666...the Devils Moving Average
- Thread starter crackhead
- Start date
OK. Here's one. I don't want this to become a sermon, OK? But you asked, so I'll respond. You'll see the Hebrew word for soul is "nephesh", and according to Strong's, means "a living being, the person himself", for example. The point is that this "nephesh" in scripture is always associated with living beings and activities of living beings, and never as an ethereal immaterial immortal spirit, unlike popular religious belief.
If you have a copy of the Bible handy, check this out. These are passages that mention the nephesh, or soul (in some translations, the word "nephesh" appears as "man" or "living being":
Souls are living people (Gen 2:7, 1 Cor. 15:45 uses the Greek word "psykhe" in quoting the Hebrew passage) Note that it never says that man was given a soul or has a soul, but that he became a soul. With that in mind, the rest of this makes sense:
souls can die and can be killed by people (so they're not immortal) Lev 24:17, 18)
can be killed with a sword (Josh 10:32)
souls can be kidnapped by people (Deut. 24:7)
souls have blood (Gen 9:5)
fish are souls, as are animals, as well as people (Gen 1:21, 24)
souls eat (Lev 7:18)
souls can suffocate (Job 7:15)
souls can lose sleep and experience grief (Ps 119:28)
And this isn't even me "interpreting" scripture. I'm just quoting it directly and drawing the logical conclusion. If the soul was immortal and not a part of the physical world, then it wouldn't be subject to being killed in a swordfight, it wouldn't need to sleep, and how could it have blood coursing through it, why does it need to breathe air, yada yada. It's not just me, plenty of bible references will tell you pretty much the same thing. For instance, The Jewish Encyclopedia (vol. vi, pp. 564-566) states that the idea of an immortal soul is not taught in the Old Testament but rather entered Jewish thought from contact with the Greek philosophers. The New Catholic encyclopedia (1967, vol XIII, pp 452, 454) admits that the immortal soul concept crept in from Plato's philosophy hundreds of years after Christ. But most popular religions that claim to follow that same Bible teach that people have an immortal soul, don't they?
Anyhow, you asked, I answered. Now I want to get back to trading. BTW GG, how big is a cubit anyway?
This is all easily explainable if one believes in a local not a global flood. Then a relatively small group of larger animals would have to go on the ark and not a huge contingent of insects, dinosaurs, kangaroos, etc. Here's a couple of other evidences for a local flood:Quote from Gordon Gekko:
noah's ark is said to have had at least 35,000 individual animals on it--INCLUDING DINOSAURS!!!!!
hahahah
and there were only 8 people on the boat feeding the animals for 371 days!!!!! lol
if all this isn't ridiculous enough, the size of the ark was 45 feet tall, 75 feet wide, and 450 feet long. how the hell did he get 35,000+ animals, including dinosaurs on that? I WANT AN ANSWER.....NOW. lol
from some religious site:
oh yeah, not at all!
1. Scientists (secular as far as I know) have evidence for flooding in the Mespotamian area at the approximate a Flood would have occurred.
2. There are a large number of cultures from around the globe (before being visited by Christian missionaries I might add) that had Flood stories and traditions built into their epic mythology.
I agree with you that a global Flood leads to many logical absurdities.
I agree with you that the Old Testament is largely silent about the afterlife, but if you are saying that it is entirely devoid of such references, I can't see that. There are many casual references such as
"Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?" (Eccl 3:22)
"For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets. Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed..." (Eccl 12:6)
"...and the spirit will return to God who gave it." (Eccl 12:7)
There were enough such passages that in the time of Jesus the dominant Jewish sect believed in an afterlife. I don't see how your reference can say that it crept into Jewish thought centuries AD...
because as Neil said, religous crap continues to screw up the world to this day.
lol no, sorry...i don't.
thank you for replying to my question. here's the answer to your cubit question: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?search=cubit
A local flood won't wash either, shoeshineboy!
If a local flood then how would God's judgement avenge itself on those people outside the Mesopotamian area? A local flood would have meant these folks gave God the slip.
Why were birds put on the ark if the flood was local? They could have easily flown their way to dry land and a convenient tree.
Genesis states the water rose above the mountains. As water finds its own level, it could not have done that only in Mesopotamia without spilling out into surrounding areas. Unless of course God did the Block Of Water miracle trick, but there is no mention of that in the Holy Babble.
And furthermore, what about the "We know where you live" threat by JC in Mathew
......"and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man".
So if the flood was local, a lot of "sinners" will get away with it again, as they seem to have done in the Mesopotamian local area idea.
This God of retribution seems to be either inefficient in his destruction processes or perhaps it is more likely the case that he does not really exist at all.
I suggest at least one Ark load of "christians" would disagree that either are parables.
If a local flood then how would God's judgement avenge itself on those people outside the Mesopotamian area? A local flood would have meant these folks gave God the slip.
Why were birds put on the ark if the flood was local? They could have easily flown their way to dry land and a convenient tree.
Genesis states the water rose above the mountains. As water finds its own level, it could not have done that only in Mesopotamia without spilling out into surrounding areas. Unless of course God did the Block Of Water miracle trick, but there is no mention of that in the Holy Babble.
And furthermore, what about the "We know where you live" threat by JC in Mathew
......"and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man".
So if the flood was local, a lot of "sinners" will get away with it again, as they seem to have done in the Mesopotamian local area idea.
This God of retribution seems to be either inefficient in his destruction processes or perhaps it is more likely the case that he does not really exist at all.
If the ark job is just a parable, is this a parable too ".....Be not affrighted Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified he is risen he is not here: behold the place where they laid him." Or does one personally choose which bit is and isnât a parable?
I suggest at least one Ark load of "christians" would disagree that either are parables.
Do you applaud Neil in the same way for his patience and love for his wife? Isn't Neil a 'good one' also ?
Isn't it the patience and love alone that counts, needless of an interference by some mythical overlooker presenting threats of confusion and contradiction into patient, meaningful and loving relationships.