When I look at these sorts of questions and online threads, one thing I ask myself is “What is my motivation?” Most of the time, it is to better understand the answers and learn from others, but sometimes I admit that I fall to the temptation to just want to verbally joust and bait a little. Hopefully that is seldom and I recognize it and avoid those replies.
Martin, I hope you are able find comfort, and hope these lines of inquiry have been of benefit. No one has all the answers, but for many, exploring the questions helps us integrate the various aspects of life into an understandable mass. Bless you in your journey along life’s road.
Scripture also says he increased in wisdom.
Nobody takes all the Bible literally.
I know of nobody that believes that God is made of stone.
I know of nobody that believes that the ten horns of the beast are kings that have been given authority to rule for exactly one hour.
I know of nobody that believes that the earth is flat because it has “four corners.”
Where we may disagree is where to put that line–what is to be taken literally and what is not?
to know the hearts of men would take divinity not just wisdom.SEE{Jeremiah 17:9}
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Thank you very much for the kind words. I do understand that being dogmatic does indeed “stop the conversation” so to speak. But what would it have been like for Jesus if they said “so you say you are the son of God”??? and Jesus replied and said “yes that is sorta what i said, here let’s just have a seat here and debate it for a while and see what other idea we can come up with as to why I claim it to be true?”
But unless Jesus claims Noah was a parable we have no right to put it in that category.that is just putting mans word over Gods and when you head down that road, even the Cross of Christ and salvation as a whole can become mere “fictional stories made to prove a point”.I have actually heard preachers do it. And when it gets to that point even church means nothing more than getting together to eat a meal once a month and the Bible has no more meaning than The three little pigs…
All i ask is this: If it was a "local flood why would God tell Noah to build a huge boat? why would he not say to noah "Noah i am going to flood this area so I would advise you to move to higher ground that I will show you. and by the way the animals will all come up with you to live for a while until the waters recede?
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I don’t know and I’m ok with that.
Have a good weekend! Hope the weather there is as nice as it is here!
Respectfully,
Jim
I think it was as a warning to the surrounding people to repent. The Bible doesn’t say that Noah was to call them to repentance but it also does not say that God told Noah to keep the ark secret. It would be impossible to keep something that big a secret. Compare this to Jonah’s warning to Nineveh which the people of Nineveh took to heart immediately. The people in Noah’s culture were responsible for their own demise because of their own violence and unwillingness to repent even with a 500 foot long 45 foot high warning right in front of them.@jlock
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If he was God{the creator of the world} he would have had to know that stuff{i find it very interesting he healed people of all kinds of diseases and did not know a thing about medicine, but he would not have had to anyway ,he was God!} and but the people he was around would not have understood it, so that is probably why he did not go in to it.But knowing all about germ theory will not get you to heaven or give you salvation anyway and that is what he was about that is why he came!
have a great weekend and God bless!! it is nice here.
i am sorry to disagree evolution is something that has NOT been proven and if you read the {Signature in the cell}l about DNA and information in the DNA you find that evolution is the lie and can not be true because in order to change animal body parts more information is needed to be added in DNA and that is NOT possible. For an example for whales to have ever had legs as evolutionist claim DNA would need to drastically {change} to make leg parts or take them away They do NOT just evolve or de-evolve as may be the case. Scientist do not like the science behind it but it is true anyway! we now know that for sure thanks to Mr. Stephen C Meyer.,you can find his debates about this on you tube!!
This sentence you write is only about EVOLUTION WITHOUT GOD.
To a Christian who believes God has arranged for humans and chimpanzees to have a common ancestor, there’s really NO WAY to disprove it.,
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If you under stand the Book The signature in the cell} by Stephen C Meyer. it shows you that evolution can not be true because DNA has to have information added to the human or organism for it to be true. And no one has shown me Ameba to man evolution any where,plus the Bible said God spoke and the animals and earth was there. It did not say he used evolution in any form and there is no evidence anywhere that he did. the only reason people cling to evolution at all is because it is a humanist idea and people love lies of evolution rather than truth that God spoke and it happened. why??because man can accept evolution easier that instant creation it makes it easy to understand. that is the same reason people doubt the ark story,because people love something easy to understand rather than a God who has power to speak and have it happen.
@Martin… oh my GOODNESS!!! How long have you been on these BioLogos boards?
The information comes from GOD. BioLogos asserts that God arranged for Evolution… Don’t you believe in God?
Jesus died for your salvation, and yet you say that you will turn your back on Him if you find any part of the Bible is not true, based on your definition of what is truth?
Yes I believe in God, but just because i am on Bio logos does not mean that I believe that God used evolution to make man or animals Genesis 1:20-21 it says God created the animals it does NOT say how! For me to just “say and assume it was evolution” because I do not “know the method” of creation is doubting God and cloaking creation in Darwinism’s garb. And if I kept on going on that route after while i would find i would be questioning everything in the Bible from the Flood to if Jesus even lived or not. And for me it all falls or rises together it is either ALL true and is to be believed as written or I might as well toss the whole Bible in the trash and become the worst atheist you have ever met.I see and can view NO in between. in my view it is either all true and I take it by faith or I trash the whole thing and forget it. If i take it by faith it is true and God shows me some parts are not true or accurate when I die, I can live with that. as for now I would see it as a great lack of faith to make my self God over the bible and pick and choose the parts that I believe make more sense.Many things in the Bible seem hard to believe because i do NOT see with my mind how they can be. But if I were peter and Jesus asked me to walk on the water to him,I would not see how that could happen either.That is why The Scriptures say, the just shall live by FAITH!
If i can not believe part of the Bible to be true such as,David and Goliath or Sodom and Gomorrah the whole Bible is False and must be trashed.I am an {absolutest}=“one way or another” but can not be both and that is my view. and i do understand the Song of Solomon is allegory and Psalms are hymns and praises, maybe if i asked you what parts of the scriptures are real you could tell me???. The walls of Jericho? The talking donkey? Jesus healing the sick blind and dumb? Shadrach ,Meshach and Abednego? Danial and the lions den?Jesus rising from the dead? Yes, they all seem impossible and improbable, do they not?? So which ones are real and which ones are just stories? which should I believe and which should I not?
That’s all well and good, @martin.
But you are criticizing the ATHEIST version of Evolution here on BioLogos. That’s like criticizing the Vatican for their crazy MUSLIM ideas, you know what I mean?
God is with BioLogos.
Not to be rude but what came first God spoke and it happened as in Genesis or Charles Darwin’s claim that everything is related and is just on different branches of the same tree? For me personally to accept Darwinism in ANY form what so ever is to admit that Darwinism is cool and “ok” and to do that makes the Atheistic evolutionist laugh at the church as fools in a “I told you so fashion”. some may can do that BUT I CAN not bring my self to do that! I think god is with the Church of Jesus the Christ! bio logos is foolishness, and making fools out of the church.