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In other words..... "God had to dumb it down for the people of the time".
Ok.... I think you missed the point. The point was, there is nothing in the Bible that wasn't known in the area it was written in. You would think God would have been concerned with more than just 1 small area in the Middle East. Other than that, it is pretty convenient that there is nothing there that people of the day didn't already know. Shows that is was simply a book written by men of the time.
I agree, the men who the Bible, wrote what they thought their god would want, and not what "god breathed", as a true god would have had the writers see a worldly view. The writers also borrowed a lot of ideas from other believe systems in order to gain followers to their new religion.
Of course; you need the perquisites to comprehend what such a thing would be. So god would have had to provide a description of the fundamentals. Or it could have been as I was taught at Bible Institute: the purpose of prophecy is not for the generation to whom it is given, but to a later generation who would see the fulfillment and glorify god. So a description of the steam engine that would baffle someone in 500 BC who would see it as fantastical, but would be instantly recognizable in 1850 AD, such as:
And what purpose would that serve exactly? The Bible is meant for our spiritual lives, not how to design technology. And even if He described in detailed how to build a steam engine then that would just mean that man's progress towards technology shifts much much faster. And we probably would have blown up the world centuries ago with nuclear weapons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mordant
Your kind seem eager to interpret a toss-off reference in the Bible to "the circle of the earth" as an affirmation that the earth is spherical, despite all the overt references to standard ancient middle Eastern cosmology (firmament, pillars of the earth, etc) but the lack of any unambiguous forward references that would have been beyond the ken of ancient man, you are equally eager to say are impossible for your all powerful deity.
The Bible isn't a science book, but when it does touch on such areas, it's pretty accurate. Mosaic law shows a foreknowledge of how to protect against bacteria, mold and infectious diseases for example. Something that took man centuries to figure out.
Probably because they were not called these things, certain things did not have names. Who knew what an atom was and its components with a nucleus of protons and neutrons with electrons circling around the nucleus. The Bible is not a science book or a math book, it is a Holy Book.
And what purpose would that serve exactly? The Bible is meant for our spiritual lives, not how to design technology. And even if He described in detailed how to build a steam engine then that would just mean that man's progress towards technology shifts much much faster. And we probably would have blown up the world centuries ago with nuclear weapons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by perry335654
Probably because they were not called these things, certain things did not have names. Who knew what an atom was and its components with a nucleus of protons and neutrons with electrons circling around the nucleus. The Bible is not a science book or a math book, it is a Holy Book.
It would be a powerful attestation to its divine authorship. I'm not, of course, suggesting that it be chock-a-block full of science lessons. All that would be required would be 2 or 3 such forward references to do the job.
And of course, as you point out, the Bible isn't a science book, so simply hitting a couple of home runs morally would be a good idea too -- rather than, as I said, leading from behind on that score.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffbase40
And even if He described in detailed how to build a steam engine then that would just mean that man's progress towards technology shifts much much faster. And we probably would have blown up the world centuries ago with nuclear weapons.
As my fanciful quote suggested, he could simply predict the steam engine. While I suppose the presence of such a thing might have encouraged people to look into it sooner, I doubt it would have made more than a century's difference at most. And of course as you know we have done a LOT of things with technology, nowhere near all of them negative or involving nuclear annihilation. While it's true that we were arguably barely able to handle nuclear power when we DID discover it, here again, the Bible could actually be helpful in advancing humanity's moral development to be more ready, and sooner ready, for such responsibilities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffbase40
The Bible isn't a science book, but when it does touch on such areas, it's pretty accurate. Mosaic law shows a foreknowledge of how to protect against bacteria, mold and infectious diseases for example. Something that took man centuries to figure out.
Yeah, I read None of These Diseases years ago too. It seemed to me, both then and now, that it is not so much that the Bible was ahead of modern science, as that humanity stumbled on some workable principles, without understanding how they worked at the time, and they were documented accordingly. In our arrogance as inhabitants of the "modern" world we sometimes think that humans used to be fundamentally dumber. That isn't really so. They could observe what does and doesn't work the same as we can. They had less to relate it to, is all. Codifying a practice noted to produce better outcomes as commanded by some deity would of course help motivate people to follow the practice. Incorporating good practices as part of religious ritual is a very sensible strategy.
Probably because they were not called these things, certain things did not have names. Who knew what an atom was and its components with a nucleus of protons and neutrons with electrons circling around the nucleus. The Bible is not a science book or a math book, it is a Holy Book.
Actually the word "atom" is derived from the Greek word in the Bible Atomos which is the smallest concept the Greeks knew. It was too small to be measured.
So you're saying that an all-powerful God can't even explain technology. Amazing. Apparently HowStuffWorks.com is superior to your god.
Why should an all-powerful God explain technology in the historic documents since its basic structure is concerning mankind, Israel, the nations, genealogies and prophecies concerning the Messiah? I mean, why would God put in there, The Messiah will be crucified but they won't break a bone of Him, and they will divide His vestment and stab him, oh and in the future they will invent nuclear bombs. LOL. Really?
Below is a short list of things you won't see mentioned in the Bible ( to the best of my memory . Maybe I'll stand corrected on one or two)
Pi
Germs
Bacteria
Viruses
Special theory of relativity
General theory of relativity
A listing of the planets in our solar system
Galaxies
Electrons
Protons
Neutrons
Any other particle of physics
Calculus
Distance to the sun
Diameter of the moon
Distance to the moon
North America
South America
Australia
The Pacific Ocean
Frozen polar regions
Mt Everest
Kangaroos
Platypus
Llama
Penguins
Native Americans
Australian aborigines
Vaccinations
Printing press ( would have been helpful for printing these Bibles cheaper and faster )
Steam engine
Heimlich maneuver
Abolition of slavery
Equal rights for women
Child protection rights
Or, to put it another and shorter way, there is nothing in the Bible that wasn't already known to man. No new ideas, no new medical advice, no info on math, astronomy, etc, no lands or people's not already known to Jews, no animals not already know to Jews, no new inventions , nothing . In all of a book dictated by God for the benefit of humans, not one single bit of knowledge or advice that wasn't already known to humans . God dictates 66 books and in not a one of them does He reveal anything new to humans .
Wonder why that is ?
A college text on astronomy tells us nothing Australia, the steam engine or the Heimlich maneuver, either. Since it doesn't cover these topics, does that mean it serves no purpose?
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