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To: berned
A mild, hit-and-run question for Protestants, because I have to go paint my porch: Where in the Bible does it say sola scriptura?

You need some sort of teaching authority to interpret scriptures. The Jews had an oral tradition that went along with the Torah, and have developed many written traditions of varying authority as well.

The Theory of Evolution is not a point of Catholic doctrine. The Pope has said that Catholics may consider it, as long as they agree that all humanity is descended from a first couple, whom the Bible names Adam and Eve.

Personally, I think Darwin's General Theory of Evolution is a load of unscientific hogwash. But I don't believe that God probably created the universe around 4000 BC, because I find it hard to believe that He would have bothered to create all those fossils, ancient rocks, or a stellar universe that seems to require billions of years to produce the heavy elements--and faked the whole thing just to make fun of modern scientists.

Parts of the Bible are literal, parts are metaphorical, and parts are arguable as to which they are. I believe in the historical existence of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. But it doesn't really matter, for the essentials of the faith, whether or not Job was a real man, or a figure in an extended parable told to illustrate a point. In the same way Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan doesn't depend on whether such a person ever existed. I reserve judgment on Job's historical existence, but not on the moral and spiritual lesson the book teaches. I believe in the actuality of Moses, because I believe that a real, living God acted in history, not in fable, and therefore spoke to and through particular people.

21 posted on 05/21/2002 11:34:46 AM PDT by Cicero
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To: Cicero
But if you don't believe the Bible's Genesis account, why do you believe Jesus's words about rocks and keys to the kingdom, etc. Do you believe that in the Old Testament God was mostly lying, but in the New Testament, God cleans up His act and starts telling the truth?

What basis do you have for disbelieving Job was a real man who actually lived?

25 posted on 05/21/2002 11:46:30 AM PDT by berned
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To: Cicero
I reserve judgment on Job's historical existence, but not on the moral and spiritual lesson the book teaches. I believe in the actuality of Moses, because I believe that a real, living God acted in history, not in fable, and therefore spoke to and through particular people.

Very well put.

61 posted on 05/21/2002 1:23:39 PM PDT by yendu bwam
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