"If carbon dating were absolute, we wouldn't be dating living organisms to be thousands of years old, would we. C14 has suppositional and procedural problems. " That's because Carbon 14 dating doesn't work on objects until they're dead. Carbon 14 is very exact except in cases where the creature is living or in enviroments of high carbon content Ancient Egypt isn't a very carbon-filled society. "I'll take your non-answer as an admission that your original accusation isn't in the Bible." My non answer? The bible mentions satyrs, or in some translations "goat faced/goat shaped demons". What would you think a "goat shaped demon" or a "satyr" is? A badly mutated goat? Goat-Boy from SNL?
"Uh, the Bible doesn't say that. You might want to go back and read it again. This much is basic: When you criticize the Bible for being wrong, you should actually quote the passage you think to be wrong, not make it up. The passage in question very specifically excludes tapeworms, spiders, mosquitoes and eels. Have you read it? Or did you just go to a skeptic site and cut-and-paste?" " Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." Tapeworms are "beasts of the earth" last time I checked. And cross references indicate otherwise from what you say. ESV 1:30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. My favorite, the NIV (My family brought me up on the NWT, and I looked upon this translation as a godsend) 1:30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was so It explains itself. "Provide me with a link please." http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=GEN%201:29-30;&version=47; Here you go. "Try typing "giants" in Google." I came up with so far
No, seriously, so far, what I got was this link: http://www.returnofthenephilim.com/GiantBonesDiscoveries.html (Which mentions giants in graves, nowhere near the middle east. And I don't mean to bring up an ad-hominem attack, but that's the same page that has a UFO on it. http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa051500a.htm Another one. http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/pics/giant.femur.html This might prove to be Creationism's Piltdown. http://www.thewatcherfiles.com/dulce/chapter26.htm Skeletons found in North America that were supposed to be found in the Middle East, and before you say that the flood carried them away, just suppose this, what if there was a flood? The Corilis effect would likley send those skeletons in the Artic, or they'd simply stay static due to tthe raindrops coming down at that amazing rate. (Ever seen a fishing bobber in a rainstorm?) "Actually, you didn't get it. Does the fact that Egyptians acknowledged giants in their own official literature mean anything to you?" Yes, during the time they had a thriving culture and no mentioning of a flood in their mythos. Wow, those Egyptians were talented people! "You might have missed it, but the ziggurat passage clearly mentions that there were many languages. You chose to take one passage out of context and make it say something that it did not. The "one language" was a common language that allowed everyone to communicate. It might have been like Greek in the Roman Empire. Read the two earlier verses. It says that the sons of Shem settled according to their languages/dialects." From the raw context of the scripture, it says: KJV Gen 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. NIV Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ASV And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. How can this scripture be figurative, yet the previous scriptures about giants and floods be literal? It strikes me as Kerryish. "The story of Jonah was never meant to be explained naturally. It was a supernatural event and is clearly stated to be such. Therefore your objections that a supernatural event were not naturalistic is invalid." Then you'll have to validate other supernatural events if you're going to validate that one, because there's as much sense as Shiva having one of his avatars being Krishna or the "miracles" of "prayer healing" by various cults who refuse medical treatment for their children. "Perhaps you've heard of the Philistine Problem? Perhaps you didn't know that there are 3 peoples referred to as the Philistines? It is rather apparent that you did not know the generic term for the people of Canaan." That I did not know. "Do you have even the slightest idea of the world populaton at the time of Jonah? Hint: At the time of Christ the entire world contained less than the current population of the US. So it wouldn't be likely that you'd find a city the size of LA when Rome wasn't even that big. And Jonah was a lot earlier than the Rome of Tiberius." The question isn't about population, it's about the sheer size of a town that would exceed the second largest city in the U.S. in a time where there were very few people. It simply couldn't exist. "Opinions and speculations are not exactly things with which one can expect to discredit the Bible." But science and logic are. Let's see some. Flood, geographical, biological, geological, hydrological and meterological impossibilities: Floodwater from a 40-day global flood would have eroded every mountian flat. Polar caps would have been washed away, the bristlecone pine trees in AZ would be drowned out. Summoning the animals from all over the earth in very specialized geographies would take a yeoman's task, summoning the last polar bear, koala, crocodile, behemoth ;) ostrich, (Insert difficult to capture animal here.) Coral forests wouldn't have been as big as they are because coral need shallow water. Samuel 1: 1.3 million Hebrew soldiers for a time where there weren't even 1.3 million people in a nation. Our active forces (Army, Navy and Airforce) have around 1.3 million. (Thank you, Bill Clinton :/) 1 Kings 10:14 14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, (That would be 25 M tons.)
THE FOLLOWING is probably THE BEST essay/piece I've read about the Tsunami vis a vis God vs satan having to do with the event.
