If God made Man, did he make Neanderthals too?

[K9Buck]

Which is why it's confusing to me. And untrustworthy.

I think that we're not supposed to take everything literally, such as some of the stories in Genesis.

Sometimes I wonder if the story of Noah's Ark is an allegory to explain seeding Earth with humans and other life forms from another world.

 

[Meriweather]

Great post and great perspective! Thanks for sharing and thanks for not being dissuaded by the trolls.

Easy to skip over posts, and I am sure plenty of people decide to skip over mine.

 

[Gracie]

Well, one thing is for sure...it's an interesting tale!

However....floods and sons dying and whatnot...are in other stories too NOT associated with Christianity.

I love Christmas. But it never fails on me wondering why anyone thought Jesus' disciples dragged a pine tree in their homes and decorated it.

 

[BreezeWood]

Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I believe the bible is true? No. Not all of it.
I created the thread because it's questions I have asked myself for years. Decided why the hell not...start a thread and see if I can learn something.

If you want to move it, go ahead. It has religious guts but if you think that is not enough...do whatever you feel needs done. It's not conspiracy, either.

If God made man...then ......?????

.

Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I believe the bible is true? No. Not all of it.

.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

.
typical 4th century forgery and fallacy ...

the period after Earth is where I stopped reading the christian bible - not just for their ensuing mischaracterization of the religious itinerant and dissolution of the true events of the 1st century, liberation theology ... otherwise there are a few speckles of authenticity found in that book. the original spoken religion of antiquity.

their input in life's creation is not the freeforall development all beings have emerged from by the initial grant but the parameters the spiritual content of the physiological being must maintain to exist beyond its initial birth and for how long it may eventually persist.

... sapiens are no different than any other beings in the ability to pursue life in the Everlasting. from whence they came.

 

[Gracie]

I think I was turned off after reading how God supposedly made a bet with Satan and made that poor guy Job the experiment. The God I believe in is loving. He doesn't torture a loyal friend and believer just to one up another guy.

 

[Meriweather]

Which is why it's confusing to me. And untrustworthy.

The Bible was written in a different time, a different language, and for a different culture. English is subjective, where as Hebrew is more picturesque. The subjective 'angry' in English is 'nostrils flared' in Hebrew. Also, there are 33,000 words in the Hebrew language and over 170,000 in English.

Modern culture is used to newspapers, textbooks, Encyclopedias, dictionaries--the written word. Ancient culture presented a lot of information orally in story form.

In our modern Western culture, many sum up the story of Noah as a cruel God destroying the world and killing babies. In ancient Hebrew, one of the most striking themes in the story of Noah is the power of the spoken word. We skip right past that, don't we? What caused mankind to bring evil into the world? The power of the spoken word. We are introduced to Noah, who speaks not a word and is considered righteous. Noah remains mum until well after the flood...and his first spoken words? A curse, which explains why tribes/nations were once again at each others throats. The power of words.

Noah is not considered as great as Abraham, because while Noah watched his words, he did not use words and their power to try to persuade, either.

Old Testament stories are best understood through rabbinical scholars who know Hebrew. Once I began studying rabbinical commentary, the Old Testament was no longer as confusing. However, to really get the gist of it, study the languages, cultures, and histories of the time as well.

 

[Meriweather]

I think I was turned off after reading how God supposedly made a bet with Satan and made that poor guy Job the experiment. The God I believe in is loving. He doesn't torture a loyal friend and believer just to one up another guy.

The Book of Job was originally a play written along the lines of Harold Kushner's book explaining When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

It is an age old question and we are still seeking the answer of why bad things happen to good people. Job offers one explanation, that God is in charge and things will work out.

 

[Meriweather]

Or...another planet. It's a mighty waste of space to make one tiny world in the midst of millions, and only populated by man. Or are the others NOT of men, but are populated that He tinked around with? I'm betting He is mighty disappointed in this one.

I am betting we still haven't gotten up to anything He can't handle. While the universe is huge to us, someone once compared it to a few grains of sand in the hand of God. Depends on perspective, I guess.

