Why Protestant and Jewish Families Rule the Earth

[Philosophiser]

Originally posted by Bill3000
Jesus Christ is a communist.

LOL you poor child. No he is not a communist. He believes in helping the poor surely, but He never advocated statist control of property or lack of economic freedom. In fact, the Old Testament, which He claims to have written as God, endorses private property. The New Testament likewise never advocates statist control of the economy. Marxism condemned Christianity and Judaism as anti communistic.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Philosophiser


My articles are from scientists with PHDs, including scientists from top reputable universities.

Yes. A few crackpots who have no mainstream following, no credibility, and have been proven wrong.

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/age.htm

There is no credible dispute as to the reliability, accuracy, or general effectiveness of radiometric dating methods. Period.

It is fact.

It's a scientific test. You run it, you get a clear result.

There is no gray area whatsoever.

The link I posted before addresses EVERY ARGUMENT that your links pose.

You are refuted. You are 100% wrong.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Elok]

Oh, and there were graven images all over the Ark of the Covenant, which was treated with distinct reverence bordering on "idolatry." Also, you seem to be stunningly ignorant of Orthodox theology; we are not "worshipping" the icons, only using them as a medium towards the divinity they represent. FYI.

[Philosophiser]

Originally posted by Sava


Yes. A few crackpots who have no mainstream following, no credibility, and have been proven wrong.

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/age.htm

There is no credible dispute as to the reliability, accuracy, or general effectiveness of radiometric dating methods. Period.

It is fact.

It's a scientific test. You run it, you get a clear result.

There is no gray area whatsoever.

The link I posted before addresses EVERY ARGUMENT that your links pose.

You are refuted. You are 100% wrong.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

No that article proves nothing. Expected age according to who? According to previous radiocarbon measurements. Nobody denies that radiocarbon dating produces a ratio type consistency within the various rock layers, the debate is over whether the whole measurement can be relied upon to begin with or whether other processes are at work to make it seem older- including changes in the C14 of the atmosphere among other factors. Your articles prove nothing except the classic uniformitarian assumptions that you'd expect from an atheist.

[Philosophiser]

Originally posted by Elok
Oh, and there were graven images all over the Ark of the Covenant, which was treated with distinct reverence bordering on "idolatry." Also, you seem to be stunningly ignorant of Orthodox theology; we are not "worshipping" the icons, only using them as a medium towards the divinity they represent. FYI.

I know all about Orthodox theology. And the fact is that idolatry is not the worshipping of the image, but the act of venerating it in the name of the god it represents. Even bowing down to an image is idolatry, even if you don't think the image itself is a deity. Most pagan religions didn't think that their idols were the actual gods, but merely pathways to get to their gods. The true God forbids all of this.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Philosophiser
I know all about Orthodox theology. And the fact is that idolatry is not the worshipping of the image, but the act of venerating it in the name of the god it represents. Even bowing down to an image is idolatry, even if you don't think the image itself is a deity.

Out of interest, where does it say that in the Bible? I don't remember reading a definition of idolatry.

[Philosophiser]

As far as the varves go, here is the answer:

: How do you explain the formation of fine strata layers called varves? Such as those in the Green River formation in Wyoming which contains 20 million fine layers which represent 1 year each. Doesn’t this prove the earth is more than 6,000 years old?

A: This question assumes that each of these layers is annual, and this is obviously not the case. Numerous experiments have been done on the formation. You can take a section of Green River formation and grind it to powder, drop it into moving water and it will resort itself into many fine layers. It has been shown that the layers are not annual at all. There are places in this formation where over 1500 layers in some areas and only 1000 in others, all between the same to ash layers called "event horizons." See Creation Magazine June-Aug. 1997. This subject is dealt with in great detail at the Institute for Creation Research (619) 448-0900, or you can contact their web page at www.icr.org .

[Philosophiser]

Originally posted by Cyclotron


Out of interest, where does it say that in the Bible? I don't remember reading a definition of idolatry.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20)

[Philosophiser]

I must leave for a few days, but I'll be back in about a week or so. God bless everyone!

-Philosophiser

[Sava]

Originally posted by Philosophiser


No that article proves nothing.

Actually, it proves that "young earth" arguments against radiometric dating are false.

Expected age according to who?

Scientists that have been conducting research for decades using proven, reliable methods.

According to previous radiocarbon measurements. Nobody denies that radiocarbon dating produces a ratio type consistency within the various rock layers, the debate is over whether the whole measurement can be relied upon to begin with or whether other processes are at work to make it seem older- including changes in the C14 of the atmosphere among other factors. Your articles prove nothing except the classic uniformitarian assumptions that you'd expect from an atheist.

This is not a debate.

I am showing you the FACTS. You are ignoring them.

[Pyrodrew]

The Catholic Church’s reaction to Galileo is well known. It’s less well known that most of the “reformers” (Luther, Calvin, Wesley) also rejected the Copernican system on Scriptural grounds.

Phil is just fighting the evil Galileo (and conspiracy) of his time.

[Elok]

You know all about it, huh? Illumination of the nous, theiosis, hesychia...? Well, there's no point asking for proof, given that you can just copy and paste information from a website and pretend you knew it all along, but I doubt it. My guess is that your knowledge of actual Orthodoxy extends to somewhere in the area of "Catholic, but no pope or filioque."

We differ, obviously, on "idolatry." But my original disclaimer stands: you and yours are (thankfully) in the extreme minority, and your backwardness, bigotry, and false assumptions about the intended purpose of the bible are not to be taken as any indication of Christianity as a whole. And by "Christianity," I mean us poor sinners who think you can't possibly have a science WITHOUT the assumption of uniformitarianism, et cetera. You know, 98% of the people on Earth who use the label.

Finally, I do not "defend atheists." I defend truth, but I don't shove it down people's throats and I don't think truth is best served by your lies, distortions, and twisted "interpretations." Your presence here is doing nothing for Christianity (your kind or otherwise), and the comedy of it wore off a long time ago. Are you staying here for mere perversity, to spite us?

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Philosophiser
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20)

I always read the emphasized part as meaning that the bad thing about idols was if you worshipped them, because then they would be taking the place of God. People bow in many societies, for religious and nonreligious reasons, and usually they are not worshipping what they bow. If one does not, as this passage says, "serve them," what is wrong with using them to honor God?

[Sava]

And for the record, I'm agnostic. Not atheist. To say there is no God is just as unprovable as to say there is a God.

However, I do believe Christianity (and all other human religions) is completely full of ****.

[Odin]

Anyone who thinks 85% of scientists are atheists and thinks radioisotopic dating is unreliable has no brain.

the Noah story is a rip-off from a Sumerian legend that originated from a rapid rise in the level of the Black Sea when water from the Mediterranean burst though the Bosphorus 7000 years ago. The Cain and Able story is a mythologization of ther comflict between early farmers and hunter-gatherers. The banishment from Eden is a mythologization the desertification of the the Sahara and Arabia 6000 years ago that pushed semetic-speaking peoples into the fertile cresent, flaming sword = expanding deserts.