The recently opened Creation Museum is yet another example of Biblical spoon-feeding...
Ya gotta love the Creation Museum that recently opened in one of America’s true cultural and intellectual hotspots, Petersburg, Kentucky. As far as dumbing down religion, the beliefs espoused at this “museum” rank up there with the Catholic Church’s long-held assertion that the sun revolves around the Earth.…
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— go to most recent comments76 - RayJ
Four generations after Noah, Genesis 10:25 records the birth of Peleg (meaning division) ‘for in his days was the earth divided’. Some suggest the continents of the earth were divided at this time. However, this seems unlikely, as such a process would have had to occur within a very confined time period. The resultant geological violence would be overwhelmingly catastrophic"like another Noahic Flood all over again. Any continental separation thus likely occurred during the Flood.
The traditional interpretation, which seems more reasonable, relates this verse to the division of people/nations at the Tower of Babel event in Genesis 11. (Just like the English ‘earth’ can have a variety of meanings, the Hebrew erets can also mean nation(s)"thus erets Yisrael, the land (nation, people) of Israel.) According to the biblical chronology as deduced by Archbishop Ussher, the Flood occurred in 2349"2348 BC, and Peleg was born in 2247 BC about a hundred years later. Do ancient writers shed any light on when this happened? The answer is a resounding yes.
BABYLON BEGINS
The year was 331 BC. After Alexander the Great had defeated Darius at Gaugmela near Arbela, he journeyed to Babylon. Here he received 1903 years of astronomical observations from the Chaldeans, which they claimed dated back to the founding of Babylon. If this was so, then that would place the founding of Babylon in 2234 BC, or about thirteen years after the birth of Peleg. This was recorded in the sixth book of De Caelo (‘About the heavens’) by Simplicius, a Latin writer in the 6th century AD. Porphyry (an anti-Christian Greek philosopher, c. 234"305 AD) also deduced the same number.
EGYPT EMERGES
The Byzantine chronicler Constantinus Manasses (d. 1187) wrote that the Egyptian state lasted 1663 years. If correct, then counting backward from the time that Cambyses, king of Persia, conquered Egypt in 526 BC, gives us the year of 2188 BC for the founding of Egypt,3 about 60 years after the birth of Peleg. About this time Mizraim, the son of Ham, led his colony into Egypt. Hence the Hebrew word for Egypt is Mizraim4 (or sometimes ‘the land of Ham’ e.g. Psalm 105:23,27).
Writing from Larry Pierce
77 - Dan
I'll take the red pill Elroy.
The fascinating thing about the creationism museum is the protestsers. They appeared to be like a mob on opening day. It's not like their tax dollars are going to fund it.
Unlike the nearby "Freedom Center" that loses yearly. Now there's some mythology for you.
Can anyone explain why life hasn't been created in the laboratory? Single cell, should be easy. Just mix up some primordial soup and electrify.
There was though, a scientist who created a virus. It was one of the deadly ones, I forget which. I don't think it qualifies. It can replicate though.
The best refutation of the 'evolutionary chance origination of life theory' that I've seen comes from probability science. Scientist's who are good with numbers. They catch a lot of scorn, but their brain power intimidates.
Some are even atheist's.
Their basic outline is that recent discoveries have leaned toward the idea that life, on the cellular level, is much more complex than Darwin, or anybody 30 years ago could have invisioned.
That's not important except that mankinds existence probably hasn't been a long enough interval for evolutionary processes of the kind that are needed to occur.
It's like if you were to try flipping a coin for 24 hours until you achieved 20 heads in a row. You wouldn't make it. But according to them, it's like a couple thousand consecutive heads. theoretically possible, but grotesquely improbable.
78 - Elroy Balgaard
Remember that other "Analogy" the Tower of Babel?
Guess what, that happened too.
The Bible describes that man was told to spread out over the earth after the worldwide flood yet he rebelled and built a tower to his own glory. God ended this rebellion by confusing man's languages so that they set out and journeyed across the globe in different language groups.
