One of the great things about being part of a collective is that we don't have to individually read all threads, but all threads will be read. We haven't formulated an answer yet.
A small side remark, now onto more important matters.
If you would so kindly recall, in the beginning, we weren't looking for a fight. "A message from a newcomer" was started by the Snow Leopard collective, and in the very first message, we used Christianity /for/ the list, not against it. The line was something like, "Personally, I've found that if a meme complex is too agreeable, many will not accept it. I found when I was witnessing, that the gospel message was just too easy." We conversed, nd as I found that certain contradictions had been referenced before, ones that I knew I could answer, I opened the topic with the hopes of correcting a falsehood.
Two questions Nathan quoted that I can answer:
If we are "made in the image of God," why do we have imperfections such as an appendix?
The reference meant an entity with a spirit, a soul, and sometimes a body.
Genesis 38 or 39 (I can't remember which and my Bible isn't handy, sorry):
That big, mean, God of the Old Testament destroyed a man for spillin' his seed? That's really harsh, barbaric, &c.
No, he died because he disobeyed God. God told him, "Have some kids with that woman that was married to your brother before he died." Oman didn't like God's taste, and used the only method known to man that is less effective than the rhythm method. Hermit, you said that some of the things that God did were worse than anything we'd do to rats? If you were running a rat genetics experiment, or breeding them to a specific end, and one of the males just wouldn't breed, you'd probably get rid of him too, if only to save food.
Now, I stated very poorly that if I left a statement unchallenged, everyone
would assume it true. Allow me to put it another way: I say anything you
know is incorrect, I expect you to correct me. I want to learn. If I think
I can teach you something, I'm not going to leave you to wallow in your
ignorance of whatever. Please note; that's ignorance, I did not make any
statement but to say that a few of you may be lacking in a few facts about a
few things. For example, here's one I've been meaning to say. The
reference to a bat being a bird. Well, I'm ignorant of Hebrew in its
entirety, I know enough about it to guess that, there was no direct
translation. The readers in the day it was written did not assume that a
bat had a beak, cold blood and eggs that are hatched. Neither did the
writer (or the God who inspired it.) Whereas, some Middle Ages Mack, with a
degree in monk-ology might call the Greek word for the Hebrew word for
"flying creature," a bird. The same holds true for Abraham's "brother" Lot.
In closing this particular topic for the day, I'd like to point out one
that sticks out in my mind.