Do you honestly believe?

Question

That a man lived inside the stomach of a whale for three days or that a male and female pair of every animal on earth sailed peacefully on a boat for 40 days and nights?

If these are symbolic stories then which parts of the Bible should I take seriously? Is it possible that the Bible is just one big book of fables?

Crackskull99 - If you don't know about the dissolving properties of stomache acid then you are showing your own ignorance.

conundrum - Your examples of how animals have evolved both physically and behaviorally to make the most of their environment were interesting. Now, what was your answer.

Crackedskull - Right, your argument makes sense because fish don't have stomache acid. Did you graduate?

Answer 1

I really wish people would do a little research before talking about the ark they found on mt.Ararat. It is a boat, the "ark" that would have had to hold a minimum of 96 million animals ( 2 sets of each animal on the planet , I am not considering the 7 sets of "clean" animals) could not even be built with the existing technology of today. This story is beyond ridiculous.

Answer 2

It could be that Jonah died inside the stomach of the whale, but was brought back to life.

As far as the story of Noah, you have it wrong. Please go back and read it again. It doesn't say a pair of every animal (it says by 2 and by 7). It doesn't say every animal on earth (It says every kind- which is far different.) It doesn't say the voyage lasted for 40 days and 40 nights (It says that it rained for 40 days.) Duh.

Once you know what the account actually says, then you can begin to criticize it if you wish.

Right now you are only showing your own ignorance.

LOL

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To answer your *updated* question-

According to the passage it wasn't a whale (It was a fish.)

There is a big difference between a whale and a fish.
Here you are showing your ignorance of the passage again.
*sigh*

How many errors do we have in your little rant now? 4? I wonder how many errors you would make if you wrote a book. And you are criticizing supposed mistakes in the Bible.
LOL

You know so little that it is hard to explain things to you.

OK. Was the fish in question in perfect health? Did it have any stomach acid. If it was sick, or perhaps near death, there might not have been any stomach acid.

Or the dead body could have become stuck part way down the digestive system and never have reached the stomach.

I believe in a God who could restore a dead body that had dissolved. But we haven't established that the dead body did dissolve.

But there is no talking to you.
You think that you know everything
when in fact you know very little.

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Sorry JPis. That's not what I said. You are twisting my words like you try to twist the words in the Bible.

Answer 3

Do you honestly believe that :
The tuatara, a lethargic lizardlike animal found in New Zealand spends about half the year in a state of light hibernation. Why, the tuatara is so sluggish that it even falls asleep while chewing its food! But all that sleep evidently does it some good, for scientists estimate that some tuataras can live about 100 years!
How about :
Consider the seabird called the sooty tern. When a young sooty tern leaves its nest, it heads out to sea and stays in constant flight for the next few years! Since it is not equipped with waterproof plumage and it does not have webbed feet such as those of other terns that can make a water landing, the sooty tern avoids being submerged in the sea. It hunts by scooping small fish from the surface of the water.

But when does it sleep? “It seems unlikely that they sleep on the ocean since their feathers would get waterlogged. Some scientists suggest that these birds may sleep on the wing.”
How about :
The female grizzly has her cubs—usually two but sometimes one or three—during winter hibernation.
During hibernation she doesn’t eat or drink anything, yet is able to nurse her cubs for about three months. That in itself is quite a physiological feat, but it’s nothing compared to the far more amazing feat of her not defecating or urinating during this entire hibernation period!
It would seem that you would BELIEVE these accounts of ANIMALS.. but not the Creator' Powers..
.. So what was your Question Again??

Answer 4

the boat - measurements are in the Bible - it was absolutely HUGE. It was not even shaped like a "boat"' of today. So it could have held quite a bit. Thousands of year ago the number of species could have been much less...... The size of a whale would allow for a man. More importantly, if God created all these things I am sure he can manage them quite well when the need arises. And all throughout the Bible it speaks of the POWER of God..... wouldn't you rather beleive in God who creates and openly shows his power? It is actually more comforting to think he can do miraculous things then to say he couldn't or wouldn't.

Answer 5

They have actually traced back the story of Noah to the tale of Gigemesh a summarrian and have actuall proof that a flood did happen, although they believe the scribes embellished as time went on. Have you ever played telephone as a child? by the end the original story is sooooo garbled that how are you turns into I will sue or purple goo, history has proven that it can be unreliable..... Vietnam war or conflict?Depends on which side you were on

Answer 6

Nar! that was a lot of religious dribble,and if any one is gullible enough to believe in it who are we to stop them??
Look Christianity is that full of holes its not funny,if not why is
it that there are no black people allowed in a Mormon church.And why don't we in Australia see an aboriginal
person selling the word of Christ with Seventh day Adventist
Groups,i thought that it said in the bible all races and creeds are welcome in Christ's temples of Worship.
Wake up ya dope lot of bible bashers ,or the world will pass you by,and it will be you that will be left behind not us disbelievers of the words of Christ or God!!

Answer 7

Nope, *cough*religous debate coming* I also don't believe in living my life by a book, and that there's a man sitting up in a place we can't see, or get to, and that he miraculously helps people and loves "all his children" but certain "religous people"
don't like different races, or gay people or whatever because the special book says they shouldn't.

Answer 8

No, I don't believe that. Those stories were never meant to convey history. They were included in the Bible because of their allegorical meaning/

Answer 9

Unless you become as a child (see the world as a place of wonder) you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven

404 Access denied

Answer 10

Honestly. I don't think those stories are very true, but based on the truth. More likely passed down and exaggerated like today's modern tale of Bloody mary and most gossip.