Is the talking snake doomed?

Carcano

Carcano

Valued Senior Member
So I was watching this video last night of Bill Maher interviewing Richard Dawkins on the success of his book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRpbkpNpgw

This is interesting to me because Dawkins points out that literal interpretations of the bible may be on the way out.

Most scientific people who claim to be religious, he says, have a more abstract and inconsequential reverence for vague notions of a transcendent Spirit motivating the universe....not the Yahweh of the Hebrew Bible.

Well, thats certainly not the case for Christians in general around these parts, who are primarily guided by TV evangelism...which is, I would argue, profoundly literal.

Lo and Behold, even Dr. Francis Collins, head of the human genome project and author of 'The Language of God'...is a literalist!!!

http://books.google.ca/books?id=JcM...=print&ct=result&cd=1&cad=author-navigational
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjJAWuzno9Y

However, if hes right, does this spell the end of the Christian church altogether, if its source text is no longer taken seriously by Christians.

In a nutshell, what is left to be called Christianity???
 
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Even the very heart of the gospel message itself has changed throughout the centuries. The doctrine of “eternal security” that is so prevalent today was almost totally non-existent less than 200 years ago.

I don’t know but my own guess is that it will just adapt and morph into the next incarnation and just keep on going. It seems to be getting almost better and worse at the same time, if such a thing is possible.
 
SetiAlpha6 said:
Even the very heart of the gospel message itself has changed throughout the centuries. The doctrine of “eternal security” that is so prevalent today was almost totally non-existent less than 200 years ago.
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I had never heard of the phrase until now...theres even a site to explain the term http://eternalsecurity.us

As usual, one can find scriptural quotes for it and against it.
 
Carcano said:
I had never heard of the phrase until now...theres even a site to explain the term http://eternalsecurity.us

As usual, one can find scriptural quotes for it and against it.
Click to expand...

Yes!

I have a book that is several hundreds of pages in length that teaches rather thoroughly that eternal security is false. There are other such books of similar length that teach that it is true. People just choose what they want to believe and ignor anything that teaches anything contrary. They become so skilled at this that they can mentally block out any reality even if it is standing right there in front of them.

Those in the Christian communuty that believe in eternal security often view as a threat and condemn to hell all those that do not agree with them. And some of these "condemned" people condemn them to hell right back just for fun. It all sounds really loving, don't you think?

As far as I am aware there are over one thousand different Christian denominations out there. Some are very literal and some are just the opposite. The ones that are literal might be impacted by the things in your original post but all of the others will only be confirmed in their own minds that they were right all along and just keep on going.
 
John99 said:
It is pretty amazing that he is not an Atheist either.
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Who...Francis Collins???

He has a Phd in Physics as well as being a medical doctor and director of the human genome project.

He believes there are phenomena in the universe that suggest (not prove) the existence of intelligent design.

The 'universal constants' for example....which, if only slightly altered would make the formation of stars and galaxies impossible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml0FqyFYfrU&feature=related
 
SetiAlpha6 said:
Those in the Christian communuty that believe in eternal security often view as a threat and condemn to hell all those that do not agree with them. And some of these "condemned" people condemn them to hell right back just for fun. It all sounds really loving, don't you think?
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Well I think it all sounds explicitly necessary...to religion.

If anyone really wants to uphold their 'one true path' in the world, it is necessary to affirm a counterforce...that will make all other paths extremely painful.

There can only be ONE truth.

For Christians and Muslims...that counterforce is hellfire!

Heres a good interview with Dawkins describing his views on the literalist approach to scripture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NSk_ZeAH_I&feature=related
 
Carcano said:
Who...Francis Collins???

He has a Phd in Physics as well as being a medical doctor and director of the human genome project.
Click to expand...

Oh NO. I mean Dawkins. He said on a scale of 1 to 7 with 7 being Atheist that he is a six.;)

And oh yes, i do know who Francis Collins is. He LEAD the team that mapped the HUMAN GENOME. The person that Bill MARR the former stand up comedian who probably didnt finish high school was asking 'is he smart'.:D
 
John99 said:
Oh NO. I mean Dawkins. He said on a scale of 1 to 7 with 7 being Atheist that he is a six.;)

And oh yes, i do know who Francis Collins is. He LEAD the team that mapped the HUMAN GENOME. The person that Bill MARR the former stand up comedian who probably didnt finish high school was asking 'is he smart'.:D
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He revised that to 6.9 on Bill's talkshow...and was very surprised that Collins believes in the talking snake.

I'm not sure thats entirely true, but this is Bill's assertion after interviewing him.
 
Edit: Still, he said six with seven being Atheist. So the only conclusion is that he is not an Atheist.
 
Then again he makes some good points but they will never reach the Fundamentalist. Basically what we are left with are groups just outdoing one another. Somewhat comical but what can you do?
 
Carcano said:
Well I think it all sounds explicitly necessary...to religion.

If anyone really wants to uphold their 'one true path' in the world, it is necessary to affirm a counterforce...that will make all other paths extremely painful.

There can only be ONE truth.

For Christians and Muslims...that counterforce is hellfire!
Click to expand...


You have an exellent point here, but I would still say that far too many take this too far.

According to the Bible, in some places, all you have to do is believe in Jesus to be saved. It is supposed to be pretty simple, at least that is what they will tell you initially when they are trying to convert you. But I have seen people condemn other believers (even those inside their own church) to hell over many other non-central even contoversial doctrines. Eternal security, a term that does not even exist in the Bible, is just one of many such doctrines.

Just today I heard a sermon in which the head pastor in the church declared himself to be the God appointed judge of everyone else in his church. He actually believes he has the right to take the authority of God upon himself and judge others as he sees fit! As if his pronouncements are equal to God's!!! :rolleyes:

The more people think they know the more arrogant they can become. The more arrogant they become the more likely they are to condemn others that disagree with them.

Personally, I am really tired of it all! It makes my heart sick!!!

Take Care!
 
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