watch the golden compass go to hell

[Mr Jide]

Oh boy, here we go......

 

[sinewave]

Oh boy, here we go......

what, i'm just curious? if someone brings it up in a discussion it's fair game.

 

[Mr Jide]

It is fair game but I know how it'll end and it's not pretty.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

can i get a show of hands? how many practicing christians here believe we all descended from adam and eve?

Well, not knowing Transcended, although she's welcome to tell me, I don't see anywhere in this thread where she has actually said that is precisely what she believes. She is advocating the arguments of St. Augustine and C.S.Lewis to make a point, but even I can do that without believing in a literally accurate Bible (hell, I've already done it multiple times).

 

[sinewave]

It is fair game but I know how it'll end and it's not pretty.

i doubt i'll get any responses anyway. it's stuck at the bottom of the previous page, where no one will ever see it.

 

[sinewave]

Well, not knowing Transcended, although he's welcome to tell me, I don't see anywhere in this thread where he has actually said that is precisely what he believes. He is advocating the arguments of St. Augustine and C.S.Lewis to make a point, but even I can do that without believing in a literally accurate Bible (hell, I've already done it multiple times).

that's why i'm asking. he invoked them in his argument, so i just wanted to get a feel for how many people who follow the christian faith believe that aspect of it. i'm not forcing anyone to answer it and i promise i won't attack anyone over it. i'm just curious.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

that's why i'm asking. he invoked them in his argument, so i just wanted to get a feel for how many people who follow the christian faith believe that aspect of it. i'm not forcing anyone to answer it and i promise i won't attack anyone over it. i'm just curious.

Well in answer to your question of how many?

You might remember according to Rasmussen Reports, who are pretty good as far as polling data goes, reports that 63% of Americans believe the Bible to be literally true. Also, 58% of people under thirty believe it to be literally true. However, the word "true" makes that polling somewhat ambiguous. In actuality, according to Gallop, only 27% of Americans still believe the Bible is historically 100% literally accurate.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

According to the Photo thread, this is Transcended.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Okay, so it's a she . Not a bad looking she either.

 

[Danalys]

ah.... now i notice the cross.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

ah.... now i notice the cross.

Not much gets by you, eh slick?

 

[Danalys]

tends not to be an issue in england.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Ah.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

There's some kind of....foliage there.
Or, large killer vegetables.
I can't tell, still running analysis.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

It's bamboo reids.

 

[Danalys]

i once saw a painting similar to that once with the brightness in the backgroung receding into the forground.

 

[bunk]

"His Dark Materials" by religious skeptic Philip Pullman...

Ok, is this guy an author who happens to be "skeptical about religion", or the other way around? That line made it seem like he was some sort of professional religious skeptic who decided to write a children's novel.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

It's bamboo reids.

Not giant killer vegetables?

 

[Danalys]

either way there should be kungfu.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Not giant killer vegetables?

Nope, 'fraid not. As I'm sure you know, Giant killer vegetables are out of season right now.

 

[Mr Sparkle]

"His Dark Materials" by religious skeptic Philip Pullman...

Ok, is this guy an author who happens to be "skeptical about religion", or the other way around? That line made it seem like he was some sort of professional religious skeptic who decided to write a children's novel.

a religion skeptical about an author?

 

[Denny67]

Just like when they came out against Star Wars because "the force was tantalizing people to adopt pagan beliefs," Harry Potter because "it was luring children to witchcraft and the devil’s door," and Dungeons and Dragons was a means of devil worship.

It is all crap and all I hear is:

Blah, blah, blah. “We don't want your fantasy books to compete with ours.”

 

[Transcended]

I'm glad you guys have figured out that I'm female. And that I don't hurt your eyes. Quite a relief. (The photo was taken in Napa, and yes, that's bamboo. Killer or not, I can't say. It was nice to me. )

I'm at work right now, so I can't take on Mr Sparkle and Wilhelm-Scream's magnificently epic posts yet. But I will later. That is, if you still want me to... these kinds of debates never really give way to progress, but they're fun to dive into anyway. Huzzah for brain-food.

Well, not knowing Transcended, although she's welcome to tell me, I don't see anywhere in this thread where she has actually said that is precisely what she believes. She is advocating the arguments of St. Augustine and C.S.Lewis to make a point, but even I can do that without believing in a literally accurate Bible (hell, I've already done it multiple times).

Yes, I'm mostly throwing out arguments for the sake of a point. For example, I don't necessarily subscribe to either Anselm or Abelard's theories of the atonement, but they have been the most influential on modern Christian thought in general.

Augustine and Lewis are two of my favorite theologians, so I'm more inclined to agree with them than disagree. See there, I'm revealing my biases. (FYI, Lewis rejected the inerrancy of Scripture.) As far as believing in a literally accurate Bible myself; I think it's far more accurate than most people give it credit for, and I have my reasons for thinking that, too. (Besides, no sensible archeologist or historian would be able to dimiss the Old Testament in its entirety, with all the detail it provides about the structure of those times - much of which correlates with and has been confirmed by research. And the New Testament is mostly a collection of letters to the early church: hardly dismissable as false or fabricated. Like it or not, these people existed.)

I'm careful about taking things literally in it, however. I think a lot of metaphor is used because the things it speaks of are too great and beyond us to process: the moment of creation is one of these. However, these metaphors are made to be useful. And since God saw Adam and Eve's story as a fitting way to convey what happened at the beginning (through the human author of Genesis, of course), I use it as such.

 

[sinewave]

I'm careful about taking things literally in it, however. I think a lot of metaphor is used because the things it speaks of are too great and beyond us to process: the moment of creation is one of these. However, these metaphors are made to be useful. And since God saw Adam and Eve's story as a fitting way to convey what happened at the beginning (through the human author of Genesis, of course), I use it as such.

man, and i thought i was word-y.

are you saying that the story of adam and eve is not meant to be taken literally? that the human race started in a completely different manner than god making eve from adam's rib, them procreating, having two boys and so on? i just want to be clear on this.

 

[Addendum]

man, and i thought i was word-y.

are you saying that the story of adam and eve is not meant to be taken literally? that the human race started in a completely different manner than god making eve from adam's rib, them procreating, having two boys and so on? i just want to be clear on this.

If the Adam and Eve story isn't meant to be taken as "this actually happened, these people existed", then essentially the entire story of jesus is the result of some twisted individual, where a person takes all the sins of the world as a result of the actions of 2 nonexistent persons.