Faith

Originally posted by mrstabby
Science and genesis contradict each other, however, as genesis implies that the sun appeared after plants. It certainly gets evolution mixed up when birds appear before land animals.

In all fairness, however, God said, "Let their be light", before the plants and the sun and the stars were made later on. The squestion then becomes, what is the light he is referring to? Did this great source of light become scattered amongst the stars and later become our current sun or was it God himself? Either way, the Bible does say their was a source of light in the very begining. The rest of the speculations about its origin and strength are then merely speculative.

Originally posted by mrstabby
Science and genesis contradict each other, however, as genesis implies that the sun appeared after plants. It certainly gets evolution mixed up when birds appear before land animals.

you should keep readin dat bible to find more contradictions.. im sure youll find you cant limit the capabilities of God, nor will you ever disprove Him by comparing the Bible to the many flaws and unknowns of science and theories on evolution. it is easy to explain anything in the Bible because God is limitless and impossible to understand. Yet people like you still waste their time trying to sound smart by quoting verses in the bible knowing that its impossible to disprove God by the scientific when God is the supernatural.

Originally posted by mrstabby
Science and genesis contradict each other, however, as genesis implies that the sun appeared after plants. It certainly gets evolution mixed up when birds appear before land animals.

as genesis implies that the sun appeared after plants.
There is no such implication. Genesis emphatically states the sun wasn't created until the fourth day, whereas light was created in the first, and plants in the third. Makes you wonder what that was all about, don't it?

It certainly gets evolution mixed up when birds appear before land animals.
To be certain, one of them is surely mixed up.

Originally posted by borissa
He was referring to faith, whatever the context, and for what I wanted to say it applied well.

For example, faith that your incorrigible husband will stop having affairs?

Originally posted by borissa
A wonderful quote from Martin Luther King Jr which I would like to share with you...

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase"

So when people nit-pick the Bible and worry about tiny details (which, after all, have probably been changed by translation) maybe they should step back, feel the life in themselves and marvel ...[text shortened]... ven if you're not sure who you're thanking. That's your first step. Enjoy the staircase.

I think that's a good quote. Personnaly, I have always felt the need to prove God. But I guess that my experiences alone give me enough evidence to be sure of His existence anyway.

And usually we try not to lose details in translations.

But no matter how hard you try, a mistake may be made somewhere. Chinese Whispers- think how many times passages were copied out.

And I always felt the need to 'prove God' too, but then I realised I can... just by feeling that impulse I get to do good things, and the longing I get to help people and be nice.

Originally posted by borissa
But no matter how hard you try, a mistake may be made somewhere. Chinese Whispers- think how many times passages were copied out.

And I always felt the need to 'prove God' too, but then I realised I can... just by feeling that impulse I get to do good things, and the longing I get to help people and be nice.

I think chinese whispers is a very skewed analogy. For a start, there are early transcripts of the original gospels and circumstantial evidence approving their credibility. So they can always be referred to. And when we make a translation we always preserve the original version and the translation is also assessed by other translators. So it would be like playing chinese whispers without whispering.

And I always felt the need to 'prove God' too, but then I realised I can... just by feeling that impulse I get to do good things, and the longing I get to help people and be nice.

I think most Christians would identify with that.

Most, but not all. For many, God is nothing but a fact they have had to believe in since they were kids. They dutifully pray at the foot of their bed, and think little of God and church except for on Sundays. Oh, and when it's convenient.

I am NOT saying that all Christians are like this, but I think some people who claim to be Christians need to open their eyes up a bit.

Originally posted by borissa
A wonderful quote from Martin Luther King Jr which I would like to share with you...

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase"

So when people nit-pick the Bible and worry about tiny details (which, after all, have probably been changed by translation) maybe they should step back, feel the life in themselves and marvel ...[text shortened]... ven if you're not sure who you're thanking. That's your first step. Enjoy the staircase.

This is a good quote because it illustrates the rationality of faith. Atheists would have us believe that faith is akin to jumping off a cliff , or believing in something you know in your heart is not true. They love to discredit faith because they see it in all or nothing terms. They paint a picture of on the one side objective , rational skepticism and on the other wild , irrational faith when actually the truth is more complex than that. So "faith" becomes a dirty word and associated with a kind of thinking that is better described by the words ignorance and dogma. However , there is such a thing as rational , calm and testable faith that doesn't require a leap into illusions. When we committ ourselves to the battle for justice and freedom in this world we are exercising this faith (in something better). I think MLK had such a faith. He struggle to see true equality in America and maybe he didn't live to see the top of the staircase but he knew it was there. He walked on it and his belief in God was a massive part of it.

"Sleep , sleep tonight ,
and may your dreams be realized " (MLK - U2 song lyric)