<p>Hell, I even think of Tolkien long before Lewis. And believe me, I enjoyed both their works.</p>
<p>1) Judaism views Jesus as nothing more than a mortal. Basically, we believe that he was an ordinary man trying to reform Judaism, though he was advocating for a reform that was too extreme to be accepted, at least from the standpoint of Jews 2000 years ago.</p>
<p>2) Pork - very good question indeed lol
we have no clearcut answer to that. Judaism maintains that it is not for us to know why, and that g-d knows what’s best for us. But some rabbinical explanations have been formed, the most prominent of which says it’s because pigs are filthy animals (they eat their own manuer, after all). Eating, or even touching pork is considered the worse violation of Kashrut; a Jew who does this willingly (i.e. not under force) is considered by some sects of Judaism to be non-Jews.</p>
<p>3)All sects of Judaism, unlike other religions (cough cough Christianity), claim that non-Jews CAN go to heaven. In fact, it maintains that for non-Jews it is easier to do so! We have 613 Mitvahs (laws/commandments) to follow, whereas non-Jews have only 7 to follow, among these the law against murder, kidnap, incestuous relationships, and the like. As long as the individual is decent, regardless of whether Jewish or not, heaven awaits him according to Judaism. This is, of course, a much more moral religious outlook than that of other religions.</p>
<p>4)Keep in mind that the concept of Armagedon comes from Judaism - Christianity simply adopted and changed it a bit. The term Armagedon comes from Hebrew - Har Megido - and means ‘Mt. Megido’, a hill in northern Israel where the last battle is prophesized to take place. In the Old Testament (the Jewish Bible) this idea is refered to as “the end of days” (ketz hayamim or acharit hayamim) or often as the war of “Gog and Magog”; a final war between good and evil, Judaism maintains, will take place, at the conclusion of which good will triumph and the messiah will come, bringing eternal peace to earth. This is basically the Christian Armagedon, except for the Jesus element, of course.</p>
<p>I am happy to see someone interested in learning about religions other than his own. (-:</p>
<p>message me if you have any further questions!
O.J.A.</p>
<p>Success does not equal great thought. Great thought equals great thought. Lewis was a great thinker. Therefore, he was a great thinker. Because his great thought made him successful, he was one of the greatest thinkers of his time. </p>
<p>Hidden premise: to be successful for great thought, you should, well, be a great thinker. </p>
<p>This is all kind of tiresome anyway. Religion is interesting. The intricacies of your logic class (“hasty generalization” or “appeal to authority”) are not. Let’s return to the original op.</p>
<p>I think Rand is an interesting author. However, I don’t read too many books on philosophy because I like other subjects 
I just didn’t both posting the flaws in PW since they are googleable.</p>
<p>6.) Christian doctrines are contradictory to the theory of evolution, so why do Christians believe in the theory? Does that mean that the Word of God is unreliable?</p>
<p>Well I am a christian, and it is my duty to defend my faith. However, you picked questions that require a great deal to answer. i will pick this one and delve into it as much as possible. if anyone develops interest or has questions, I will try to the best of my ability to answer them, by Gods grace.</p>
<p>Here goes.
Firstly, I will like to say that Christainity is not merely a religion, it is a lifestyle. In the quest for religion, many have accepted various doctrines which the accept for truth. In my view, evoulution is fake. It is a lie. Its false beyond reason. Now I know that to some scientist and professors, i sound like a fool. But heres is why I believe what i said-
The Earth and the universe in general is too complex to have come about by chance. There has to be some form of original design. Thus Bigbang and Random process leading to evolution is therefore illogical. It is almost like i proppse that an explosion occured in a oriting shop and the result was the Encyclopedia Britannica. No thats crazy. Thus if the universe needs a design, there inevitably had to be a designer. GOD.
Secondly the probabilty for a songle cell organism to appear to initiate the evolving process is like 1/10^4000000000000. Thats rigths impossible. Ask the Biologist, the will tell you how many proteins and chemical reactions are requires to be in the exat and perfect about and react at the perfect time for the organism to survive. Thus evolution is senseless.
