Christians: Please Explain

[Heat]

Obviously they would jump in the kangaroo's pouch and hop across the 50km back and forth each time,

clearly they all got hella ripped, and had calves bigger than kurt angle's allowing all the kangaroo's to hop over to Australia on the land bridge before Ken Ham was born without any of them dying you evolutionassholes.

[dyresand]

And if you looked at the map carefully the jews didn't go through egypt to be enslaved.

[dyresand]

Obviously they would jump in the kangaroo's pouch and hop across the 50km back and forth each time,

clearly they all got hella ripped, and had calves bigger than kurt angle's allowing all the kangaroo's to hop over to Australia on the land bridge before Ken Ham was born without any of them dying you evolutionassholes.

Are... you a troll...... 

[RoadRunner79]

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I've asked this question before. I never seem to get an honest and straightforward answer. This is a map showing part of first century Palestine.

In Mark 5:1-20/Luke 8:26-39/Matt 8:28-34, Jesus comes across a man possessed by a Legion of daemons, he casts them out into a herd of pigs, and then somehow makes the pigs stampede into the Sea of Galilee to be drowned. A great tale of how Jesus saved a man possessed by evil. But there's a big problem with this story!

Mark 5:1: They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
Luke 8:26: They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
Matt 8:28a: When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes


The problem is that the location is wrong. Mark and Luke both clearly say the location is Gerasa. Gerasa is a full 50km away from the Sea, and that's in a direct line, and that's longer than a marathon. Matthew seems to be aware that Mark got it wrong, and so changed the city to Gadara. It would have taken the pigs hours and hours to stampede into the Sea, and I doubt very much that a pig could physically sustain that kind of pace for that length of time. Dogs might be able to do it, but pigs are nowhere near as athletic. Do you really think pigs could run a marathon? If pigs could fly perhaps...

Once you look at it on a map the problem is obvious. It's not as obvious if you just read it in your study-Bible notes as it offers up (seemingly) possible explanations. It's true the Bible doesn't specify the city itself, which does make it possible that the even takes place in Hippus (or perhaps south of Hippus somewhere along the Sea) - at least in Matthew. But Luke and Mark tells us it takes place in the region of Gerasa - and by region it probably means something like a 5-10km radius around the city. Since Gerasa and Gadara are both major cities there is no way they shared a "region", especially north of Gadara.

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You may be making assumptions based on the translation, that aren't inherent to the original language.  The Greek word "χώρα" can mean land, region, country, and even field.  It's basically describing an area.  The translations I looked at used "country".  The atlas I looked at, also shown Gergasa (just north of Hippo opposite Capernaum) as believed to be the site in which they landed (and is also cited by Origen as known in his day).  It does appear that this is a place where there are some variances in the manuscripts (in all three accounts) and even some other cities in the area being used. 

I don't think it's an issue; they are just using different references for the region. Wikipedia cites Gadara as the local center of power, whereas Matthew referred to Gerasa, the regional city of power. Especially depending on who I was talking to, when talking about my past, I may mention Erie, Pittsburgh, or Meadville as a reference (Pennsylvania). It just depends on how specific I was being, who my audience was, or what the focus was in my telling.

[Heat]

Obviously they would jump in the kangaroo's pouch and hop across the 50km back and forth each time,

clearly they all got hella ripped, and had calves bigger than kurt angle's allowing all the kangaroo's to hop over to Australia on the land bridge before Ken Ham was born without any of them dying you evolutionassholes.

Are... you a troll...... 

I bet you if I added some branches to that no one would notice a thing

[Minimalist]

they are just using different references for the region.

Ah, so you're going with the "it's the literal word of fucking god until it doesn't make any sense" routine.... then it becomes interpreted.

Common among your ilk.

[dyresand]

Are... you a troll...... 

I bet you if I added some branches to that no one would notice a thing

The scary part of that one day we will face mass extinction on that...

[Heat]

---

I've asked this question before. I never seem to get an honest and straightforward answer. This is a map showing part of first century Palestine.

In Mark 5:1-20/Luke 8:26-39/Matt 8:28-34, Jesus comes across a man possessed by a Legion of daemons, he casts them out into a herd of pigs, and then somehow makes the pigs stampede into the Sea of Galilee to be drowned. A great tale of how Jesus saved a man possessed by evil. But there's a big problem with this story!

