The Myth of Infallibility

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Ayup. Baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, anointing, shoe poo-ing, holy orders, matrimony.

Boru

[Minimalist]

Matrimony is out of place in that list but anything they could do to make money, I suppose.

[robvalue]

It is completely stupid.

It's not just the pope, though. Many theists talk to us as if they are infallible, refusing to take ownership of their beliefs and subjective experiences. Refusing to admit it's even possible they could have made a mistake.

Such artificial confidence is a giveaway of desperately clinging to bad ideas, in place of proper justification.

[vorlon13]

hmmm,

poo and pooing in church;


well, clearly if one ate nothing but communion wafers, at some point, the resulting poo will be entirely derived from them. Would that poo have any special properties or significance ?? I could see a particularly pious brother in a monastery somewhere attempting to live exclusively on the wafers, surely this topic about the resulting effluent has been addressed somewhere by now . . .


additionally, John Waters chided the Baltimore Film Commission they could not have a problem with his depiction of poo eating in Pink Flamingos since poo eating wasn't mentioned in the 10 Commandments, as I recall. (note, we are talking about dog poo here, btw) (and yes, not special effects, dog poo was ingested).



Shoe-pooing is a new one on me, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised if some sect somewhere is doing it, and another sect somewhere else is claiming they aren't doing it right . . . .

[Drich]

The idea that anything could be incapable of being prone to error is absurd.

dispelling you is going to be fun...
Do computers make errors? no they simply follow their programming. if said programming is without error then they are without error.
(Now understand the difference between error and failure before you respond)

Yet this is a doctrine that many religions around the world seem to possess.

such as? (other than christianity)

For Example:

Christians who are "Bible Literalists" believe that the Bible is infallible and perfect in every way.

The bible never actually makes that claim, however I've been studying for 20+ years and haven't found one yet.

If that is the case, then why can I alter it's text?

If you alter it's text then it ceases to be the bible. try again.

Why can I light it on fire?

Actually you can't, you can only set it's paper pages on fire.

If the Bible is "perfect" then I shouldn't be able to destroy or alter it's material.

Perfect simply means:having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.

Now if the Bible isn't perfect, what about God?

first you must establish what the bible is and where it is in error.

Would not Jehovah be all-powerful and perfect by his very nature?

Yes

Well the Bible tells us that he created the Heavens and the Earth in 6 days.
Why not 5?
Or 4?

Because the number 7 is representative of God's signature perfection. God imprints the number 7 on most of his works.

Why didn't he just create everything all at once for the sake of efficiency?

Simply because it was not is will to do so.

Also I forgot to mention, he had to rest on the last day of creation.
So the all-powerful Jehovah can get tired?

in the hebrew the word is שָׁבַת shabath it simple means to stop/cease

From that it is translated rest in English. So on the 7th day God stopped creating and simply took in all that he Created.

What do you think about the concept of infallibility?

I think it is an excuse to worship the word of God as God and to squash challenges/challengers of specific interpretation. But Again I have not found error with the bible only people's understanding of it.

[Godscreated]

Well said Drich, well said. I was thinking along those very lines, but now I can just set back and watch instead of typing the same responses.

GC

[vorlon13]

All scripture is suitable . . . .

If there was any included error or mistake, that would be unsuitable.

The Bible does make the claim. And for believers, that otta do it.

[Goosebump]

Obviously it's presented clearly on this forum once every 15 minutes. What's your problem with it?

[vorlon13]

[I suppose I should make a disclaimer here on behalf of the Mormons, they've recorded numerous instances in the revisions to their revelations where God has changed his mind. Clearly, as originally revealed to Joe, all the revised revelations were therefore unsuitable.]

[Oh, yeah, Book of Mormon has been revised and changed in over 3000 spots now too]

[that Mormon God, he's a peach, ain't he ?]

[Goosebump]

[I suppose I should make a disclaimer here on behalf of the Mormons, they've recorded numerous instances in the revisions to their revelations where God has changed his mind.  Clearly, as originally revealed to Joe, all the revised revelations were therefore unsuitable.]

[Oh, yeah, Book of Mormon has been revised and changed in over 3000 spots now too]

[that Mormon God, he's a peach, ain't he ?]

Sounds more like a manic-depressive with a touch of high-dose LSD.