Comments on: Some Remarks on Biblical Prophecy http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html NIGHTTIME IS FOR DREAMING. DAYLIGHT IS FOR ACTION. Mon, 1 Dec 2008 16:20:12 +0000 By: Tommykey http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26307 Tommykey Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:58:29 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26307 The book of Isaiah speaks of the Nile River drying up, but it never has. ISaiah also has a passage in which the Israelites will have foreign kings and queens kneeling before them But such a thing never happened. Instead it was the Israelites who had their kingdom destroyed and were scattered. The book of Isaiah speaks of the Nile River drying up, but it never has. ISaiah also has a passage in which the Israelites will have foreign kings and queens kneeling before them But such a thing never happened. Instead it was the Israelites who had their kingdom destroyed and were scattered.

]]> By: Richard http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26273 Richard Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:08:59 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26273 It is very clear that the gospel writers were trolling through the Old Testament to find "prophecies." Some of them are so ridiculously out of context and were taken from the Septuagint and not the original Hebrew. It is easy to say something is fulfilled after the fact. Just look at what people do with Nostradamus. Richard <a href="http://lifewithoutfaith.com" rel="nofollow">http://lifewithoutfaith.com</a> It is very clear that the gospel writers were trolling through the Old Testament to find "prophecies." Some of them are so ridiculously out of context and were taken from the Septuagint and not the original Hebrew. It is easy to say something is fulfilled after the fact. Just look at what people do with Nostradamus.

Richard
http://lifewithoutfaith.com

]]> By: Matt R http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26269 Matt R Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:02:25 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26269 Hi Jeff T. <blockquote>Religion will either vanish over time due to the overwhelming evidence against it, or it will wipe us out with its violent hatred and prejudice.</blockquote> Good one! I always appreciate irony. Cheers, Matt Hi Jeff T.

Religion will either vanish over time due to the overwhelming evidence against it, or it will wipe us out with its violent hatred and prejudice.

Good one! I always appreciate irony.

Cheers,

Matt

]]> By: Robert Madewell http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26259 Robert Madewell Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:04:51 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26259 Tyre, Lebanon appears to be a hustling and busy city for a non-existant one. I love google maps. It's funny that in the Bible you read about prophecy that comes true later in the bible (sometimes in the same book of the bible). Kinda like a neighbor of a serial killer saying, "I knew that boy was trouble!" a day after the serial killer is arrested and reported on TV. The statue in the book of Daniel is a prime example. The various parts of the statue represents the succession of empires after Babylon. The text says that the persians will conquer babylon. Those empires are all gone now, so how does that prove anything to us now? I think that the book of daniel was written after the fact, then the author said, "I told you so!" Tyre, Lebanon appears to be a hustling and busy city for a non-existant one. I love google maps.

It's funny that in the Bible you read about prophecy that comes true later in the bible (sometimes in the same book of the bible). Kinda like a neighbor of a serial killer saying, "I knew that boy was trouble!" a day after the serial killer is arrested and reported on TV. The statue in the book of Daniel is a prime example. The various parts of the statue represents the succession of empires after Babylon. The text says that the persians will conquer babylon. Those empires are all gone now, so how does that prove anything to us now? I think that the book of daniel was written after the fact, then the author said, "I told you so!"

]]> By: John Nernoff III M.D. http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26245 John Nernoff III M.D. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:29:16 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26245 Even if certain prophecies were accurately predictive, that doesn't mean there is a traditional "God" with omnimax properties. The prophecies could have been due to alternative, albeit unlikely, reasons such as time trave or aliens or other advanced civilizations. If anything unusual happens (such as the art of prophecy under discussion) why is "God" almost always invoked? Moreover what IS the "God" supposed to be? I am hoping Ebonmuse will some day address the issue of non-cognitivism. Even if certain prophecies were accurately predictive, that doesn't mean there is a traditional "God" with omnimax properties. The prophecies could have been due to alternative, albeit unlikely, reasons such as time trave or aliens or other advanced civilizations. If anything unusual happens (such as the art of prophecy under discussion) why is "God" almost always invoked?

Moreover what IS the "God" supposed to be? I am hoping Ebonmuse will some day address the issue of non-cognitivism.

]]> By: Jeff T. http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26244 Jeff T. Sat, 18 Aug 2007 01:47:39 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26244 It is sad that many people fail to put any effort into researching their belief system. How hard would it have been to go to the Internet and do a google on Tyre? I would have at least done that before declaring that God had wiped it off the face of the earth several thousand years ago. I remember as a young child asking where the bible came from. The answer given to me was, "God wrote it". I will make a prophesy: Religion will either vanish over time due to the overwhelming evidence against it, or it will wipe us out with its violent hatred and prejudice. Granted, this prophecy is not time bounded, but it is better than most old testament ones or the ones made by new age astrology. It is sad that many people fail to put any effort into researching their belief system. How hard would it have been to go to the Internet and do a google on Tyre? I would have at least done that before declaring that God had wiped it off the face of the earth several thousand years ago.

I remember as a young child asking where the bible came from. The answer given to me was, "God wrote it".

I will make a prophesy: Religion will either vanish over time due to the overwhelming evidence against it, or it will wipe us out with its violent hatred and prejudice. Granted, this prophecy is not time bounded, but it is better than most old testament ones or the ones made by new age astrology.

