“I don;t think the Bible claims it is 5,000 years old.”

If you read the time line of the bible from “creation” to the birth of Jesus, you get about 3000 years. that is what the creationist believe, and it is but ONE simple example of disproving things in the bible. However, I have no intention of debating the entire bible with you.

“Every adult who says to their kid, “Don’t worry. Things will get better.” is exercising faith.”

No, that is not true. Many may be drawing on their own past experiences to pass on their knowledge to their children. That is not “faith” that is simply making assumptions/extrapolations about future events based on past events.

Wow, Robert actually deleted one of his comments? There is hope for his redemption yet.

I don;t think the Bible claims it is 5,000 years old.

I believe the claim is around 6,000 years and is based mainly on the rather extensive genealogies in Genesis. While I disagree as well, it seems to me that one has to disregard some rather major portions of biblical history to deny this figure. IOW, it does seem that the scriptures lead to such a claim.

Every adult who says to their kid, “Don’t worry. Things will get better.” is exercising faith.

This is similar to another oft used example that one exercises faith in one’s mechanic that the brakes will work, etc. I think what Ken is saying is that these are more in the realm of informed assumptions rather than the comparatively extraordinary faith required for a religion.

It may also be of interest that, according to a 2017 Gallup poll, 38% of Americans hold the view that “God created humans in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.” That’s actually the lowest in several decades but a significant number nonetheless. While you don’t track with this, plenty do. That’s why it keeps coming up I guess.

It seems like you are critiquing a very fundamentalist approach to the Bible, and honestly we might agree on a lot of your issues with it in that regard. I don’t think the earth is 5,000 years old, and I don;t think the Bible claims it is 5,000 years old.

I don’t think faith is necessarily particular to religion. IMO it just refers to any decision to act upon a belief which cannot be proven. Every adult who says to their kid, “Don’t worry. Things will get better.” is exercising faith.

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It is a false equivalence to say that a belief in basic assumptions is the same as faith (in a religious context).

I would have to agree with this, particularly when those assumptions are arrived at through a system of inquiry and investigation which has a proven track record.

Amen. That is why I find the majority of religious people immoral.

“There is no possible way to prove or disprove the claims and reports of the Bible.”

that isn’t correct. there are some things in the bible that can be disproved. Ex. that the earth/universe is more than 5000 years old.

“All human beings exercise faith in substantive ways.”

I disagree. while some may believe in certain premises or assumptions, that doesn’t make it “faith” (which implies a religious belief). It is a false equivalence to say that a belief in basic assumptions is the same as faith (in a religious context).

Ultimately, yes. There is no possible way to prove or disprove the claims and reports of the Bible. For me personally, I used to assess the Bible like this: “The Bible says that miraculous things happen. They don’t. Therefore, the Bible is baloney.” Eventually the limitations of that thinking no longer felt honest, or sufficient to explain the life I was seeing and experiencing.

My point is that absolutely no one operates on a purely scientific/rationalist basis. All human beings exercise faith in substantive ways. By necessity, what they believe seems reasonable to them and what they do not believe seems unreasonable to them. They totally draw that line themselves. So I think it is odd when people are perplexed that there is no unanimity on these matters.

I have not read all of the central literature of all religions, but I have explored the claims of all of the major religions. My conclusion was that only Taoism and Christianity could not be objectively disproven, only disbelieved. Were I not a Christian (that is, were I not convinced that Jesus was who he and his apostles claimed he was), I would absolutely be a Taoist. I could not be an agnostic because I am convinced that God (or at the very least something a lot like God) exists.

Are general attractions to other women sinful for a married man? And why must sexual fantasies be “attendant” with any attraction?