Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Comment I got

Here's a comment which reflects the typical strategies and mindset of Christians: (His words are in bold, mine are in italics)

I would have definitely agreed with you some years ago. I was confronted by a neighbor who was actually a pastor. He gave me the whole Christian schpiel. He couldn't answer my questions either. But I also couldn't answer his. He showed me some things in the Bible that helped me realize that it isn't just a book full of contradictions. It amazed me that as far back as the 8th Century BC the Bible said the world was round. I always thought these religious types believed in a flat earth.

I'd love to see the passage that says the Earth is round. By the way, I hope you're not going to pull out that lame passage in Isaiah 40, because if you are, you should consider getting a Bible concordance and looking up the original Hebrew word used there. Isaiah 40 talks about the "circle of the earth" even though the Hebrews had a word for sphere. The bible implies that the world is a flat disc, not a globe.

I've met with scientists that have awesome credentials, and do not believe in evolution. But I also met ones that do. In both cases I think that they are equally using faith. Faith in a God or faith in a theory? Anyway, I accepted Christ into my heart. At first I thought it wouldn't change anything. But something did change, and it's hard to describe or just chalk it up to one more religious/spiritual incident that most religious nuts have.

I'd be surprised if you met a Biologist who didn't believe in evolution, because they are less than 1% of practicing biologists.

The Bible says the world had a flood. That's true. The Bible describes the origins of nations, and so far these nations were found to have existed at one time when many thought they were made up.

There was never a point in history when the whole world was covered in water. The fact that many civilizations have been around (continuously) for the past 5-10,000 years, as the Chinese have, should tell you that there was no flood. I'm not sure what you mean about the nations.

The Bible also says that unless you are of the Spirit you will think it's nonsense. What book actually tells you that from a human point of view it is nonsense, but still wants you to believe?

Actually, that sounds like a very common cult tactic: The cult leader says, "Yeah, other people will tell you you're crazy, but you shouldn't listen to them, you should only listen to us."

No book has ever spoken to the heart of me, and understood me as a human being, more than the Bible. The amazing thing is that the Bible says we will never have peace. We are flawed and can't attain peace on our own. We are always at war. Many religious wars have been fought, but MANY secular wars have caused the deaths of millions as well.

I can't prove anything to you. And you can't go back in time to show me evolution. Let's see what happens when we die.

No, I can't go back in time and show you evolution. But it would be silly to demand that level of proof. I mean, would you convict someone of murder even if there were no eyewitnesses to the murder, but there were fingerprints and other forensic evidence? That's the way we know evolution happened: circumstantial evidence. I would highly recommend this document, which shows the massive amount of evidence for evolution. I would also recommend the book "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne.

As for the Bible speaking to the heart of you, I think you're looking for a way to find happiness and comfort. And that's OK. It is part of what makes us human, and it is completely normal. But I'd like to offer some friendly advice: Don't limit yourself to the Bible. Have a helping of the Buddah and the Tao, and maybe read some contemporary philosophy too.

1 comment:

Baconsbud said...

I always wonder about comments like I would have agreed with you some years back. I figure who make comments like that tend to forget or remake their past so they can pretend to have been non believers.

Why do so many think everyone has to have faith about anything that disagrees with their views. The simple fact as I see it is they can only say you have faith if they redefine what faith means.