinosaur soft tissue story was broken in 2005, i predicted that that many more soft tissues would be found and that it wouldn't matter if it was supposedly "65 million" years old or "165 million" years old.

the prediction has proven true and dinosaur soft tissue is routinely now found regardless of supposed age.

this is easy to predict using a literal reading of genesis and accepting it as history.... .

TonusOH

Have those papers upended science? Changed any paradigms? What are experts in the relevant fields saying?

What I think about them is meaningless. I'm not a biologist, or an astrophysicist, or a geologist, and so forth. This is why the process of peer-review is so important. It allows people who know the subject to test new claims and either discard them or open up new avenues of discovery. It gives the people making these claims the opportunity to find out if they have any merit.

The discoveries of dinosaur soft tissue-- what changes has this led to in the relevant sciences? Has it caused those fields to embrace a young Earth, or shorter geological time scales, or anything like that? Or is this only what YEC sites are claiming? Who are the experts in the relevant fields, and what do they say about this? These are legitimate questions, because this is a crucial step in making the case for a young Earth. Are YEC sites answering --or even asking-- these questions?

67

Dinosaur Soft Tissue

by Sea Breeze in

back when the dinosaur soft tissue story was broken in 2005, i predicted that that many more soft tissues would be found and that it wouldn't matter if it was supposedly "65 million" years old or "165 million" years old.

the prediction has proven true and dinosaur soft tissue is routinely now found regardless of supposed age.

this is easy to predict using a literal reading of genesis and accepting it as history.... .

TonusOH

Sea Breeze: What difference does it make if a journal is characterized by some as Old earth or young earth?

One journal is based knowledge gained via the scientific method, the other deliberately limits itself by rejecting knowledge if it is at odds with the Bible. The latter is not science.

Sea Breeze: I believe you are experiencing disorientation due to the paradigm shift that is taking place in our scientific community.

There is no paradigm shift. This is what YEC sites claim, but cannot demonstrate.

Also, a spreadsheet with a long list of peer-reviewed papers is great! So, which are the ones that have upended the scientific community? Which specific ones are creating a new paradigm that has secular scientists all in a tizzy?

67

Dinosaur Soft Tissue

by Sea Breeze in

back when the dinosaur soft tissue story was broken in 2005, i predicted that that many more soft tissues would be found and that it wouldn't matter if it was supposedly "65 million" years old or "165 million" years old.

the prediction has proven true and dinosaur soft tissue is routinely now found regardless of supposed age.

this is easy to predict using a literal reading of genesis and accepting it as history.... .

TonusOH

Sea Breeze: Almost everything on this thread has been peer-reviewed.

No, it hasn't. Having claims published in YEC journals is not peer-review. Only a very few YEC scientists have an education in the relevant field, and their peer-reviewed work does not challenge theories about the age of the universe or related fields of physics. The few peer-reviewed papers they do publish follow conventional science, and only the crap they "publish" in YEC journals makes claims contrary to what has been discovered and researched by their peers.

This is the bait-and-switch that YEC sites perform all the time. Point at one of their own who has a relevant education, point out that he has been published in the relevant journals... and then have them present unscientific nonsense that they wouldn't dream of submitting for peer review. I challenge you to find actual, legitimate peer-reviewed articles from any of them which challenge established science about the origins and age of the universe.

12

The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 : The Fulfillment of Prophecy - Part Two

by EisMe in

a united witness to the divine plan.

as my son wrote in his letter:.

*"with regards to our spiritual journey, there is not enough paper or ink to give it justice.

TonusOH

Okay, I get it. This clown (or someone using the name Estephan Leuese), has been predicting the end on these forums for a very long time.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/114944/from-one-that-loves-us-estephan-leuese

That's a topic from 19 years ago, and back then it appears our resident prophet was regularly annoying the regulars with warnings of an end that never seems to come. At least he has learned to format text in the intervening decades, though perhaps generative AI is lending a hand.

Edit to Add: This fellow is also Muhammad:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/88653/faithful-discreet-slave-am-also-muhammad

The chosen of god created a website that didn't last long enough to see the end of the world.