In addition, entropy says that the world is approching randomess, so evolution which came from random to ordered is therefore false.
Similarly, by the 2nd law of thermodynamics, energy is being lost, so therefore the amount of enrgy available has been depleated over the years, this tells that there must have been a beginning and since evolution claims that matter and energy are eternal, therefore its wrong by scientific principles.
There are numerous examples to tell that evolutions is false. However, the goverenment and scientist will refuse to admit beause of the amount of money from libraries of books to schools and museums. It is too expensive to tell the truth. Its sad bu true.
Well for the Christians who believe in Evolution are sadly mistaken. Contact me if you need any questions.</p>
<p>Thanks for that post, Afrikaan. It is nice to know that others share my viewpoints regarding creationism and evolution.</p>
<p>I’ve only ever heard of one of the people that you mentioned, UCLAri. However, I hear about C.S. Lewis all the time. And I mean ALL the time. Apparantly, he must have been one of the greatest thinkers of his time if his work has received so much attention even until this day. Of course, I’m not big into philosophy, so I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Well, I’m a Christian, as well (raised Baptist).</p>
<p>Personally, I believe in evolution. There is much evidence pointing this way.</p>
<p>However, I also believe in God over anything else that exists.</p>
<p>Where does that leave me? Well, obviously, evolution is God’s creation! 
I take the “7 days” thing as symbolic of the beginnings of the universe, the big bang, and the evolution of organisms leading up to man.</p>
<p>Of course, all of that is probably enough to get me barred from the Baptist faith.</p>
<p>No problem Justinian I. I’m glad others share my views too.</p>
<p>austinj you asked “Where does that leave me?” Well Ill say from the start I am not hear to force a belief system on you or try to revert what you hold so dearly (you seem pretty firm in your beliefs). However, I will tell you this. As it says in the Bible “no man can serve two masters.” I used to think along the same lines, that perhaps God set evolution in place. But I set to you that firstly the eart is way younger than evolution claims, and there is evidence in the gases in the atmosphere to prove that. Similarly, in the creation story Gen 1:24 and 25 “And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
This is a clear condemnation of evolution which proposes random animals coming from the womb of a different mother just because they look somewhat alike. Not only this, but there are various other blatant reasons why God cannot sanction evolution. Thus, if you believe God and the Bible in totality, how then can you believe the contrary Theory of Evolution</p>
<p>Afrikaan,</p>
<p>Please, read up on some basic science before you continue this.</p>
<p>You said:</p>
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<p>Yes. In an open system, entropy increases. The earth is NOT an open system. Here’s a decent explanation of why the whole “entropy vs. evolution” argument is bunk: <a href=“http://www.2ndlaw.com/[/url]”>http://www.2ndlaw.com/</a></p>
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<p>Evolution claims no such thing. Where did you get this? Besides, matter and energy are interchangeable.</p>
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<p>This is awful suspect. Have a source? The “government” doesn’t change textbooks, textbook manufacturers change textbooks. And why would it cost a lot? History textbooks change constantly. So do government textbooks.</p>
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<p>I guarantee that the average man on the street has never heard of Rand, yet her influence on American political theory is probably greater than any single writer in the 20th century. </p>
<p>Popular appeal doesn’t necessarily make someone a great writer. Like I said, Crichton is pretty well-regarded with the average novel reader, yet I think much of his thinking is crap.</p>
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<p>Fixed. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Well UCLAri, the link you provided has some good points. But then again it is just as biased as I am. Moreover, that isnt “basic science” you dont haave to have a bad attitude alright.</p>
<p>Secondly, if one works backwards, something had to be eternal. Knowing that, evolutions invariably postulates that matter and energy(interchangeable) had to exist eternally. However since the 2nd law states that energy is reducing, that cannot be be true. can it?</p>
