Evidence for God from Science

Ok, I see where you're coming from. I'm not going to press you much further . . by all means, press all you want ...by guess and by golly twas just my way of saying it ain't physics...I can't produce an equation that gets me a irrefutable answer But something tells me that you aren't arbitrarily la...

OK, so you don't like the word "fiction," ... don't mind it that much... ..... is it not possible that people still wrote "historical fiction" before they had a name for it? most certainly...my concern is with the modern understanding of what is the thing called "historical...

Just so I understand you completely . . . are you saying that you are open to the idea that Genesis 1-11, and possibly 12-50, contains historical fiction? I am reluctant to use the term "historical fiction" b/c that refers to a modern genre and Gen is not a modern work by any stretch of t...

. Why would you say that Adam and Eve are probably historical? b/c of the way in which they are referenced in the whole Bible. You also said you would take Noah to be historical and the very next line you said non-historical. I suspect a typo there . . . I wasn't clear enough...I am inclined to vie...

Let me start by saying that I have a good deal of respect for your position. Thanks...and w/o intending in any way to sound patronizing and only intending to give you a compliment...I appreciate the maturity that you have demonstrated in your responses to me here. Now, with that said, I want to und...

So yes, Gen. 3 mentions only a literal snake. There is absolutely NO ground for thinking otherwise in the passage, unless you argue that anything that does not line up with human experience should be taken allegorically, in which case, we will have to take every miracle in the Bible as allegorical....

Specifically, would you consider Cain/Abel, Seth, Noah, and/or the Tower of Babel stories to be allegorical/of the same nature as Genesis 3? Thanks perhaps I should point out that I do consider Adam, Eve, Noah etc. to be historical figures even though I don't hold Gen 3 to be history. Regarding Bab...

Jac3510 wrote:ttoews:

I appreciate your comments, but our conversation is just going to go into things that we've been over before. Let me just ask you something straight: what do you take the genre of Genesis 1-11 to be?

I suppose an allegorical story or something akin to it...same as i'd categorize Gen 3.

Yes, but a simple, and less accurate understanding is still accurate to some degree. yes, and even your literal interpretation has accuracy...Adam and Eve were tempted, yielded to it and they were seperated from God as a result of their sin...it is just that Gen 3 doesn't describe how it literally ...

This is obvious, but just as obvious is the fact that Revelation was written some 1800 years after Genesis. Thus, whatever extra light the Revelation may shed on this passage, it cannot affect its original meaning. original meaning is not the same thing as original understanding. When the OT speaks...

Hey ttoews, always nice to get your thoughts. First let me say that I appreciate your response. Thanks for your kind words Jac. I've got a bit of time, so allow me to give you one thing about the text that (I think) presents problems for a literalist....I'll respond to the rest of your post when ti...

Hi all, I thought I'd pop back in for a bit and this topic drew my interest Q. Briefly, what causes you to consider the snake in Genesis 3 to be non-literal? My answer is a little different than Gman's, and so I'll provide it (for what it is worth). In short, b/c of what is contained in the passage....

Jac, sorry for the wait....here is my response to your last post (the last 1/3 of your previous post still to come) Now, my short answer to your concern is that the promised land in Gen. 15 certainly includes, but is much greater than, the promised land in Gen. 13 and Num. 34. the promise in Gen 15 ...

You talked about finishing this in stages, so I don't know if you have anything else to add? It looks like you covered everything, so I'll go ahead and get this now. I still have to comment on the last 1/3 or so of your previous post and now I've got this last one to comment on as well....however, ...

Jac3510, I'll respond to your last post in stages...otherwise you could be waiting a week or so till I get a full response completed. Ok, there are two problems I see with your proposed solution. First off, the land promises of Genesis 15 included the area in which they were standing when they were ...