Religion & Spirituality - 15 November 2007

jeremiah 33:22:

"As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me."

the bible has the usual pre-euclidean notion that one cannot count the stars, because there simply are not enough numbers in existence.

but this is untrue. we know that there are more natural integers than there are stars - infinitely more in fact.

many ancient peoples believed that the number line was finite (and christians still do). but since euclid enlightened people have known otherwise. the stars can be numbered (and so can the grains of the sea).

to suggest that the seed of david cannot be numbered is just silly. at the most generous estimate there can hardly have been as many as fourteen billion even by now.

but then believing silly things is like eating noodles: once you have started you can't stop.

2007-11-15 00:35:34 · 21 answers · asked by synopsis 7

In so many of your responses - I detect an anger or bitterness or hatred even against Christians - what they have done or haven't done - their intolerance, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, judgmental holier-than-thou hypocritical attitudes - all of which may be true in your life experience, as seen through your prism of existence...

...but would you allow that your problem is with these Christians and their behavior and not Christianity???

Surely you have no problem with loving your neighbor and forgiving your enemies and turning the other cheek? Or perhaps you object to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, etc. and all the fruits of the spirit?

"How would we know if Christianity works? No one has tried it yet! Preach the gospel your whole life; and if necessary, use words!"

Would you think about this for a minute and be honest with yourself first? Isn't your real problem with Christians and our imperfect practice of our faith and not our faith itself?

2007-11-15 00:35:26 · 30 answers · asked by Anonymous

Can anyone tell me what is the best way to die??

2007-11-15 00:34:53 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous

If grandma got run over by a reindeer, would Jesus send Santa off to prison?

2007-11-15 00:33:53 · 8 answers · asked by Potatoe Plague 2

NUMBERS:
15:32 When the Israelites were41 in the wilderness they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.42 15:33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community. 15:34 They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him. 15:35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; the whole community must stone43 him with stones outside the camp.” 15:36 So the whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him to death,44 just as the Lord commanded Moses.
(1) Moses: For Killing a Human intentionally (He looked this way and that43 and saw that no one was there,44 and then he attacked45 the Egyptian and concealed the body46 in the sand) (“Whoever sheds human blood,16 by other humans17
must his blood be shed)
(2)ABRAM: for lie that sent his wife as sister t Faroah
(3)LOT: for sleeping with daughters(Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine88 so we can have sexual relations89 with him and preserve90 our family line through our father.”91 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

2007-11-15 00:33:00 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

How would you then need proof of God, in order to switch worldviews? Since there is more evidence that the world is structured and tuned perfectly with perfect constant laws all around us, there's no reason for you to believe the opposite (that order came from an explosion billions of years ago and it just happened to be perfectly tuned to create and maintain life) Is it ever a wonder why everything we need is of limited supply? Such as water for drinking, trees for air and shelter and food, and girls for reproduction, and a conscience so that we don't purposely do something that wouldn't be beneficial like kill ourselves on the spot.

2007-11-15 00:30:51 · 22 answers · asked by jackhighbluff 3

And PLEASE, for heaven's sake, do NOT give me the Bible's perspective.

I'm considering the possibilities of trying it. Honestly, I want to. But it's the 'witchcraft is evil' that people are telling me that I don't understand. I've been raised in a Christian family - this stuff was drilled into my head. My sister said that she is barely religious and she still knows that witchcraft or anything Wiccan is wrong. I'm not the only one - my friends and I are all looking into it and we all agree we'd like to try it. I have their support and the support of many other witches on the web. But I feel guilty about doing it sometimes because of the things my family told me.

So, what's your opinion?
Again, no quotes from the Bible would be nice.

2007-11-15 00:30:48 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous

Obviously someone could infer that there is correlation, but does that necessarily mean one causes the other?

If yes, you should also ban the sale of ice cream for the same reason.

As ice cream sales go up, so do the number of violent crimes, including murders and rape. This is a fact. There is correlation

Do they have a causal relationship simply because there is correlation?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au_UozlWMcKqP7mfQ0xHKaXd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071115050137AA4lynp

2007-11-15 00:30:37 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

If God is omnipresent and omniscient, is he powerless to change anything in the universe?

