barnaby joe wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 3:12pm:


anyone who beleives it...

NOBODY except booby

Yadda wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 3:27pm:


The problem, Yadda, is that you DON'T 'think for yourself'...you accept a religious text as the 'last word' on a number of things....Age of the Earth, Evolution, the existence of fossils etc....

I started out the same way as you....however, once I started doing my own thinking, I realised that the Bible does NOT hold all the answers.....I eventually understood that it (the Bible) was written with the educational level of the people it was originally intended for as a major component...
The OT is part belief and part history.....the History part is reasonably accurate (in dates and places) allowing for a slight 'bias' for help from on high (which is perfectly ok)....the 'belief' section needs a few 'grains of salt' in that it contradicts a number of physical finds ( if you take it as literal)......The idea of a 6000 or 8000 year old earth fails, even for an 8 year old, when the 8 yr old in question (ME) is holding a 500 million year old fossil in their hand....

It is interesting to get two different interpretations of the same verses.
......................................................

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

In regards to verse 15, sauropods were vegetarians, but they included many species, and some variation in their dentition and likely diets. Most are thought to have fed mainly on cycads, conifers, and other "rough" tree and shrub foliage. However, since grasses had developed by the later part of the Mesozoic, it's possible that some late Cretaceous sauropods included grasses in their diet. Hippos and elephants eat a variety of vegetation, and among their common foodstuffs are grasses and grains. In the evening, hippos will often come out of the water to "graze." Ancient Egyptians referred to the hippopotamus as the "water-ox.

16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

Verse 16 could arguably refer to any number of animals.

17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

Strict creationists often emphasize verse 17, since sauropods have very large tails, whereas hippos and elephants have relatively small tails. However, the passage does not say that the tail was like a cedar tree in size, only in movement. The verse need not even refer to the swaying motion of a tree trunk, but could refer to that of a cedar branch or switch. Indeed, Michael Bright suggests that the description may refer to bristles resembling the cedar's needle-like leaves which are present on the tails of elephants and hippopotami.

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.

Verse 18 obviously uses figurative terms and does not help distinguish between a variety of possible animals. Some commentators suggest that the entire passage is largely figurative, and may refer to no real creature (living or extinct), but rather a mythical creature or entirely metaphorical one. As evidence of the potentially broad and diverse use of the term "behemoth", note the following uses:

As evidence of the potentially broad and diverse use of the term "behemoth", note the following uses:

I will send against them the fangs of behemoth, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. (Deut 32:24 NIV)

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was behemoth before you. (Ps 73:21 NIV)

http://paleo.cc/paluxy/behemoth.htm

longweekend58 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 3:43pm:





longweekend,

I'm sorry that i come across like that.

And i know that i do have an ego, and often an exuberant POV.      



But i hope that i would always encourage the practice of critical thinking, in everyone i encounter.

I certainly do NOT expect people to believe what i believe.

I would only like them to be willing to explore the evidence concerning a matter, for themselves.

Sir lastnail wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 3:53pm:


I hope you noticed that I actually DID answer your question re: dinosaurs and noah, nails....

gizmo_2655 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 3:59pm:


I didn't see it. Did they become extinct before or after Noah ??

Sir lastnail wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 4:01pm:


Long long before...
Despite the YEC idea...the dates aren't all that certain....because, even according to thhe Bible itself it wasn't until well after Noah that there was a set age for people....Noah was 600+years old when he built the Ark and assorted people mentioned live to similar or greater ages...

Sir lastnail wrote on Aug 16^th, 2011 at 4:00pm:


very probably exactly what it is NOW...And the decay rates of the various elements (carbon-14, Argon etc) would also have been the same.....
The alternative is that 'God' is a sh1tstirrer and changes stuff, just to confuse us....which of course, goes against the whole 'Benevolent Father' figure idea....