Interestingly the Chinese chose to use the identical symbol for confusion and rebellion...a combination of tongue and right leg (or journey).
If you study the history linguistics, you'll find that approximately 4,000 years ago all of mankind spoke one common and unknown language. There are remnants of this lost language that are found in every language today from the Eskimos to the Aboriginies. The number "three" for instance.
79 - Dr Dreadful
Indeed, zing, he will believe anything... as long as it fits in with his prejudices. Links to one piece of pseudoscientific wish-fulfilment after another.
Still, I can excuse the ramblings of Elroy and the terminally incoherent RayJ (who is sadly typical of his species) as the misguided drivelings of enthusiastic amateurs with no imagination. But then Elroy invoked the notorious Kent Hovind, and that I can't let pass.
Mr Hovind, unlike these two clowns, really knows his subject. And I mean really. He has done the research and knows full well that the science does not support creationism; yet he and other 'creation scientists' like him persist in willfully misrepresenting the evidence in order to please their gullible followers. His is the kind of intellectual dishonesty which I despise.
80 - Elroy Balgaard
Oh you've heard of him? I think he's great.
I guess that means I drank the Koolaid, Hook, Line and Sinker.
81 - Dr Dreadful
I hope you enjoyed the Kool-Aid, but I imagine the hook, line and sinker gave you a bit of a sore throat. May I suggest penicillin?
Were there penicillin bacilli on the Ark? The species needn't have taken up much room as only one would have been needed, not two.
82 - Anonymous
So man was vain and built the tower of babel to glorify himself and was punished. Certainly now if you consider plastic surgery, hollywood, and things like the washington monument or the eiffel tower (phallic symbols), we have far far surpassed the vanity of people thousands of years ago.
Did God just give up? We didn't learn our lesson and have exceeded it.
He's not very effective in his teachings, is he? Also, different languages isn't a barrier to us anymore.
Does anybody have a more effective God they wish us all to live under?
83 - sr
As sure as we are born we shall also die. It's not to be feared because we are all caught up in this life without understanding. His their a heaven or a hell. For certain I do not want to go to hell. We must all make wise decisions where we want to go. I have made my choice years ago. Dont ever except either side but learn for yourself and make a wise decision. Your eternity can very well depend upon it. Thanks for listing to my rant.
84 - sr
Is it a sin for someone to take their own life? Thank you.
85 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I've been reading the comments going back and forth here, watching what ignorance can do in causing people to misinterpret, misunderstand, and ultimately reject a text of Divine wisdom.
Try this on for size. A greater light interacted with a lesser light for 15 billion years, eventually creating enough energy for a huge huge huge explosion. That explosion took place 15 billion years ago, and created a universe of 11 dimensions, seven of which shrunk (or broke) almost immediately, leaving three dimensions and space/time.
Thus, according to the Kabbalah, the process of creating the universe began about 30 billion years ago, the actual yetzirá (the creation, i.e. the Big Bang) 15 billion years ago with evolution developing life in spurts - this is backed up by the geologic record.
Looking forward, (the Torah looks forward) there were six ages (days) of development of earth and life on it. Looking backwards (science looks backwards) there were about 15 billion years divided into six ages with each age about twice as long as the one subsequent. "Real time" (history) begins with a spirit that communicates with G-d (neshamá) placed in a man. In the Torah, this man is known as Adam. To the Sumerians, he is known as Adapa. The evidence we have for this act is the development of writing. While many histories and prehistories go back far beyond 6,000 years, the oldest known source of WRITING goes back 5,500 years.
As for dinosaurs and the like, there are three interesting Biblical sources to look at, two of which have been mentioned here. One is the "tanín" (Genesis): a real translation has not yet been discovered. The second is the "behemá" [plural "behemót" - behemoth](Job), which does sound like a dinosaur. I will note that in Yiddish and in Hebrew both, a "behemá" means a huge dumb beast, with the emphasis on its stupidity. These meanings are far older than our awareness of dinosaurs. Finally, in the book of Leviticus we see the "tinshemet", listed in two categories of food forbidden to the Children of Israel. One category of forbidden food is birds, and the second category is reptiles. Dinosaurs were reptiles, and their descendants are birds.
