Subject:
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Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 5 Apr 2001 20:18:11 GMT
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Viewed:
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544 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> A few other basic problems with the literality of the Bible:
>
> - Which translation?
IMO, the issue of interpretation and translations and so forth is, at a
fundamental level, very simple: Reasonable, well-intentioned, well-informed,
open-minded inquiry is a root necessity of any fruitful scholarly, literary,
scientific, moral, religious, etc., etc. intellectual endeavor. At the very
warp and woof of the issue, at some point one has to make a seasoned value
judgment and to simply say: "I must trust my faculties in this matter, and
thusly I conclude...." We shall never find any authoritative work that is
beyond reasonable criticism. At some point we must apply serious, but humble,
judgment in a matter. I judge the Bible to be reliable and trustworthy for a
number of reasons. At the very heart of things, I do not *know* in the same way
that I know that I exist that the Bible is reliable; but, somewhere I must reach
a foundation upon which I state "Here am I and here I stand."
> - How do you reconcile the apparent contradictions? Would someone care
> to list them (I'm affraid I'm not a student of the Bible and therefore
> can't list them all though I have heard them stated)?
There are indeed contradictions, noteably that Gospel writers record some events
in different sequences. Some inconsistencies are those such as two very
different accounts of Judas' death. Most of the inconsistencies are, IMO, of
small concern, although no doubt others would disagree with me. I have seldom
noted, however, contradictions that gave me theological pause. I do not believe
in the inerrancy of scripture, but I do believe that it is divinely-inspired,
and to that end I believe the books to display a very high degree of consistency
in terms of theological content; that which the Church (i.e., the universal body
of believers) likes to call the Harmony of Scripture.
> - I seem to remember that there are Bible passages which would seem to
> imply that the value of Pi is 3 or some other number other than what
> modern mathematics understand it to be. Assuming I'm not totally wacko
> on this, how does one reconcile that if you draw a circle, and then
> multiply the measured diameter by 3 and compare that to the measured
> circumfrence that the two values are different without punching a hole
> in your faith that the Bible is absolutely literally true.
I have a fairly decent working knowledge of the Bible, and I've never
encountered anything like that. There are some crack-pots who like to make a
big deal out of numerology in scripture; Pay them no mind.
james
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) Here again, the problem is that literalists assert that The Bible *is* beyond reasonable criticism. (...) Agreed. Let us assert for the record that the so-called "Bible Code" is equally nonsensical and without meaningful predictive value. (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) Most believers of other faiths have a holy language in which the sacred text is written: Hebrew for Jews, Arabic for Muslims, Sanskrit for Hindus. Here I'm particularly interested in how translation affects this communication between the text (...) (23 years ago, 6-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) Unfortunately, your stated position doesn't jive with the position stated by Ryan: "I believe the Bible to be literal truth about the universe!". The two statements are different. Not saying that either of you is more correct, just pointing (...) (23 years ago, 9-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) A few other basic problems with the literality of the Bible: - Which translation? - How do you reconcile the apparent contradictions? Would someone care to list them (I'm affraid I'm not a student of the Bible and therefore can't list them all (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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