I’m from Missouri ....waiting to hear from Him directly .
And yes , I have come to distrust the spin of mankind .
Geology and paleontology are what they are , forensic evidence , tangibles . Nothing made up or extrapolated .
I have ‘studied’ religions and spirituality for many many years . Attended church , been baptized and pray daily , and after all of that , I hold this more pragmatic approach , rather than pure faith on unsubstantiated theology and the writings of the ancients alone . If a man of the Abrahamic times came upon a fossil embedded in a rock face , what would he have made of it ? can a mouse define the Himalayas ? It can assume they are BIG , but it has no idea how big ....what does the mouse tell other mice ? The mountains are BIG!.... but there is more involved . Much more .
Ahh, the 'Show me' State - You and I would get along I think...
And yes , I have come to distrust the spin of mankind . Geology and paleontology are what they are , forensic evidence , tangibles . Nothing made up or extrapolated .
Plenty made up, and more than plenty extrapolated... As I said up thread, look to the error and not to the theory - For instance, flesh found (now repeatedly) in the bones of dinosaurs absolutely discounts 'millions of years' - The proteins found therein cannot last in any condition beyond 100,000 years (if that long). That single evidence blows a huge hole in the established timeline. Yet the textbooks still all say 'millions of years'. As in all things, it takes much to change the party line.
I have 'studied' religions and spirituality for many many years .
Me too, with a penchant also toward anthropology - I am not quick to discount the legends and lore of indigenous peoples. Important things are passed down in such ways, what a grandfather teaches his sons, and I think that all of it will eventually knit into a single fabric.It is significant to me that the Great Flood is well noted in virtually all mythology, with surprising detail.
Attended church , been baptized and pray daily , and after all of that , I hold this more pragmatic approach [...]
I am not run-of-the-mill myself, either - I most closely fit as a Christian Messianic (kinda half way between Christianity and Judaism) because I too am not impressed by unsubstantiated theories in theology.
[...] rather than pure faith on [...] the writings of the ancients alone .
Here I will differ with you strenuously. The Bible, and especially Torah, can easily be proven to have come from beyond space and time. Not only by prophecies (which rightly ought to be proof enough), but also by inbuilt encryption, which not only prove the veracity of the text, but also is of such an elegant design as to be far beyond the reach of Man to accomplish - Impossible, yet true. And I have found *nothing* in the works of Man to compare - Nothing at all. In that, my faith is girded by proof. One must have a rod to measure with in this world and I will bank upon the one that comes from beyond space and time.
But such a declaration is of little use, I know, without laying out the proof - And that is something best reserved for buckets of sweet tea and many, many hours on the back porch. And that I fear, is not an option available to us here and now.
If a man of the Abrahamic times came upon a fossil embedded in a rock face , what would he have made of it ? can a mouse define the Himalayas ? It can assume they are BIG , but it has no idea how big ....what does the mouse tell other mice ? The mountains are BIG!.... but there is more involved . Much more .
True enough, I suppose, but even still true in the main, I will submit. I give ancient man more credit than others, and modern men less.
Homo-sapiens sapiens - Wise Man
Romans 1:22 (KJV) 'Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,'