OK, that's good Mulder but I was looking for something a little bit different. I once saw on a website where they explained about all the animals Noah would have had to carry (not including insects and fish) plus the food and other cargo. Anybody know where a story like that is?
as for noah's ark...it seems to me that we're reading the story a bit too literally and globally, without considering the context of when it was written. God flooded the world...well, what was "the world" to the author of this story? Australia?? I think not. to the author, a flood that covered a country might be a flood of the world... as for all the animals...what's more important here...the details of the story? or the account of faithfulness to God shown by Noah despite others thinking he was nuts? what's the message really? i'm not sure it's meant to be a direct account of events in the way the Gospels are...i think it's more likely that some root of the story is true...and was written to illustrate faithfulness.
Wow, that is interesting. I would argue the other extreme, that Jesus taught that we should give up ALL Jewish traditions.
I don't think I'd argue either way...Paul says if you're doing something to cause others to stumble, then stop it. But that food won't make you unclean...Jesus said that, too. But I think if someone adheres to those traditions in a very heart-felt (not just through routine) way as part of his/her relationship to God, then I'm all for it.
I agree, I may have come off too strongly to make my point. It is OK to still adhere to Jewish principles as long as you are not doing it out of obligation to the Old Covenant. If you want to be circumsized, go for it, but don't do it because God said so in the OT. Thanks for pointing that out Max.
Homosexuals and the Bible To simply state that "God hates Fags" is both offensive and incorrect. From a website about the issue... again, not my words, theirs. "God loves homosexuals -- enough to die for them -- but abhors their sin -- as He does all sin. God hates sin because He loves people -- and sin hurts people. Read the Word of God -- the Bible -- for yourself. LEVITICUS 18:22 NKJ 22 `You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. LEVITICUS 20:13 NKJ 13 `If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." A more in depth discussion of the issue can be found here.
Corinthians 6: 8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. 9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. This is written by Paul to the church in Corinth. Understand that Paul is not saying that once you do these things, it's over for you. All sin and fall short of the glory of God. He is saying that you should stop doing these things.
Homosexuality is also a sin because any sexual relationship outside of the marriage bed is condemned. Because God does not give permission for a man to marry another man or woman to marry another woman, then all homosexual relations would be outside of marriage, and thus sinful.
Here is the story I was talking about guys! Did Noah's Ark really exist? Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. You get the idea - this debate will go on forever. I'm not even going to attempt to answer this one. Instead, let's just look at the physical aspects of the ark. As you will soon see, conditions were not ideal. We know that the ark was bigger than a rowboat, but smaller than the Titanic. In fact, we know its exact size - it was 450 x 45 x 75 feet, with an approximate volume of 1,518,750 cubic feet. How did they get this number? Very simple - it's stated in the bible. (Actually, it's stated in cubits, not feet). So how many animals do we have to fit in this place? Let's leave out the fish, as they can't drown. Bugs and plants - let 'em drown. So, we're left with the birds, reptiles, and mammals. Conservatively, there were 3500 species of mammals, 6000 species of reptiles, and 12,000 species of birds. Add this all up and you get 21,500 different species. Of course, there were two of each, or 43,000 individuals on the boat. Now let's do some quick math: 1,518,750 divided by 43,000 is about 35 cubic feet per animal. Wow! That sounds like ample space. Wrong! It is about the size of a human coffin! (6 x 2 x 3 =36 cubic feet) A bit cramped, but a possibility. Uh, Oh! We forgot about food and water! This would take up quite a bit of space, as they were supposedly on the ark for at least 275 days. Water storage is a big problem. After all, you can't drink the salty seawater. If we figure an average of 1 quart per day for each animal, Noah would have to store away 1,263,125 gallons of the liquid. Of course, it was raining quite heavily, so the supply could have been considerably less. Let's not forget the space needed for cages, partitions, and passageways. We need even more space for any offspring produced along the way. If we take into account all of these factors - we can make one conclusion: the ark must have been extremely cramped, unsanitary, and oppressive. Even worse, there were only eight humans and some 43,000 animals screaming for their attention. This means that each human was responsible for feeding, watering, and cleaning 5375 animals each day. If they slept four hours a day, they would need to care for 270 animals each hour. Wow! Simpler said than done. Some may argue that these numbers suggest that the ark was an impossibility. On the other hand, some would say that these calculations are meaningless due to the power of the almighty. I'll let you decide for yourself. One thing that we can be sure of though - a trip on the ark was not like a honeymoon on The Love Boat. http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/noahs_ark/noahsark.html
Picture of Mt. Ararat from a satellite with the suspicious object. (I've actually seen better images) http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/ark_hunt_020830.html There is an active search for Noah's Ark going on right now, its really interesting.
Pole, I believe that agnostic means that they don't know whether or not there is a God. I would say that Lil Pun may be described as gnostic since he/she believes that there is a god but does not worship the god.
I believe I am agnostic after looking at one of the definitions: agnostic - One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entries/50/a0145000.html
I think you are talking about a movement called the Messianic Jews who have the basic theological tenets with mainstream Christianity except the things you mentioned.
I agree that denominational bickering is sometimes anti-Christian. That said, I actually think that the phenomenon of denominations has its good side. It's called check and balance. It's pretty dangerous if nobody can disagree with you. Denominational differences help sharpen your claims. You are forced to defend what you believe to be true and the process clarifies your own faith. BTW, Bible based non-deniminational church can be a form of denomination too.
From your first post, I thought you were closer to what is called a deist. Deism believes in a Creator God who does not interfere with the world (doesn't mean you don't have to worship him though). Many of the founding fathers of the US were deists (Franklin, Jefferson, etc.)
1. How about humanist? 4. Must have been a big miracle then. 7. masturbation is wrong? Matthew 5:28 "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." I think a lot of christian boys try to skirt this with japanamation.
