December 18, 2008, 7:24 am by dc-agape.

Technorati Profile

Since vjack at Atheist Revolution recommends going Technorati, this is exactly what the purpose of this post is about.  I have waited this long to get a feel for the baseline of traffic to my blog is without help.  I was also concerned about my availability due to a Chemical Engineering Graduate Course I was taking.  That class is now over; in fact all my class work is over for my PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry!  So my free time has opened up.

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December 18, 2008, 6:59 am by dc-agape.

I have recently had a conversation with an acquaintance of mine about this experiment.   His concerns were twofold.  The first dealt with taking the Bible as a whole.  Since I am starting with Genesis, that is the whole Bible, everything written after that is similar to “christian apologies” and treaties on the US constitution.  The second concern was my treatment of the Patriarchs.  He felt that I was being harsh on their personal faults. 

Let me start with the concern about taking the Bible as a whole.  All of the books that follow the writing of Moses are attempts to put the Pentateuch in perspective to that generation.  Remember the stories of the Patriarchs were not recorded until the time of Moses; as a result, these stories have been subject to “Chinese whispers” for more than a few centuries (460 years just in Egypt).  We must take them for exactly what they say and hope that YHWH has protected the meaning of the Books directly as they are written.  As to using other authors of the Bible to shed light on the Pentateuch we must keep in mind that the authors of the New Testament were attempting to understand books written over 1400 years before their time.  We cannot even do this with the US Constitution.  We have had 27 Amendments added to the Constitution since 1787.  How can men with 14 centuries between them and the events they are using in their writings be used to expound upon these first few books of the Bible.  We certainly know that the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin were corrupt, and did not translate these books properly.   

In that frame of mind, my acquaintances second concern takes shape from what I have just said.  These flaws of the Patriarch were recorded as examples of righteousness before YHWH.  I cannot stress it enough, YHWH chose Abraham for his obedience and faithfulness.  Not a single man between Noah and Abraham were more obedient or faithful?  You have got to be joking, right?

Before the flood we know that Enoch “walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Gen 5:24).  We know that Methuselah, the longest living man on earth at 969 years died in the year of the Flood.  He must have been pretty special to YHWH to live nearly 1000 years.  After the Flood, Nimrod was “a mighty hunter before the Lord”.  This means that he was favored by YHWH.  And there was Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High.  So anyway, other men existed that found favor in the eyes of YHWH.  But here is why I point out the flaws of the Patriarchs:  only the Patriarchs were saved by YHWH.  All the other sons of Noah, the Japhethites, the Hamites, and the Semites, were condemned to separation from YHWH.  YHWH chose to separate them from “Himself”, by focusing on Abraham.  And even then Ishmael and Esau were excluded from salvation, under no fault of their own. 

If man was born with the knowledge of good and evil, how can all of them choose evil?  It does not happen today, it does not happen in non-christian societies.  It could not have happened in the life time of the Patriarchs.  Using the Bible the span of time from Abraham’s birth to Jacob’s death was over 340 years.  What the story of the Patriarchs is telling us is that every other human being was vile before YHWH.  Think about that, every single person that interacted with the Patriarchs, even the ones so far removed due to the Tower of Babel, was separated from YHWH.  Do you know how many 1000’s, if not millions, of people were condemned to Hell, just because YHWH chose Abraham!  Remember, Lot did not make it to heaven. Esau did not make it to heaven. Ishmael did not make it to heaven.  Hagar did not make it to heaven.  Laban did not make it to heaven.  Melchizedek did not make it to heaven.   Not even Abimelech, who showed nothing but kindness to both Abraham and Isaac, made it to heaven.  Think about that when you read the Pentateuch!

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