Have fun, guys.
I gotta see how you wreck this...
86 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Oh,
I'm not implying here that dinosaurs still live, though their descendants certainly do. G-d was lecturing Job, and as part of that lecture, He mentions the behemót as an example, along with the leviatán ["leviathan"] (which in modern Hebrew means "whale"). Are they indeed dinosaurs? Is the leviatán indeed an ancient sea-going dinosaur? I don't know. I don't claim to, either.
87 - SonnyD
sr: Wow, I was getting ready to make some wise crack about some of the things I've read in this thread when you came up with this question in #83.
If you are seriously asking for an opinion, I'll give you my two cents worth. Is it a sin? No, I don't buy the idea that such a thing as sin even exists. However, is it a good idea to cut one's own life short? Maybe not.
In your previous comment, you brought up the subject of heaven and hell. I don't buy those concepts, either, but the question suggests the possibility that you entertain the idea that we may be aware of ourselves as individuals after leaving the physical body. If that turns out to be true, then there is also the possibility that we chose to enter this physical existence for a reason. Or, if you believe there is some creative intelligent entity that put us here, then you may believe that was also for a reason.
This leads to the question, have we completed what we came here for? As long as we are capable of rational thought, have we developed the deepest understanding of ourselves that we will ever have? Have we understood our relationships with others to the best of our ability? Have we experienced the strongest, purest emotions that a human is able to have. Have we left problems unsolved for others to deal with? Have we forgiven others for mistakes they may have made in dealing with us? Have we forgiven ourselves for the mistakes we have made. And, last but not least, life has a way of throwing new things in our path when we least expect it. How do you know what tomorrow may bring? Whether it's something good or bad, it may be the most important thing you came here for. Now, seriously, would you want to live through this whole joke we call life and then miss the punch line?
88 - Elroy Balgaard
A greater light interacted with a lesser light for 15 billion years
Where did the lights come from?
And I heard it was 16 Billion years.
I mean whats a billion years here or there.
89 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"Where did the lights come from?
"Y'hí or, va'y'hí or" [Genesis 1:3]
"'There will be light' - and there was light." The word light (or) is repeated in the Hebrew. From this, m'kublalím interpret that there were two lights interacting with each other.
This text "Y'hí or, va'y'hí khen" "'There will light - and it was so'" would have led to a different interpretation. Each single word in Torah is accounted for and carries meaning.
I do not remember the the rest (dealing with why it was 15 billion years), though I was there at the lecture. My apologies...
90 - Guest
One category of forbidden food is birds
I knew Jews couldn't eat pork, I had no idea you couldn't eat chicken either.
That aside, all these Creationists and other religious people keep going back to the Bible for their source in quoting stuff about the history of Man. Does nobody see why that cannot be done in a public school?
We are entitled to believe what we want to believe, but we cannot teach Christian children, atheist children, Jewish children, Muslim children, Kwanzaa children, et. al. Christianity as fact on the taxpayer dollar!
Period!
91 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jews are not prohibited from eating chicken!!! How the hell do you think we invented chicken soup to cure the common cold!!!
Seriously, the Torah prohibits Children of Israel from eating birds of prey - owls, hawks, vultures (the Hebrew for vulture is "péres" - sound familiar?), etc. The tinshemet is listed in this group...
I, for one, do not advocating teaching religious doctrine in public schools in America, except as an academic subject. So why is there a publicly supported Moslem school in Brooklyn?
92 - Elroy Balgaard
would you want to live through this whole joke we call life and then miss the punch line?
Well you wouldn't know that you missed the punchline because you'd just be dead. But, you would have lived your whole life believing in "something" anyway. And you would not have killed anybody and loved your neighbor, and had a happy fullffilled life. These concepts a Biblical by the way. Left to our own devices and natural law, it is survival of the fittest, eat your neighbor before he eats you.
