What is dispensationalism?

Ophiolite said:

But Dispensationalist, in the context of this thread, relates to an attempt to marry observations of deep time, with the words of Genesis.

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That is not the purpose of "deep time" or Dispensationalism. Some people feel it is better not to try to marry them. Although there are some attempts to marry dispensationalism with covenant theology. The point is you can not change the fact that Adam and Eve lived 6,000 years ago. Between the Tigris and Euphrates river. Now the question is what does the history book say was going on 6,000 years ago in the Tigris Euphrates River Valley in what they call Ancient Mesopotamia. In my ancient history we actually studied Breasted's book directly. I have quite a few copies around here that I got for a good price on Amazon. The History book indicates that there were two groups of people living there at the time. They seemed to be peaceful and they seemed to get along with each other. The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic-speaking. We know that the Semitic people learned a lot from the Sumerians and I am sure the Sumerians learned a lot from them. It was actually the Semitic people that took farming to the entire world. This does indeed present scientific evidence for the Bible. It is beyond me why people can not put their thinking cap on to see all the evidence we have that proves the Bible is true. I think it is because they are not interested because for Christians this sort of findings are front page news. Now it is buried on the discovery channel.

Robert Palase said:

In other words, meaningless poppycock.

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Not really because YOU have a choice to make. You are free to make the wrong choice but you can not sit on the fence. There is no middle ground. You are for God or against God. You can be God's friend or you can be His enemy. You HAVE to make that choice. Because if you do not choose for God then you are counted as being against God. You are in or out, there is no middle ground. In the end you have to be all the way in or all the way out. WE see lots and lots and lots of evidence on this board of people that are anti theism or atheists. That means they are out and they have made their choice. Of course while people are still alive and they can still draw breath into their lungs then they can change their mind. If they are corrupting to many people then God may pull the plug and that will be the end of it for them. For example The legendary singer Jimmy Hendrix passed away after asphyxiating in a pool of his own vomit. Rev 3:6 "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

People ask why does God destroy whole groups of people in the Bible. It is because they made a choice to be an enemy of God. It is His desire for every one, for all to be saved. He says who-so-ever is willing let them come and inherit eternal life. They can drink the living water and live forever. No one has to perish we can all live if that is what we choose to do.

Jimmy D said:

If I can present evidence that agriculture developed independently in different locations around the globe will it disprove the bible?

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Not really, it does not matter what was going on in the Yellow River area of China or in Mesoamerica. The Bible is a story about the Middle East and what God was doing there. My wife is from Asia and I am very aware of the fact that they eat different food from what we eat in America.

Jimmy D said:

If the development of agriculture predates your 6000 year old date of Adam and Eve will that disprove the bible?

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I have done that many time only your the only one recently to call me on this. So go ahead show me what you have from Science or History and then show me how you think that contradicts what we read in the Bible. I am well aware that mill stones go back 20,000 years - they have been grinding grains. That does not conflict with anything that we read in the Bible. I have books here written by Phd's in Botnay and I have extensively studied the domestication of Plants and Animals in the Middle east so I am prepared to have this discussion. So if you want to have a discussion about the neolithic revolution then it is about time someone was willing to get into all of that.

"The Neolithic Revolution was a fundamental change in the way people lived. The shift from hunting & gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations. The Neolithic Revolution is a major turning point in human history." wiki

You may want to take a look at Pottery also because that was a turning point. Before Pottery they stored their grains in baskets that did not hold water and the grains tended not to ferment as much. Then of course going from stone to metal was a big step forward.

1 Kings 7:14
He was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work.

Exodus 31:4
to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze,

Exodus 35:31
"And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship;

Exodus 35:35
"He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.