Where did I say Buddhism was a religion? >_>
Please point that out to me. I used the worship to Buddha statues as an example of praising idols.

My Geometry teacher said that she prays to a statue in her closet for whatever reason.

When talking about the Bible, to understand something "in context" means to understand what's happening in the verses you are reading and when they were written. One of the best ways to do this is to read the chapters before and after the problem verses and do some background research on your own. I've read the Bible from cover to cover a few times and I still believe that the earth is round, that it rotates on its axis and that it revolves around the sun.

The Bible is scientifically accurate:

• Leviticus 17:11 talks about how "the life of the flesh is in the blood".
  
• Job.26:7 describes how God hangs "the earth upon nothing".
  
• Psalm 8:8 led to the discovery of ocean currents ("the paths of the sea").
  
• Isaiah 40:22 mentions "the circle of the earth", referring to the earth's roundness (The word translated into "circle" was the Hebrew word "chuwg". This word is also translated as “circuit,” or “compass”; in this context, the verse speaks of how the earth is spherical and round.).
  

There are many other examples of the Bible's scientific accuracy, and you can Google them if you like.

However, some of these verses have caused problems for people:
Isaiah 11:12
[12] And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

This verse about the remnants of Judah coming to meet together from "the four corners of the earth". In other words, the Israelites came to the same place from all over the known world. The phrase is metaphorical and may refer to the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west).

Isaiah 44:24:
[24] Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

This verse is saying that God is Israel's Redeemer and that He formed Israel from their beginnings. It also says that He formed the sky. It has nothing to do with the shape of the earth. In some other versions, this verse may say something misleading that makes people think that the verse is talking about the earth's shape.

Joshua 10:12-13:
[12] Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
[13] And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

This passage talks about "Joshua's missing day," or when Joshua asked God to keep the earth from moving until the Israelites defeated the Amorites in battle. The sun and moon staying in place is how the scene appeared from the earth. The earth stayed in place for one day, but continued its rotation after Israel had won the victory.

Psalm 93:1
[1] The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

So from here, we see yet another metaphorical statement: "...the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved." The Book of Psalms focuses on songs and poems that praise God. This passage is clearly not saying anything about how the earth literally stays in place. The entire chapter is actually comparing land and sea to power of God. This verse talks about how the ground is firm, i.e. it does not shake. This is supported by the comparison to God's throne in verse 2, as it speaks of His throne being established for all eternity. Verse 3 says while the ground does not move, the sea does. The waves do appear to be powerful, but verse 4 says that God is mightier than the waves. This link helped me to understand this passage a lot better.

1 Chronicles 16:30
[30] Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.

Here, King David was singing to God as a celebration after the ark of God was brought into Jerusalem. This shares the same meaning as Psalm 93:1: the ground will stay firm and stable.

The Bible does not contradict the fact that the earth is round, that it rotates on its axis and that it revolves around the sun.

Quote from Captain Cook

Buddhism is not a religion

The first four words of Buddhism's Wikpedia article: "Buddhism is a religion". What's your definition of religion?

Quote from Captain Cook

Coveting is human nature.

Yes, that's true, but "coveting" in this verse means "to desire wrongfully for something that is owned by someone else without thinking about the rights of others". God made laws so people could avoid hurting themselves and others, and envy and greed have never brought real peace to anybody.

Quote from Captain Cook

"Thou shalt not kill" was actually intended so that people within their own clans wouldn't kill each other. It has nothing to do with humanity in general. God was perfectly fine with people killing each other, as long as they weren't part of the same clan. So God being "sad" about a soldier killing an enemy is false. In fact, God himself ordered the rape and pillaging of dozens of towns simply for worshipping other deities that the townspeople had no idea that were pagan.

Where's this in the Bible? Book, chapter and verse, please.

Buddhism is a religion. Why are you guys even discussing that?

Quote from SPaZ

The Bible is scientifically accurate:
Leviticus 17:11 talks about how "the life of the flesh is in the blood".

Back then it was believed humans were full of "blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile", and that every disease was caused by an imbalance of them. Not what I'd call scientifically accurate.

Quote from SPaZ

Job.26:7 describes how God hangs "the earth upon nothing".

Not true and not science

Quote from SPaZ

Psalm 8:8 led to the discovery of ocean currents ("the paths of the sea").

