Biblical Inerrancy?

“No book of ancient times has come down to us exactly as it left the hands of its author- all have been in some way altered. ”
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14530a.htm

So what does this say about Bible inerrancy for today’s evangelical fundamentalists?  We know that the Catholic Church had unhindered and exclusive access to early Christian writings after about c315-325 CE.  They absolutely controlled what was canonized and passed on, and what was considered heresy (didn’t agree with them) so they could burn or suppress (and they did both) anything they wanted.  They also controlled the scribes and approved copies.

We also know that Eusebius was heavily involved with the picking and choosing of what was included, and was commissioned by Emperor Constantine, sometime after 325 CE, to produce 50 copies of a Bible to send to churches. It is believed that the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus are surviving examples. This also marked the first time the Old Testament and New Testament were produced together.

Most real Biblical scholars agree that Scripture has been edited to agree with the Catholic dogma, or the scribes particular bent, and there can be found alterations made by later Protestants. We can go online to Bible Gateway at: http://www.biblegateway.com/ and find 20 different English versions of The Book, and there can be found very subtle differences that can totally alter the thought or meaning.

We have no existing-original writings of the early Biblical authors. Many of the writers whose name appears in the headings today did not actually write them. Nothing original left to compare modern versions to.  So all of the modern interpretations have to be taken on ‘faith’ 🙂  We also know from extensive histories, that interpretations have varied…in *very large ways…from the time of Jesus to modern days. There is no continuity or consistency to this so-called ‘God’s Word’ or consistency of dogma or worship.  Would this be the hallmark of a real God? Is this a Godly enterprise?  Or could it be made-up by man?  Maybe the real god is ‘out there’ or ‘in there’, waiting to be discovered.

I find it hard to muster up that much faith and enthusiasm for what appears to be a major scam.

*Polygamy, slavery, rights of kings, second class feminine, right of ‘The Church’ to torture and kill in the name of God, etc.   Human slavery is the worst thing a God could have ever sanctioned. There can be no excuse for that little mistake…when this was included as a Godly thing; the Hebrew scribes at that point proved there is no God…in my humble opinion.

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To Control the Whole World

The land and the people were once a great force in the blue-green world. They were the ultimate expression of their times.

Schooling was universal among the people of this country. They had perhaps the best medical care and scholarship in the world of their time.  Big universities and research facilities made discovery after discovery in the many fields of science, healthcare, and disease prevention and care. Influential people from all over the planet came for treatment in their hospitals. People from other societies sent their children to this land to be educated by some of the best scholars to be found…anywhere.

The interests of people throughout the country were looked out for by governmental agencies that monitored, and tried to respond quickly to, dishonest behavior by large companies and entrenched interests, whether governmental or civilian. This factor, among others, made the country a place that people from all over the planet wanted to live in and make investments in. The stability of the government and the land was legendary.  The stability of the monetary system was unequaled in the planets history. Law ruled for the greater good, not individual interests.

They were looked upon as the greatest moral force for good on the planet. Their actions and their responses to evil forces or intentions were always measured and intelligent, fair in all possible respects.  The law and the way it was applied to all peoples, was almost always fair.  The government operated under a set of rules that was wrought hundreds of years before, and all the subsequent leaders followed these rules faithfully.

Of course, in all societies there are always the criminals, the scum and the lowlifes, who try to subvert the system and take advantage of their fellow countrymen. This country however was unique, in that they looked out for, and quickly prosecuted, these bad elements, and as a consequence the people of the land mostly trusted their government and leaders. So the people and the land were prosperous and multiplied and benefited enormously.

The economy of the land was unmatched by any other society on the planet, past or present, and in all probability…future. Their monetary system was the most admired and stable standard by which all others on the globe were measured.

But, there was trouble ahead. Unknown to most people of this blue-green world, and to this shining country, there were evil things going on.  Influential and tremendously wealthy individuals and great secret groups and many companies were slowly undermining the foundation of the very countries and governments and people they fed on.  They wanted it all, it seems.

They got into positions of power and control by any means they could, including bribery, rigged elections, and assassinations.  And once there, they plotted to gain control of all means of production and wealth- making on the whole planet, and split it up among the elite class. Many people from this wonderful country were involved in and supplied help, money, and leadership to this subversive enterprise…some say they even hatched the plan.