Regarding The Dec 26 Tsunami
Teresa Seputis
It was only 5 PM on Christmas Day where I live. It was 6:30 in the morning the day after Christmas for the people in India. It was 7 or 8 in that same morning for most of the rest of the places that were effected by the Tsunami that devastated southern Asia. It took about 12 hours for the news of this terrible disaster to travel throughout the world. Over 22,000 people are reported dead and the death toll is expected to climb even higher than that.
And people are asking "Why did this happen?" Christians around the world cannot help but notice how near this disaster was to Christmas Day and that the people effected by this were mostly idol worshippers. And some have wondered if this was some type of judgment of God against idolatry. In fact, that question ran briefly through my own mind as I got past the initial shock of the terrible news. I found myself asking God -- "was this a judgment or was it an attack of the enemy or what?"
It took about an hour before I was able to hear God's answer to my question. I think the delay was because this sad news hit me very hard, as I have close ties to the area. I have flown in/out of Chennai (a.k.a. Madras) many times. The state of Tamilnadu, where Madras is located, was one of the areas hardest hit in India.
And I have ministered many times in the State of Andhra Predesh, and over 200 people are reported to have died from the Tsunami in that state. In fact, I had a guest from Andhra Predesh in my home at the exact instant the tsunami hit, and his wife was in India visiting her family 15 miles from the coast. (We did not know about the Tsunami until after he had gone home that night.)
This is what God told me: This was NOT a judgment from God, it was an attack of the enemy. The attack mirrors in the natural what God is about to do in the spirit, and it precedes an upcoming move of God in those areas. God has been hard a work behind the scenes to prepare South Asia for revival. It is almost ripe and God is going to release a wave of great revival there, a revival that will draw people to the truth and sweep away the stronghold of idolatry and ancestor worship.
The devil is one who comes to comes to kill, steal and destroy. And he has brought this tsunami to kill as many people as he can before the revival hits. He is doing this because he does not want them to be saved in the revival. It is not God's heart or desire to destroy the people who live in great darkness in this part of the world -- it is His desire to shine His light into their darkness and to save them.
The Lord showed me a princple that relates to enemy activity in the area. The principle is that the enemy's "thing" is to kill and destroy, and the more of a hold he has on an area, the more of an ability he has to do his thing in that area. For instance, in India, the state of Tamilnadu was the one that was hardest hit by the Tsunami, and where most of the death and destruction occurred.
This same state is one that had given the devil a stronghold by passing a very strong anti-conversion law that could imprison anyone who leads a person to the Lord. And because the devil had a stronghold on this area, he was able to bring more death/destruction to it than to other parts of India. (I am not saying that Tamilnadu is the only demonic stronghold in India. But the devil was able to destroy much there because it was one of his strongholds.) The good news is that Tamilnadu is almost ripe for revival and that area will be filled with God's light and presence."
We must remember that God's heart is for the lost and He wants to bring them to Himself. The devil's heart is to kill, steal and destroy and to oppress and keep people in darkness. God's goal and the devil's goal are diametrically opposed to one another. That is why there is a war going on between the two sides. God has already won the war when Jesus rose from the dead, breaking the power of sin and death. But God values human free-will; He wants people to worship Him of their own free choice. And in order to preserve our ability to choose (free will) God has not yet banished the devil to Hell. The devil knows he is defeated, and like a trapped animal he still lashes out against God's kingdom and engages in warfare.
The Tsunami was a great and heart-breaking tragedy. We need to ask ourselves how God wants us to respond to this. I would like to share three insights to that question.
First, He wants us to love them with the love of Christ. That love does not sit idly by and hope the people will get the help they need -- instead that love helps those who become destitute from this Tsunami -- it gives both financial and practical aid. We are not to limit our help to just those who are willing to convert. We are to follow God's example: God sends His rain on both the just and the unjust, so we should help all who are effected, not just those who agree with our viewpoint.
Second, we need to pray for God's will to be done in this area. God's will is to bring a wave of His revival -- to break the power of darkness, to bring light and life and joy and peace and provision to these people. It is to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus so that they put away their idols and worship only Him. So we need to pray and intercede in agreement with God's will for a great revival to come to South Asia.
Third, we must participate with God in accomplishing His will in that area. This means doing missions work in South Asia. It also means supporting and equipping the indigenious believers as they evangelize their nations.
Great darkness has come to this area in the form of this terrible tradegy. Now it is time for the body of Christ to bring great light to dispell that darkness. It is time for us to bring practical and tangible help, as well as to bring God's love and the good news of the gospel to this region. It is also time to demonstrate the reality and power of God's love by healing the sick and doing the works that Jesus did.
Blessings
Teresa
Teresa Seputis
TS@GodSpeak.org URL:
http://www.godspeak.org GodSpeak International; PO Box 4000; Hayward CA 94540-4000; USA GodSpeak International; PO Box 200; Bristol BS32 8YG; United Kingdom
From:
http://www.etpv.org/whatsnew.html