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Many of those Biblical parables and stories had already with stood the test of time before they were ever written in Hebrew or Greek. It's no mystery, good literature often draws from history and old sources that was are already familiar and comfortable with.

BS

The highly educated are more likely to lean on their own explanation (understanding) and be misled. They know it all and can't make a hair on their head.

Everyday science proves unbelievers wrong.

http://news.discovery.com/history/r...eds-light-on-biblical-history-130731.htm

A few characters on the side of a 3,000-year-old earthenware jug dating back to the time of King David has stumped archaeologists until now -- and a fresh translation may have profound ramifications for our understanding of the Bible.

Experts had suspected the fragmentary inscription was written in the language of the Canaanites, a biblical people who lived in the present-day Israel. Not so, says one expert who claims to have cracked the code: The mysterious language is actually the oldest form of written Hebrew, placing the ancient Israelites in Jerusalem earlier than previously believed.

"Hebrew speakers were controlling Jerusalem in the 10th century, which biblical chronology points to as the time of David and Solomon," ancient Near Eastern history and biblical studies expert Douglas Petrovich told FoxNews.com.

"Whoever they were, they were writing in Hebrew like they owned the place," he said.

Really??

But we can grow new noses:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...ed-original-after-accident-29613812.html

You know, I've never read the Bible, at least not the whole thing. I read the first 8 books or so of the New Testament (love the first four) but got tired of Paul's self centered attitude. I've also read some selected verses in that portion that is a collection of Jewish history and mythology. The Psalms are very pretty and I really like them. But while a lot of the things in the first four books of the second part are great, the whole book is not what I'm going off of.

I have read the Tao te Ching - great book! - and the Bhagavad Gita all the way through, the Tibetan Book of the Dead (boring!), the poems of Jalal al'din Rumi (only other poet I ever liked besides e.e. cummings), some writings of Marcus Aurelius, Emerson's essays, Tolstoy, some 20th century psychologists like Jung and a bunch of other guys not affiliated with any sect or religion whose names escape me at the moment. I spent an entire summer reading "Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky" - all five frickin' volumes! I've also dabbled in physics, how this universe works at the atomic and smaller level - Hawking and Michiu Kaku can explain it without talking down to you.

FWIW, I have been a computer programmer and analyst for 32 years now, I make my living dealing with stone cold logic.

But ultimately "Reason" has nothing to do with it. I am convinced there is a higher power and ultimately this higher power is benevolent. This higher power isn't owned by any one sect or religion and our wars and hatred and destruction to prove otherwise probably make this higher power just shrug his metaphorical shoulders and say, "whatever".

Folks who do not accept this higher power try to prove rationally why there is no higher power and that's cool with me. I just finished a book titled "The History of God" by a very scholarly ex-nun who traced the attitudes and evolving beliefs about this character or thing commonly known as "God" and the Greeks, some sects of Muslims, Jews and Christians have all gone round and round about that for 4,000 years. They try to prove he exists philosophically, they try to prove it rationally, they eventually all give up and just say f*** it, he exists so don't worry. Then a few hundred years later some more folks try to do it all over again.

Along with the age of reason in the 1700's a lot of folks said, "if you can't see, hear, touch, taste or smell it, it doesn't exist." And we're still very much in that period.

I'm not here to convince anybody one way or the other. And I don't want to hear from those folks who want me to accept their image of this God. A favorite prayer of mine is "God, please save me from those people who want to save me." My salvation is my business and someone else's salvation is their business and not my responsibility.

I just know that this higher power exists. I'm not going to say why I know because I'm pretty sure that proof presents itself to each person in a way unique to that person. As to exactly what this higher power is and what it's all about - the hell if I know! An ant understands the inner workings of a microchip far better than we can understand the workings of this higher power. That's another conclusion everyone in history who was serious about this came to.

Again, I'm not here to convince someone else yea or nay. But I have spent five years studying this, seriously. Since 2008 I have devoted my life to finding out what people in all places and throughout history have learned and thought about this. Seek and ye shall find. So I sought - earnestly, that's the whole key - and just let chance and intuition guide me as to where to look next.

Folks who lived 1500 years before that Jewish carpenter was born, folks who by physical location never heard of Jesus will all tell you the same thing about the human condition as he did. They tell you how to be happy here and now, not "do good and you'll get a pass to a Golden Gated Community in the Sky by and by". As Pascal's wager states, if doing good helps when I'm dead, cool. If not, oh well. But I lived a happy life. At least I've learned how to live a happy life. The first 50 years sucked, but these last five have been great and it gets better with each passing day.

So, if I lose Mr. Pascal's wager, so what? I have learned to relax, I don't harbor hatred or anger toward people, I wish them well no matter what religious sect or political stripe they are. Not because I'm afraid of the Big Guy in the Sky and his retribution like the old Jews were and a lot of fire and brimstone Christians will tell you today. I have learned to love because someone, something, somewhere, set it up so our anger and hatred only hurts ourselves.

But all this transformation happened because I just accepted that there is a higher power. That doesn't stop me from believing in quarks or dark matter or evolution or anything else our scientists, men of reason, have discovered. But in our arrogance going back about 300 years, we think we know it all. There have been geniuses and educated people throughout history and each one thought he "knew it all" - flat earthers, Greeks and their earth, air, fire and water, et cetera. I just believe that there is something "out there" we can't discover through physical exploration. "Out there" is really a misdirection - you have to look inside yourself. The Indians and some Chinese are a lot better at that than we are, btw, and they're not even "Christians".

Well, sorry to take everyone's time if you've managed to make it this far. But again, what you all believe is up to YOU. Don't let anyone berate you into their way of thinking because I guaran-damn-tee they don't know what's best for you, only you do.

So if someone doesn't want to believe there is a "God" - I think that word sucks because there is way too much emotional crap attached to it, we need a different one - but if someone doesn't want to believe there is a higher power, that's really okay with me. I am firmly convinced that there is.

Jim kinda got us off track. He must be be an agent of Satan.

All REAL Christians need to get back to castigating Steelhead.

Good plan. Let's talk about the darkness hating the light.

Jim kinda got us off track. He must be be an agent of Satan.

All REAL Christians need to get back to castigating Steelhead.

[quote=Fireball2]


Steelhead has at least ONE redeeming virtue; he rid us of BLAINE, aka AFP.

...he would be welcomed in my home any day of the week.

Same here.

Ed

One thing about him, though. It seems like every time Scott sees a man with a poker up his ass, he just has to reach out and give it a little shake. He's funny that way.