--- Glenn Morton <glenn.morton@btinternet.com> wrote:
> When I was a YEC I knew in my deepest heart that YEC
> didn't match reality
> yet I still beieved. I won't go there again even if
> it is for another side
> in this fractious issue. If where the Bible touches
> on historical or
> scientific reality it says things which are
> demonstrably false, then it is
> false.
Even if this were true, this does not mean the
entirety of the Bible is false, nor does it mean the
most important parts are. First, the Bible is NOT a
unitary document. The closest it comes to this is the
Gospels which purport to represent the ministry of
Jesus. Second, the "Bible" is a creation of Church
ecumenical councils that assembled these books. They
used certain criteria that distinguished between, say
the Shepard of Hermas and Hebrews. Thus, the books do
not rise and fall together. Defects in one do not
taint the others. Third, the OT was inherited from
the Hebrews, and so was subjected to a different sort
of canonical process of adoption than the text of the
NT. I do not think that anything in the OT, in and of
itself, invalidates the NT. (ALthough I have not
thought overly rigorously about this).
(snip)
> > There are two problems with this whole
> concordist
> >approach. First, it
> >assumes that texts can be true & authoritative only
> if they are accurate
> >historical &/or scientific accounts. Secondly,
> they start in the
> >wrong place -
> >the OT, & Genesis in particular, rather than the NT
> & Christ. The OT is
> >important - nay, indispensable. But it's to be
> read in the light
> >of the NT, not
> >vice versa. If you start either systematic
> theology or
> >apologetics with Genesis
> >then your theological framework has already been
> solidified before
> >you get to
> >any explicit mention of Christ.
These are very good points, which your subsequent
comment does not address.
> If you remember Ugaboogah, the god of the universe,
> of whom I spoke years
> ago
> http://www.calvin.edu/archive/asa/199911/0062.html,
> if Jehovah didn't
> create the universe, and Ugabooga did, then we
> should worship Ugaboogah and
> forget the Bible.
This is logically incorrect. You assume that
Ugaboogah is not the same God that the Jews called
Jehovah and that it was not Ugaboogah who worked in
the history of the Jews (whom they perceived as
Jehovah). It seems to me that you could never have
this kind of proof.
> Christ's claim is based upon the
> resurrection. But we
> can't verify that at this late date so the only
> verification which can occur
> lies in the natural realm.
> If the Bible says there was a ressurrection and
> there wasn't, the Bible is
> false.
This is true, only to the extent that the resurrection
experience of the disciples was false. But, the
resurrection experience is attested to not only by the
documents contained in the NT, but by the lives of the
apostles. There is no disputing that the experience
was real to them. While you may debate about how it
occurred, the NT is very clear that it DOES NOT
describe the mechanism. Only the result and the
meaning to the disciples. In one vein which goes too
far (I think) it is the kerygma that matters, not the
act itself. However, the two are heavily intertwined
and you CAN NOT say that the experience was not real
to the disciples.
> If the Bible says there was an Exodus and there
> wasn't, the Bible is false.
> If the Bible says there was Abraham and there
> wasn't, the Bible is false.
> If the Bible says there was a conquest and there
> wasn't, the Bible is false.
>
All these are incorrect logically and factually. The
Bible is NOT a unitary document.
> But as we have gone round and round about, if the
> Bible says there was a
> Flood, or creation happened in a particular way, and
> it didn't happen that
> way, then suddenly the Bible isn't false.
> I never have understood any rational reason for the
> change.
Read above. The Bible IS NOT A UNITARY DOCUMENT. It
can not be said any simpler. Your conclusions are
logically and factually wrong and have NO support in
the history of the compiling of "the" Bible through
ecumenical councils.
Peace,
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
http://health.yahoo.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed May 01 2002 - 23:11:17 EDT