Adam and Eve

[Son of the King]

Why? When Snorri, the author of the Eddas, describes Thor's hammer Mjolnir (which represents thunder and lightning) he says that it returns to his hand when thrown. How could Snorri have known that lightning travels down to the ground and back up to the sky unless he was divinely inspired?

The Eddas explain that eclipses happen when the wolf named Hati Hróðvitnisson catches up with Skinfaxi, the horse that pulls the sun. But if we bang pots and pans together and make a loud noise, we can distract Hati long enough for Skinfaxi to escape. Every time there is an eclipse I run outside and make loud noises and the sun always escapes. Explain that!

Orion is a type for Christ because he is crushing a snake? Maybe Christ is a type for Odin because they both died hanging from trees. The myth about Odin being nailed to a tree is just a rip off of the Jesus story you say? Then why isn't Jesus crushing the serpent a rip off of Orion?

In all seriousness, explain why the Bible has more credibility than the Eddas. Is it because it's older? What about the bhagavad gita then?

EDIT: I don't want to seem like I'm disrespecting the Bible. Both the Eddas and the Bible are valuable to me and I respect them. They are on the same self in my office; the historical literature/mythology section. The shelf below is for my 3D animation and anatomy reference books and the shelf above is for my Conan the Barbarian and Hellboy comics.

Sounds like a situation here described in 2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 

[AV1611VET]

Ok I'm a Sagittarius. What is the Hebrew name for a goat with a fish tail and what does it have to do with salvation?

First of all, I'm getting my information from a book called God's Voice in the Stars, by Kenneth C. Fleming.

The back cover reads:

Aquarius, Gemini, Sagittarius...

What do these horoscope signs have to do with the Bible? The answer is that God created the stars and named the constellations long before demonic forces corrupted the meanings of the stars and enslaved people with superstitious horoscope addiction.

To answer your question, Sagittarius is known as The Conqueror. He appears in the form of a centaur as half-archer/half-goat, depicting one with a dual nature.

Should he release the arrow, it will go right into the heart of Scorpio, a scorpion that is trying to sting the heel of a mighty man.

 

[AV1611VET]

Sounds like a situation here described in 2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 

[AV1611VET]

That's what I mean. When you're deluded to the point that fantasy has more power over you than reality, what hope do you have?

The light of the Gospel.

 

[Skaloop]

First of all, I'm getting my information from a book called God's Voice in the Stars, by Kenneth C. Fleming.

So, do you have any original thoughts on the matter?

 

[Tiberius]

Well if there was the intention to override your belief that the bible writers and the Harry Potter writers were under the same conditions and had the same intents, then you have every reason to defend your belief. If there wasn't the intention, then the citation of your beliefs as a rebut means nothing to someone who doesn't believe in them("!"). There is only the neutral exchange.

*sigh* You just don't get it.

To me, the Bible is a book. An old book, but still just a book. The fact you believe it was inspired by God means nothing to me.

And it is not the intent of the authors, but the intent of the people who claim that the Bible should be used as a basis for living one's life that is more important.

And that would be the belief that God is comparable to shoe making elves in addition to the belief that the bible writers were under the same conditions as you are right now; "just saying" that life and its abode were created by an entity without actually experiencing anything. And that would go back to the manner of man present. Which would go back to Creationism/Darwinism. As an atheist who honors the belief that a universal intelligence emerged from ignorance, it is only natural that it is any explanation but an intelligence. This belief is not shared though. And the pinnacle of discoveries, is simultaneously at the beginning.

Huh? Geez, where do you get this? I have no idea what you are saying. your grammar is atrocious.

All I am saying is that if you "a particular thing happened, therefore X caused it", you are very very wrong.

The evidence is leading you down the wrong path.

Orly?

What about Romans 1:20? For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

Seems to me that this passage is saying that the best place to learn about God is from the things that he has made.

And this very same thing is what you are calling false evidence.

Well, I'll tell you what, AV? How about you tell us WHERE the mistake is made in science when science tells us something that goes against your book, okay? And none of that "the mistake is that it doesn't follow my book" stuff either. Tell us the actual mistake. I mean, obviously if the world is the best place to learn about God, but we're getting the wrong idea, then obviously there is a mistake being made somewhere in the scientific process, isn't there?

