Hitting The Wall

[Lion IRC]

I don't know what's worse: knowing almost everything in the bible and accepting it, or being ignorant of most of the things in the bible and accepting it anyway.

They (FFRF) mistakenly assert that the bear killed 42 children.
Which is plainly false.

[Bad Writer]

Right, they only mauled them. Big difference.

[Chad32]

I think it says they tare forty and two of them, instead of killing them, but even if you say they definitely lived, this is still a guy sending bears to terrorize children for calling someone bald. Given that he's all too happy to have people killed for not worshipping him, I doubt the bears let them live.

[Bad Writer]

The best part? It was a piece of fiction. No man has the power of some invisible force that compels wild animals to attack the target of his ire. Unless magic, of course.

[Chad32]

It's not like I think it really happened, but some people probably do, and it wouldn't be out of character for their deity. Abraham certainly didn't think it was out of character for his deity to ask for a Human sacrifice, and he knew God for decades.

[Lion IRC]

I think it says they tare forty and two of them, instead of killing them, but even if you say they definitely lived, this is still a guy sending bears to terrorize children for calling someone bald. Given that he's all too happy to have people killed for not worshipping him, I doubt the bears let them live.

Wrong.
It does not say 'sending bears because' they called him bald.
Elisha didn't call the bears. The bears were already there in the woods. They were probably just as annoyed by the delinquent, abusive, noisy kids as Elisha was.

If I said...look everybody! A miracle. Elisha speaks bear language and commands them to attack, you would either;
a) claim a naturalistic explanation - wild bears attacking conspicuous prey.
b) deny the event even happened

[Chad32]

They said "Go up thou bald head" as he was heading up the hill. why would he curse them except that they were calling him bald. Then after he curses them, two she bears attack a large group of children, but leave Elisha alone. Are you saying these events are unrelated?

Bears don't usually charge up and attack people unless they have babies or made a kill nearby. They don't attack a large group of people just because they were shouting.

If I saw someone who was claimed to talk to bears, I'd like to see some evidence that he could command random bears. That would be a cool thing to see. of course if he used that skill to kill some kids, I'd make sure he died painfully.

[Darkstar]

following the final question she said "This isn't going to make God look too good".

Kind of reminds me of something that happened in my English class a few years ago. At some point while we were reading the play JB, someone commented something along the lines of "wow, this really makes god look like a jerk". I chuckled inside.

[Drich]

Your wife was right in the beginning. Of the questions that do not beg the question, they are loaded or fake questions. They infer conclusions not consistant with biblical context the questions are loosly based on. I will say there is enough thier to support the question writers forgone conclusion, and without any follow up and actual reading of the bible one would be left with the question writters conclusion.. Which is why i did not partake in the orginal thread.

I guess for your wife's sake I will have to go line by line and to show the dishonesty in the questions asked.. This should help your wife 'reseal' that door.

I thought you were to answer questions Drich??????


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The orginal thread did not challenge the primise of the test. It was used as a platform to spout more tidbits of man's morality. Since i was already apart of my own morality thread there was no reason to address those questions... till now.

[xpastor]

This thread and this test inspired me to have my Christian wife take the test. She really enjoyed our time together discussing the bible. She was enjoying the test, and at one point (almost half way through) she said "I think these are trick questions". Ahh ha! I asked her why she thought that, and I reassured her that the answers were to be found in her own bible. Her skepticism of the test grew as the questions continued, and following the final question she said "This isn't going to make God look too good". She scored 24/50 and she was shocked by some of God's commands, requirements, and behaviors. Later that evening, she seemed much more open to my direct questions about her God, and she agreed that the OT is questionable. I reminded her that the NT is also full of weirdness, and of some of the bat-shit crazy things Jesus supposedly said and did. At one point I could swear I heard the faintest of sounds - to me it sounded like the first movement of a long rusted hinge on a door that has blocked the light for years. Has any atheist here been able to inject reason into their Christian spouse's/partner's considerations? I'm having a blast illuminating my wife's cognitive landscape.

Hey, as the OP for this thread, I am really pleased it's doing some good.

If you want a quotation with a bit of zing, here's the one I used as my signature line on the Friendly Atheist.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived — Isaac Asimov