]]> By: Lynet http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26241 Lynet Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:36:14 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26241 <blockquote>If these folks really want to impress us atheists, show us where in the OT that the discovery of DNA was predicted? Or that we inhabit a distant arm of the Milky Way? Or, simply, that the earth is a fucking sphere.</blockquote> To be fair, I don't think knowledge of a spherical Earth would be evidence of divine origin. There were ancient Greeks who had that one figured out.

If these folks really want to impress us atheists, show us where in the OT that the discovery of DNA was predicted? Or that we inhabit a distant arm of the Milky Way? Or, simply, that the earth is a fucking sphere.

To be fair, I don't think knowledge of a spherical Earth would be evidence of divine origin. There were ancient Greeks who had that one figured out.

]]> By: J http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26236 J Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:09:46 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26236 Even if these prophecies were more "accurate" (and they are nothing like accurate), they still aren't terribly convincing because they all describe events <i>in the past</i>. How hard could it be for a prophecy to "come true" when both the prophecy and the event it supposedly predicted are <i>in the past</i>? How difficult would it be for a chronicler--especially for a book written thousands of years ago and covering thousands of years of history--to, shall we say, "ensure" that such-and-such prophecy "came true" through scribal? Now I doubt they'd do it cynically--changing the historical record in full knowledge of their own deception--but rather through ignorance of what was really prophesied or what really happened afterwards. Most premillennial Christians reading Revelation assume that references to "Rome" mean "the Vatican" rather than the more obvious reading that Rome meant the Roman Empire which existed at the time of Revelation's authorship. Even if these prophecies were more "accurate" (and they are nothing like accurate), they still aren't terribly convincing because they all describe events in the past. How hard could it be for a prophecy to "come true" when both the prophecy and the event it supposedly predicted are in the past?

How difficult would it be for a chronicler--especially for a book written thousands of years ago and covering thousands of years of history--to, shall we say, "ensure" that such-and-such prophecy "came true" through scribal? Now I doubt they'd do it cynically--changing the historical record in full knowledge of their own deception--but rather through ignorance of what was really prophesied or what really happened afterwards. Most premillennial Christians reading Revelation assume that references to "Rome" mean "the Vatican" rather than the more obvious reading that Rome meant the Roman Empire which existed at the time of Revelation's authorship.

]]> By: Will E. http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26231 Will E. Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:56:13 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26231 From what I remember of my OT class in college, prophecy wasn't even intended as foretelling the *exact* future, but as a warning of what *could* happen if Israel/Judea didn't straighten up their acts. If these folks really want to impress us atheists, show us where in the OT that the discovery of DNA was predicted? Or that we inhabit a distant arm of the Milky Way? Or, simply, that the earth is a fucking sphere. Or anything *real*. Carl Sagan discusses this kind of thing in "Varieties of Scientific Experience." From what I remember of my OT class in college, prophecy wasn't even intended as foretelling the *exact* future, but as a warning of what *could* happen if Israel/Judea didn't straighten up their acts. If these folks really want to impress us atheists, show us where in the OT that the discovery of DNA was predicted? Or that we inhabit a distant arm of the Milky Way? Or, simply, that the earth is a fucking sphere. Or anything *real*. Carl Sagan discusses this kind of thing in "Varieties of Scientific Experience."

]]> By: Pi Guy http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26229 Pi Guy Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:06:17 +0000 http://www.daylightatheism.org/2007/08/some-remarks-on-biblical-prophecy.html#comment-26229 I've said before that I think that ALL believers know, deep down, that they're harboring a mythology as the focus of their faith. They just can't bring themselves to admit it. I think that, in general (and, yes, I am generalizing), that most believers would rather be wrong forever than adjust their cherished world-view. That said, I am <i>absolutely certain</i> that people like the good (?) Rev. Cawley know better. However, as long as there are people who don't wish to face the truth there will be people there to help them hide from it. Way to go, Reverend! <blockquote>...that they'd actually read the book they were quoting, in which case, they would likely be atheist.</blockquote> And if they just read one or two other things as well, they'd be skeptical enough to stop sending me all of those "Send this to 10 other Faith-Heads and God will perform a miracle for you, too!" and other ridiculous emails that I keep dragging right into my Trash Folder. Haven't any of these people ever heard of Snopes or do their automatically computers load Faith-Net or Crystal Healing as their home page? I've said before that I think that ALL believers know, deep down, that they're harboring a mythology as the focus of their faith. They just can't bring themselves to admit it. I think that, in general (and, yes, I am generalizing), that most believers would rather be wrong forever than adjust their cherished world-view. That said, I am absolutely certain that people like the good (?) Rev. Cawley know better. However, as long as there are people who don't wish to face the truth there will be people there to help them hide from it. Way to go, Reverend!

...that they'd actually read the book they were quoting, in which case, they would likely be atheist.

And if they just read one or two other things as well, they'd be skeptical enough to stop sending me all of those "Send this to 10 other Faith-Heads and God will perform a miracle for you, too!" and other ridiculous emails that I keep dragging right into my Trash Folder. Haven't any of these people ever heard of Snopes or do their automatically computers load Faith-Net or Crystal Healing as their home page?

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