67

Dinosaur Soft Tissue

by Sea Breeze in

back when the dinosaur soft tissue story was broken in 2005, i predicted that that many more soft tissues would be found and that it wouldn't matter if it was supposedly "65 million" years old or "165 million" years old.

the prediction has proven true and dinosaur soft tissue is routinely now found regardless of supposed age.

this is easy to predict using a literal reading of genesis and accepting it as history.... .

TonusOH

Again, I will point out that the people who actually research and learn about this stuff are not coming around to a view that contradicts decades (centuries, even) of learning and discovery. It is not surprising that the only people who are claiming that there is any support for a young cosmos are the same people who always did so regardless of what is found, and the same people whose own charters require them to reject actual science for what their ancient texts might say.

There is a reason that these claims are not put to the test through the process of peer review. There is a reason most of these claims are made by people who are not experts in the sciences in question. Or why the handful of people who are experts also avoid peer review when they go off course. Their claims are so wrong that the relevant sciences largely ignore them anymore, which they take advantage of by pretending it's evidence that they're on the right track. It's conspiracy-theory quackery at it's most deranged.

65

The End of the Times of the Gentiles and the Restoration of the Kingdom

by EisMe in

the end of the times of the gentiles and the restoration of the kingdom.

the final stage of god’s plan on earth.

the fulfillment of prophecy: the end of the gentile age.

TonusOH

EisMe: Do you truly believe nothing has changed? Or is prophecy unfolding in ways you haven’t yet considered?

Nothing has changed. It should not surprise us that the earliest failed prophets would be mindful that they would be mocked. I'm sure that many of the people who made failed predictions over the centuries have also been mocked. Certainly, the ones in modern times have been mocked mercilessly. Harold Camping is a good example. Did the mockery make his predictions any less wrong? No, they did not.

As for the signs, there have been many periods in the past when things were far worse than they are today. The Bubonic Plague may have killed as many as a third of the population of the planet at the time, and there have been times with terrible suffering from famine and war and natural disasters. Indeed, the one way in which the modern day differs is that we are suffering less from these problems.

67

Dinosaur Soft Tissue

by Sea Breeze in

back when the dinosaur soft tissue story was broken in 2005, i predicted that that many more soft tissues would be found and that it wouldn't matter if it was supposedly "65 million" years old or "165 million" years old.

the prediction has proven true and dinosaur soft tissue is routinely now found regardless of supposed age.

this is easy to predict using a literal reading of genesis and accepting it as history.... .

TonusOH

Wasn't there a time when they claimed Earth was around 42,000 years old? Based on a six-day creation made up of 7,000-year "days," or something equally nutty.

Granted, it's based on the same literalist thinking that gives us a 6,000 year old planet, so you could come up with a range of values. They're all wrong, which is what you get when your unit of measure is "whatever these ancient people pulled out of their asses." But, as with so many other beliefs, the WTS found ways to differentiate themselves for no other apparent reason than wanting to be different.

65

The End of the Times of the Gentiles and the Restoration of the Kingdom

by EisMe in

the end of the times of the gentiles and the restoration of the kingdom.

the final stage of god’s plan on earth.

the fulfillment of prophecy: the end of the gentile age.

TonusOH

EisMe: I realize this, but we are in a different time period.

Most of the predictions of the past were grounded in the claim that things had gotten so bad that it had to be the time of the end. Crime, disease, famine, weather events, earthquakes, war, unease, a lack of compassion... all of these were used as signs that this time, it was going to happen.

The thing is, these things are always happening. You may as well claim that the rising and setting of the Sun are a sure sign of the end. In other words: we are not in a different time period, where these things are concerned. We're in the same time period we've always been in.

65

The End of the Times of the Gentiles and the Restoration of the Kingdom

by EisMe in

the end of the times of the gentiles and the restoration of the kingdom.

the final stage of god’s plan on earth.

the fulfillment of prophecy: the end of the gentile age.

TonusOH

EisMe: and soon, this corrupt system will crumble.

...said every failed prophet for the past two thousand years.