Aristotle and Socrates wrote about ocean currents before the bible was written.

Quote from SPaZ

Isaiah 40:22 mentions "the circle of the earth", referring to the earth's roundness (The word translated into "circle" was the Hebrew word "chuwg". This word is also translated as “circuit,” or “compass”; in this context, the verse speaks of how the earth is spherical and round.).

Eratosthenes estimated the circumference of the earth within 2% accuracy in 240 BC, and the belief that the earth was round existed long before that.

None of these are examples of scientific accuracy, even contextually, and they'd only be worth mentioning if they said the exact opposite. Every claim here was known long before the bible was written, it offered nothing new nor did it confirm anything.

Quote from Exilement

Buddhism is a religion. Why are you guys even discussing that?

Buddhism isn't a religion. It is a teaching. The Buddha isn't a god, he's just a guy who we respect and aim to emulate. All the book and stuff that we read are just his teachings written down by others because he couldn't read or write. When Buddhists bow to the Buddha, it's respecting him for all he's done for us and how great he was, not worshiping. At least, that's my school of Buddhism.

Quote from Blue

Buddhism isn't a religion. It is a teaching. The Buddha isn't a god, he's just a guy who we respect and aim to emulate. All the book and stuff that we read are just his teachings written down by others because he couldn't read or write. When Buddhists bow to the Buddha, it's respecting him for all he's done for us and how great he was, not worshiping. At least, that's my school of Buddhism.

I don't think you caught the part where I said Buddhism is a religion, so let me repeat that:

Buddhism is a religion.

Clear enough? Seriously, that's what it is. This isn't an argument, or a discussion, or a debate. This is fact and you are wrong. You can either keep repeating things which are blatantly incorrect, or you can admit your fault, learn something new and we can all carry on.

The definition of religion does not necessarily require belief in a deity. It can be accurately described as a philosophy, but that fails to include the spiritual aspects of the religion.

Quote from Exilement

I don't think you caught the part where I said Buddhism is a religion, so let me repeat that:

Buddhism is a religion.

Clear enough? Seriously, that's what it is. This isn't an argument, or a discussion, or a debate. This is fact and you are wrong. You can either keep repeating things which are blatantly incorrect, or you can admit your fault, learn something new and we can all carry on.

The definition of religion does not necessarily require belief in a deity. It can be accurately described as a philosophy, but that fails to include the spiritual aspects of the religion.

Buddhism It self is a religion and we can all agree that religions are technically 'teachings'.

Wikipedia says,
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

The citation was a definition used by a leading authority in religious studies, so I think they know what they're talking about.

Quote from SPaZ

When talking about the Bible, to understand something "in context" means to understand what's happening in the verses you are reading and when they were written. One of the best ways to do this is to read the chapters before and after the problem verses and do some background research on your own. I've read the Bible from cover to cover a few times and I still believe that the earth is round, that it rotates on its axis and that it revolves around the sun.

The Bible is scientifically accurate:

• Leviticus 17:11 talks about how "the life of the flesh is in the blood".
  
• Job.26:7 describes how God hangs "the earth upon nothing".
  
• Psalm 8:8 led to the discovery of ocean currents ("the paths of the sea").
  
• Isaiah 40:22 mentions "the circle of the earth", referring to the earth's roundness (The word translated into "circle" was the Hebrew word "chuwg". This word is also translated as “circuit,” or “compass”; in this context, the verse speaks of how the earth is spherical and round.).
  

There are many other examples of the Bible's scientific accuracy, and you can Google them if you like.

