From: utzoo!utcsrgv!donald
Newsgroups: net.religion
Title: biblical contradictions
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.1134
Posted: Tue Mar  1 22:39:20 1983
Received: Tue Mar  1 22:46:58 1983

Concerning Brian Nixon's alleged differences between the Bible and
other books:

   - fulfilled prophecies
First of all, the New Testament was written AFTER the Old Testament.
Moreover, all the allegedly fulfilled prophecies that I've examined
depend on VERY (VERY!) liberal interpretations of scripture.  Of course, if
you're a "Late Great Planet Earth" fan, there's no hope for you...
CHALLENGE 1:  provide me with a specific example and we'll go at it.

   - the availability of Biblical manuscripts
Ahem.  The Hindu Vedas, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita are just as
"available".  So are Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.
I see you've been reading Josh McDowell (of triple-L fame).

   - independent historical and archaeological records of Biblical events
So what?  Mohammed really existed too!  So does London and the British Empire;
the Indian Mutiny really happened too.  Thus, 2000 years hence,
archeologists will conclude that Sherlock Holmes really existed.
CHALLENGE 2: provide me with a significant Biblical event (e.g. Tower of
Babel, Flooding of the Earth (whole world, dammit), Creation of the Species,
Resurrection of Christ) that has been independently documented.

   - the testimony of changed lives.
Look at any major street in any major city and you'll see weirdly-dressed
people banging tambourines and singing "Hare Krishna, Hare Krisha,..."
Then there are moonies, scientologists, etc.  Belief does not a truth make.

	    What is the substantiation of miracles recorded in the Bible?
   In many cases, miracles are recorded as being witnessed by several people.
   These witnesses could be questioned and/or disproved when they
   recorded the events.  This written evidence is available in the Bible.

Like heck.  The key point is "miracles AS RECORDED".  Moreover,
in many cases (e.g. the feeding of the  by Jesus)
the "witnesses" most definitely did not do the recording.  As for the
Bible being used as the written evidence, this "reasoning" is so clearly
circular I wonder how anyone could try to argue with it.
My G*D, do you believe that the Greek gods existed because of the
Iliad and the Odyssey?

	What is the scientific basis for miracles?

A miracle is by definition something that is inherently inexplicable
by science, i.e. a violation of natural law.  Otherwise, lightning
bolts would be miracles if we didn't know anything about electricity
or the weather.  What is your criterion for deciding if something is
truly a "miracle"?  Certainly not something inexplicable by current
scientific theories!

CHALLENGE 3: provide a believable interpretation of the two accounts
of Judas' death.


					Flamingly,
					Don Chan