Howard the Duck

i'll just start by quoting the lyrics from the Gershwin song:-

"It ain't necessarily so
It ain't necessarily so
The things that you're liable
To read in the Bible,
It ain't necessarily so.

Now david was small but oh my
Little david was small but oh my
He fought big goliath
Who lay down and dieth
David was small but oh my.

To get into heaven, don't snap for a second
Live clean forget your faults
I take the gospel whenever it's possible
But with a grain of salt

Oh jonah he lived in a whale
Oh jonah he lived in a whale
He made his home in
That fishes abdomen
Oh jonah he lived in a whale

To get into heaven, don't snap for a seven
Live clean forget your faults
I take gospel whenever it's possible
But with a grain of salt

Methuselah lived 900 years
Methuselah lived 900 years
Who calls that livin'
When no gal will give in
To no man what's 900 years

It ain't necessarily so
It ain't necessarily so
The things that you're liable
To read in the Bible,
It ain't necessarily so."

anyone acquainted with the stories in the Old Testament and bits of the New Testament will of course know the far fetched stories contained therein

they're wondrous miracles - cities broken by the sound of a trumpet, Moses parting the Red Sea, holy bread floating down from Heaven

are there anyone who thinks that these events are historical fact? apparently, all fundies do

and they fly literally into the face of all things logical - and more to the point, why aren't similar miracles happening today?

I attended a Catholic class and the priest merely said these stories are figurative and allegorical

but not so the fundies - yes, they did happen

can you help me understand the mindset and delusions of these fundies?

__________________


Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Salami

If God did exist, do you think it would be unlikely for him to be able to work miracles?
By the way I love the tune for "It Ain't Necessarily So". I almost feel like posting a video of me playing it.

Metal Connoisseur

As a practicing Catholic, I can tell you that the Church is pretty ambiguous on matters like the allegorical nature of the stories in the Old Testament. There are fundamental events, primarily the New Testament, that must be acknowledged, i.e. the death/resurrection of Christ, the immaculate conception, etc. But stories like the flooding of the earth, Sodom and Gomorrah, and elements of Adam and Eve are believed by many Catholics to be allegories while others choose to believe them as fact.

The Church also takes this stance on issues like the theory of evolution; it is up to you to choose what you believe in so long as you acknowledge God as the driving force behind whatever that is.

Tbh, I don't really have a taste for fundamental christianity, particularly evangelicalism. The idea that the earth is only a couple thousand years old is ludicrous, is as the hateful delivery of their message against homosexuality and contraception/abortion. Catholics may share the same moral views as they do, but (in my experiences) Catholics usually tend to be more reserved than their evangelical counterparts.

Mr November

By some dictionary definitions miracles happen all the time. By other dictionary definitions any act by God is a miracle.

And regarding Catholicism, my only experience of Roman Catholics has really been through my family and the church I used to go to - they were all very liberal. But I know that The Church itself (as in the Holy See authorities) is far from fundamentalist, but is still extremely backwards. It's just that a large number of self-identified Roman Catholics aren't actually interested in the official stances of The Church. And the individual teachings of Catholic churches can vary quite a bit between priests and geography - my sunday school experience was much different than my sisters who went to the same church's sunday school only 3 years later. My sunday school teacher (who was a Catholic parent of one of the other children) spun the allegorical side, while my sister took the classes with an actual priest who was heavier on the idea that it was literal truth.

There can certainly be a kind of fundamentalism among Catholics though, just watch this (this is just a more recent episode, in general this channel is weirdly conservative):



In the end its beyond me since I don't believe in any of it, but thats my input.

Sparky

they found noahs ark i think, a while ago

I know it looks like **** now but thats probably an ark

Mr November

Seriously? -_-

Sparky

Iunno, it's on mt ararat where it's was stated it landed in the bible.

I don't believe in god, but I could totally see there being a giant ****ing boat from that time that was a cool enough story to make it into the bible

Mr November

Ya I'll agree on the possibility of a story being blown out of proportion and making it into the Bible, but the odds are stacked against any kind of interesting or conclusive Ark find. And as far as I know it never says mt ararat it says the boat landed on a mountain somewhere in eastern turkey but doesn't specify which one.

(linkage)

Metal Connoisseur

I've heard theories that the flood might have been an allegorical reference to a ancient flood that occurred because a natural dam broke or something. I could be way off base here but I could've swore I heard something about a sizable chunk of Asia Minor being flooded in ancient times.

hip hop bunny hop

Flood stories are a part of basically all ancient civilizations, as these civilizations tended to sprout up along rivers (think, Gilgamesh)....

Anyways, what Metal is referring to, I believe, is the notion that the Black Sea was created when a natural damn gave way somewhere along here:



Link <--- National Geographic even has a lesson plan on this notion.

__________________
Have mercy on the poor.