the bible never says the earth is a sphere, at that time the consensus was that it was a flat ellipsoid. ( a circle) and if you went to far to the edge of it, you would fall off into space. he says circle instead of sphere for a reason, that's what people thought. they even had ideas of it being a convex circle, (raised smoothly towards it's center point, like a lens) which explained the fact that when you looked across the horizon, things seemed to have a slight curve. people didn't truly grasp the nature of the earth or believe it was circular until the hot air balloon and spread of civilization around the time Columbus set sail, just like how we have very little knowledge of space due to our lack of being able to go all around it all the time, people back then when the bible was written could not adequately preserve food for a long ship ride, build ships strong enough to withstand strong storms, etc, as our civilization evolves, so does our knowledge. but sticking with a 2000 year old set of beliefs when far more feasible explanations have risen in the time since, is just stupid. people back then did not have access to clean drinking water then. how can you be sure that religions weren't just societal developments? what proof is there that god exists? why do you assume god exists in lack of evidence? I don't think athiesm means i can do whatever the fuck i want, infact i've made better decisions than most of my religious friends. many of them drink, smoke, get into fights, have sex before marriage (which isnt bad to me, i just don't see the need when it's bad according to their religion) and other stuff. alot of them have outdated nationalist views of the us and mexicans/chinese/indians stealing jobs too. I've been in churches. sometimes even the PREACHER works these kinds of issues into his sermons. and trust me, it gets awkward when you realize he's a racist. looking around, you and your family who are there because of the history and stories, are looking around at everyone else while they stare mindlessly at the preacher who is going on about how "the righteous can rise again if we resist the urge to mingle with devil" by which in context of what he had been saying, the united states can be strong if we don't touch china! he literally called china the devil. Or atleast implied it, he could have been talking about outsourcing in general, but most jobs that china/india takes most americans Do NOT want. $300 a month minus the cost of food and bed, for assembling electronics? no thanks, i make more a month as a janitor/maintenance worker doing 10 hours a week.

anyways, TLDR: Religion is outdated societal construct.

im christan and i my parents tought me that god and jesus love us and want us to go to chruch!

Quote from Pepper

people didn't truly grasp the nature of the earth or believe it was circular until the hot air balloon and spread of civilization around the time Columbus set sail

This is just a blatant display of idiocy and whatever you posted beyond this sentence is immediately invalidated because of it. wow.

First off, I'll be quick to say that I don't know everything. I'm only human, so please correct me if I'm wrong on any subject.

Quote from Exilement

Back then it was believed humans were full of "blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile", and that every disease was caused by an imbalance of them. Not what I'd call scientifically accurate..

Book, chapter and verse, please. If you didn't find this info in the Bible, may I have a reference or a link that shows that the known world at the time believed this idea?

Quote from SPaZ

Job.26:7 describes how God hangs "the earth upon nothing".

Quote from Exilement;606889

Not true and not science

The earth is not literally hanging on nothing, but it is freely suspended in space due to the gravitational force of the sun keeping the earth in orbit.

Quote from SPaZ

Psalm 8:8 led to the discovery of ocean currents ("the paths of the sea").

Quote from Exilement;606889

Aristotle and Socrates wrote about ocean currents before the bible was written.

Most of the Book of Psalms was written in first millennium BC, in the early history of ancient Israel (1000-700 BC). Psalm 80 was likely written in this time period as well. Aristotle lived from 384–322 BC and Socrates lived from 469–399 BC. These men talked about the idea, but they didn't discover ocean currents. This is beside the point.

What I was saying was that ocean currents were discovered in the 1800s by Matthew Fontaine Maury, a man who dedicated his life to studying oceanography, naval meteorology, and many other subjects after reading Psalm 8:8.

Quote from SPaZ

Isaiah 40:22 mentions "the circle of the earth", referring to the earth's roundness (The word translated into "circle" was the Hebrew word "chuwg". This word is also translated as “circuit,” or “compass”; in this context, the verse speaks of how the earth is spherical and round.).

Quote from Exilement;606889

Eratosthenes estimated the circumference of the earth within 2% accuracy in 240 BC, and the belief that the earth was round existed long before that. None of these are examples of scientific accuracy, even contextually, and they'd only be worth mentioning if they said the exact opposite. Every claim here was known long before the bible was written, it offered nothing new nor did it confirm anything.

All the verses that I quoted were from the Old Testament, and the OT was written long before these claims were even made. Realistically, the Bible offered nothing new, but it clearly showed the answers to some of the questions that humans had tried to figure out for a long time. What was already written in the Bible for centuries took many years for man to discover on his own.

