Hey dudes and dudettes. I dont know how or why i stumbled onto this forum but i did so id just like to leave some of my ideas on the topics. First of all its cool that some people are open to trying to understand christian thinking, sometimes i wonder too (and im a christian!) well try to be anyways. Okay, I believe the Bible is an actual divinely written book and should be taken literally (though certain parts are not literal i.e. parables).
Id like to talk about this assumption that most people make which is reinforced by the media. That you are born homesexual, an idea no scientist has ever proven (the human genome was mapped there is no gay gene). There is no way to prove someone is gay. Just because you are a feminime male or you speak softly, have a strange desire, or are a male-like female does not mean you were born homosexual. And I also believe The Old Testament (old law) and the New Testament (new law) was designed to show man he could not be perfect and required grace. As Jesus said he did not come to destroy the old covenant but to make a new one (paraphrasing). So the old testament is relevant and still should be tried to be followed (however certain items such as pork eating, etc. seem to be meant culturally for the Jews).
Somebody asked about dinosaurs and the bible(sorry i dont know how to quote twice yet). The Bible seems to actually describe several dinosaurs in actual words (Job 40:15-19 also i believe in Revelatoin somewhere though the verse escapes me). The idea is that dinosaurs were created in the beginning with man. The death of the dinosaurs would be attributed to the loss of a another atmospheric level which used to protect from sun rays, radiation, bad stuff, etc. (also attributed to mans long lives in Bible). There is also another interesting thought that dinosaurs were killed off during certain times and were in fact the mythological 'dragons.' Then theres the nowaday (or close enough) many eye witness accounts of actual dinosaurs (mostly seem to be pleisaurs i.e. Nessie, ships pulling up carcasses, and wash ups on beaches).
This would be somewhat contrary to evolutionary thought so popular nowadays. A belief that seems to require more faith than most religious philisophies (IMO). Mankind used to be a somewhat ape-like being that evolved into a human with abstract thoughts and the ability to conceptualize higher beings higher than itself (deity) that do not exist (though no transitional skeletons have been discovered, and i realize some claim to have found some, however, most have been debunked as arthritis ridden people or too trivial to count. Plus if we have found so many dinosaur skeletons (who lived millions of years before man) then how come we have found so little transitional skeletons, even of dinosaurs to birds (if thats the still common prevalent thought)).
I believe science is a good thing and science lines up with the Bible. I do not hate scientists though i believe their claim to be objective (an impossibility) is poppycock. They even call Evolution a theory yet it seems to be accepted as fact. I hope none of you think this a diatribe against science. I point you to an interesting speech Michael Crichton (of Jurrasic Park fame) delieved (http://www.michaelcrichton.com/index.html) about the fallibility of science and the philisophies of men.
This is an interesting article which raises questions as to how old the universe is. http://www.khouse.org/articles/1995/58/. Other interesting articles abound Dr. Missler's site.
Well I hope this is as stimiluating for you all as it is for me. Sorry if the post is confusing, i can see its sloppy. Anyways adios.
"Science without religion is lame; Religion without science is blind." Albert Einstein, 1941
