What makes Creationism so hard to believe in, and evolution so easy?

[mike89]

I usually get quite frustrated with things of this sort having to do with "god" and him creating everything. i Know this may soundbad to anyone who has faith in this sort of thing but i assure you there is no offence intended. I believe that believing in god only gives those people a false sense of security in what may or may not happen to them after they die. Time after time religeons have gone away and people no longer take them seriously im not quite sure why the present religeons have survived all of this time, the people starting spreading and making truth of it did a very good job at what they were doing but, i dont deny the jesus existed i do believe he was a person in history, the events that his life lead i do question though. Now say that life forms from other planets came to earth or we were to go to another planet and find them, would this not completely disprove the whole "humans were created special" and all of the stuff to do that because then how would you explain these other life forms that existed and possibly existed as some life form more intelligent, more advanced, and better developed than that of the human race would this not disprove the majority of most religion. Or would the people that are faithful make up something that says God not only created earth and its inhabitants but also all of the other planets and their inhabitants?

[BEAKER]

I usually get quite frustrated with things of this sort having to do with "god" and him creating everything.

Why? If it's not true you have no reason to be frustrated; you are the one who has a a better understanding of what's really going on.

i Know this may soundbad to anyone who has faith in this sort of thing but i assure you there is no offence intended.

None taken.

I believe that believing...

I believe that your believing requires as much faith as any religious point of view.

Now say that life forms from other planets came to earth or we were to go to another planet and find them, would this not completely disprove the whole "humans were created special" and all of the stuff to do that because then how would you explain these other life forms that existed and possibly existed as some life form more intelligent, more advanced, and better developed than that of the human race would this not disprove the majority of most religion. Or would the people that are faithful make up something that says God not only created earth and its inhabitants but also all of the other planets and their inhabitants?

Let's talk about that when it happens - if it happens.

"If" -a Little word with a big meaning.:hihi:

[Biochemist]

Consistent? Please explain these. Here's some excerpts you can start with:...and hundreds more inconsistencies to keep you busy.

Goodness, C1ay. You did not even find the hard ones. Almost all of these are readily explicable in normal usage of English. This means that the translation team did a pretty good job in translation.

 

Are you telling me that if your neighbor said similar things to you over the back fence while discussing the news that you would condier him a liar???

[Biochemist]

So it's consistent, but not literally? Is that supposed to be some kind of metaphorical fact or something?

Hmmmm. I think this must be close to the tenth time I have posted this but here goes:

 

Believing the Bible is true does not rule out:

 

1) Allegory

2) Poetry

2) Metaphor

4) Phenomenal language

5) Hyperbole

6) Humor

7) Sarcasm

8) Idiom

9) Local vernacular

10) Any other literary device that people use when they talk or write.

 

The problem with old texts is figuring out when these devices are actually used. This is the reason that the old texts are so difficult to interpret. And Hebrew, in particular, is a very poetic language. Formal writers tend toward poetic style in any long narrative.

 

It is really easy to address all of C1ay examples with straightforward discussion of normal usage.

[eMTee]

As one atheist said: creation is easyer to believe in than evolution, because with creation, you don't need science to suport it. It is self suportive simply by faith, and with evolution, it is made to be based on science..and needs it's explanation before it can be proven true.

 

I agree with that conclusion (creation easyer than evolution).

 

But are you saying that you sometimes have doubts about evolution?

[eMTee]

Believing the Bible is true does not rule out:

 

1) Allegory

2) Poetry

2) Metaphor

4) Phenomenal language

5) Hyperbole

6) Humor

7) Sarcasm

8) Idiom

9) Local vernacular

10) Any other literary device that people use when they talk or write.

 

Well put, and true. But none of them determin that the history or teachings are not literal in their meaning, and to my knowlege, it has all that in there.

[C1ay]

I wonder what the case is with:

Sodom and Gomorrah

Noah and the flood,

Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel

 

MT seems to think they are literally true.

That is my personal point of view as well.:hihi:

Is it also your point of view that only Christians will go to heaven and everyone else is going to hell?