This question is basically asking for thoughts on the nature of God given the nature of the universe.

Assumptions
------------------

1. That time and space are connected such that before the creation of the universe (be it big bang or genesis) there was no time.

2. That God existed before space/time and will exist after space/time (if that ever happens)

3. That God is omnipresent

4. That God is omniscient

Basically the problem is this: If God is omnipresent and omniscient, he can't be bounded by time since time is meaningless to a being that knows everything about everything instantaneously. (also if God created the universe and thus created time, he would by default, not be bounded by time)

If he is not bounded by time, he would 'see' the entire universe from go to woah as a single (unchanging) entity . Therefore he can't make a 'decision' to change anything about that entity.

2007-11-15 00:28:40 · 10 answers · asked by Sly Phi AM 7

2007-11-15 00:28:26 · 22 answers · asked by I'm an Atheist 3

What I wanna know is, is that a dry rib or a wet rib? Really not sure how I feel about a dry rub being applied... and pork or beef? Since either are forbidden by one god or another will it be aurochs? Are there arouchs ribs in hell?

2007-11-15 00:22:00 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

Do you know who Darren Brown is?

Hes a well known psychological illusionist.

Hes famous for a couple of videos on You Tube and among these theres a program of him attempting to convert atheists into the true path of God. AND succeeding!!

The same could probably be done the other way around.

Now am not an atheist, but I was wondering: If peoples beliefs are so malleable and easily changed, what are they good for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sq-YUdq1OI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DylNVUN_3I

2007-11-15 00:21:48 · 6 answers · asked by Antares 6

It is just a carbon based plant drying out in our house. That's all.

2007-11-15 00:20:42 · 11 answers · asked by Robert S 5

2007-11-15 00:17:12 · 18 answers · asked by dontworrybehappy 3

What comes around goes around

2007-11-15 00:16:51 · 19 answers · asked by Mystic Magic 5

*excuse me, Intelligently Designed

2007-11-15 00:10:53 · 16 answers · asked by Potatoe Plague 2

Why do you still celebrate? What spirit is it that keeps you to cling to it??

2007-11-15 00:10:05 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-11-15 00:09:35 · 15 answers · asked by Prof Fruitcake 6

If you say "A BIG BANG" then where did the big bang come from and what caused it ? What was there before that and before that and before that?? Where did the planets come from? The Universe? What started anything?

2007-11-15 00:05:58 · 27 answers · asked by Lamont Eddy 2

instead of having to read Watchtower publications?

2007-11-15 00:04:54 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow and everywhere that Mary went the Lamb was sure to go. He followed her to school each day twasn't even in the rule. He made the children laugh and play to have a lamb at school. And than the rules all changed one day, illegal it became to have the lamb of God at school or even speak his name. Everyday got worse and worse and days turned into years. Instead of hearing children laugh we heard gun shots and tears. What must we do to stop the crime that's in our schools today? Let's let the Lamb come back to school and teach our kids to pray.

The above is a poem I received in an e-mail, you know one of those mass mailings. I just thought it was a wonderful take on the childhood song. Remembering a simplier day in America, when squabbles were solved in principles office, instead of with a gun on the playground. I am thankful that I grew up when I did without all of the pressures of todays youth. What are your thoughts?

2007-11-15 00:01:37 · 16 answers · asked by fire_side_2003 5

What's the sequence?

2007-11-15 00:01:13 · 24 answers · asked by Prof Fruitcake 6

I had a dream where Satan told me everything in the bible was true and if i needed evidence i could just look around. should i believe him? he is an incredible lier, but why would he lie about this? what else could it mean?

this is a real dream i had last night

if you want a more detailed description of the dream:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgV3dyeCEe8TtgSi4uXbQkKA.Bd.;_ylv=3?qid=20071115045228AAMwsCD

2007-11-15 00:00:28 · 11 answers · asked by nacsez 6