1/24/00
>-----Original Message-----
>From: PHSEELY@aol.com [mailto:PHSEELY@aol.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 10:31 PM
>To: glenn.morton@btinternet.com
>Glenn wrote:
>
><<If the Bible reflects the man-made cosmology of the 2nd
>millennium BC, then
>inspiriation had no effect on the factual content of the Scripture.>>
>
>PS: The theology in Gen 1-11 is the revelation, not the history
>qua history;
>and the theology is factual.
This is a brazen statement. The theology can only be factual IF AND ONLY IF
Jehovah is God and that is the very issue at question. We can't assume our
way to factuality. What exactly is the EVIDENCE that the theology is correct
other than your personal bias?
>In the Flood account, even though it is imbedded in the cosmology of the
>times, the theology transcends the theology of the times. And, please note
>that belief in the factuality of the occurrence of the Flood did
>not make any
>difference to the Babylonians. They fully believed in the
>historical reality
>of the Flood; but, that gave them no reason to believe in the God of the
>Hebrews. The question that Gen 6-9 posed to them is, Which is the superior
>God?
>1. The head god of Babylonia who could not sleep at night because
>humans were
>making so much noise, or the God of the Hebrews who neither slumbered nor
>slept? It seems obvious without circular argument that the latter is
>superior.
>2. The head god of Babylonia who tried to destroy all mankind so that he
>could sleep undisturbed, i. e., a self-centered capricious god, or
>the God of
>the Hebrews who destroyed mankind because of their extreme sin, that is, a
>God of justice? Again, it seems obvious without circular argument that the
>latter is superior.
Once again, all of this is nice, but it can only be conceived of as evidence
of superiority if in fact God isn't self centered. If God really did bring
the flood because he couldn't sleep, then the Babylonian theology is
superior. Sorry, what you are doing is begging the question. You set up a
set of ethics based upon Judeo Christian theology and then judge the other
religions as not living up to those standards. That is circular.
>3. The gods of Babylonia who were so frightened by the breakdown
>of nature at
>the Flood that they sat in a corner of the heavenly temple cowering and
>moaning, or the God of the Hebrews who was in complete control from the
>beginning? It seems obvious without circular argument that the latter is
>superior.
It seems obvious only from the perspective of a person who believes in one
God. Once again, circular logic.
But, I think these contrasts alone testify
>even to the
>unbelieving (whether they repent or not) that the God of the Bible is
>superior to the Babylonian god(s); and this superiority is obvious without
>circular reasoning.
No, you have precisely engaged in circular reasoning. YOu assume
1. Judaic ethics are the true and superior.
2. Babylonian theology didn't live up to judaic ethics
3. therefore Babylonian theology is inferior.
You have assumed the conclusion--perfect circularity.
glenn
see http://www.glenn.morton.btinternet.co.uk/dmd.htm
for lots of creation/evolution information
anthropology/geology/paleontology/theology\
personal stories of struggle
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 24 2001 - 01:41:26 EST