To further their plans they realized that the many, many millions of people on the planet needed to be brought under a heretofore unmatched and unheard of control. There was too much freedom enjoyed by the common people. They could move practically unhindered and untracked around the planet. Advances in the sciences and communications made individuals able to quickly tell others in their own…and other… countries, what was going on. They could conceivably ‘call for help’ as it were, from other like-minded peoples. Money could be moved all over the world easily, and hidden if deemed necessary. People were free to demonstrate and contest the powers that be; they were altogether too unhampered and unmanaged for the purposes of the growing elite power structure.

The plotters desperately needed to change this Weltanschauung. What could be used to change the world dynamic in their favor?  How could they bring everything under elite control?  What possible scenario could be used as an excuse…to control and track all peoples movements and associations, and to track all money flow between people and nations, to keep power from accreting to the wrong people or groups?

They needed the ability to secretly spy on and disrupt any dissent from the common people, to strongly control and track movements of everyone, to have unhindered access to people’s personal affects, money and properties, to secretly remove and imprison anyone who was trying to upset the applecart. To render all dissent powerless.

What possible thing could the elite do to bring this vision to fruition and allow them seemingly legitimate reason to gain this kind of control?  Thereby trashing a brave, relatively new country…and an old world, in the process.

Hmmm.

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‘I Believe’ License Plate Contested…Duh

Group files suit over ‘I Believe’ plates in SC
Group files lawsuit to prevent South Carolina from creating ‘I Believe’ license plates

This is the headline from Newsweek magazine For June 19^th. 2008 Here

A group that advocates separation of church and state has filed a lawsuit to stop the state of South Carolina from issuing a Christian ‘I Believe’ license plate, complete with a Christian Cross and stained glass window insignia.

The group asserts (rightly) that the government is endorsing a particular religion, and that is prohibited by the US constitutions first amendment. Well, we have already lost, or completely run over, some other amendments, (4-5-6- 8) courtesy of GW Bush, what’s one more?

The groups executive director, the Rev. Barry Lynn said: “I do believe these ’I Believe’ plates will not see the light of day because the courts, I’m confident, will see through this”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington, DC based group filed the suit on behalf of the Hindu American Foundation, a South Carolina rabbi, a Humanist pastor, and two Christian ministers.

Gee, who could have seen this lawsuit coming?

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Real Truths About Religion and God

People have responded to many of my posts about religion by asking me where my proofs come from. I suspect these people are just religious believers who want to convert me, and others, who write about non-belief.

There is information on any subject you can imagine on the Internet (as I’m sure you all know), including original research papers on subjects relating to Biblical truth. The popular science-type magazines all have a web presence. And contrary to some Christians beliefs, they are not part of an evil cabal out to satanize all who view them.

I have a blogroll type list of websites I use to gather information from, on the right side of my site…if you’re reading this…you will see it as you scroll down. These are legit sites and they have reliable, mainstream, real world information. If Christians were to ever actually seriously research their Biblical beliefs they would soon see how much they have been misinformed, and how wrong the Bible is.

I am a realist however, and I just put the stuff out there with the hope that it will strike a chord with someone who is searching for the truth, and maybe cause them to go to real world proofs, instead of Hebrew myths, that are a waste of precious time and energy.

The famous site listed below has all the answers to flood myth lined up and they are checkable. Other parts of the site have some of the best general information about scientific origins of the earth, universe, humans, etc. They have been around since the early nineties. If you take time to explore it thoroughly you will find links to original research and real world explanations of our earth, and all who live on, and in it. The people who write there are experts-who happen to not have a Doctorate of Divinity.

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-noahs-ark.html

If the Noachian Flood can be disproven (and it has been), then other parts of the Bible are also suspect of being wrong. And there are many other disproven Biblical assertions. Many Christians just don’t accept the truth. They cling very hard to a 2800 year old Hebrew myth, a view of a childish God, that people of the time didn’t have enough knowledge, or intellectual sense of the world, to question.

That the Christian faith has survived this long is not an indicator of its being true. To the contrary, it is an indicator of how easily the church adjusts its theology to conform as much as possible to currant social conventions (think slavery, polygamy, prostitution, kings killing on a whim, etc.). The church is known to burn papers (and people) that disagree with currant theological thought.

