Bible Questions

[Kidlicious]

I just like making fun of people who take the Bible literally - such as BK, or Kid.

If you're making fun of me for taking all of the Bible literally, you're making an ass out of yourself.

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben does not take the Bible literally. He's a Catholic.

I'm not sure I ever have, not in the sense that Fun refers.

[Ben Kenobi]

If you're making fun of me for taking all of the Bible literally, you're making an ass out of yourself.

At least you know that Moses wasn't the one who built the ark. You also obey Christ. You've got nothing to worry about from Fun.

[MrFun]

Ben does not take the Bible literally. He's a Catholic.

Yet, Catholics believe in the story of creation.

[Hauldren Collider]

Even your troll threads are boring.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yet, Catholics believe in the story of creation.

Mr. Fun, Please define what you mean by a literal understanding.

Even your troll threads are boring.

Hey, not everyone can troll effectively. We shouldn't criticize Fun for his failings.

[Hauldren Collider]

Why did God create Adam and Eve with sexual reproductive organs if they were not to have sex?

How did Noah come to have electron microscopes and petri-dishes with which to save microbial life from the Great Flood? Why did he forget to save the dinosaurs?

Why did God allow the Romans to slaughter so many innocent babies the night after Jesus and his parents fled for safety? He sent an angel to warn Mary, but he could have sent angels to all the other mothers too.

Alright I'll bite. I went to sunday school for a while. I'm no catholic, but here goes:

1. This is bull****, they can have sex if they're married. In the bible it says to be fruitful and multiply.
2. You don't take this **** literally dude. It's a story, an allegory, at least in Catholic tradition, from what I remember.
3. They say god is omnipotent, but he doesn't really get his hands dirty. Free will is free will. If he prevented bad things from happening, there would be no point to life.

Now, I'm an atheist, and you profess to be christian. But it feels like I know more about this than you do. Isn't that funny?

[snoopy369]

MrFun, you prove my point. You don't know anything about Catholicism, so you don't even know who you're trolling. Ben's not a good example, because he doesn't really know what he believes in either, but Catholics are not fundamentalists. They don't believe everything in the bible is exactly as written. Frankly that's a lot of the frustration I have with evolution deniers - a lot of them don't know what their own church believes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_evolution

The Catholic Church does not believe in the creation myth as literal fact. They have very particular beliefs about creation - basically, they're in the Intelligent Design camp, which is a perfectly rational camp to be in [plenty of scientists are in that camp as well]. Nothing in evolutionary theory contradicts it [and, really, it's hard to disprove]. See the wiki page - even in the 1850s they didn't believe in the creation myth as literal fact.

Educate yourself before you make fun of others for being ignorant. This is one of those places where the Bible is pretty useful, regardless of religion: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." (Be nice if a larger proportion of the religious types listened to that, but what can you do.) Trolls like this just make you look like the ignorant idiot, which I assume is not the point.

[Kidlicious]

Yet, Catholics believe in the story of creation.

And you don't?

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben's not a good example, because he doesn't really know what he believes in either, but Catholics are not fundamentalists. They don't believe everything in the bible is exactly as written. Frankly that's a lot of the frustration I have with evolution deniers - a lot of them don't know what their own church believes.

Snoopy - I suspect there's a disjunction between what you believe I believe and what I believe. I'm not a creationist, and I've never been a creationist. Did you think I was a creationist?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yet, Catholics believe in the story of creation.

As in God created everything? I believe that as well. Catholics also have stated that evolution is not inconsistent with creation and that is my belief too. So what exactly is your issue now? Do you believe in a God who wasn't around for the creation of the universe? Was he playing cards?

[Imran Siddiqui]

We cannot say: creation or evolution, inasmuch as these two things respond to two different realities. The story of the dust of the earth and the breath of God, which we just heard, does not in fact explain how human persons come to be but rather what they are. It explains their inmost origin and casts light on the project that they are. And, vice versa, the theory of evolution seeks to understand and describe biological developments. But in so doing it cannot explain where the 'project' of human persons comes from, nor their inner origin, nor their particular nature. To that extent we are faced here with two complementary—rather than mutually exclusive—realities.

- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now known as Pope Benedict XVI), 1995

Or how about:

159. Faith and science: "... methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are." (Vatican II GS 36:1) 283. The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers.... 284. The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such an origin....

From that little known Catholic book, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

[Ben Kenobi]

[MrFun]

As in God created everything? I believe that as well. Catholics also have stated that evolution is not inconsistent with creation and that is my belief too. So what exactly is your issue now? Do you believe in a God who wasn't around for the creation of the universe? Was he playing cards?

I believe that God originated the universe, and is the originator of the Big Bang. Life came after, without God's direct hand in it. After life emerged, and after humans had evolved, God wanted a relationship with humans and to have them believe in him. So he gave humans the gift of having a soul/spirit.

[Ben Kenobi]

Life came after, without God's direct hand in it

Mr. Fun, don't you think it would make more sense to say that God came first and made man?