Questions about God? There's an app for (and against) that

I thought TUAW was about technology...

I don't have enough faith to be an atheist.

Religion Wars. Religion Wars never change. The end of the world occured pretty much as we had predicted. Too many humans not enough space or resources to go around. The details are trivial and pointless. The reasons, as always, purely human ones. The earth was nearly wiped clean of life. An atomic spark struck by human hands quickly raged out of control...

It's astonishing to read how many Christians surf this blog, but at the same time it isn't, since it seems mostly US readers visit this website.

Anyway, I just like to put out a collective response to some of the people who have tried to ague that the rules of logic have not been violated by any means in the teachings of the bible.

Taking the talking snake for example: There is no way I can disprove there ever was a talking snake. However, all research and observations up until now have pointed the other way. That still doesn't prove there was no such thing as a talking snake at one point, but that shouldn't give anyone any more reason to believe in such a thing until proven otherwise. Leaving open the possibility vs believing in a talking snake are two different things.

For example: One could claim there is a flying teapot orbiting Jupiter. There is no way for us to know weather or not that is true (yet). However, based on common knowledge, I think I can speak for most of us that non of us actually believe such a thing unless evidence is provided to support the claim.

Also, debating or exchanging ideas about the possibility existence of a deity and intelligent design vs. the christian god did it all, are two different things as well! No matter how hard they (organized religions) have tried, there has been no proof that their religions are true.

The problem with all of the "explanations" trying to prove that the bible doesn't contradict itself is that all they do is use more quotes from the bible! That's a fallacy called "begging the question," as in "Why isn't Bob wrong? Because Bob says he isn't wrong!" You can't do that. I need some external proof, or at least a little logic. At least the second explanation TRIES to give an context-based argument, but still can't prove the bible doesn't contradict itself; at best it proves that the verses and their context are subjective.

And in regards to the accusations that the author should have done his research before trying to point out a contradiction (thus insinuating that if the author HAD done the research, he would have been magically persuaded that there isn't a contradiction in the bible): of COURSE there are responses to the claims that the bible contradicts itself, as you said yourself, he's not the first person to make such claims. However, the mere existence of said responses DO NOT simply negate the existence of those contradictions; the responses need to be adequate for that to happen. Because the accusations persist, I think it's safe to assume that myself and many others don't find the given explanations adequate.

The article was fine until the author injected an uneducated opinion about the Bible (second paragraph from the end).

Not very smart to take two single verses and show how they contradict each other at first glance. I could do that all day long. Easy.

Let's also not forget that the Bible has been around so long that you cannot possibly be the first one to try to raise this doubt about the Bible.

As a journalist I figured you would at least do some digging into the apparent contradiction before making an uninformed opinion. Like the link posted earlier explaining what these verses mean here's another one:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/07/13/contradictions-face-to-face

That is a great site to help answer most (all?) of your questions. Just do a little digging.

The only one trying to stir anything up is the author.

There are SOOO many facts that validate the Bible which would take a long time mention them all.  One is Bible Prophesy, there is not one fortold event in the Bible that has not happened to date!  Yet there is much fallacy with regards to other prophesies.  Many of us like the movie 300 right?  Look up the Persian king Xerses, the son of Darius and you will find he was married to a Jewish woman named Ester, which of course is all in the Bible.  I could go on and on!  Physics definitely proves the existence of GOD.  Also, why is CHRISTianity attacked so much from so many for so long?  It's very amusing to me to hear and see the immediate resistance people have when of the Name of CHRIST is mentioned.  So why not become indignant about other religions and their "worshiped leaders"?  If you really want to know if the Bible is real, approach It with a sincere open and contrite heart and you will find out if It's false or not.  Doing so with an accusatory mentality is already defeating your quest of "proof".  The Bible has been read by non-Biblical prophets prior to their so called "proven prophesies", go figure.  Last, many people conclude that GOD isn't real because of catastrophic events that have hurt people.  The question many times is, "how could GOD allow that to happen if HE's real or even GOD?"..understandably so.  There aren't answers to every event good or bad.  One example is when GOD told Joshua to destroy the Philistines INCLUDING woman and children, which he didn't.  Pretty harsh right?  It's not if you consider the fact that fallen angels had mingled with them and created a hybrid species called "nephillim" which is the origin of human giants.  GOD wanted them destroyed not because he didn't love them as a people, the problem was in the bloodline and the existence of these fallen angelic humans.  Who do the Jews contend with most today?  Hint:  look up who the Philistines are and their origin, & If you can find it please reply back.   You'll find a lot of this info outside of the Bible from non-Believers!  Study to show yourself approved... 

Daniel;

Thanks for your comments. This kind of issue seems to bring out both Christian and Atheist fundamentalists, and it's good to hear a more measured voice every now and then.

So, is there an app for people who think that extremists on both sides are going too far?

fyi, im not trying to start some religious debate. just wanted to show the truth.

http://bible.org/seriespage/invisibility-god-genesis-3222-30-exodus-249-11-1-timothy-117

start at 4th paragraph down. there is no contradiction between Genesis 32:30 and Exodus 33:20. you can't take two versus out on their own and just say they contradict. you need to carefully study the word to understand their meaning.

God Bless!