Quote from Pepper

the bible never says the earth is a sphere, at that time the consensus was that it was a flat ellipsoid. ( a circle) and if you went to far to the edge of it, you would fall off into space. he says circle instead of sphere for a reason, that's what people thought. they even had ideas of it being a convex circle, (raised smoothly towards it's center point, like a lens) which explained the fact that when you looked across the horizon, things seemed to have a slight curve. people didn't truly grasp the nature of the earth or believe it was circular until the hot air balloon and spread of civilization around the time Columbus set sail, just like how we have very little knowledge of space due to our lack of being able to go all around it all the time, people back then when the bible was written could not adequately preserve food for a long ship ride, build ships strong enough to withstand strong storms, etc, as our civilization evolves, so does our knowledge. but sticking with a 2000 year old set of beliefs when far more feasible explanations have risen in the time since, is just stupid. people back then did not have access to clean drinking water then. how can you be sure that religions weren't just societal developments? what proof is there that god exists? why do you assume god exists in lack of evidence? I don't think athiesm means i can do whatever the fuck i want, infact i've made better decisions than most of my religious friends. many of them drink, smoke, get into fights, have sex before marriage (which isnt bad to me, i just don't see the need when it's bad according to their religion) and other stuff. alot of them have outdated nationalist views of the us and mexicans/chinese/indians stealing jobs too. I've been in churches. sometimes even the PREACHER works these kinds of issues into his sermons. and trust me, it gets awkward when you realize he's a racist. looking around, you and your family who are there because of the history and stories, are looking around at everyone else while they stare mindlessly at the preacher who is going on about how "the righteous can rise again if we resist the urge to mingle with devil" by which in context of what he had been saying, the united states can be strong if we don't touch china! he literally called china the devil. Or atleast implied it, he could have been talking about outsourcing in general, but most jobs that china/india takes most americans Do NOT want. $300 a month minus the cost of food and bed, for assembling electronics? no thanks, i make more a month as a janitor/maintenance worker doing 10 hours a week.

anyways, TLDR: Religion is outdated societal construct.

The entire book of Isaiah was written in Hebrew. Like I said, the Hebrew word for "circle" in Isaiah 40:22 refers to a spherical earth. Remember that not one part of the Bible was originally penned in English. The translators used the best word they could while keeping the Hebrew text as accurate to its original meaning as possible. Nowhere in the Bible does it explicitly claim the earth is round; however, let's remember the purpose of the Book as a whole. The purpose of the Bible is not to prove science, although it agrees with science. It is meant to serve as a moral standard, to show us the way to Heaven, and to show us how to live and how to die.

From what I read here, you are using the inexperience of mankind throughout history to prove that they were not wise enough to accept any other idea for man's existence. I believe that you have been educated into thinking this way. People who live outside of modern influences take the existence of God for granted. There is an influx of evidence for God; the problem is not in the lack of evidence, but the lack of people who want to accept it.

I agree that a lot of people who claim to be "religious" use their beliefs as a license to do whatever they want, even to the point where they adopt a "holier-than-thou" attitude. Hypocrites always turn people off from the truth. I find it interesting that you've ran into racism while listening to a sermon. It's happened before, but God never intended it to be that way. These people that you're talking about are fitting the Bible to match their ideas instead of fitting their ideas to match the Bible. It's sad how moral men and women who are trying to obey God become associated with people they do not agree with. "A good name takes a lifetime to build and minutes to ruin."

Quote from Ezekiel 9:4-7

⁴And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. ⁵And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
⁶Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
⁷And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

Doesn't sound very loving and caring to me. And this isn't the only example. I could mention Caanan.