 

[Meriweather]

I think I was turned off after reading how God supposedly made a bet with Satan and made that poor guy Job the experiment. The God I believe in is loving. He doesn't torture a loyal friend and believer just to one up another guy.

Keep in mind in this story Satan was not viewed as we see him today. At that time he was more like a District Attorney, a prosecutor, who was arguing, Oh sure, easy enough for Job to be good and keep the faith when everything is coming up roses for him.

God (the defense) argues that even in times of great trouble Job is made of such fine stuff that he will be true and loyal.

 

[K9Buck]

Easy to skip over posts, and I am sure plenty of people decide to skip over mine.

Nobody should be skipping over your posts.

 

[Stann]

It seems that we'll either never know or we'll go to Heaven where we'll learn everything.

Absolutely correct about the learning part.

 

[Gracie]

Keep in mind in this story Satan was not viewed as we see him today. At that time he was more like a District Attorney, a prosecutor, who was arguing, Oh sure, easy enough for Job to be good and keep the faith when everything is coming up roses for him.

God (the defense) argues that even in times of great trouble Job is made of such fine stuff that he will be true and loyal.

Still a shitty thing to do.

I'll ask forgiveness when I do my nightly prayers, lol.

 

[Gracie]

Wait a minute. Does that mean, what you said, that Job was BEFORE Satan got booted to the curb?

 

[Stann]

I think that we're not supposed to take everything literally, such as some of the stories in Genesis.

Sometimes I wonder if the story of Noah's Ark is an allegory to explain seeding Earth with humans and other life forms from another world.

The flood stories exist all around the Mediterranean, it is possible there is some basis in fact because when Europe and Africa collided because of continental drift the Mediterranean went dry, only a few lakes existed. People could have migrated and settled there. When Gibraltar and Morocco separated again there was a great flood and the Mediterranean became a sea once more. It might just be our collective memory of our ancestors.

 

[Meriweather]

Wait a minute. Does that mean, what you said, that Job was BEFORE Satan got booted to the curb?

Yes, the Jews know Satan as HaSatan, and he was seen as a tester, more like someone who tested for quality. Christianity sees Satan as a force of evil.

 

[Gracie]

Well, I considered myself an idiot for starting this thread but now I am less of an idiot, lol. Learning stuff. And that's the point, right? Differing views, thoughts, etc.

Minus the trolls, which I cannot see, hallelujah!

 

[Gracie]

So...earth was all mellow and easy prior to Satan being booted? Or was crap going on even then? In other words..did this evil stuff going on begin with the booting, or was it always here?

Cain was an ass. So...who influenced him? Just his self, or some help from imps?

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

So....where do the Neanderthals and other "cave men" come into play vs Adam being the first man? And according to some science reports I have seen, the dinosaurs were not millions of years ago. Only about 6 thousand years, give or take.

As Urul (sample name of neanderthal) was chasing mammoths...from whence did he come and from whom? And how is Urul so different from Adam then?

We have all this archeology stuff going on finding Lucy in Africa and other "people" but they are not humanoid...quite yet. So they evolved. Evolved from what or whom?

Something just isn't right from what the bible says and what scientists say.

There are several theories.
The one I believe is where the Bible talks about God placing "The Spirit of Man" in Man (Man being the descendants of Adam. Other humanoid creatures were created, but God gave this spirit to Adam and his children. Apes dont have it, and neither did these early humanoid creatures. There was no "evolution." Adam, and Eve, were a unique creation.

 

[K9Buck]

Still a shitty thing to do.

God sometimes works in mysterious ways. I have faith that, when we are in Heaven, it will all make sense.

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

So...earth was all mellow and easy prior to Satan being booted? Or was crap going on even then? In other words..did this evil stuff going on begin with the booting, or was it always here?

Satan (then called Lucifer) and a third of all the angels, lived on the earth prior to the creation of Man -- Adam -- until Lucifer convinced the angels to rebel against God and try to take His throne over the universe. Lucifer failed and was thrown back down to the earth.

Jesus said, I saw Satan cast down from heaven like lightning

Satan and his rebellious angels still live on this earth, influencing the mind of men