Genisis only has 1 writer. Did you try to look it up in the bible to read more? Cause I sure did and it makes perfect sense to me. The author of the article you just posted took 1 part of 1 little sentence and took another little part of another little sentence in the next verse and made it sound like the 2 verses contradicted each other. And that's just that 1 "contradiction" he wrote about.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 1&version=NIV Order of creation Animals Man https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2&version=NIV Order of creation Man Animals At least one of the orders is wrong.
What you just described; if we had 1000 bible scholars, historians, experts in Jewish literature, Fundamentalist Jewish experts, Biblical interpreters......, you would get 1000 different explanations. Your explanation is amaturish in comparison imo.
Did I ever claim to be a bible pro? We're talking about water drying up. How do you expect me to sound?
You're doing fine! You sound no different from a thousand other bible believers I've met who believe mythical water is turned into wine and a multitude of other mythical miracles which stopped happening as soon as the bible was written.
And so we go back to my original point about how few christians have the first clue what's in their bible. The bible suggest the earth is held up by pillars alternately held up or shaken by god (Psalms 75:3, 1 Samual 2:8, Job 9:6), it suggests it rests on foundations or supports (Psalms 82:5, Psalms 104:5). Heck for most of christianity everyone in the religion interpreted numerous verses in the bible to say the sun goes around the earth! When you have an oral tradition made up of a mishmash of prior mythologies combined the beliefs of illiterate goat herders that's then translated and transcribed multiple times by the leaders of countries in a way that supports a system of feudalism and slavery... you can pick pretty much anything out of it and interpret it as a "scientific fact". Then there are the inconvenient definitely not facts in there, let's just look at the creation thing. God created two lights, the sun and the moon? (Genesis 1:16)? Of course to a goatherder the moon seems like a light, not something reflecting the sun. Then there's the making day and night on day 1 but not making the sun till day 4. Course if you're a goatherder you wouldn't realize day and night are caused by the earth rotating as the sun shines on it. And that's just the first chapter of the damn book, we could go on and on. I was also always curious about the "scientific fact" that after having a boy a woman is "unclean" for 60 days, but if she has a girl she's "unclean" for 73 days (Leviticus 12:1-5)? What kind of bullshite is that? You talk about an open mind. I was raised by backwoods evangelicals taking everything in the bible literally, 'ceptin for the inconvenient parts like not remarrying when you divorce and all. Fortunately I actually had an open mind, I realized that the leaders of chistianity through all of history but especially today are flim flam artists who say things like "clearly the universe was created by someone.... therefore all this bullshit in this book is true" expecting you to either not have the intellectual capacity to see the massive logical leap or not have an open mind that allows you to even consider the incongruity of it and instead create ever more tortured explanations for what Occams Razor says is just the natural result what the bible actually is. You, my friend, have the opposite of an open mind. So I have no idea wtf you're talking about with rules of the house? But I have noticed something interesting. It's been 30 years but I still have relations and their friends who are evangelicals. And in their minds it's inconceivable that anyone could have done a genuine, open minded examination of the religion and found it not only wanting but pure evil. Instead, if someone rejects christianity, it must be because they're "getting the assumption that you like to have multiple sex partners." They are so closed minded that anyone who disagrees with them could only disagree because they have poor moral values. Can you not see how utterly pretentious, judgmental, and closed minded your statement and that mindset is, not to mention wwjd?
Psalms 75:3 "When the earth and all it's inhabitants were dissolved, it was I who kept it's pillars firm" Now do you think they are talking about real pillars? A foundation could have special meaning. This is also not God who is talking here in Psalms 75:3, this is someone singing a praise to God. There also used to be a lot of controversy back then about the way the Earth was supported. Then it was believed that the Earth was supported by 4 elephants standing on the back of a sea turtle. So whoever it is that is singing this praise could have been mislead into believing it was supported by pillars. If you read Job 26:7 it says that God is "Suspending the Earth upon nothing." And the fact that this was recorded so long ago before telescopes and rockets were invented confirms the Bible was and still is way ahead of it's time. You can, and a lot of religions do. A lot of scriptures can be unclear with the wording and some religions even twist things around to make it seem like something completely different. Because most religions are businesses, they are there to make money. They will tell you that if you donate 10% of your earnings then God will reserve a place for you in heaven. It is without a doubt, BS... I know, it's confusing, but you read that whole chapter you will notice the word "create" and "make" are used which do not have the same meaning. Which i'm sure you know what they both mean. Like God created something, then he "made" it shine. 2 different meanings. That was the Mosaic law back then and it had to do with proper hygiene, like if a woman was menstrating then then the male was to avoid having sex because it was considered unclean. So by giving birth she would be unclean for that time frame because she was still bleeding. This also goes with Gods sacred view on blood and how we should not eat it or consume it in any way. You're right, a lot of christian leaders do follow rules that apply to themselves. But you also have to realize that nobody is perfect and there are going to be a lot of broken rules in the community. Some willingly and others unwilling. It also may seem like a massive leap from going to believing the Earth was created from God, to God created the Bible for us to read. But when you actually take into account the scientific evidence that the bible accurately depicts, the artifacts that archeologists have found throughout the years confirming whats in the Bible, as well as the prophecies being fulfilled in it (Revelation is full of them), you can't help but wonder who it was really written by. Well I did say that there are a lot of people who don't want to believe in it because they want to live their lives the way they want to. And you can't deny that that isn't true. And I could see how someone could perceive that as judgemental. But I'm not talking about everyone, and that's not what I think about you. I also believe some are really looking for answers, but they don't know where to turn. There will always be those who don't want it, either because they are very satisfied with their lives, or maybe they were mislead in some way, some chose to worship the devil, and a lot are just lost. You sound like you do have some moral values and that's commendable.
I would rather live my life the way I want, than have the church as an authority tell me how to live my life. If you have no control over your life, then someone else will take control. Church sheeple are ok with being controlled by another bunch of idiots.
Fair enough. It's very easy to live life the way you want. But keep in mind, your life will always be controlled by someone. The polititians, the governments, the world leaders. I'd rather go to sleep at night knowing that I'm on the side of the most powerful in the universe. And this peace of mind is something that no amount of money in the world can ever buy. Have a good day