The Bible isn't a bunch of stories that were passed down. It's the inspired word of God. Yes, most folks thought the world was flat. The inspired word of God, several thousand years ago, told us that it wasn't.

Isaiah 40:22 (NKJV)
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

I don't see the bible and science as being at war with one another. I do however, see some of the scientist as being at war with the bible.

As far as science itself, 100 yrs ago, scientist were so sure that the bible should be in the fiction section of their schools library. However, more and more, modern science is confirming what the bible has been teaching for Thousands of yrs.

The example of the Behemoth that I mentioned for instance. Is it a dinosaur? I don't know. It certainly could be. The bible timeline would place it less than Six Thousand YO.

As Bill mentioned, the bible states knowledge that the world isn't flat, knowledge that had been lost during the dark ages, before Martin Luther and the protestant movement.

Evolution? We could debate that from now on. I wasn't there when God started life in all of its complexity, so I don't know how it happened except to have faith that it was as God said it.

Science has yet to create the spark of life, try as they may, so until they do, it's easier to believe the Bible. As far as I know it has yet to lie to me.

And why is that?

Either the Bible is all true or its all false, as far as i am concerned there is no grey area. If one sentence is false, how do you know the rest isn't.

If it is taken as absolute truth and then you find one fallacy, it's no longer absolute truth. So, are there more untruths? If so, do you know which facts are really facts? That's how Satan works. He mixes in just enough truth to make you believe his lie. So, which parts do you believe?

If you caught your wife cheating on you, would you believe her when she said it wouldn't happen again? Or that this was the first time? Once a falsehood is discovered, You don't know what to believe.

God is God. He can do anything or make anything happen. Faith is what allows me to believe God is what he sais he is and can do what he sais he can do. With this same faith I believe all that the bible sais. This same faith is what told me only God could fix my life after I had done my best to destroy it. I have seen miracles in my life greater than those in the bible(in my mind), because they happened to me personally.

I think God loves for us to ask questions and seek out answers. That's the best way to learn about Him.

Our proper relationship with God is not based on our having all the answers and understanding everything,it's based on FAITH. Faith that our God IS all powerful,all knowing and omnipresent. It's good to question, to research and to want to know. We just can't let that take the place of or weaken our faith. Man will always come up short trying to explain creation. Science is constantly having to change its position as we discover new things. I think God must enjoy observing us as we find things that confirm what the Bible has been telling us all along. Go God!

You guys actually believe that dinosaurs were around a few thousand years ago?
Or
God planted bones to "trick" us.

[quote=Beer Belly]
You guys actually believe that dinosaurs were around a few thousand years ago?
Or
God planted bones to "trick" us.

You can reason it out till you're blue in the face and they aren't gonna listen to you.

Here's a question for the skeptics. Share with us one thing in the Bible that has been proven to be untrue. Anything historical, geographical, biographical, etc. that evidence has shown to be false. Don't include anything just because it seems far-fetched to you or doesn't make sense to you. Just the things that evidence has shown to be untrue.

This discussion is right in my wheelhouse. But many of you fine men have already done an outstanding job in presenting a biblical worldview perspective. I've written extensively on Aldeer in the past few years on the topics of creation, the flood and evidences, Babel, population, linguistics, secular science fallacies and intentional manipulation, evolution myths and perversion of Truth, and Jesus confirmation of the whole old testament.

Beerbelly and I have gone pages and pages on various topics with deep discussion and vigorous debate, as well as with other Aldeer atheists or agnostics who claim the Bible is fictional.

A simple fact is true: the spiritual things of God and the Truth in the Bible cannot be understood or accepted by those who reject God.

I have nothing to add at this time. Great discussion.

Interesting read about if you can loose your salvation.

The bible is really clear on salvation. It is not based on how good you are. A lot of people think that they’re pretty good, and that they are going to get to heaven because they’re pretty good but the Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The Bible says, “As it is written there is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10) I’m not righteous. You’re not righteous, and if it were our goodness that would get us into heaven, none of us would be going.

The bible even says in Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable and murderers and sorcerers and whoremongers and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” I have lied before. Everyone has lied before, so we have all sinned, and we have done things worse than lying. Let’s face it: we all deserve hell.

But the Bible says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Jesus Christ, because he loves us, came to this earth. The bible says he was God manifest in the flesh. God basically took on human form. He lived a sinless life. He did not commit any sin, and of course, they beat him, and spit on him, and nailed him to the cross. The Bible says that when he was on that cross he “himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24) So every sin you have ever done, and every sin I have ever done - it was as if Jesus had done it. He was being punished for our sins. Then they took his body when he had died, and buried it in the tomb, and his soul went down to Hell for three days and three nights (Acts 2:31). Three days later he rose again from the dead. He showed unto the disciples the holes in his hands. The Bible is really clear that Jesus did die for everybody. It says that he died “not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). But there is something that we must do to be saved. The bible has that question in Acts 16, “What must I do to be saved? And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” That is all. He did NOT say, “Join a church, and you’ll be saved. Get baptized, and you’ll be saved. Live a good life, and you’ll be saved. Repent of all your sins, and you’ll be saved, NO. He said “believe.”

Even the most famous verse in the whole Bible, whose reference is written on the bottom of the cup at “In and Out Burger.” It’s so famous. Everybody’s heard of it: John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And everlasting means everlasting. It means forever, and Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) The Bible says in John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” So if you believe on Jesus Christ, the Bible says you have everlasting life. You are going to live forever. You can’t lose your salvation. It’s eternal, it’s everlasting. Once you’re saved, once you believe on him, you’re saved forever, and no matter what, you can never lose your salvation.

