Comments on: Column 12 (Special Fun Fact edition): Mocking Christ

By: Gulik3

Gulik3 — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 21:22:08 +0000

I have to wonder why Schlafly & Co bother with such unclear, outdated labels as “liberal” and “conservative”. “Evil” and “Good” would shorter, snappier, more accurate, and more honest.

By: PalMD

PalMD — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:09:34 +0000

I guess KennyD isn’t coming back to play. I didn’t realize that this topic is one of the ones that got is tushy pushed out of WP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Biblical_scientific_foreknowledge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Kdbuffalo

By: lanfranc

lanfranc — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 07:45:04 +0000

I think you need to read up on your sources, Conservative. The view that Moses wrote the Torah has been completely rejected by the great majority of Biblical scholars since the middle of the 18th century.
-AK

By: PalMD

PalMD — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 03:53:43 +0000

Well, I enjoyed our little chat. I’d love to continue it, when you have a chance. If you really think I missed something from the articles you steered me to, let me know. They were interesting.

By: PalMD

PalMD — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 03:29:06 +0000

BTW, History of Medicine is a little hobby of mine. Love the topic. I especially like how it demonstrates the intelligence of our forebears. However, I wouldn’t want to see a doctor who learned medicine from Hippocrates, Galen, or the Bible.

By: PalMD

PalMD — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 03:19:25 +0000

Hmm..maybe i’ll have to rescind my “civilized” comment. I don’t think you understood anything I wrote. I actually AGREED with you, to a large extent. Did you catch that part? I agree that the ancients (yes I include the Hebrews) were sophisticated, intelligent people with a number of logical practices. These were basically based on PRACTICAL knowledge, codified into liturgy (or given divinely, for this argument it doesn’t really matter which). They did not have a theory of infectious disease as such, like Semmelweis. Many of their practices helped prevent disease, etc, but, like the Egyptians and Greeks, they didn’t really know WHY. It is still important that they did, however. Many of the Levitical practices were useful, many were not, or at least, not medically. For instance, isolating mentrurating women had a social and religions purpose, but not a medical one. Isolating lepers, as it turns out, can be helpful, but really, only long-term, close household contacts are at risk, so Jesus was right to walk among them. He was not at risk. In fact, the prejudice against lepers to this day is tremendous, despite the lack of casual transmission.

By: conservative

conservative — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:45:43 +0000

Palm, using the aforementiond link please compare Ancient Egyptian practices (who were considered top notch at the time) with the Torah practices. Your argument uses a slothful inductive fallacy (see: http://www.pnl-nlp.org/download/propaganda/page2.htm#sloth ).

By: PalMD

PalMD — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:03:49 +0000

Um…interesting. You know, one mistake made by amateur historians (NOT BY YOU..this isn’t a dig) is assuming that because the ancients were ignorant of many things, that they weren’t as smart as we are. They were every bit as smart, and excellent observers of nature. Without certain tools, there was only so much they could come up with. The ancient Greeks came up with a concept of “atom” referring to an indivisiably small bit of nature. It is actually not related much to the modern concept, but it showed very sophisticated thought. Medicine of the ancients was based on invaluable observations, but also limited by the senses. Hippocrates, for instance, contains incredibly sophisticated descriptions of disease that are still clear today. When he writes of etiology (cause) however, it all breaks down, as he did not have the concepts or tools to go further.
I cannot agree that the Torah was “ahead of its time” as it is not clear what that means, vis-a-vis what did contemporary sources think.
BTW, the Jewish belief is that God wrote the Torah (Bible) and gave it to Moses to give to the Jewish people. Since that is a doctrinal matter, it doesn’t much trouble me, as Jews aren’t much into apologetics, but you might want to remember that this is the usual belief.
Also, this is how civilized people discuss these matters. I am encouraged by your foray here.

By: conservative

conservative — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:42:07 +0000

Conservative, Palm if you do some digging you will find evidence that points to Moses writing the Torah. Also, you will find that the Torah is very scientifically advanced and was way ahead of its time (please see the footnoted material in the CP Theory of evolution article. I am referring to this material: http://www.creationwiki.net/index.php?title=Scientific_Foreknowledge

By: conservative

conservative — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:37:51 +0000

Palm, the Torah states that Moses wrote it and the link addresses the prophetic issue.