Plus Google "famous last words", there is a point just before death when you are in both worlds. Believers will die saying something like "Grandma?" where as non-believers say things like "NOOOOHHH!!"
93 - Anonymous
These concepts a Biblical by the way. Left to our own devices and natural law, it is survival of the fittest, eat your neighbor before he eats you.
This is already proven false. There are millions of athiests in this country and world who do not adhere to Biblical standards, yet have proven themselves to be far more ethical, moral, compassionate and caring than Christian fundamentalists.
Believers will die saying something like "Grandma?" where as non-believers say things like "NOOOOHHH!!"
If you google it, it must be true!
94 - Elroy Balgaard
We are entitled to believe what we want to believe, but we cannot teach Christian children, atheist children, Jewish children, Muslim children, Kwanzaa children, et. al. Christianity as fact on the taxpayer dollar!
I agree! The only way to do this is to eliminate public education. Because you cannot separate Church and School. "Secular Humanism" is just the current "State Approved Religion". It used to be Christianity and it looks like its heading towards the Muslim faith.
95 - Dr Dreadful
I just Googled "giant cat with gills" and apparently goldfish give interviews.
Yes indeed - if it can be Googled, it must be true.
96 - Guest
The only way to do this is to eliminate public education. Because you cannot separate Church and School.
Actually the majority of the public is fine with separating church and school. Only the small minority of Creationists have a problem with it, because it doesn't promote their dogma. I suggest putting your child in a private school that teaches it whatever the hell you want. Then let your child enter the workforce and may the most knowledgeable student win the job.
97 - Elroy Balgaard
When I say you can't separate Church and School, I mean anytime you're teaching children where they come from how they should live and where they go after they die, that these are religious issues.
Sure you can teach Reading, Writing and Arithmatc, but that's about it. Science, History, Astronpomy, Philospphy, Psychology etc. all contain religious elements.
98 - Christopher Rose
But apparently you can't teach spelling!
99 - Nancy
I don't just believe - I KNOW birds are actually dinosaurs: every parakeet I've ever had has been a direct descendant of velociraptors!
100 - Dave Nalle
If you're going to write a title in a foreign language you might want to make it grammatically correct unless YOU want to end up in the Musee des Morons.
Dave
101 - sr
SonnyD. I do thank you for your comment. Whether I agree with you or not Im not in a position to comment. That was never my intention. What we do know is their is an alpha and omega and somewhere in between we make a choice. Have a great day SonnyD. sr
102 - sr
Ruvy#91. So why is there a publicly supported moslem school in Brooklyn you ask. Simple answer. We are a country filled with dumbfuck liberals that use a jackass as their party emblem. The Rise and Fall of America coming to a theater near you.
103 - SteveS
I don't know why there is a publicly funded Muslim school. There shouldn't be. Nor should we go on the premise that because one thing is wrong, it is okay for us to do wrong too.
When I say you can't separate Church and School, I mean anytime you're teaching children where they come from how they should live and where they go after they die, that these are religious issues.
Not at all. Evolution teaches the how, religion teaches the why. Evolution belongs in the school, religion belongs in the church because evolution ( the how) is the same for all of us but religion (the why) varies for all of us.
104 - SteveS
and where they go after they die
I missed commenting on this. No public school teaches that, that I am aware of. Evolution does not address that, it leaves it to the chuch and the individual to decide.
105 - Elroy Balgaard
I think the message that the public schools is sending is this:
We are here by accident. There is no Creactor, there is no Heaven or Hell, so there are no consequences for the way we live. So "Party On Dude!"
106 - SteveS
I think the message that the public schools is sending is this
Yes, but you also think that we are only 6,000 years old and sculpted out of dust. So we're not surprised.
there are no consequences for the way we live
Ever heard of jail?
You seem to think that only Christians have morality. Why is it that athiests don't go on murderous rampages? Perhaps because you are wrong.
107 - zingzing
have you ever been to school?
