Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As a Christian, do you feel the Bible was written within a vacuum, uninfluenced by outside sources/forces? Do you maintain the idea that influences from other cultures and/or belief systems had no part in shaping some biblical stories/concepts?
Have you ever read the history of the biblical region between the testaments; in other words, the so-called "400 silent years?" What about the belief system/mythologies of the larger empires (Babylon, Persia, Greece) the Jews fell to? Does any of this even matter to you or no concern or do you think it would help to give you a better background understanding of biblical stories and/or concepts? OR, is there a fear to know or learn for fear of what might be discovered?
The "400" hundred silent years.........If they were silent........what can you infer from them? They were silent.
The "400" hundred silent years.........If they were silent........what can you infer from them? They were silent.
It's just a term coined by Christian scholars to mean these were years when God stopped speaking through the prophets. After the book of Malachi, he supposedly shut up until the book of Matthew, a period of over 400 years. However, the period was far from "silent" in the real world.
It's just a term coined by Christian scholars to mean these were years when God stopped speaking through the prophets. After the book of Malachi, he supposedly shut up until the book of Matthew, a period of over 400 years. However, the period was far from "silent" in the real world.
Well he may have stopped speaking through the prophets because the messiah came, no need for prophets, but miracles were happening still, people from all over were being saved and it still goes on today.
How about this. You throw something at me. One of the things that rocked your faith. Something realy good!
Um...I have no such thing that would be considered historical. What started knocking the wheels off my wagon was a reconsideration of the story of Job, but that is not a good example of what I have in mind. What I mean is, if it can be proven other sources/forces helped to inspire/shape/create biblical concepts and/or stories, how would these things that preceded Christianity point back to Christianity?
Um...I have no such thing that would be considered historical. What started knocking the wheels off my wagon was a reconsideration of the story of Job, but that is not a good example of what I have in mind. What I mean is, if it can be proven other sources/forces helped to inspire/shape/create biblical concepts and/or stories, how would these things that preceded Christianity point back to Christianity?
First of all one must conclude that the bible is supernatural because there is no way man could write such a book. I would not give man that much credit.
Well he may have stopped speaking through the prophets because the messiah came, no need for prophets, but miracles were happening still, people from all over were being saved and it still goes on today.
400 years later that is. This is why the term was coined. For 400 years after the Jews ended up under Persian rule, there is no written records from the Jews claiming God was speaking to them.
First of all one must conclude that the bible is supernatural because there is no way man could write such a book. I would not give man that much credit.
What if 'one' does not come to such a conclusion? What if 'one' sees something entirely different? Then what?
Personally I see man's frail fingerprints all over it.
What if 'one' does not come to such a conclusion? What if 'one' sees something entirely different? Then what?
Personally I see man's frail fingerprints all over it.
I don't because apart from the bible there is no system on earth that works perfectly. If atheist were honest, there world view is a mess. Most atheist don't even live like real atheist should. Read the works of Frederic Nietzke.
Atheist basically are moral parasites, as they ride around and benefit on the moral principles of Christianity
I don't because apart from the bible there is no system on earth that works perfectly. If atheist were honest, there world view is a mess. Most atheist don't even live like real atheist should. Read the works of Frederic Nietzke.
Atheist basically are moral parasites, as they ride around and benefit on the moral principles of Christianity
That's quite a bold statement and Nietzsche does not speak for all atheist.
A point can be clearly made that if there really is a god and he created what we are seeing or actually set up this whole drama we are living out, then he is ultimately responsible for this 'mess', right?
A point can be clearly made that if there really is a god and he created what we are seeing or actually set up this whole drama we are living out, then he is ultimately responsible for this 'mess', right?
Right.
He's bigger than you think. It's our problem if we think that God should have a nice, neat little world with no problems or challenges, but don't blame him. The sentence of death is upon a world fallen into carnal living.
What'd you expect, Utopia?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They were silent.
