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Get Ready For New Requirements In Faith


John-in-KC

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Essay question (50 points)

"The human eye, it's support tissue  and bilateral vision developed as a result of natural selection and Darwinian evolution."  Discuss.

I did not take the right courses in college to discuss that intelligently.

 

Can I ask why you ask the question?

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Well I am speaking in this discussion from an ideological perspective of integrity on building character. Ignoring the chaos of the actual applications of religion, who do you trust more in setting the definition of morality, God or man? Now some folks might say man for whatever reason, but my point is that the vast majority of people even today believe God to be the ultimate authority on the subject morality. So for any organization to have integrity in the business of developing character, God is their best resource.

 

If poll was taken that asked of an organization that helped youth develop character, what would be the top three answers? What links those three together?

 

The challenge of learning God's true word on the subject morality in this pop culture is a different discussion of which I'm sure many here would enjoy. 

 

Barry

Yeah you just are never going to admit that despite whatever God may be (I make no claim to know) what we humans end up with thru Christianity is no different than what we end up with outside it. Something driven by the intentions of whoever is in charge.

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Yeah you just are never going to admit that despite whatever God may be (I make no claim to know) what we humans end up with thru Christianity is no different than what we end up with outside it. Something driven by the intentions of whoever is in charge.

What I will admit is that we only have to read the Bible to know when we are doing it wrong. 

 

Barry

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What I will admit is that we only have to read the Bible to know when we are doing it wrong. 

 

Barry

Tell that to those who are today on 2 sides of an argument, each pointing to the bible to prove the other side is doing it wrong.. You will get each side to agree with you, then continue to fight for what they believe the Bible is telling them to do.

 

All subject to interpretation and what verses we choose to highlight as important and which ones we think are not..

 

But for anyone who uses the Bible as a reference, the Bible will guide them.. It will just guide different religious denominations and people differently.. 

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Tell that to those who are today on 2 sides of an argument, each pointing to the bible to prove the other side is doing it wrong.. You will get each side to agree with you, then continue to fight for what they believe the Bible is telling them to do.

 

All subject to interpretation and what verses we choose to highlight as important and which ones we think are not..

 

But for anyone who uses the Bible as a reference, the Bible will guide them.. It will just guide different religious denominations and people differently.. 

There are two types of people who use the bible for gain, those that want to serve the masses, and those that want to serve themselves. I have found that those who serve themselves only use the parts of the bible that suits their purpose. The Google search engine makes it very easy to pick and choose only those scriptures that give an advantage.

 

But the meek only have themselves to blame, reading the bible has become a thing of the past. Predators take advantage of their ignorance and serve their will on them through their emotions because they don't have enough knowledge to resist with reason. 

 

Barry

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DuctTape: Thank you for the reference, I had not seen it.

 

I threw this "essay question"  into the mix to stir up some of the sediments (?sentiments?) about how we see faith.  One person's idea of a "supreme" source is not necessarily the idea of another.  The use of scripture or gospel, whether Bible or Q'ran, or Bagdivad Gita to support  a faith's definition of itself will always depend on the speakers' personal history and cultural background.  Thus the Al Queda ,  and the Crusades of history.

 The folks that collected and  declared the King James Bible would have a hard time accepting the debate going on in some circles about the  Jesus Seminar and the Dead Sea Scrolls and the  DaVinci Code, but the folks involved in them see no problem.  The KJB has, in some respects, certainly led to the consideration of other stuff.

Creationist?  Evolutionist?    Diametrically opposed ideas?   Maybe, maybe the same elephant viewed from different directions (see Rudyard Kipling). 

I can easily look at a house and see the bits and pieces that were brought together (by what means?) to create the shelter.  So many odd , unsimilar, seemingly random things (glass?  Iron nails? pine boards? Concrete?) brought together for a single purpose.

Maybe the freedom to think is an evolutionarily valuable trait that was inevitably inevitable , from a desire to let a free thinking creation go ahead and create.

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Tell that to those who are today on 2 sides of an argument, each pointing to the bible to prove the other side is doing it wrong.. You will get each side to agree with you, then continue to fight for what they believe the Bible is telling them to do.

 

All subject to interpretation and what verses we choose to highlight as important and which ones we think are not..

 

But for anyone who uses the Bible as a reference, the Bible will guide them.. It will just guide different religious denominations and people differently.. 

 

Different interpretations produce different traditions.  The course set is all the same, the path taken is fraught by "interpretation."  The problem lies in the fact that humankind has a free will to choose the interpretation they like, or chose not to take the path at all.  

 

Reading the Bible is one thing.  Understanding the context and customs of the time when it was written is something else entirely.  Otherwise there would be a lot of unruly children put to death.

 

Simply understanding the words is an even bigger problem.  All translations have been done so with interpretation problems included.

 

llfthnwtstmntwswrttnwthnpncttnrspcsrvwls

 

 

Translation: All the New Testament was written with no punctuation or spaces or vowels.  That means capitalization, punctuation, spaces and vowels are interpreted into the text.

 

There are two types of people who use the bible for gain, those that want to serve the masses, and those that want to serve themselves. I have found that those who serve themselves only use the parts of the bible that suits their purpose. The Google search engine makes it very easy to pick and choose only those scriptures that give an advantage.

 

But the meek only have themselves to blame, reading the bible has become a thing of the past. Predators take advantage of their ignorance and serve their will on them through their emotions because they don't have enough knowledge to resist with reason. 

 

Barry

 

 

Of course, human agenda is all part of the process.  This is how cults develop into new religions.

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I have found that those who serve themselves only use the parts of the bible that suits their purpose. The Google search engine makes it very easy to pick and choose only those scriptures that give an advantage. - Barry

 

I find that hard to believe.....

 

"Then he (Judas) went away and hanged himself." -  Matthew 27:5b (NIV)

 

"Go and do likewise."  - Luke 10:38b (NIV)                                            

 

"What you are about to do, do quickly," - John 13:27b (NIV)

 

Here's the Bible verses I memorized for Confirmation.  I like how they all flow together.

Edited by Stosh
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Of course, human agenda is all part of the process.  This is how cults develop into new religions.

All true stosh, but most people truly want to believe in God. The problem is that as badly as they want to get closer to God, they are afraid to read the Bible because they might find that God does not approve of some things they like in their lives (my wife questions my Harley all the time). I have deep compassion for these folks because they have put themselves in a tough spot. Ironically God, through the Bible, shows them how to deal with all that. But that first step is so hard. 

 

Barry

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I would argue that no existing trait in an organism is there because it caused a selective disadvantage. It might have been retained in spite of having no current advantage or it might be something new that simply hasn't yet experienced selective pressure. But if it is disadvantageous, the selective process should eventually favor traits that impart greater fitness.

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I would argue that no existing trait in an organism is there because it caused a selective disadvantage. It might have been retained in spite of having no current advantage or it might be something new that simply hasn't yet experienced selective pressure. But if it is disadvantageous, the selective process should eventually favor traits that impart greater fitness.

 

So let me get this straight.  I'm the result of survivable chance mutation?  Sounds like something Science Fiction is based on.  :)

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