Vernon wrote, in part:
"So, while his Father in heaven may have withheld certain things - for
reasons best known to Himself - it is hardly likely that any Scriptural
errors would have remained unreported. Clearly, the Lord was provided
with all the information he needed to complete his earthly mission; and
that must have included a reliable testimony from Moses and the
Prophets."
Well, Vernon, that's what I would call a claim. Now what is your
argumentation (grounds) for it? Why is it "hardly likely?" Why "Clearly?"
Why "must have?"
What you have written is an opinion. You are entitled to it, of course,
but simply stating it does not give anyone reason to accept it.
This is my opinion. The Genesis creation accounts were written by an
unknown scribe about 400 to 600 years before Jesus was born. They were
accepted as "stories" by the Hebrews as they accepted most stories --
they did not really ask "did these things really take place as
described." They were like the hearers of Native American storytellers
who sometimes began their tales by saying, "Now I don't know if things
really happened this way, but I know that this story is true." As a Jew,
Jesus heard and understood these stories just as his friends and family
did. endopinion. For rational grounds, consult reputable Bible
scholarship.
This is my conjecture. Suppose Jesus WAS told by God at some point "Hey
son, you know those Genesis accounts? They are myth, not literal
history." How would Jesus have talked about them to his hearers? I
suggest he would NOT have passed that information on -- it would have
obscured his messages. endconjecture.
But, you will argue, they are NOT myths, but literal history. In which
case the arguments of the Bible fail, and Christianity becomes just
another interesting cult, for it implies strongly that the god who
inspired it must necessarily have been a deceiver, planting false
evidences of all kinds around pointing to a 4 BY earth. The only argument
that prevails against that is the one by Gosse in OMPHALOS, and it is my
observation that if I were a YEC the OMPHALOS position is the only one I
could have which could not be refuted by evidence available to everyone.
For anyone interested, materials on Gosse's Omphalos are available on my
website (page 2).
John Burgeson (Burgy)
http://www.burgy.50megs.com
(science/theology, quantum mechanics, baseball, ethics,
humor, cars, God's intervention into natural causation, etc.)
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