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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 16, 2014 at 2:07 pm
(February 15, 2014 at 11:56 pm)catman Wrote: If the Bible is the word of God then why is it only focused on one specific region of the entire planet? Was there nothing going on outside of the Middle East worth mentioning? The Han Dynasty maybe? Yahweh got up late the morning they were dividing up parts of the world that they could influence. Is it any wonder that in the OT he seems so angry? Other gods got entire continents and relatively advanced civilizations to play with, Yahweh got some desert backwater miles away from the places with a decent bar.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 2:39 pm
Would you have accepted the Bible as the word of God if it had included historical information about every (or at least more than one) region/civilization? I ask this because your argument assumes that the word of God would focus on more than one specific region of the entire planet and since the Bible doesn't, it can't be the real word of God. Is this what you believe?
(February 15, 2014 at 11:56 pm)catman Wrote: If the Bible is the word of God then why is it only focused on one specific region of the entire planet?
It's focused on one specific people group, the region is simply dependent upon where the people were living.
(February 15, 2014 at 11:56 pm)catman Wrote: Was there nothing going on outside of the Middle East worth mentioning? The Han Dynasty maybe?
The purpose of the Bible is the revelation of God. God choose to reveal Himself through a certain blood line. Had He choose a different line perhaps you'd hear more about the Han Dynasty. Although then you'd still be asking the same initial question just swapping regions.
(February 15, 2014 at 11:56 pm)catman Wrote: (P.S - the same holds true for all religious texts)
Mormon religious texts speak of the distant star or planet Kolob where they claim god lives. That's pretty far outside the Middle East.
If it could be proven beyond doubt that God exists...
and that He is the one spoken of in the Bible...
would you repent of your sins and place your faith in Jesus Christ?
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 2:51 pm
According to Jewish tradition God went around all of the nations asking them if they wanted to accept his commandments.
Everyone said no.
When he got to the Jews they asked "How much?"
He said free, so they immediately agreed to take 10.
Kuusi palaa, ja on viimeinen kerta kun annan vaimoni laittaa jouluvalot!
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 2:54 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 2:39 pm)orangebox21 Wrote: Would you have accepted the Bible as the word of God if it had included historical information about every (or at least more than one) region/civilization?
No. Internal consistency means nothing. Spiderman lives in New York city, does spiderman exist?
'The more I learn about people the more I like my dog'- Mark Twain
'You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.' - Dr House
“Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life….but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.” - Chuck Easttom
"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 4:32 pm
High orangebox
Why do you think he picked just one bloodline to reveal himself to?
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken."
Sith code
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 7:55 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 4:32 pm)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: High orangebox
Why do you think he picked just one bloodline to reveal himself to?
Humanly, Jesus could only be descended through one bloodline. When the messiah arrived he was revealed to Jews first, then to the rest of the world. Why he chose the Jews? Who knows.
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 8:24 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 7:55 pm)Lek Wrote: Why he chose the Jews?
It doesn't make a lot of sense to invent a story like this and not place your own people at the center of it.
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 8:57 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 8:24 pm)Ryantology (╯°◊°)╯︵ ══╬ Wrote: (February 17, 2014 at 7:55 pm)Lek Wrote: Why he chose the Jews?
It doesn't make a lot of sense to invent a story like this and not place your own people at the center of it.
The story of the Jews as the chosen people in bible was written long before the birth of Jesus. Jesus was the one they were speaking of.
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 9:02 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 7:55 pm)Lek Wrote: (February 17, 2014 at 4:32 pm)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: High orangebox
Why do you think he picked just one bloodline to reveal himself to?
Humanly, Jesus could only be descended through one bloodline. When the messiah arrived he was revealed to Jews first, then to the rest of the world. Why he chose the Jews? Who knows.
But the idea was wondered about even in antiquity.
Quote:78. Again, if God, like Jupiter in the comedy, should, on awaking from a lengthened slumber, desire to rescue the human race from evil, why did He send this Spirit of which you speak into one corner (of the earth)? He ought to have breathed it alike into many bodies, and have sent them out into all the world. Now the comic poet, to cause laughter in the theatre, wrote that Jupiter, after awakening, despatched Mercury to the Athenians and Lacedaemonians; but do not you think that you have made the Son of God more ridiculous in sending Him to the Jews?
-- Celsus "On The True Doctrine" c 180 AD
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RE: Why are other civilizations ignored in the Bible?
February 17, 2014 at 9:17 pm
(February 17, 2014 at 8:57 pm)Lek Wrote: The story of the Jews as the chosen people in bible was written long before the birth of Jesus. Jesus was the one they were speaking of.
Right, that's my point. Jews wrote the Bible and, entirely by coincidence, Jews were God's chosen people. It would be kind of silly to make that assertion and then subvert it by not placing themselves at the center of the rest of the story, especially when they were already pushing their luck reinventing the bloodthirsty and brutal god of the Jews into the meek and compassionate savior of the Christians.
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