Mark 5:1: They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
Luke 8:26: They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
Matt 8:28a: When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes


The problem is that the location is wrong. Mark and Luke both clearly say the location is Gerasa. Gerasa is a full 50km away from the Sea, and that's in a direct line, and that's longer than a marathon. Matthew seems to be aware that Mark got it wrong, and so changed the city to Gadara. It would have taken the pigs hours and hours to stampede into the Sea, and I doubt very much that a pig could physically sustain that kind of pace for that length of time. Dogs might be able to do it, but pigs are nowhere near as athletic. Do you really think pigs could run a marathon? If pigs could fly perhaps...

Once you look at it on a map the problem is obvious. It's not as obvious if you just read it in your study-Bible notes as it offers up (seemingly) possible explanations. It's true the Bible doesn't specify the city itself, which does make it possible that the even takes place in Hippus (or perhaps south of Hippus somewhere along the Sea) - at least in Matthew. But Luke and Mark tells us it takes place in the region of Gerasa - and by region it probably means something like a 5-10km radius around the city. Since Gerasa and Gadara are both major cities there is no way they shared a "region", especially north of Gadara.

---

You may be making assumptions based on the translation, that aren't inherent to the original language.  The Greek word "χώρα" can mean land, region, country, and even field.  It's basically describing an area.  The translations I looked at used "country".  The atlas I looked at, also shown Gergasa (just north of Hippo opposite Capernaum) as believed to be the site in which they landed (and is also cited by Origen as known in his day).  It does appear that this is a place where there are some variances in the manuscripts (in all three accounts) and even some other cities in the area being used. 

I don't think it's an issue; they are just using different references for the region. Wikipedia cites Gadara as the local center of power, whereas Matthew referred to Gerasa, the regional city of power.  Especially depending on who I was talking to, when talking about my past, I may mention Erie, Pittsburgh, or Meadville as a reference (Pennsylvania).  It just depends on how specific I was being, who my audience was, or what the focus was in my telling.

It seems rather ironic that you willingly select one religion but can't even muster up an ounce of intellectual honesty when critically analyzing it, always somewhat arriving to the conclusion of "Well it looks wrong, but trust me, it's right, I just haven't figured out why yet".

Actually now that I rethink it, it's not ironic moreover just purely stupid which is to be expected, the same logic applying to this as applied to god that "Well it looks wrong, but it's right, I know it has to be right, I just can't figure out a good reason why".

It's like that kid who is told santa clause isn't real, and when confronted on how presents can logically be brought to his tree, will start stumbling over his words "but, but, but" and then end up just repeating "but I know he's real, I just know it!".

[Minimalist]

Funny how the maps have no trouble telling Gadara and Gerasa apart, though.

Nor does geography.

Umm Qais or Qays (Arabic: أم قيس‎, lit. "Mother of Qais") is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara. It lies in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in the extreme northwest of the country, near Jordan's borders with Israel and Syria. It is perched on a hilltop 378 metres (1,240 ft) above sea level overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, the Golan Heights, and the Yarmouk River gorge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Qais

Jerash, the Gerasa of Antiquity (Ancient Greek: Γέρασα, Hebrew: גַ'רַש), is the capital and largest city of Jerash Governorate (محافظة جرش), which is situated in the north of Jordan, 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital Amman towards Syria. Jerash Governorate's geographical features vary from cold mountains to fertile valleys from 250 to 300 metres (820 to 980 ft) above sea level, suitable for growing a wide variety of crops.

In the latter Ottoman period, the city of Jerash's name was abandoned and changed to Sakib, yet this was not a permanent development, as the name "Jerash" reappears in Ottoman tax registers by the end of 16th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash

But you know... fucking jesus was no good in school.....he got nailed on the boards.

[Aractus]

Either something existed or not.  There is no half-measure there.

Well it did exist.

The whole question of just how "jewish" was Galilee in the first century needs to be factored in.

No it doesn't, what kind of bullshit is that? People who are indigenous to the land always feel a connection to it, and that's something we've learned pretty conclusively over the last few decades. Let's put it this way: just because "Australia" and its constitute states and territories exist doesn't mean that the Indigenous boundaries don't exist. Yes the Romans occupied and controlled the land, but just as "Israel" today, the indigenous people of the land feel that it is theirs and have their own territories.

That's a good question, Aractus. I'm not well versed on the bible (as is unfortunately typical for Catholics), but I'm curious to know the answer to this as well. I'm going to message Drich and see if he can answer this for us.

Good luck, he's pretty clueless. I've never seen him once mention scholarship and point us to peer-review in his arguments.