Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Never Throw Rocks at Scholars in Ivory Towers

This is a really good article on the Beggars All blog that addresses the age-old argument "The scholars who agrees with me are better than the scholars that agree with you!" This is a must read!

Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: Never Throw Rocks at Scholars in Ivory Towers

Apologist Interview: Brian Auten - Apologetics 315

This is an awesome interview . If you missed it, you really missed something great!

Apologist Interview: Brian Auten - Apologetics 315

The Future of Technology [Cartoon]

The Future of Technology [Cartoon]

FacePalm of the Day #121: The Bible Teaches That The Earth Is Flat

Today, I reposted a video here I got from David Woods blog regarding how some Muslims believe that Muhammad taught that the Earth is flat. Ryan Anderson posted the following comment.

Not sure how this doesn't equally apply to the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 40:22 and 44:24-28*, 1st Samuel 2:8, Proverbs 8:27 and Luke 4:5).
Sure, you can cite Job 26, but that just demonstrates that it's a hodge podge mess.

*probably the inspiration for the very Koranic verse in question.

So why is this FacePalm worthy? Simple: If you examine each of the scriptures Ryan cites, you can see how you assuming that the Bible is teaching a flat earth is unwarranted.

 

Isaiah 40:22

²² He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
   and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
   and spreads them out like a tent to live in.  

This is obviously figurative language. Is Isaiah saying that people are grasshoppers? No.Compared to God, we are like grasshoppers like grasshoppers are just like us. Four descriptions are made in a single verse:

a. Above the circle of earth
b. People like grasshoppers
c. Heavens like a canopy
d. Heavens spread out like a tent

Why would you take a single description out of four and claim it's a truth claim while the others are figurative and all are making a point. Anyone who thinks this is the Bible saying the earth is flat, is missing the point.

Isaiah 44:24-28

 ²⁴ “This is what the LORD says—
   your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
   I am the LORD,
   the Maker of all things,
   who stretches out the heavens,
   who spreads out the earth by myself,
²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets
   and makes fools of diviners,
who overthrows the learning of the wise
   and turns it into nonsense,
²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants
   and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,
   who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’
   of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’
   and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’
²⁷ who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,
   and I will dry up your streams,’
²⁸ who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
   and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
   and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’ 

Here Ryan cites 4 verses.  In verse 24, how do "stretches" and "spreads" mean that the earth and heavens are flat? If you are going to think that it's saying the earth is flat then why assume that it is not saying that  the heavens are flat too? Most people who misinterpret the Bible think it's teaching that the earth is flat capped by a sky dome. Obviously God is being poetic and not expecting you to literally imagine the image on the right.  Perhaps if one understood verses 25-28, one would not make such a big mistake.

1st Samuel 2:8

 ⁸ He raises the poor from the dust
   and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
   and has them inherit a throne of honor.
   “For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
   on them he has set the world. 

More figurative language. "Foundations" at this point means the underlying  rules and source on which creation is based. This does not imply that the earth is flat.

Proverbs 8:27

²⁷ I was there when he set the heavens in place,
   when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,  

This is in the middle of a discourse spoken by  Wisdom personified as a woman. . Setting the "heavens in place"  does apply to the earth or heavens being flat. Why make that assumption? It's merely stating that God put everything where it is. As for the horizon, a poetic description of the horizon is used and not a statement of science. The point is showing how much in control God is on everything.

Luke 4:5

 ⁵ The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  

I'd assume that Ryan and others look at this and think that what is being explained is that the Devil took Jesus to a mountain somewhere and showed him all the land that could be seen from the mountain. The problem is the text does not say that. The text states that the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. No one thought at the time that one could naturally go to a mountain anywhere and see all the kingdoms of the world. No one thinks that now, either - even if the earth was flat.  Therefore I'd take it as a miraculous thing that happened - to see all the kingdoms of the world in a short time. Why not? The New Testament is full of miracles.

Nice try. But these verse fail to show the Bible teaching that the earth is flat.

ERIS: World's first realistic simulation of the formation of the Milky Way - YouTube

ERIS: World's first realistic simulation of the formation of the Milky Way - YouTube

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Answering Muslims: Muhammad's Flat Earth

Answering Muslims: Muhammad's Flat Earth

Let me google that for you

Here is a pretty cool tool. Ever get tired of people too lazy to do their own Google searches? Send them a link like this: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Textual+Criticism 


Let me google that for you

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Maximum PC | Future Interfaces: 15 Peripherals Straight Out of Science Fiction

This is a great article. 15 of the newest technologies that may replace the computer keyboards and mouse. Look at the whole article. Here is my favorite one:

SixthSense - MIT Media Lab

Pranav Mistry may have one of the coolest names around, but he's also a total genius. Mistry, a PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab, spurs the invention of way cool PC-killing stuff. His most acclaimed innovation to date? "Sixth Sense," a "wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information."

Maximum PC | Future Interfaces: 15 Peripherals Straight Out of Science Fiction

Rise of 'Anonymous' Fuels Sales Of Time Warner's 'V For Vendetta' Masks - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

This is an interesting article from Comics Alliance.

In a New York Times piece published this week, writer Nick Bilton makes the keen observation that the cultural ascension of hacker group Anonymous has been a financial boon for Warner Bros., the media company that owns the Guy Fawkes image that protesters wear as a mask. Based on the character "V" from Alan Moore and David Lloyd's classic graphic novel V For Vendetta (as well as the film based on the book), the Guy Fawkes mask sells over 100,000 units a year, with Warner Bros. -- the parent company of comics publisher Vertigo -- earning a licensing fee for each mask sold.