Think about the currant ‘state of the religion.’ Now, about 2008 years since the birth of Jesus (?) Roughly 1700 years since Christianity got the official ‘okey-dokey’ from secular rulers, and its still in a state of disrepair. There are maybe thousands of sects and they all differ. Muslims believe in the same God…so they say, and they are out to kill us…for heresy. Catholics believe Protestants practice heresy, and vice-versa. Mormons…who knows what they believe. There is either one that is right…or none is right. There is not two of them who are right…or three, or four…

Through manipulation of human thought and incorrect reasoning, physical threats, actual physical harm, and burning at the stake, or as little as social/societal ostracism, Christians have spread their evil plot to take over the world and control humans…every actions and thought…for more than two thousand years. Think about it for a while; think about the whole long history of Jews and Christians and what they have always wanted from us.

What has been, and is, their ultimate goal? It’s to take over control of all humanity and tell us how to think and act…they actually have that kind of control of a significant portion of the US population…think Bible belt and the Deep South. Churches are the social center and source of information, on how to conform…of many hundreds of thousands or millions of Evangelical Fundamentalist type people. I think those people are afraid that if they don’t belong to a church, they’ll automatically go out and start sinning in the worst possible way.

There is some evolving news about change in the Catholic position on humanity. They are actually starting to accept that humans have a looong history. Go to the site below and check it out. Notice in the upper right hand corner where the paper comes from. That old fossil…the Catholic Church…might have some life and intellect left after all. http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/zim/zim_251adamandeve.html

Below is a quote from the article mentioned above.

“The Catholic position on this is clear. St. Thomas says that “one should not try to defend the Christian faith with arguments that are so patently opposed to reason that the faith is made to look ridiculous.” It is simply nonsense to say that the world is only 6,000 years old (Catechesis, Creation and Evolution, Zenit News, Dec. 19, 2005).” My emphasis.

The Catholics are leading the pack in the changing of theological thought to match what is known to be true nowadays, although their present thought is a little dopey. I look forward to following this change. I also look forward to how the Evangelical Fundamentalists will continue to deny In-Your-Face truth.

Some suggested Google search terms that I have followed: Religion, God, Jesus, El, Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah, biblical tribes, Scripture, Noah’s flood, Ur of the Chaldeans, city of Dan, city of Laish, sea people, Babylon, age of earth, Hebrews, Christian myth, Sumerians, Akkadians, Mesopotamia, Jericho, Chaldea or Chaldeans, Assyria, Indus valley civilization, ancient Egypt, Hammurabi, Gilgamesh, flood stories, flood myths, Myths, ancient native Americans, Solutrian, Clovis points, cave paintings, Adam and Eve, African civilization(s), Bronze age, iron age, ancient Briton, ancient Europe, Neanderthal, Hebron, Abraham, Lot, biology, Midrash, Torah, Jewish myths, ancient languages, archaeological dating, carbon dating, dating methods, Dendrocronology, stratigraphy, oil geology, Permian, Paleontology, DNA, rNA, genetics, human history, human pre-history, ancient India, ancient Iran, Stonehenge, henges, pyramids, stelas, Rosetta stone, cuneiform writing, hieroglyphs, Euphrates river, Tigris river, Geology, life sciences, and on and on….

The above terms represent maybe one twentieth of the search terms (sorry they aren’t alphabetized) I have used in following the paths of Christian religion. I have been doing this for about two years now, in my spare time. If the site is religious sect sponsored, they will often try to deny real world science by any means they can, including, but not limited to, lying and misdirection. There are a few exceptions that are starting to tackle the problem head on though, and the Catholic Church, as mentioned above, is one of them.

There is not one or two sites that can disprove all things religious untrue, though talkorigins.com comes close. I find you have to visit and really absorb many, many different viewpoints and disciplines and slowly let them simmer in your head. Good hunting.

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Adam and Eve and the Beginning

“If the Bible is true, certainly Adam was the first man; consequently, we know, if the sacred volume be true, just how long man has lived and labored and suffered on this earth.

The church cannot and dare not give up the account of the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth, and of Eve from the rib of the man. The church cannot give up the story of the Garden of Eden — the serpent — the fall and the expulsion; these must be defended because they are vital.

Without these absurdities, the system known as Christianity cannot exist. Without the fall, the atonement is a non sequitur. Facts bearing upon these questions were discovered and discussed by the greatest and most thoughtful of men. Lamarek, Humboldt, Haeckel, and above all, Darwin, not only asserted, but demonstrated, that man is not a special creation.

If anything can be established by observation, by reason, then the fact has been established that man is related to all life below him — that he has been slowly produced through countless years — that the story of Eden is a childish myth — that the fall of man is an infinite absurdity.”
The Divided Household of Faith, Robert G. Ingersoll, 1888

Now we know that Adam of the Bible was NOT the first man, or Eve of the Bible was NOT the first woman. We humans know this as well as we know that night follows day. The fact that humans have inhabited this earth for hundreds of thousands of years is established and undeniable by those people who live in the real world.

