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Where is FrG?
| January 17th, 2016 at 11:43:59 PM permalink | |
| TheCesspit Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 23 Posts: 1929 |
My point is, if you say a book is full of the truth, but is shown to have sections that are not a literal truth, but allegory, or in fact, not historically true, why should we believe the accuracy of the rest? Why should we consider the route to salvation in the Bible as being a literal, correct truth? If you tell me the book should be studied as it's the word of God, but it gets things wrong... well, it's not a good start. Like when the special effects in a movie suck. Or they start eating potatoes in a film set in the 12th century. It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life |
| January 18th, 2016 at 6:31:57 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Why is this so hard to understand? The complete lack of supporting evidence means there's no reason to take the story as true. There's no need to disprove it. Take the Iliad. Can you find proof positive that the whole story is false? For centuries people didn't even know the city of Troy was real. How's that for absence of evidence? According to you, complete lack of evidence cannot prove a story is definitively false, then the Iliad must be entirely true. If I were you, I'd start sacrificing animals to Zeus. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| January 18th, 2016 at 8:19:44 AM permalink | |
| Dalex64 Member since: Mar 8, 2014 Threads: 3 Posts: 3687 | "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is of course a famous example used to expose logical fallacies. "evidence of absence" though is a real thing. It is used when you can not find something that you expect to find, with some amount of certainty that you would have found it if it were there. example: "There is an elephant on the street in front of my house" you can look out on the street in front of your house and you don't see an elephant, there is an absence of evidence, and it is evidence of absence. instead "There is a flea on the street in front of my house" you look outside the door, and don't see a flea on the street in front of your house. This is an absence of evidence, but it is not evidence of absence because you shouldn't expect to be able to see a flea on the street in front of your house from your door. So, an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but evidence of absence is a real thing that can be found not from an absence of evidence by itself, but by the inability to find something that you should be able to find if it were there. "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Daniel Patrick Moynihan |
| January 18th, 2016 at 12:01:32 PM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 | What if the elephant hides behind the flea? ;) Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| January 18th, 2016 at 12:05:49 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 | We run our lives on absence of evidence. Your doctor will not operate on you unless he see's evidence to do so. I won't replace my furnace with no evidence that I need to. I won't turn the wheel of my car to swerve around something unless I see evidence that I need to swerve. This could go on and on with examples. Absence of evidence is a very real thing and it's fine to base you religious opinion on it. I see zero evidence that a god exists, so I won't believe in one. Doesn't get any easier than that. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| January 18th, 2016 at 6:34:51 PM permalink | |
| FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
We have to remember that the Bible is not a book, but a collection of books. The word Bible is really translated as a Library. There is poetry, historical narratives, allegories, letters, apocalyptic writing, fables, etc. The many books represent many genres and in the books themselves there are different genres. You wouldn't read the entire newspaper as history, nor should you read the Bible as such, it is not meant to be. Part of Biblical studies and hermeneutics is to determine what is the context, genre, author, audience, and purpose of the passages so that you don't get confused in taking things literally when they are not meant to be or taking this figuratively when they are not meant to be. You also have to remember that we are dealing with very ancient writings, granted the most attested writings in the ancient world by leaps and bounds, but you will probably get into trouble when you try to apply our definition of historical writings to a very different age. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
| January 18th, 2016 at 6:36:37 PM permalink | |
| FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
There is supporting evidence.
I'll just let you sit with your logic here and try again. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
| January 18th, 2016 at 6:45:11 PM permalink | |
| FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
This is true and something atheists should pay close attention to.
True and a good distinction and point. If the example is: "There was an elephant on the street in front of my house." Then the absence of evidence is not nearly as easy to make the conclusion that there is evidence of absence. If for example there were people form Cannan living in Egypt you would hope to find evidence. Thank God there is evidence in many examples of the Cannanite gods being present in Egyptian artifacts and decorations, etc. However, even if there were not I think you would be hard pressed to claim that the absence of evidence is evidence of absence when you are dealing with things so far distant in the past. To use even a perceived absence of evidence to claim that the whole thing is false is just silly.
I agree and this is well put. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
| January 18th, 2016 at 6:50:21 PM permalink | |
| FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 |
I don't know if this was a Freudian slip but it is very true. There is an absence of evidence that the man I met today is who he says he is but I still believe him. We see a glimpse of something on the road and we swerve or react to it without really having evidence that it is there. We don't have hard evidence that the food served to me at the restaurant is safe to eat, but we eat it anyway. We don't have evidence that the person we want to marry will be faithful and kind to us our whole life, but we marry them anyway. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
| January 18th, 2016 at 7:02:49 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 |
You think you can trick people into believing a god exists by using smoke and mirrors. 'The Catholic Church practices a linguistic trick called ‘mental reservation’ by which “there may be circumstances in which you can use an ambiguous expression realising that the person who you are talking to will accept an untrue version of whatever it may be.” Misleading people is perfectly OK if you’re a Catholic priest, apparently.' If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |