🚀 go-pugleaf

On Jul 8, 4:34 pm, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c> wrote:
> Linda Fox wrote:
> > On Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:17:40 +0100, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c>
> > wrote:
>
> >> BuddyThunder wrote:
> >>> Antares 531 wrote:
> >>>> On Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:59:50 +1200, BuddyThunder
> >>>> <nos...@paradise.net.nz> wrote:
>
> >>>>> rbwinn wrote:
> >>>>>> On Jul 6, 12:57 am, BuddyThunder <nos...@paradise.net.nz> wrote:
> >>>>>>> rbwinn wrote:
> >>>> (snip)
> >>>>> The Bible was very accurately transcribed - for humans. They did an
> >>>>> amazing job. Not a perfect job, there are lots of differences between
> >>>>> the early versions we have, but not bad for a bunch of people.
>
> >>>>> It's the content that I find even less reliable though, that's what I
> >>>>> was driving at, and I think you know that.
>
> >>>>> Much reported as history in the Bible simply never happened. No
> >>>>> global flood, no special creation, no exodus...
>
> >>>> Few of those Biblical stories are to be taken literally. Most are
> >>>> allegory, parable, simile, etc., sometimes based upon an existing
> >>>> legend. The purpose was to make it possible for a mostly illiterate
> >>>> people to get the embedded meaning, retain the story, and pass it on
> >>>> from generation to generation with little drift.
>
> >>>> The flood was probably based upon the ancient stories about the
> >>>> flooding of the Mediterranean basin shortly after the last ice age
> >>>> ended. The Strait of Gibraltar was breached as the Atlantic ocean
> >>>> level raised. When this happened the whole Mediterranean basin was
> >>>> flooded in a very short time...like 40 days and 40 nights. The relics
> >>>> of those stone walls and buildings that were out in what is now the
> >>>> Mediterranean are still available for divers to see.
>
> >>>> The main point I'm making is that we should not get hung up on the
> >>>> literary form used in the Bible. We can read it and interpret it just
> >>>> as effectively as those ancient people could. Neither of us has an
> >>>> advantage over the other.   Gordon
> >>> They can't sensibly be taken literally, as they apparently never
> >>> happened. I think you're right, these things were sometimes adapted from
> >>> existing legend, which all points to a concerted human authorship effort
> >>> rather than divine origins.
>
> >>> The Bible presents these things as if they happened. Jesus was clear
> >>> when he was speaking in parables, why couldn't the OT be similarly
> >>> up-front? I'm unconvinced that we're meant to disbelieve in the story of
> >>> Noah. Why would the dimensions of the ark be given if it was a parable?
>
> >>> Anyway, where do you draw the line between literal truth and "symbolic
> >>> allegory", or falsified story?
>
> >> Variably and carefully?
>
> >>> How do I know which bits really happened and which bits are fancy? If I
> >>> can't depend on all of it, how can I depend on any of it?
> >> Well, by independent verification. Ocne you dethrone the Bible from The
> >> One True Book, to just A Very Old Book, and realise that largely the OT
> >> was in fact not written down for many many centuries of oral
> >> tradition..then all becomes much easier.
>
> >> Was there a Great Flood? It would seem likely that there have been more
> >> than one. Did Noah exist? probably. Did he get instructions from God as
> >> to how to build an ark and stock it with the world's animal population?
> >> of course not. That's a typical bit of religious propaganda added in
> >> much later.
>
> >> Consider, "In the days of Bush, there came a great retribution by the
> >> hand of the Almighty, and he smote down the twin towers of the latter
> >> day Sodom and Gomorrah, with two great birds of mighty pinions, and
> >> rained fire and destruction down upon the glodless and profane, in the
> >> city of Sin, dedicated to Mammon, known also as Newyorksittee: And the
> >> people cried out, some saying that this was the work of the New Satan,
> >> or Osamabinladen, whilst others cried that it was the Emperor Bush
> >> himself who had caused this, in order to raise more taxes  and throw
> >> down fire on his enemies. But the righteous rejoiced, for this confusion
> >> was foretold in the prophecies of Allah, and  only the righteous were
> >> left with manna from heaven (which they called Oyl) in the Holy lands,
> >> and so the destruction of the great Empire of the West began, and the
> >> righteous and devout in the Holy lands triumphed over all."
>
> >> (The Gospel according to Muhmmamed Bin Wankin, written in 2050 after the
> >> Fall of the West).
>
> > NP, is that your own work? If so, <applause>
>
> All my own.
> Remember when you had to have use of english A level to get to Uni?
>
> > Linda ff

Oh dear, it would be very nice if they'd lift those required literacy
levels a bit.  Esp in Computer related fields.  I think next time I
get a request to "wot net 4 dpi pls?" I'll pass my answer trhough a
few languages in babel fish before sending it.
Is sentence structure so fekin difficult?


Al (calming down)