We know that Proto-humans, or Neanderthals, were walking the earth-long-before we Homo sapiens did. This fact alone disproves Biblical beginnings of man.

We know that the Chinese were predicting eclipses before Moses supposedly wrote Genesis and described creation wrong.

We know that Noah’s flood never happened. NO evidence at all for this story. This fact alone disproves Biblical beginnings.

We know for a fact, that all people living on earth today are NOT descended from the supposed eight survivors of Noah’s flood about 4300 years ago. DNA science has disproved this religious notion.

We know that the ‘Tower of Babel’, as described in the Bible, never happened. Languages were all over the world at the time of the OT Bible story, any many, many years before that.

We know that the Bible and Scripture have been manipulated throughout its history.

We know that prayer is never answered. It’s all statistical anomaly.

We know there are no hard proofs for the existence of any ‘God’ or ‘gods’…none.

There are no hard proofs for Jesus…as described in the Bible.

Religious organizations try their damnest to disprove these facts, but all their arguments inevitably fall back on the rejection of real evidence, and the use of magic.

Despite the total failure of the Hebrew religion to explain our natural world, which it should be able to do if it were the ‘Word of God’, millions of people leave their brains at the door and believe superstitious nonsense and somehow justify it to themselves.

Think of the whole sweep of the history of our earth and ALL of its people. Think of the millions and millions of people that were living everywhere on earth when the Old Testament history was supposedly written. That a real God would pick these non-descript desert dwellers, and embroil Himself in their day-to-day matters and tell them who to kill and steal land from…is ridiculous.

And that anyone would believe these Hebrews wrote down the word-for-word ranting of a God out to kill off Hebrew opponents, and make a religion out of it…is insane.

God is made in the image of man, not vice-versa.

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God, Hebrews, and the Number 40

What’s with the Hebrews and the number forty? Sounds like they were heavily into numerology.

• The Flood rain was forty days.
• After landing on the mountaintop, Noah waited forty days to open the windows in the Ark.
• Moses was on the mountain for forty days.
• The Hebrews walked the desert for forty years
• They search out the Promised Land for forty days
• Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah.
• Twice, Judges gave peace for forty years.
• One occasion, war for forty years.
• One Judge had forty sons…poor wife.
• Saul ruled for forty years.
• David ruled for forty years.
• Solomon ruled for forty years.
• Joash ruled for forty years.
• Prophecy said Egypt would be barren for forty years.
• Elijah was in the desert for forty days.
• Jesus walked the desert for forty days.
• Joseph walked Nineveh for forty days.
• Jesus was said to appear to his followers for forty days after his resurrection from the dead.

I’ve heard, but never checked, that forty years is mentioned forty times in the Bible.
The word ‘forty’ is mentioned one hundred and forty times. This seems to be an obsession with the Jews…or ‘God.’

I know I have missed a few (?) here, but doesn’t this raise a few questions about the stories? Do modern day Christian religions have an obsession with the number 40? I haven’t heard anything about this.

Update: Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Jewish slave…at the age of forty. 6.15.08

Moses spent 40 years in Midian tending his father-in-law’s sheep.

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Sunday Sermon III

Fake Biblical artifacts is an old story now, as The History Channel has already done a film on the events. This excerpt below gives us an idea of how hard-up people of faith are to try and prove the basics behind their faith.

…”Hundreds of biblical artifacts in museums all over the world could be fakes, it has emerged after Israeli investigators uncovered what they claim is a sophisticated forgery ring…Four men have been charged with the faking of some of the most important biblical discoveries in recent years…

…”Shuka Dorfman, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the forgery ring had been operating for more than 20 years and had been “trying to change history”. Scholars said the forgers were exploiting the deep emotional need of Jews and Christians to find physical evidence to reinforce their faith.”… My emphasis-twom.

Story excerpted from: guardian.co.uk. Here

There are many details in the Bible that are undoubtedly true, but there are many more that are figments of some old men’s imagination. Biblical inerrancy is one of the things that is a figment. Some of the stories are purely imagination and are disproven in today’s world. These old stories only worked when people were ignorant. The only reason some of today’s people believe them, is they choose to be ignorant.