Quote from Pepper

the bible never says the earth is a sphere, at that time the consensus was that it was a flat ellipsoid. ( a circle) and if you went to far to the edge of it, you would fall off into space. he says circle instead of sphere for a reason, that's what people thought. they even had ideas of it being a convex circle, (raised smoothly towards it's center point, like a lens) which explained the fact that when you looked across the horizon, things seemed to have a slight curve. people didn't truly grasp the nature of the earth or believe it was circular until the hot air balloon and spread of civilization around the time Columbus set sail, just like how we have very little knowledge of space due to our lack of being able to go all around it all the time, people back then when the bible was written could not adequately preserve food for a long ship ride, build ships strong enough to withstand strong storms, etc, as our civilization evolves, so does our knowledge. but sticking with a 2000 year old set of beliefs when far more feasible explanations have risen in the time since, is just stupid. people back then did not have access to clean drinking water then. how can you be sure that religions weren't just societal developments? what proof is there that god exists? why do you assume god exists in lack of evidence? I don't think athiesm means i can do whatever the fuck i want, infact i've made better decisions than most of my religious friends. many of them drink, smoke, get into fights, have sex before marriage (which isnt bad to me, i just don't see the need when it's bad according to their religion) and other stuff. alot of them have outdated nationalist views of the us and mexicans/chinese/indians stealing jobs too. I've been in churches. sometimes even the PREACHER works these kinds of issues into his sermons. and trust me, it gets awkward when you realize he's a racist. looking around, you and your family who are there because of the history and stories, are looking around at everyone else while they stare mindlessly at the preacher who is going on about how "the righteous can rise again if we resist the urge to mingle with devil" by which in context of what he had been saying, the united states can be strong if we don't touch china! he literally called china the devil. Or atleast implied it, he could have been talking about outsourcing in general, but most jobs that china/india takes most americans Do NOT want. $300 a month minus the cost of food and bed, for assembling electronics? no thanks, i make more a month as a janitor/maintenance worker doing 10 hours a week.

anyways, TLDR: Religion is outdated societal construct.

Probably one of the most logical posts recently.
Whether it is completely accurate or not is beside the point, Exilement. You could of acknowledged that all of his very few posts have been better than many others.

Quote from SPaZ

First off, I'll be quick to say that I don't know everything. I'm only human, so please correct me if I'm wrong on any subject.

Most of the Book of Psalms was written in first millennium BC, in the early history of ancient Israel (1000-700 BC). Psalm 80 was likely written in this time period as well. Aristotle lived from 384–322 BC and Socrates lived from 469–399 BC. These men talked about the idea, but they didn't discover ocean currents. This is beside the point.

What I was saying was that ocean currents were discovered in the 1800s by Matthew Fontaine Maury, a man who dedicated his life to studying oceanography, naval meteorology, and many other subjects after reading Psalm 8:8.

All the verses that I quoted were from the Old Testament, and the OT was written long before these claims were even made. Realistically, the Bible offered nothing new, but it clearly showed the answers to some of the questions that humans had tried to figure out for a long time. What was already written in the Bible for centuries took many years for man to discover on his own.

The entire book of Isaiah was written in Hebrew. Like I said, the Hebrew word for "circle" in Isaiah 40:22 refers to a spherical earth. Remember that not one part of the Bible was originally penned in English. The translators used the best word they could while keeping the Hebrew text as accurate to its original meaning as possible. Nowhere in the Bible does it explicitly claim the earth is round; however, let's remember the purpose of the Book as a whole. The purpose of the Bible is not to prove science, although it agrees with science. It is meant to serve as a moral standard, to show us the way to Heaven, and to show us how to live and how to die.

From what I read here, you are using the inexperience of mankind throughout history to prove that they were not wise enough to accept any other idea for man's existence. I believe that you have been educated into thinking this way. People who live outside of modern influences take the existence of God for granted. There is an influx of evidence for God; the problem is not in the lack of evidence, but the lack of people who want to accept it.

I agree that a lot of people who claim to be "religious" use their beliefs as a license to do whatever they want, even to the point where they adopt a "holier-than-thou" attitude. Hypocrites always turn people off from the truth. I find it interesting that you've ran into racism while listening to a sermon. It's happened before, but God never intended it to be that way. These people that you're talking about are fitting the Bible to match their ideas instead of fitting their ideas to match the Bible. It's sad how moral men and women who are trying to obey God become associated with people they do not agree with. "A good name takes a lifetime to build and minutes to ruin."

Do you know what one of the most profitable businesses in the world is? Religion.
Do you realize how much money churches with a large group (100+) of active members generates? Do you realize that all of this money is not taxed?
Do you understand what happens if the pastor is corrupt?

Quote from Captain Cook

Doesn't sound very loving and caring to me. And this isn't the only example. I could mention Caanan.

Old Testament: Angry God
New Testament: Loving and forgiving God.

What is with the huge argument about the knowledge of the Earth being round? lol
It was an example given to explain that the general public at the time was a very uneducated population.
Christianity isn't any different from Roman and Greek Mythology. They used Gods to explain what they could understand at the time.

Look at the Salem witchcraft trials. The people were so inclined to believe accusations made by the children that many innocent people were killed.
You either lied to save your life, or died trying to protect your name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda