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One of the first things I realized pre-deconversion is that the story of Job was just a story and not history. It does not pretend to have actually taken place in history. It was a fable, no more historical than The Fox and the Grapes. Adam, Every, Cain, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... fictional characters in an origin story designed to unify a politically vulnerable people. It took a little longer for Moses and Joshua to sink in.

Which of you by being a megawatt movie star can add a cubit to his stature?

Heh heh heh. George thought he was completely lost, and he was. Was this Simple Minds?

This streaming show is based on a series of 24 novels. Two movies have also been based on the novels. The star of the TV show read all of the novels in preparation for the role. The actor playing the title character in the series is about twice the size of the actor playing him in the movies. Although the movie actor is a well-known action star, I find the TV actor more believable in this role. The title character is considered by some an antihero, but I prefer the description as a knight errant. He refuses to be called a "vagrant," preferring "hobo." Traditionally, hoboes work for their sustenance and are generally law-abiding, whereas vagrants beg or steal. The star said he thought that playing the title character, a man of few words, would be a cinch in terms of dialogue. That was until he had a scene describing a case in great detail, where he had to spew out four pages of monologue in 30 seconds. That required some extra study at night. George

Michael Shannon Knives Out Jamie Lee Curtis George

The problem from an unbeliever's perspective is that believers tend to hide God in "I don't know." Where does thunder come from? I don't know. GOD!!! Actually, there's a natural explanation. Does it account for hurricanes? No, I don't know where... GOD!!! Actually, there's a natural cause for hurricanes. Evolution answers a lot of questions and challenges a lot of preconceptions. But it doesn't answer a LOT. Nor does it claim to. How did life begin? Evolution does not answer. The answer does not affect evolution at all. So even if it was God who got the ball rolling, that does not change the FACT of evolution. It happened. It's how we arrived at the variety of species we have today. It's why there are more species of birds on earth than there are verses in the New Testament. Creationists are fond of asking questions that lack foundation and comprehension. Why is evolution "only" a theory? Because so is gravity. Theories don't graduate into laws. Theories in science are conclusions, not hypotheses. You don't experiment to prove a theory. You experiment, get the results and incorporate them into the theory. Evolution is not a hypothesis. It's not a preconception. It's the opposite of a bias. It's what you get when you ditch the biases and let the evidence speak for itself. But there will always be questions to which we don't have the answer. And we will answer "I don't know." And the Ken Hamms of the world will say aha! GOD is THERE! Until we find the answer. Then God is elsewhere. Every. Single. Time.

Sounds familiar, but I'm not coming up with it. George

"If I am wrong, I'm insane... but if I'm right, it's even worse than if I was wrong." "I'll just die if I don't get this recipe. I'll just die if I don't get this recipe. I'll just die if I don't get this recipe." "I can't just call him up and say, 'Hi! I used be Joanna Ingalls. You deflowered me twelve years ago. Would you check my water?'" "I don't think that, uh, Ed ever loved me. I mean, uh, he married me because I looked right and it made a big impression on the other TV executives for his wife to look like I look. God knows he's given me things, I... I'm not complaining on that score, but... uh... he never loved me." George

I am completely lost. And the Raf-WW diversion didn't help any. George

Christopher Reeve? George

I think you've done it again, Human, unless these are the names of actors in a movie. I don't recognize any of the names. George

"And she could hear the highway breathing And she could see a nearby factory. She's making sure she is not dreaming. See the lights of a neighbor's house. Now she's starting to rise. Take a minute to concentrate And she opens up her eyes." "Rising up above the earth. Moving into the universe And she's drifting this way and that. Not touching the ground at all And she's up above the yard." "no doubt about it She isn't sure about what she's done. No time to think about what to tell them. No time to think about what she's done" "And things were looking like a movie She had a pleasant elevation She's moving out in all directions,"

Raf! I saw in another thread you're suspected to have killed Mufasa. I was shocked. I would never have pictured you as a psycho-killer....

I tried to answer some of this but it didn't post so maybe I screwed it up or maybe it will later, or whatever. I see there's an array of notes about the thread, the direction, the this or that, something being locked, unlocked. I don't get it, and it's too tiresome for my old brain. If you'd like I can send a more detail response in email, message me here an address. I promise not to deluge you with ads for books, gadgets or health beverages. : p

nice....keep your wit about you, wisdom will guide

I never assumed he was anything other than a literary figure.

Because of the discussion here about Abraham and Jephthah, I'm watching a video called "Human Sacrifice In The Bible: What Apologist Won't Tell You," and the topic of Abraham's nonexistence has just come up. I did a quick Google search and a couple of sites say, "Most scholars view the patriarchal age, along with the Exodus and the period of the biblical judges, as a late literary construct that does not relate to any particular historical era, and after a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found for a historical Abraham." (Abraham – Wikipedia) "Unglauber shows that there is not a shred of independent evidence for the existence of Abraham, much less for any of the events recorded in Genesis." (Reformed Perspective article “Did Abraham Really Exist?) This sounds pretty conclusive. I don't want to delve into it right now, but I'm wondering what the opinions of posters are concerning this.

Well, I'm contemplating evolution for the first time. Watched a video called "The Whole History of the Earth and Life." It began with how the earth came into being and continues to humans evolving. I could see how it was possible in the way it was explained, but I did have a lot of questions when done. Also looking at books as well. So, we'll see how it goes.

"Contemplation is vital, thinking is vital; he who thinks little errs much." ~Leonardo Da Vinci

Seems to me we have addressed this claim before. I would ask that we all be respectful of each other's journeys and not seek to second-guess what others believed at different points in their lives. Frankly, it's rude. If you can't handle the fact that a sincere Christian had a sincere change of heart, you should sincerely reconsider visiting a forum called Questioning Faith. I apologize if I misunderstood your point and respectfully request clarification.

Mmmph

Paul was a very skilled and knowledgeable interpreter of Old Testament scripture, which is probably why he was so good at converting Jews to Christianity... Except of course he wasn't. He was dreadful at it. That's why he turned to the Gentiles. See, it's a lot easier to sell bizarre interpretations of the Old Testament to people who had no fundamental understanding of the scriptures than it is to sell them to people who actually knew what they were talking about. I mean, it shouldn't strike anyone as odd that the demographic least likely to accept Paul's interpretation of Hebrew Scripture are the very people who most revere Hebrew Scripture.

Opinions and interpretations arise at anytime and forever. Everyone has them, even Pharisees, especially Paul. What does the text say, when it says it, how it says it, and where it says it? Read the text. Resurrection is not mentioned, nor is it implied. Abraham's faith, trust, fidelity, obedience was tested. (His beleeeving was NOT tested.) Would he slaughter his beloved, precious son if he was commanded? Turns out he would. And the commander couldn't be bothered to stop his obedient servant from going all the way. He had to send an angel instead.

"I don't know" is a perfectly legitimate answer to "God", or anything to do with said god. It's a much better answer than relying on what others have written about it, including scripture. So, where to go for answers?

It’s not unique or unusual for quite a number of things written in scripture to be more fully revealed or explained some hundreds of years later. But, seems you have a better understanding and grasp on what happened some 4000 years ago and why it was written in scripture than the apostle Paul did, even though he was noted as being. a Pharisee of the Pharisees…