[Queso]

well that proves why they believe in it so much. they are afraid of "eternal damnation" or whatever you guys call it. don't fear it, you know why? because it doesn't really exist. there, no more fear. woooooh! doesn't that feel great!! :hihi:

[justforfun]

I got into an argument last weekend with a woman who claimed that quantum physics was invented by people who couldn't grasp 'real' physics. Isn't that silly?

If quantum physics is correct, and if the theory that when we come to a fork in the road, the path not taken splits into a parallel universe, isn't it possible that 4,000 years ago there was such a split and our world was created then - created 4 billion years old. See, you're both right!

Next question, please.

[Biochemist]

Well put, and true. But none of them determin that the history or teachings are not literal in their meaning, and to my knowlege, it has all that in there.

EMTee- the word "literal" means that we interpret the word strictly by denotation, as recorded in the dictionary. The examples I gave are all cases where we explicitly do NOT use the dictionary denotation. If I told you to "take a long walk on a short pier", my real meaning has nothing to do with piers or walking. That would be the literal meaning. My usage was figurative. The Bible has many such examples.

[eMTee]

And you tend to put my consideration into extreme modes, like if i sayed if i took the Bible as totaly literaly, I would consider that some of the metephores in the bible are literal...if I sayed I dont consider all of it literal..you then would say all but a few I disbelieve.

[Buffy]

And you tend to put my consideration into extreme modes, like if i sayed if i took the Bible as totaly literaly, I would consider that some of the metephores in the bible are literal...if I sayed I dont consider all of it literal..you then would say all but a few I disbelieve.

How do you pick and choose what is literal and what is not?

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[BEAKER]

Is it also your point of view that only Christians will go to heaven and everyone else is going to hell?

This is one of those issues where I'm "damned if I do, and damned if I don't". If I say yes, that's what I believe, then you will say how self righteous I am and what a holier than though creep I must be and totally oblivious to the fact that there are so many different belief systems throughout the world and are they all destined for hell since they dont believe like me, and yadda, yadda yadda. And if I say No I don't believe that, then I must believe that the entire bible isn't true anyway so what am I clinging to my faith so strongly for since it's just another part of a book that is filled with lies and deceptive stories.

 

To try and summarize what I believe about hell in as few words as possible; hell is eternal sepparation from God for those who didn't have time for him in this life. I believe that God knows the heart of every man; and those who are sincearly decieved, but desire the truth will find it. But the truth of God is not a thing to be obtained like buying a ticket to somewhere. It starts with humility, not with pride. I do believe there are many people who have never understood that it's Jesus they are seeking, caught in any number of alternative belief systems. But as the bible says: "every knee will bow and very tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is King of kings, and Lord of lords to the glory of God the Father". and in the end there is no alternative path.

 

I could certainly go into greater detail but suffice it to say that Jesus will stand alone before all the world on judgement day, and many who call themselves christians will sadly discover that they never really knew who He was; and likewise many who were called by some other name will have to come to grips with the fact that Jesus is the only way.

[BEAKER]

The problem is, as long as you keep worrying so much about what me and others like me think about these things, you're going to keep passing the buck as far as dealing with these issues yourself. No one but you can make the difference about where you will spend eterity.

 

Of course you can always just believe it doesn't matter.

[Biochemist]

How do you pick and choose what is literal and what is not?

Nobody said it was easy. But we make this sort of interpretaion in regular conversation all of the time. Most of it is not hard to figure out. Frankly, I have a lot more difficulty with the parts of the Bible that I do understand than the ones that I don't.

[eMTee]

Some of the portions stick out..others are more suddle.some people say that Jesus denies himself as God in some portions, while declaring himself God in others, when "denying himself as God", he uses it is a metaphorical term...he says that for a purpose...But you might consider him as a blasphemer.

[Buffy]

How do you pick and choose what is literal and what is not?

Nobody said it was easy. But we make this sort of interpretaion in regular conversation all of the time. Most of it is not hard to figure out....

Boy Bio, you keep thinking these questions are for you! Interpretation is easy to understand among people who admit to doing it. Its a normal rational process. Its much harder to figure out when someone who says they always insist on literal interpretation all of a sudden says, "oh that's not literal." :hihi: Its always at a time that's so...convenient. I guess that's why they call it deus ex machina :hihi:

 

Cheers,

Buffy