Even if I were to go out and commit some awful sin, God will punish me for it on this earth. If I went out and killed somebody today, God would make sure that I got punished, I’m going to prison, or far worse, or the death penalty. However this world punishes me, and God is going to make sure I get punished even more, but I’m not going to Hell. There is nothing I can do to go to hell because I’m saved, and if I went to hell, then God lied. Because he promised that whoever believeth has everlasting life, and he said, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” That is why there are a lot of examples of people in the Bible who did some really bad things, yet they made it to Heaven. How? Because they were so good? NO, it’s because they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Their sins are forgiven. Other people who may have lived a better life in the world’s eyes, or maybe they really even lived a better life, if they don’t believe in Christ, they are going to have to go to hell to be punished for their sins.

Let me just close on this one thought: one thing that I wanted to be sure and bring up today is that there was a question that was asked to Jesus by one of his disciples, and that question was this: are there few that be saved? That’s a good question, right? Are most people saved? Or is it few that are saved? Who here thinks that most people are going to heaven - that most people in this world are going to heaven? Guess what the answer was: he said, in Matthew 7, “Enter ye in at the strait gate because wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Then he went on to say this: “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

First of all, the majority of this world doesn’t even claim to believe in Jesus. Thankfully the majority of this classroom claims to believe in Jesus, but the majority of the world does not claim to believe in Jesus. But God warned that even amongst those who claim to believe in Jesus, even among those that call him Lord, many will be saying to him, “We did all these wonderful works! Why aren’t we saved!” He is going to say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” That is because salvation is not by works, and if you are trusting your own works to save you, if you think you’re going to heaven because you’ve been baptized, if you think, “Well, I think you have to live a good life, I think you have to keep the commandments to be saved, I think you have to go to church, I think you have to turn from your sins…” If you are trusting in your works, Jesus is going to say to you one day, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

You must have all your faith in what he did. You must put your faith in what Jesus did on the cross when he died for you, was buried, and rose again. That’s your ticket into heaven. If you’re trusting other things, and you say, “Well, I’m going to heaven because I’m such a good Christian, and I do all these wonderful things.” He is going to say, “Depart from me.” Notice what he said, “Depart from me, I NEVER knew you.” He didn’t say, “I used to know you.” Once he knows you… remember I mentioned this earlier: it’s everlasting its eternal. Once he knows you, you are saved forever. He is going to say, “Depart from me, I never knew you,” because if you go to Hell, it is because he never knew you. Because once he knows you, he knows you. Just as my children will always be my children. When you’re born again, when you’re his child, you’ll always be his child. You may be the black sheep of the family. You may be somebody who gets disciplined by God heavily on this earth. You can screw up your life down here, but you can’t screw up salvation. Once you are saved, it is a done deal. That is the main thing I wanted to present to you about the end times, and we do have just a few minutes for questions about either salvation or about the end times.

I didn't read this entire thread but there is really no need to. Just read what Mike wrote above. It's the truth and all you need to know.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6

Little known fact.
The Bible justifies cigarette smoking:

Genesis 24:64 KJV
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

If fossils were planted to trick us, it wouldn't have been by God, but by Satan, The Great Deceiver.

There is an answer to all these questions that will fuse science and The Bible, but right now we are not meant to know all of it. Like someone already pointed out, it is called faith and that is a big part of being a Christian. Not letting unimportant questions bother you when you already know the most important answer to your salvation.

have faith

It's interesting that people in this thread are labeling others as atheist and agnostics just because they have a slightly different belief system then their own. Kind of sad really.

Personally I believe in and have faith in three things:

The Father
The Son
The Holy Spirit

That's all I need. A strict literal interpretation of the Bible don't get you in the club.

I have a question for folks that label others as atheists and agnostics or just less Christian than themselves:

Do you own a firearm to protect yourself?
Do you still have all your worldly possessions?

Because if you do, then you are hedging your bets.

"Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:33-34).

"No one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33).

My point is that we all fall short and only by God's grace are we saved. It is presumptuous for any of us poor sinners to cast stones at even the least of us.

I was hoping that this thread wasn't going to get into this: "I'm a better Christian than you argument." or "I believe every singe word of the Bible and that settles it." thing. What I was hoping for was a thought provoking discussion of some possible theories or explanations of the various interesting and unusual stories in the Bible.

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense that there were dinosaurs than that someone buried fake bones?

The fact that some people don't believe in dinosaurs because they weren't mentioned in the bible boggles my mind.

They didn't write about dinosaurs because they were already extinct, and they weren't archeologists.

None of the other planets are discussed in the Bible. Do they really exist? I'm going to guess they weren't discussed because the writers didn't have telescopes

None of the writers were around at the formation of the earth but they wrote about it because they had divine inspiration to do so. If we only had the knowledge of men to rely on for scripture there would be very little to talk about.

Dinosaurs are definitely mentioned in the Bible.


Job 40:15-24 ESV / 59 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

“Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword! ...

Isaiah 27:1 ESV / 43 helpful votes

In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Job 41:1-34 ESV / 24 helpful votes

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? ...

Job 40:15 ESV / 23 helpful votes

“Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.

Psalm 104:26 ESV / 18 helpful votes

There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.