108 - zingzing
that was for 105
109 - Elroy Balgaard
Death education at Columbine High
110 - SteveS
There are millions of athiests in this country, you cannot label them all for the actions of one or two, or else Christians might all be labeled as this murderer.
111 - SteveS
Just for you Elroy, here is a link paraphasing Falwell.
link
During a taping of the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club last Thursday, Rev. Jerry Falwell claimed that God had allowed America's enemies to "give us what we probably deserve" because of the influence of, among others, homosexuals, liberal civil liberties groups, feminists and abortion rights supporters.
The show's host, Pat Robertson, summarily concurred with Falwell on all counts with a simple "well, yes."
---
So Elroy, turning to Christ doesn't mean you value life if you think it's okay for people who don't conform to your views to be punished with death.
Don't try to lay claim to morality. More harm is done by religious people worldwide than nonreligious, period.
112 - Dr Dreadful
sr chastised: dumbfuck liberals that use a jackass as their party emblem.
What about dumbfuck conservatives that use an animal with a penis coming out of its face (i.e. a dickhead) that tramples and dumps copiously on everything in its path, as their party emblem?
Just as appropriate, I would say.
113 - MCH
True, Doc. And don't forget that notorious right-wing bird, the chickenhawk.
114 - sr
Never looked at it that way doc. Damn your a funney guy. Good day to you sir. PS. Was watching animal planet the other day about elephants. This African male elephant had a dick as big as an oak tree. Just the right size for Rosie O" Donald. Could just see old fat Rosie bent over waiting for the beast to do his thing with her. You could make a movie called Dumbo does Rosie.
115 - MCH
"This African male elephant had a dick as big as an oak tree. Just the right size for Rosie O" Donald."
Or Rush Limbaugh...
116 - Dr Dreadful
sr referred to: Rosie O" Donald.
Freudian slip there, sr? Taking into account the recent tempest in a hot beverage receptacle between Miss O'Donohue and Mr Trumpet?
117 - Dr Dreadful
I don't know if I'd want to have a dick as big as an oak tree. I'd never find any pants to fit and I'm getting a bit old for a career in porn.
118 - sr
ya, but the elephant still has the big dick. Just dont drop the soap Doc when your at the local zoo.
119 - Dr Dreadful
Don't worry sr, our local zoo uses liquid soap in its restrooms.
120 - sr
Now I can sleep knowing your safe Doc. Did I mention bed bugs?
121 - Dr Dreadful
No, you didn't mention bed bugs, but that's just one more reason not to work in porn.
122 - STM
DD: "I don't know if I'd want to have a dick as big as an oak tree. I'd never find any pants to fit and I'm getting a bit old for a career in porn."
Yeah, Doc ... just stick to strapping it to your leg. You sure you're not an Aussie??
And stinkey and SR most certainly are the same person.
123 - Dr Dreadful
just stick to strapping it to your leg. You sure you're not an Aussie??
Sadly not, Stan. But this does remind me of an old and horrible joke I once heard:
Bruce, an Australian serviceman, is stationed in England during WWII. Being granted a little R and R, he heads into town for some how's yer father. He duly finds a suitable lady friend and negotiates terms. As they are undressing, the harlot says, "You'll have to be gentle with me, sir: I have a weak heart."
"Ah, that's all right, Sheila," says Bruce. "Lie on yer side and I'll try to miss it."
124 - STM
George Bush rings John Howard.
Bush: "John, we're in trouble. We've run out of condoms for our servicemen. Can you help?"
Howard (grovelling): "Anything for you George ... "
Bush: "Great, you man of steel ... we need two million of them, and they should all be extra large."
Howard rings a lackey: "Mate, the Yanks have run out of condoms. They need two million of the bastards, all extra large. Get the packets printed up specially, with the words: Made in Australia, size: small."
125 - STM
Or, a different theme on your joke: "Be gentle with me, I have acute angina".
"Thank heaven for that, because you've got shocking tits."
No fem backlash thanks ... it's just a joke.