Thanks Adam, I have one important question and one irrelevant comment if you have the time to indulge me. You wrote:
>... I believe it (the bible) to be true because it all hangs together.... You >also wrote: > I found a consistent theme running through the whole book. This >> convinced me that it was true. Can you explain more about that? What theme and what does "hangs together" mean and why does that convince you that what is in it is true? Is it that the stories are related or the theme is always there or ??? If there were two books that hung together and had consistent themes but told different contradictory stories how would you know which was true? Second question is more of a comment. You wrote > That (meaning assuming that selfishness was passed down culturally instead of > genetically) would assume that all cultures teach the same thing. I don't see why you say that. It seems that all cultures could teach all kinds of very different things as long as they all teach selfishness. So I think you must establish 1) That we are in fact universally selfish and 2) That that trait is genetically based. I have trouble believing 1) completely. Ok, we are all a little selfish but there is a lot of generosity. One day a man even jumped on someone who had fallen on a railroad subway track and held him as the cars passed over them in order to save his life. That man risked everything for a stranger. I am also reminded of the man from... can't remember the name of the town but it is in the bible..ahh I remember ! the good Samaritan, I think he was from Samaria or something. He was from a different place and was the only one to stop and help. So it seems to me that at least sometimes we are not selfish. (Or perhaps it was a wise selfish gene that he had and he was trying to preserve all of humanity as most of our genes are common? Either way he did not seem selfish. Nor does it seem that... was it Peter who wanted to be crucified upside down? .... was that selfish?) As an aside I do not think the selfish gene means a gene that makes someone selfish. I think it means that all genes seem selfish because only by creating traits that cause themselves to survive do they in fact survive. In fact there are many "unselfish" genes. Many mutations cause harmful effects and are therefore self sacrificial. Those "unselfish" genes do not survive. So if you had a mutation that caused you to be a terribly selfish person but that made you sterile then no matter how selfish you were, from a genetic point of view, the gene would have been completely unselfish, self sacrificial, and not competitive. It would die. But this is just an aside and it is unimportant compared to the question above so fee free not to respond except to the question if you don't have time. Thanks > > > > I don't understand why you think what you think. It doesn't seem right > > to me. Can you help me? > > > On Sep 28, 9:00 pm, Adam <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >Justintruth > > > The original creation was described as 'very good'. After the sin they > > > became selfish > > > and passed this attribute on to all mankind. So it must have been > > > included in their DNA. > > > The poison was slow acting because it took 930 years to take effect. > > > The fruit was mind-altering because it opened their eyes and they then > > > knew that they were naked. > > > Adam > > > > On Sep 28, 9:41 pm,Justintruth<[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Adam, > > > > > What a person believes is not always as interesting to me as why they > > > > believe it. I have taken a quote from your earlier post: > > > > > "...the fruit contained a mind-altering drug, a slow acting poison > > > > that made them mortal and it changed their DNA structure to > > > > produce the “selfish gene” (a description invented by atheist Richard > > > > Dawkins)." > > > > > I selected this quote pretty much at random. Can you say why you > > > > believe this? > > > > > My problem when I read this quote is that it doesn't seem true to me > > > > and, if in fact it were true, I don't know how you could have found > > > > out such detail from so long ago. I am not really interested in > > > > understanding more of what you believe until I can find out how it is > > > > you arrive at your beliefs. Once I understand that then I may be more > > > > interested. So how did you find out that there was a slow acting mind- > > > > altering drug that produced the "selfish gene" in the forbidden fruit? > > > > > On Sep 27, 6:41 pm, Adam <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > If I can butt in here for a moment. > > > > > I thought I had written a pretty good account of God's Purpose > > > > > according to the Bible. > > > > > I can also give a pretty good case for the existence of God > > > > > if anyone is interested. > > > > > Adam > > > > > > On Sep 26, 5:28 pm, iam deheretic <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > No no SD your response is actually welcome.. I would also like to > > > > > > especially hear what Pat has to say . . . I hear people always > > > > > > saying > > > > > > 'God's Purpose' but no one seems to know just hat that purpose > > > > > > is.... > > > > > > Maybe his purpose id to line up all the good little islamist and > > > > > > christians > > > > > > in a frying pan rosat them over the fires of hell and have them for > > > > > > a > > > > > > snack.. (hmm tasty? or is that God smacking good?) and then it is > > > > > > alright > > > > > > and the safest position is that of the atheist..- Hide quoted text > > > > > > - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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