Can i answer instead?

If the unicorns 's appearance and subsequent death and resurrection was the fulfillment of thousand year old prophecies I would probably be prepared to trust whatever he has to say

Otherwise, No, I wouldnt trust what he said, because unicorns are not known to exist.

Jesus Christ is trustworthy, unicorns are not.

Fulfillment of ancient prophecies? Ha. Many ancient prophecies are vague and undefined, so anything that can be interpreted to fit in with an interpretation can be said to be fulfilling them. And let's not forget that in many cases, prophecies were written AFTER the fulfillment. Kinda like, "Oh, there was a terrorist attack, let's write a prophecy and say it was written a few years ago."

And you have a long way to go before you convince me that Jesus even lived, let alone was trustworthy.

See? You're just deciding that jesus lived and told the truth so you can use it to support the idea that the Bible is true. Assumptions do not make evidence.

Ever heard of diabolical mimicry?

How do you know that's not how we got the Bible? The devil making it up to fool people.

 

[DontTreadOnMike]

Sounds like a situation here described in 2 Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

One's own house is best, though small it may be;
each man is master at home;
though he have but two goats and a bark-thatched hut
'tis better than craving a boon.
-Havamal 36, Prose Eddas

I think it is going to be my new policy, whenever someone quotes an ancient book and expects it to have meaning to me, I'm going to reply with a different ancient text that has no meaning for them.

 

[marktheblake]

Do you wonder why some people are sceptical about gods?

Nope, I am pretty confident I know why they are skeptical.

There's a speaking unicorn right in front of you and you refuse to believe they exist

Yes of course, and you wouldn't either. If you did see one the first things that would enter your mind is trying to figure out who is trying to deceive you and why, or simply that you need to stop taking drugs.

*Unless* you already know that many people have witnessed live unicorns making the same claims. But that is not how you framed your question, not my fault you didn't ask the right question.

but you're quite happy to take it on the word of some ancient manuscript that Jehovah is real?

The Bible's truth claims do not become less truthful with age. Either it is the truth or it is not, and it doesn't matter whether the person is reading it in 60AD or 2010AD.

 

[Nostromo]

The light of the Gospel.

As I thought, zero.

 

[marktheblake]

If you study the Hebrew names of the constellations and their major stars, not the Greek names, this is made plain.

I think we may have discussed this before, I hear that the constellations are so described by taking the Hebrew names of the stars in the order of their brightness, which tells the prophecy in the style of a Mnemomic. Chuck Missler has some detailed studies on this.

The point of which, is that the plan of salvation was first written in the stars, before it was written on earth.

Yep thats what its all about. The exception is that many or most of the Hebrew names have been lost. But i *think* you can backwards translate as we know what the other ancient names are.

How do fish-goats and horse-men factor into God's plan for salvation? Especially considering we only know the hebrew names for 3 or 4 constellations.

As above, I think that it is the names of each star that tells the story, not the name of the constellation, so it is not as simple as that. Every paleo hebrew letter contains a meaning, thus a single word is very descriptive, therefore a group of 6 or so words, would be read as a lengthy paragraph not a simple sentence.

Here's a giant poster with hundreds of contradictions from the Bible

Thats nice, shall i just quote you a URL that answers all those contradictions? There is nothing new in that link, just the same old canards, or as they like to say around hear, PRATTS.

Shall we just keep posting URL's and count at the end who posted the most?

How hard would it have been for them to just add details to Jesus' life to make it seem like he fulfilled prophecy?

Pretty hard, Thats another PRATT.

Why didn't Jesus come back during the lifetime of his followers like he promised (prophesied)?

Good question (that definitely aint a Pratt) By coincidence there is a thread in the appropriate Theology sections, that explained that quite well just a few days ago. perhaps you should check it out. I couldn't tell you which one as I post in so many.

 

[marktheblake]

To me, the Bible is a book. An old book, but still just a book.

That fact that you beleive that means nothing to us. You are an Atheist, i am not sure why you even think you need to say that, it is obvious.

The fact you believe it was inspired by God means nothing to me.

However that fact means a real lot to us, and as you seem to desire questioning its legitimacy so much or what we believe, we are going to stand on the truth claims it makes when we reply. You are just going to have to accept that if you want to participate in these discussions and invite/challenge us to answer.

