What, they’re so dumb they can’t understand, “No, you weren’t made from clay, you evolved over a long time”?
It would seem absurd to them, and they wouldn’t believe it
The firmament separates the waters above from the waters below.
Language and culture are intricately tied together though because ultimately it is culturally conditioned concepts that are bound up in the language. Nobody is using them to “nullify” the Bible. But the idea that other ANE lit sources can’t be used to better understand what the Bible is trying to communicate is closed-minded and reflects a poor understanding of how translation, interpretation, and exegesis work.
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@John_Warren, I believe there is a verse on that … maybe Job?
It’s the one that says who knows the balance of clouds? - - implying that only God does.
If you were to ask Moses what holds up the clouds, don’t you agree that he would say God does?
You seem to think they would instantly grasp the concept of evolution. Do they even have a word that resembles evolve?
Do you want to re-word this? The firmament holds up the waters… but I believe the clouds are viewed as suspended below the firmament.
I think the whole “God could have written the Bible differently” objection is a canard. Sure he could of, but he didn’t. We have the Bible we have and it’s our job to interpret it as best we can. God didn’t exactly come right out and simply explain the hypostatic union or the Trinity either, though that would have saved a lot of trouble. He could have given us a catechism instead of a bunch of stories and then maybe we wouldn’t have so many denominations. He could have more clearly denounced slavery and maybe history would have been different. Just because God could have told Moses the universe is 13.8 billion years old and didn’t doesn’t negate the math that gets you that number. He could have told Moses the brain is the source of emotions not the liver, and males can be infertile too not just women, and germs cause disease, but he didn’t. The omission doesn’t negate those facts.
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With this posting, you have become my Angel of Wisdom! (< this sentence used to say Goddess)
You have touched on virtually all the topics I would ever want to highlight in a talk I would love to offer some day. Well done. Well done. Well done. And the conclusion has the force and logic of the Big Bang ( from the end of the first second, all the way to when the Universe became transparent… with energy condensing into matter… with nuggets of truth adhering to pieces here and there … with these words inscribed on one of them!
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Wisdom - found engraved on a meteor heading towards a Dinosaur-Filled Earth
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I think the whole “God could have written the Bible differently” objection is a canard. Sure he could of, but he didn’t. We have the Bible we have and it’s our job to interpret it as best we can.
[a] God didn’t exactly come right out and simply explain the hypostatic union or the Trinity either, [and I] thought that would have saved a lot of trouble.
[b] He could have given us a catechism instead of a bunch of stories and then maybe we wouldn’t have so many denominations.
[c] He could have more clearly denounced slavery and maybe history would have been different.
[d] Just because God could of told Moses the universe is 13.8 billion years old and didn’t doesn’t negate the math that gets you that number.
[e] He could have told Moses the brain is the source of emotions not the liver,
[f] and males can be infertile too not just women,
[g] and germs cause disease, but he didn’t.
The omission doesn’t negate those facts.
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Why do I only notice that I can’t write English when someone quotes me?
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So God had to tell them a fairy tale. “Look guys, you can’t handle the truth now. But in 3500 years you will be able to.”
The Hypostatic Union and the Trinity are based on truths in the Bible. Jesus didn’t let his church go along with silly myths for hundreds of years.
1 Col. says God, through Christ, holds everything together.
Didn’t say ignore other material. Rather, hold it with a skeptical eye. God didn’t protect those sources from error.
Don’t forget that Genesis says the following about the ‘firmament’.
NET Bible Genesis 1: 6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.
First, there is water ABOVE it.
NET Bible. Genesis 1:14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
Second, the Sun, the Stars and the Moon are IN the expanse.
No not at all. It’s ANE imagery. I don’t take it literally, but I believe it’s inspired. I don’t need to do a dance and pound a square peg into a round hole. Gen 1:6-7 says And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
Yes, and btw The Expanse is a great science fiction show!
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