Since at least the sixteenth century, men and women of reason have been exploring and finding out the real truths about our world, and these truths have not always been beneficial to established religion and Biblical thought. It’s not like Reason and Science have been out to get Christianity; all other religions and gods around the world, that rely on magic to explain itself, are equally disproven.

Religion and its followers cling to the old ways with a fierceness that is sometimes scary. They will ridicule and hate and go to extremes to verbally and emotionally abuse anyone they suspect of causing disbelief in their faith. If you don’t believe as they do…then you are Satan in disguise…you are going to hell…you don’t deserve to be friends with…’WE (insert sect here) KNOW’ the truth.

Religion is inherently divisive. This is not just idle thought. Witness world history since religions have taken over cultures and races. Religion has been used over and over as excuses for genocide against neighbors and races. Not only do the religions themselves initiate death and destruction, but also secular leaders down through time have used religions for the same purpose. I just can’t imagine a real God doing the things that are attributed to Him. This God-is man in disguise…WE give him the attributes we want him to have…WE have made this God in OUR image…Not the other way around.

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Science…True…God…Not?

I have fielded lots of questions about beliefs in God and science. One person in particular had some questions that were similar to ones I hear all the time and that intrigued me. I thought I would make a column.

He writes:
” What do you do with the flaws in your faith-system? Is it adequate to you when the dogma of the last decade is replaced by the new and improved dogma of this decade? Not being negative, just asking. I am curious about how the new knowledge supercedes the old knowledge. And what about those who choose to cling to the old knowledge and call the new stuff heresy? ”

Like all inquiry of a scientific nature, if you put a theory out there, expect an immediate attack by your fellows…in your field. Those that have heavy intellectual baggage in one theory or another will probably give you grief. Those that don’t have hard opinions on your methodology yet OR are investigating something not quite on your target will wait till more evidence comes in. But, ultimately your stuff has to stand up to very close examination, and be repeatable by others, or many leaders in the field need to agree (not an easy thing to achieve). As a scientist you cannot just throw something out there and expect it will immediately be believed as true.

The reasons you are seeing sooo much change nowadays, is that investigational tools, new methods, computer technology, and the shear number of new investigational people is exploding. Like all scientific exploration, new work will have to stand-up to many people critiquing it before it is widely accepted in the community of science. Dating methodology for example has been put through the wringer, and is proven many times over…even though evangelical fundamentalists don’t believe it, and stand on their head trying to prove it wrong, and have been known to lie about the science.

He writes:
“I know the modernization of knowledge is inherent in the scientific inquiry process. If this is the foundation of your belief system, does it sometimes feel like you are standing on shifting sand? (Serious question).”

To the contrary, I feel pretty safe in believing what I do. I have been following science for about 50 years and I have seen the progression of science in the archaeological, and other earth sciences, from immediately disturbing and collecting of everything in sight; to today’s careful, methodical work that returns infinitely more information.

I have seen and followed the combining of different disciplines to attack old problems, people from widely divergent cultures unite and share information and life’s work. In short, I have been witness to an unbelievable explosion of knowledge and unity.

Even when governments and religions are at odds with each other…the scientists of each country and religion continue to work with each other. If anything the scientists are the ones setting the good examples of how to behave towards each other. Differing religions are continually at odds with each other unless science mediates

I feel that the believers in that old Hebrew God myth are the ones standing on quicksand. The basis (old myths and stories that are proven untrue) for their faith is being eroded day by day.

He writes:
“And I am curious about the flaws you have found in the Bible. Is there something I should know about? (Another serious question).”

Well over a hundred inconsistent stories or verses contradicting each other. Some stories being proven totally untrue, known manipulation of the contents of Scripture and the Bible, many anachronisms, wrong interpretations, Paul probably ‘inventing’ the religious theology behind Christianity. I found some independently, but most were found by Biblical scholars.

Jesus was probably a true historical person, but was he magical?

If we’re talking about a real God…the logic that should be evident…is missing. And yes, I can define the logic behind a God. Anyone can…as long as it is real logic.

There are no supernatural or magical forces in the world or universe today. Everything you see follows physical laws, even if we don’t quite know what they are yet.

Probably the most serious flaw is the religion itself. It lacks logic. The belief that a God–that created the whole universe–chooses to only reveal himself only to a wandering tribe of Hebrews, many tens or hundreds of thousands of years after humans evolved, and not tell the rest of the world, and stays mostly hidden to millions of people for such a long time is just silly and illogical. And yes I can define the logic of it.

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