Having staged popular protests, acts of civil disobedience and well-documented hacks against such targets as the Church of Scientology, the Iranian government, Sony, credit card companies and many more, Anonymous is the world's most visible expression of anarchy and rebellion in the digital age. It is a curious irony that the group's activities necessarily fund the activities of the sort of establishment they might seem predisposed to dislike, Warner Bros. and its parent entity, Time Warner.

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/29/anonymous-v-for-vendetta-masks-sales-time-warner/#ixzz1WTHWNfnQ

Rise of 'Anonymous' Fuels Sales Of Time Warner's 'V For Vendetta' Masks - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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Does This Remind You Of Something? #1 Tablets

We are living in a day where things are being invented and marketed by engineers and scientists who were inspired by childhood fictional technology. Here's an example. What do these remind you of:

Above is a diagram of a generic tablet computer. Let's set aside for a moment what kind of tablet and just think about a technology.. These devices remind me of:

From....wait for it

FacePalm of the Day #120 - Debunking Christianity: Christianity Will Die From Embarrassment

John Loftus has posted the following comment:

Take Exhibit A, Pat Robertson. Statements like the ones he makes will continue being an embarrassment to evangelicals who will gravitate more to the left, while the left will continue to jump ship. This will take some time but it's already taking place. Thank the ever-present almighty internet. Thank you, thank you very much.

If you click the "Pat Robertson" link you will go to an article that lists quotes that Pat Robertson has said that some of which are just plain stupid and un-defendable. Truth is that there is no reason to even try to defend them. Pat Robertson matters no more than you or I when it comes to defining what it means to be "Christian". Pat Robertson's words and opinion mean nothing. He didn't die for me. He wasn't "raised for my justification". Jesus was. Jesus is Lord and master. For John Loftus' sentiment to matter, Robertson would have to be speaking for Jesus. I wish I could say "Nice Try, Mr Loftus," but then I'd be lying.


Debunking Christianity: Christianity Will Die From Embarrassment

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Faithful Thinkers: Video: Loved Ones in Hell

Norman Geisler answers a question that many atheist/skeptics brings up: How will a believer feel about a loved one who goes to hell.




I liked Dr. Geisler's answer. However I think that he could have spent more time on the point he raised about God's absolute justice. I don't want anyone to go hell, especially someone I've known, loved, and/or interacted with. IT really comes down to the following question for a believer: "How much do you really trust God?" Do you trust him to go as far as believe that He is doing everything for the best -  that he never makes a mistake or misstep? If you believe that then you don't have to worry about your loved ones. All we have to do is obey God and witness to everyone who we come into contact with - and if necessary use words! I would feel far worse realizing that I could have told someone about Jesus and they ended up going to hell without hearing about Jesus from me.

Faithful Thinkers: Video: Loved Ones in Hell

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FacePalm of the Day #119 - Debunking Christianity: Americans Have Lost Faith In Religious Leaders And Church Attendance

John Loftus has posted the following

So says a new book.

I've got to ask: Even if this is true, so what? Does this mean that the Bible is wrong? No. Does it mean that there is no God? No. Does this mean we are not accountable to God? No. Given the nature of people and what the Bible says, it's exactly what I'd expect.

³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

And

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. - 1 John 2:18-19

Debunking Christianity: Americans Have Lost Faith In Religious Leaders And Church Attendance

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The Four Levels Of Geek Fandom - G4tv.com

The Four Levels Of Geek Fandom - G4tv.com

Minimum Wage and the Prices of Comics [Analysis + Opinion] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

I just saw an article that I cannot recommend highly enough. I've often thought about how comics are a good metric for looking at how language, culture, and moral attitudes have changed overtime, but I had not quite thought about how looking at comic books can also be used to study economic trends.

For an in-depth discussion of the role of comic book pricing in the future success or failure of Direct Market comic book distribution, ComicsAlliance welcomes guest writer Von Allan, creator of the graphic novels Stargazer and The road to who knows.... In this comprehensive piece, which he graciously allowed us to republish, Allan tracks the prices and popularity of comics with the history of the minimum wage in the United States.

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/26/minimum-wage-price-of-comics/#ixzz1WFct3cSA

Really interesting stuff! Especially since Allan also compares the price of movie tickets with the history of the minimum wage in the United States.

Minimum Wage and the Prices of Comics [Analysis + Opinion] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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Faithful Thinkers: Is Heaven Eternal?

Luke Nix has posted an interesting article summarizing answers to two of the most common questions regarding Hell:

Is Hell Eternal?
a. Is Annihilation a possibility?
b. Is Salvation after punishment an option?

He lays these out very well and compare what people are choosing to believe with what Scripture says.

Faithful Thinkers: Is Heaven Eternal?

Apologetics315 Youtube Channel - Apologetics 315

Image via CrunchBaseGod has indeed blessed Brian Auten's ministry! He's added a new YouTube channel!!!Check it out. Subscribe!

Apologetics315 Youtube Channel - Apologetics 315

Hawking and the Grand Designer MP3 by Peter S. Williams - Apologetics 315

A short time ago, Brian Auten posted a lecture by Peter S. Williams on Hawking's book The Grand Design.  take a listen if you missed it. 

Hawking and the Grand Designer MP3 by Peter S. Williams - Apologetics 315

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Faithful Thinkers: Video: More People in Heaven or Hell?

Last week, Luke Nix posted the following video of Dr Norman Geisler asking a question about the number of people who will end up in heaven verses the number in hell.




Faithful Thinkers: Video: More People in Heaven or Hell?

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Is God a Moral Monster? (An Interview with Paul Copan) : Line of Fire

Dr Paul Copan was recently interviewed by Dr Michael Brown  on his broadcast "Line of Fire". It was really good! Listen to the broadcast. I really enjoyed it. It was well worth listening to.


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