Evolution or Creation?

[Sneaksuit]

I of course am not saying everything in it is proven by science there just not dis-proven by it.

One of the problems with science is it relies on repeatability and measurement, things history is not accessible to because as mentioned before, it's one of many things beyond science's domain. But try these examples left by other posters at home:

1. Talk to a snake and see if it talks back
2. Take two of every species on Earth and put them into an boat 100000 sqft
3. Paint lamb's blood over the doorway of a town visited by a plague to be spared
4. Film God making a person out of dust and a woman from his rib

It's analogous to a Muslim saying that Allah told thousands of soldiers to die, then after they died, Allah brought them back to life. [2:243] Science can't prove he didn't.

Hmmm, the Bible certainly contains much myth and that's why biblical mythology is different in each book. For example, Yahweh changes through the chronology of the bible dependent on the writer's beliefs. Satan too.

Some reading if you're interested...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mythology

[fluffy]

Does looking at the bible as work of fiction make the moral lessons any less valuable?

[Poindexter]

Let me quote some of these curious moral lessons:

Numbers 31:17-18

Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women, that have carnally known men. 18 But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for yourselves.

I Corinthians 14:34-35

Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith. But if they would learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church. — Paul

I Timothy 2:11-14

Let the woman learn in silence, with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed; then Eve. And Adam was not seduced; but the woman being seduced, was in the transgression. — Paul

Luke 19:26-27

But I say to you, that to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him that hath not, even that which he hath, shall be taken from him. But as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them hither, and kill them before me. — Jesus

Matthew 10:34-37

Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And as a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. — Jesus

Romans 1:27,32

And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error. Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.

Apocalypse 2:21-23

And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her into a bed: and they that commit adultery with her shall be in very great tribulation, except they do penance from their deeds. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works. — Jesus

Words to live by eh?

[Sneaksuit]

Does looking at the bible as work of fiction make the moral lessons any less valuable?

Like all religious literature, the Bible is a window into the beliefs of people of the past, therefore it's more than just fiction.
Along with story, myth, history, and law, it can contain revelation (epiphany) stemming from ones personal experience of "God", spirits, or divine entities found in such writings as Hermes, the Quran, the Urantia Book and many others that appear to have been catalyzed by trance, prayer, or meditation. These beliefs are always colored by the experiencer's language and culture and should never be understood as ultimate truth.

[fluffy]

There can be little doubt of that Sneaksuit, just as Poindexter's post above shows that some of the prevailing attitudes of those times have little bearing on today's world. My post was more to the point of the lessons the bible has to offer and whether they are diminished by seeing the bible as metaphorical as opposed to a historical account.

[fluffy]

Of course if it did become widely accepted that the bible was never meant to be historical fact, that it was always meant to be a metaphorical vehicle for the conveyance of moral lessons, then there would be a lot less to argue about wouldn't there? That might come as a disappointment to some.

[cliffy1]

Of course if it did become widely accepted that the bible was never meant to be historical fact, that it was always meant to be a metaphorical vehicle for the conveyance of moral lessons, then there would be a lot less to argue about wouldn't there? That might come as a disappointment to some.

Why would a benevolent god confuse matters concerning itself by having it written down in such a way as to leave it up to interpretation by many? Makes no sense. Makes more sense, to me, that it is up to the individual to find their own connection to the divine.