Bolshevik

Hello again Leah. Good to hear from you. I strongly recommend a well-made potato cannon.

We could throw time dilation and stuff in. And giants maybe? I mean it was a different world before the flood. (the above is sarcasm) Why are their ages significant to mention anyway?

If my post was unclear I was NOT arguing that the flood was an actual event. So, why was Sarah pimping herself out? She couldn't have been old if Pharaoh was hearing all about how hot she was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flood_myths#Africa Flood stories occur everywhere in the world. You could take that to mean a common event or experience in human history, or a common use of symbolism. Water represents chaos. Jesus walked on stormy water because he conquered chaos, death and destruction. Just as the Ark saved life in the flood.

So what about the part where during a famine Abram's wife sleeps with Pharaoh so Abram and she can get rich? Why didn't God just send food?

Quantum physics certainly questions the nature of reality. Not sure it addresses how to interpret the Bible. The Bible doesn't interpret itself of course. That's a little too VPW.

The Bible is literature and literature is art and art is human expression. In that context, Isn't saying "this didn't really happen" just as much in the realm of absurdity as "this really happened"?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth Hebrew Bible, sure maybe. By the time Paul was around? I don't know what he didn't know.

(Just clarifying a little, I meant that with some sarcasm. I believe it has often been taught, even in schools, that Columbus somehow discovered or proved the earth was round. Why the misinformation? I don't know. Yes many people knew the earth was round, even far back before much of the Bible was likely written)

I'm not sure I agree The Bible was always taken literally and that it wasn't always obvious that it wasn't meant to be. I believe there's an idea out there that the Bible, the printing press, and giving power to the common person and not so much to Catholic Church authorities, gave rise to rampant literal interpretations. In that way The Bible becomes the authority over any person or group. Which is a neat and liberating idea, but obviously flawed. Similar to the idea everyone in Christopher Columbus' day thought the world was flat until he challenged it. I mean, nobody has been perfectly happy, literal interpretations of Genesis has been challenged for maybe thousands of years. Augustine. I don't know of any book offhand that says "psst, don't take this literally, there was not turtle named Yertle" I somewhat get the angle, arguing against literal interpretations. But I think these arguments have motives behind them. (not saying anyone here does). Creationists, obviously have a motive to push literal aspects of The Bible, since they feel they have something to lose. And ultimately these arguments end up in politics.

Adam was God-breathed. He fell apart. The Word is God-breathed, too. (I'm hoping this counts as an error or plot hole)

Maybe this thread was about how common plagiarism is? I dunno. I remember Craig talk about how we need to build more bombs. BIGGER bombs. And how everyone is a bunch a dumb dumb ignoramouses.

These stories didn't happen, but they cleary did. That is more difficult to describe. The stories came from somewhere, a long time ago. Without the printing press, or an initial single writer, it seams. And arguing, "The sun didn't move for a day" . . "that's not scientifically valid" . . ."yeah but einstein if you cross your eyes" . . . this could go on ad infinitum. Is that the right tactic?

It sounds like they were trying to build a Utopia. Often when that's attempted it doesn't end well. God kicked them out. Like before with Eden. Maybe a pattern starting?

Why didn't Gandalf have the eagles take the ring straight to Mount Doom from the get go? Instead he sent two inexperienced weaklings. Because the story would suck if he sent birds. If Abel didn't get whacked, what good is this story?

I'm not sure Genesis claims eternal life. Maybe it does. A happy ending story is nice but not that's not normal. The writers, being likely in the hundreds or thousands of individuals over generations of oral storytelling, probably noted many people's reactions to a goody two-shoes like Abel. God seams to be a sufficient character for internal dialogue in a story like these.

Cain was the one with the internal struggle. As with Adam. As with Eve. As with the serpent. Abel didn't have a struggle as the other four did. Just an observation.

https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/1.html http://www.punkerslut.com/articles/mistakesingenesis.html http://www.biblicalnonsense.com/chapter5.html

Genesis says there's a flood. There's no scientific evidence of a flood as described. Or snakes eating dirt. Or talking donkeys. Or camels existing in the wrong place and the wrong time. What makes that error? Is it Genesis or the reader or the writer in error? Also, which criteria from PFAL are being applied? (for anyone besides the usual to reply)

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sea-lioning

By bloodshed, meaning sacrifice?

Hi Raf, thanks for waiting. If God's all-powerful can he create a rock even he can't lift? That's the argument I see being put forth here. That can be fun to say. Sure. Two people gave sacrifices. One was preferred over the other. Jealousy arose. That's a story we see every day, a story old as time. Is that easy to deal with?

It's a story. Stories are often more true than reality. They're describing something difficult to explain. If the story says Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall we do not go on and on about the scientific validity of how an egg could climb a wall. I'm assuming the Cain and Able story are communicating something real. Real back then, real now. What does God represent and what do Cain and Able represent? What is being described in this dialogue thousands of years ago that still is true today? That could be talked about forever. "If God is all powerful why didn't he blah blah" are not interesting lines of questioning. IMO.

Eden could symbolize not so much a paradise but a closed system, much like TWI. Any closed system ignores the outside world, although it may seem perfect for a time. Eve questioned the system and her perceptions were immediately altered. Eden was not what it had seemed anymore and there was no going back. (That new self-awareness is often uncomfortable, hence the fig leaves). That is something people may or may not experience over and over again, so the Eden story may just represent a process in life itself. Such as leaving a cult mindset.

https://www.popsci.com/humans-are-better-noticing-snakes-we-are-seeing-spiders#page-2 http://www.cracked.com/article_19986_the-5-weirdest-sixth-senses-humans-have-without-knowing-it.html (see #3, Ovulating women can sense snakes and gays) Snakes shaped human evolution. So they show up symbolically in mythology