Nails, Spit Balls And Intelligent Design
Michael Zimmerman, a rabid antagonist of Intelligent Design (ID) recently defended, in true zealot fashion, what he considers the crown prince of science, evolution, claiming that ID was dead.
His remarks were motivated by John C. Avise’s article (“Footprints of nonsentient design inside the human genome”) presented at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Zimmerman’s response was “the last nail was just placed in the coffin of intelligent design.” Avise didn’t use those exact words but they do summarize his stated intent.
Simply speaking, Avise suggested that imperfections in the human gene code are evidence of chaotic design (my word) and hence ID is out. You can see the full text here.
After reading Zimmerman’s exuberant response I had to see the article for myself. What I found was anything but a funeral. In a few sections the terminology was well over the heads of most down to earth people – very much like academic journals – but for the most part was readable. I’m sure a special effort was made to keep this statement within the intellectual reach of lower life forms. Read more
Slavery, Rape and Gays In the OT
Filed under: Answering an Atheist, Debate, Old Testament, Political Issues
Answering An Atheist
Original arguments are found in the post “Top Ten Worst Bible Stories”
On the web site “Not A Potted Plant” (NAPP)
Author – Transplanted Lawyer (TL)
Some parts of the Bible are admittedly difficult to understand and for that reason can be easily misconstrued by those who don’t believe.
Unfortunately, believers (and I am one) tend to skirt these issues or flavor them very favorably in light of the way people think, feel or act today. We over-read benevolence on the part of the Hebrews and overstate malice on the part of their enemies. Those of the opposing opinion easily recognize the bias and readily point it out.
Before we Christians judge and dismiss them, however, we must admit that they couldn’t make the criticism if they hadn’t at least read the Bible and the popular ideas associated with it. In fact, I have often been amazed at the clarity with which nonbelievers have articulated what we believers think. They have listened and we should respect that.
Recently I came across a blog authored by “Transplanted Lawer” (TL) who openly admits to being an “atheist” and, true to form, has asked some very pointed questions about difficult passages in the Bible. He actually targeted ten Bible stories he considers the worst and after saying what he thought was bad about them left an open challenge for anyone to respond. I accepted.
No, I’m probably not the best person for this task but I am interested and besides I like this guy. He has a great sense of humor, plays Scrabble, is agreeably conversational and fair. He has a fair knowledge of Christian issues and has been a reasonable antagonist. You can see his original challenge here, his acknowledgement of my acceptance here and so far I have responded to:
These are stories number 8, 2 and 5 respectively.
Before reading his blog I had written a post that answers number 10 on his list, accusing Jesus of racism. I left a link to my post on his blog and he was responsive enough to read it and comment.
The topics we’ve discussed so far are interesting but none of them carry the same weight as the three issues we look at now which are, in TL’s words:
- It’s okay to have slaves as long as you don’t beat them too badly. Number 7
Should a slave owner strike a male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall surely be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, there shall be no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property. Exodus 20:20-21
- Rape victims must marry their assailants. Number 6
If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. Deuteronomy 22:28-29
- Capital punishment for homosexuality. Number 4
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:13. Read more
Egypt Destroyed In Exodus
The following is a report on recent findings in Egypt by Breaking News correspondent Al Quiet.
Egyptologists recently uncovered a news story which broke shortly after the Exodus. The translation reads…
“On a certain day, God showed up unexpectedly in the court of Pharaoh and through His minister, Moses, made demands on Pharaoh to let His people go. After many rounds of negotiations and following several minor irritant plagues, in which God showed He was more than capable of pulling this thing off, our great leader, Pharaoh, put his back up and God had no choice but to eventually destroy the entire Egyptian army.
The outcome? After many years of enslavement, Moses led Israel to freedom and they took most of the Egyptian Gross National Savings with them as they went. Watching their exit toward the horizon we had to admit that we sort of had it coming. They were basically a peace loving people, non-militaristic, who took care of our undesirable tasks, herding animals, and we unilaterally relegated them to slavery making their lives very hard, at one point even trying to kill their male born children. And the moral of the story? What goes around, comes around.
There are many in Egypt who believe Pharaoh should have backed off from the start and with his demise a more reasonable successor will be sought. His cabinet will be replaced also but this time with counselors who hopefully can be more persuasive than the last group.
It was a bad phase in Egyptian history but we are glad to put it behind us. Admittedly, rebuilding the economy will be a challenge without all the slaves.” Read more
Inviting Fair Discussion
Filed under: Debate, Ministry Methods of Jesus, Philosophy
As mentioned in previous posts Jesus often did things, which, on the surface don’t square with images of a loving God. His methods were very different to what we, from our modern day perspective expect, and because of that He is often accused of being insensitive and in-compassionate.
The same is true with the Old Testament. God’s instructions, teachings or actions are not easily understood, faults are assumed and God is accused.
To be honest I understand this response. Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration