@ghost-of-a-dukesaid I would have to do some digging (pardon the pun) to locate the archeological evidence. I also seem to recall that the time period was further confirmed by the comparable language to that used in the Vedas at the time.
The Vedas, really?
Some have contended that the manner in which the scripture is written is complacent toward pantheism. Perhaps this similarity of language could be why they say this.
But surely the Vedas predates any monotheistic writings.
@fmfsaid It's interesting that you go to such lengths to dodge the question of "what happens when we die". If the answer is "horrible", then face up to it. Hsve the courage of your convictions. If the answer is not "horrible", what's the worry? Just going into a huffy hedgehog mode reflects poorly on you and your creed.
No, the "answer" is not "horrible", it is your claim that it is horrible. Your namby-pamby blame-shifting mode reflects poorly on you and your creed.
BTW, brainiac, I have never "dodged the question" (not as you insist on continually "dodging the answer" ) of "what happens when we die". I have answered it repeatedly to you and others who frantically continue to try to find something "horrible" in my answer. My answer to the question has never changed, but you continue to dodge my answer. Convenient, yet morally suspect.
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid "But, it is important to note that the Jews before Christ didn't reject the Trinity -- they merely did not know of it."
Why was that? - Could the reason be that the Trinity has no basis in scripture and is simply the result of later theological reasoning?
Surely God would have wanted His chosen people to know of his true nature and would not have been vague or ambiguous about it. Perhaps the Jews before Christ had the correct understanding of God?
Oddly enough, God was decidedly ambiguous:
No man gazed upon His Face, He approached the people through intercessory angels and events. He gave his name as "I AM," a very cryptic message indeed.
Christians also say that the reason that, in the Genesis story, they refer to "Before us" in Hebrew is because it was the Triune God who was there at the creation.
They also prophesy about a Messiah in the OT who will bring the message to all the people of the world.
@philokaliasaid Oddly enough, God was decidedly ambiguous:
No man gazed upon His Face, He approached the people through intercessory angels and events. He gave his name as "I AM," a very cryptic message indeed.
Christians also say that the reason that, in the Genesis story, they refer to "Before us" in Hebrew is because it was the Triune God who was there at the creation.
They also prophesy about a Messiah in the OT who will bring the message to all the people of the world.
We are in agreement that the Christian God is decidedly ambiguous. The question is, why?
Why didn't an omniscient deity see the wisdom in clarity? Just take, for example, the bitter history between Catholicism and Protestantism that could have been completely avoided if certain passages of the bible weren't open to different interpretations.
@suziannesaid No, the "answer" is not "horrible", it is your claim that it is horrible. Your namby-pamby blame-shifting mode reflects poorly on you and your creed.
BTW, brainiac, I have never "dodged the question" (not as you insist on continually "dodging the answer" ) of "what happens when we die". I have answered it repeatedly to you and others who frantically contin ...[text shortened]... ion has never changed, but you continue to dodge my answer. Convenient, yet morally suspect.
So what do you believe happens to athiests and non-Christians after they die?
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid We are in agreement that the Christian God is decidedly ambiguous. The question is, why?
Why didn't an omniscient deity see the wisdom in clarity? Just take, for example, the bitter history between Catholicism and Protestantism that could have been completely avoided if certain passages of the bible weren't open to different interpretations.
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid God could provide a message of clarity and human beings still have the free will to accept or reject it.
I think a reasonable state of affairs would have been for pretty much everyone to know that your Christian God exists and that Jesus was divine - after which it'd be up to people's free will as to whether they obeyed his commandments.