And it is not the intent of the authors

How do you know what the intent of the authors was?

And you have a long way to go before you convince me that Jesus even lived, let alone was trustworthy.

Nobody is asking you to be convinced. When you guys question what we beleive, we shall answer what we believe. We all know that when you ask these kinds of questions, you are not looking for an answer for yourself, but rather you are attempting to seed doubt into our minds what we beleive.

See? You're just deciding that jesus lived and told the truth so you can use it to support the idea that the Bible is true. Assumptions do not make evidence.

Eyewitness testimony is powerful evidence. But do not worry, nobody is demanding that you beleive anything.

 

[Ezio Auditore di Firenze]

Eyewitness testimony is powerful evidence.

Funny how a figure as major as Yeshua ben Yosef has only one source who names him.

 

[knowledgeIsPower]

Eyewitness testimony is powerful evidence.

There is no doubt that eyewitness testimonies influence juries massively however they aren't as reliable as people think. DNA evidence is now demonstrating that eyewitnesses often get things wrong. Something like 75% of convictions overturned through DNA evidence in the States involved eyewitness testimonies.

 

[Exial]

YouTube - Test Your Awareness

 

[AV1611VET]

Well, I'll tell you what, AV? How about you tell us WHERE the mistake is made in science when science tells us something that goes against your book, okay?

You guys have a serious problem with decimal places, in my opinion.

How do you know that's not how we got the Bible? The devil making it up to fool people.

If the devil wanted to fool us, he wouldn't make up a book that: 1) exposes him, and 2) exposes him as a liar, and 3) exposes him as a liar and a thief, and 4) has him defeated by the book's main character, and 5) has his minions trembling in fear at said main character, and 6) has him locked in chains, thrown in a bottomless pit for 1000 years, and then banished for all eternity in a lake of fire.

 

[AV1611VET]

I think it is going to be my new policy, whenever someone quotes an ancient book and expects it to have meaning to me, I'm going to reply with a different ancient text that has no meaning for them.

Good -- I'm sure for every verse of Scripture, Egypt (the world) has 10 others saying the opposite. That means you can yak at least 10 times more than we can; but when God shows up, no Egyptian book on earth, including the McGraw-Hill bible, is going to matter.

In fact, you want to know a little secret, Mike?

When judgment day comes, the entire universe that you guys place above God and the Scriptures is going to abandon you and leave you standing alone before the Judge of all the earth.

Revelation 20:11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Your god talks tough now, but in reality she is a coward.

 

[Nostromo]

They do say that the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. I could imagine somewhere in his top 5 tricks would be convincing people there's no need to worry because the good guys will win.

 

[Nostromo]

Good -- I'm sure for every verse of Scripture, Egypt (the world) has 10 others saying the opposite. That means you can yak at least 10 times more than we can; but when God shows up, no Egyptian book on earth, including the McGraw-Hill bible, is going to matter.

Do you honestly think there's no merit in the idea that you're Christian as a result of environmental factors as much as there being some kind of truth to it? There's absolutely no way that you would have been a Muslim had you been born and raised in Mecca, denouncing Christians as corrupters of the truth?

 

[AV1611VET]

I think we may have discussed this before, I hear that the constellations are so described by taking the Hebrew names of the stars in the order of their brightness, which tells the prophecy in the style of a Mnemomic. Chuck Missler has some detailed studies on this.

I've never heard that before, Mark.

I know there's a mnemonic for the star classes -- (O, B, A, F, G, K, M, R, N) -- which goes: Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me right now.

Fleming points out that the Egyptian sphinx may have been a three-dimensional key to understanding the constellations in order, with the head of a woman on the body of a lion.

This means that Virgo, the Virgin Mary, is the first constellation to be considered, and ending with Leo, as Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, coming back in triumph.

When the sun went dark for three hours at Jesus' crucifixion, Aries was seen over the cross, and Aries is not a ram, but a lamb.

Aries, the Lamb of God Slain from the Foundation of the World.

Neat, eh?

 

[AV1611VET]

They do say that the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

Not quite -- the Bible exposes him as alive and well on planet earth.

Why do you think he hates It so much?