I smell get-rich-quick…
Wow, that’s a mustache!!!
There is nothing so convincing as a body of evidence that supports what one wants to believe.
Keep whistling
Ron
This topic is in extremely poor taste. The Bible is not a fad-diet-of-the-moment book. Countless people have strived their entire lives to live by the teachings/writings in the Bible, believe in it deeply, and accept it as holy scripture. However any one individual feels about Christianity, the Bible, or any other religious matter, starting a thread which is obviously intended to insult beliefs and inflame is ill-advised. I’m disappointed in you, Lorenzo.
Susan
Lorenzo, caro mio,
i think you wasted a perfectly good $25 that you could have used to buy a whistle instead.
:roll:
Next you’re going to tell me that Santa does’t exist either! 
The Taipei Noodle House? Must be a prestigious academic organization of impeccable credentials.
Moral of the Story (of there is one):
People–religious and otherwise–are all too happy to accept “proof” for beliefs they already have, and credit for accomplishments they don’t.
G. K. Chesterton was asked by the London Times to answer the question, “What is wrong with the world today?”
His answer:
"Gentlemen,
I am."[/quote]
I don’t think anyone is going to deny there is a good deal of mythology in the Bible, as in other “holy works”. The point is not that the Bible, or Quran, or whatever, are holy works in their particular venues - simply that they are not to be swallowed whole with no examination. To do so is incautious and inadvisable in the extreme.
To some people, “Mein Kampf” is a holy scripture. Think about it.
serpent
But I was intending to post a Creed that supported what I had always suspected!
Quote @ susnfx
This topic is in extremely poor taste. The Bible is not a fad-diet-of-the-moment book. Countless people have strived their entire lives to live by the teachings/writings in the Bible, believe in it deeply, and accept it as holy scripture. However any one individual feels about Christianity, the Bible, or any other religious matter, starting a thread which is obviously intended to insult beliefs and inflame is ill-advised. I’m disappointed in you, Lorenzo.
Hello, God.
Chesterton also said: ‘If people stop believing in God,
it isn’t that they will believe nothing. They will
believe everything.’
P.S. Surely we are in over our heads…
Anybody here know Greek and Hebrew?
Shall we talk about something else?
Quote @ jim stone
Anybody here know Greek and Hebrew?
I wouldn’t be surprised if claudine does. 
I used to know koiné Greek fairly well (enough to read the Gospel of St. John without the aid of a dictionary) and a little Hebrew, but it has all pretty much evaporated.
By the way, the translators of the King James version did an excellent job with the texts which were available at the time.
There’s a Lutheran seminary next door to me, it’s
beautiful there, and I keep thinking that I ought to enroll
and study the Bible. I once knew a little Hebrew,
my wife knew a little Greek. But real Biblical scholarship?
Well, perhaps next life, along with skydiving and Latin.
I think it’s important to try to understand what a myth really is.
Although the story on which a myth is based may not be strictly factual, the nature of myth is that it embodies truth in a way that speaks powerfully to large numbers of people.
Best wishes,
Jerry
That is what Jesus called a parable. A story, from life’s experiences, that illustrates the lesson or belief that is to be taught. Usually told such that those that were open to learning were able to “get it.”
The mention on Samuel Langhorne “Mark Twain” Clemens reminded me of a quote of his that seems appropriate in relation to the author of this book:
"An expert is nothing but a damned fool a long way from home. "
There have been a horde of these books over the past 20 years - none of them have stood up to serious critical examination. In fact, the truth is that many of the places and events in the Old Testament have been verified through secular archaeology.
As long as bookstores can make a buck, they will publish anybody with any idea they think will sell. In the end, everyone believes what they choose to believe anyway, regardless of the facts…
I initially found it dismaying to see yet another stab at my Christian faith on this board…- then, on the bright side…it’s already been prophesied… it’s just another sign that we’re another day closer to HIS return. 
Longer than that.
Walden, thanks for that image, and the great Twain quote. I live near his birthplace and childhood home, and his wit and wisdom are so very underappreciated in this neck of the woods.
Where did you get that wonderful graphic??
Now, ain’t that the truth? 