<p>Finally, I apologize for the word “governement.” It does not express totality. But the publishers, the companies, the governement, and numerous industries will lose billions of dollars if the falasity of evolution is exposed. “Works of science” will all be rendered fiction if evolution is openly revoked. Acepted textbooks undergo constant revision, but the time and money required to eliminate evolutions from all the books from elementary to university, the money to change the curriculum is collosal. Bear in mind textbooks arent the only types of books. I cannot begin to think of the seminars the forums, and the campaigns to enlighten people that evolutions were false.</p>
<p>Afrikaan,</p>
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<p>You did…umm…read it, right? This isn’t about bias. This is about how things work. Saying that the speed of light in a vacuum is roughly 300,000 km per second isn’t bias. It’s a fact. </p>
<p>I tend to get a bit ornery when people tell falsehoods and half-truths. Including myself. </p>
<p>Sorry, but this is high school level understanding of physics and chemistry we’re dealing with here. No, it’s not necessarily “easy,” but it’s pretty basic stuff.</p>
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<p>The 2nd law of thermodynamics does NOT state that energy is reducing. It states that, “the total entropy of any thermodynamically isolated system tends to increase over time, approaching a maximum value.” Very different. </p>
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<p>Are you kidding me? The publishers would make HUGE profits! They could sell totally new textbooks! It was be a publisher’s DREAM.</p>
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<p>So when evolution is “openly revoked,” will vaccines and antibiotics stop working? Just wondering.</p>
<p>Anyway, moving along.</p>
<p>Someone please explain this whole Trinity thing to me. See, as a Jew, I was taught that God is one, inseperably, unchangeably unified…God. And that to think otherwise was simply blasphemy.</p>
<p>How do Christians deal with the fact that even though the Torah (Old Testament) clearly states God’s oneness, Christianity seems to argue for a less cohesively singular God. Is it similar to how the Hindus deal with the oneness and many issue?</p>
<p>There are a number of things I will like to clarify about the points I made. however in the spirirt of moving on, I will let them rest. Occasionally, I attempt to argue the fallacy of evolution, but the truth is that one comes to believe eithor evolution or creation on the basis of faith.</p>
<p>Ass for the Trinity, Christians too are onfused. However, faith is a key ingredient here too.</p>
<p>Nice talking to you.</p>
<p>UCLAri, You never cease to entertain me. I suppose the only way for you to crush my viewpoints is by jumbling up my posts to meet your foolish whims. You act as if you are omnipotent and omniscient in your smug ad hominen threads. Besides debating me in the evolution vs creation, you have yet to give me any educated answer in response to my prompts in which I have asked here (go look back on five or six pages and you will see) Perhaps your inevitable repulsion of my questions has confounded you. It appears that your faulty logic of evolution has succumbed to the brilliant facets of basic philosophy. Denying such satements as CS Lewis being one of the most brilliant thinkers of all time is absolutely ludicrous. Well, I suppose Rand and GWF Hegel, and Kant are far superior and will stand the test of time forever. Perhaps you deny this fact being that Lewis was a devout Christian?</p>
<p>Justinian,</p>
<p>Nice assumption there. I think there are plenty of great Christian thinkers. I, for one, consider Tolkien to be one of the greatest authors of the 20th century, and he was definitely a Christian. Other 20th century Christian luminaries that I have the utmost respect for include:</p>
<p>D.H Vollenhoven, Jaques Maritain, and John Paul II are all thinkers in the “Christian” vein whose works I believe to be exemplary. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that I don’t put CS Lewis up there with Kierkegaard, Luther, Calvin, Anselm, Aquinas, and Erasmus. Having read many of his works, I just don’t believe that he’s at their level (nor would I believe FountainSiren would either, but that is just pure speculation). </p>
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<p>No, to be honest I just missed your posts. I’ve got multiple threads on the UCLA section that take more time. I apologize if I missed anything, but I’ll be honest: I’m human. I’ll go check it right now.</p>
<p>I went to pages 1 through 3, and didn’t see anything that was directed toward me. Please elaborate as to what I did not answer that was asked of me.</p>