In the first chapter of Genesis he's creating stars, moons, the Earth, all life upon it. By the sixth chapter of Genesis, He can flood the world...but He's lost his power to create all the animals again and needs Noah to put breeding pairs on a boat. By the 19th chapter of Genesis, He can destroy a city or two (Sodom, Gomorrah)....but by Joshua 6, He's not capable of doing that, merely destroying a wall around a city. By the New Testament, Jesus can do individual small "miracles"....wine-into-water, the blind cured, walking on water, etc. But God's only power is the resurrections of Jesus, dead for three days but still intact and not even turned to dust....where as way back to Genesis he was creating Men out of dust.
So what? As humans evolve we need less intervention and baby sitting to survive. It isn't rocket science.
Ok He created Jesus in the womb of the virgin Mary. Misreading or misunderstanding maybe? Misleading? See above reference to virgin conception. Jesus wasn't the only one to perform miracles.
Some believe that, while others believe certain gifts of the Holy Spirit are apostolic powers given only to those specifically named in the Bible.
What I most noticed is that he went from an evil malevolent god to a more loving God. But then again I see the Bible as a collections of moralistic stories and not to be taken literally.
Yes, first He's walking around with Adam and Eve like Obi-wan Kenobi (pre-duel with Vader)....then He's so far away that it takes him 1000s of years to finally come up with a way to "re-contact" Mankind by sending Jesus to Earth. - - - Updated - - - So by NOW.....We shouldn't need God at all, right? No more than an 21 year old needs a babysitter. - - - Updated - - - Exactly my point, YL. In the first of Genesis, He's creating ALL the plant and animal life on Earth......by the NT, His biggest "miracle" is knocking up some gullible girl. Heck, Bristol Palin's boyfriend did THAT "miracle". - - - Updated - - - Some take the opposite view....as you see here on this forum.
There's just no reason for this. A virgin conception means she didn't have sex. That's why it's called the immaculate conception?
YL...that's not where the term "immaculate conception" is usually applied. Regardless, it's children's party magic compared to creating ALL LIFE ON A PLANET, isn't it???
What do mean it's not where the term is usually applied? What does the term mean? No, it's still something only God can do. I still haven't seen David Blane impregnate a woman with his spirit. I still don't see the point you're trying to make about God losing His power. What do you think happens in the end, according to the same book you read that you seem to think shows God losing power over time. In the end, according to this same book, does He appear powerless?
why impregnate a young child, why not an adult? am sure some adults of the time were also virgins? either Mary had sex with a deadbeat dad, or her husband had sex with her before marriage and used "immaculate conception" as an excuse to excuse it .
It refers to Mary being without sin when she was conceived. Not the conception of Jesus. Yet it's something MUCH WEAKER than what God was doing in Genesis....my OP. Pointing out the narrative of the Bible changes....the character of "God" becomes weaker as the book progresses. BTW, this is not a problem....if we're talking about a work of fiction.
Christians arent scared of god anymore. They commit all sorts of sins while knowing that he is watching.
Sure....you just tell yourself "I'm saved...I'll say a quick prayer of repentence...TRY not to do it again....and I'm good with the Lord." Heck, if you're Protestant, you don't even need a priest.....so you don't ruin your entire afternoon slogging down to Our Lady of Perpetual Motion. - - - Updated - - - No prob....happy to help.
In a near future will be a new earth and new heavens, something that demonstrates you that God can change the current universe anew... and you can't even predict right a raining season, a warmer climate, or anything that you can't control... God still is the master...
but this God did choose to enter this world via a 14 year old girl, pretty sick if you can avoid it don't ya think
Creating the universe was the hard part. If look at God as someone that kick started the universe, setting everything into motion rather than someone that having constantly intervene and create new matter every nanosecond, then all the real hard stuff was already done. The rest, think of it as tweaking his creation in response to man's free will.
The Bible doesn't state Mary's age. The fact is most of the references to marriage is from the age of 20. This is the age of accountability according to ancient Jewish law. I don't know why God would've chosen a girl six years younger. There are other references to men having to wait to marry girls for several years, presumably until they reached age 20. Numbers 14:28 So tell them, As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fallevery one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
None of which answers the question... why is it in the first of Genesis God can create all the animal species in a DAY....but later in Genesis he needs a man to load breeding pairs on a boat to re-populate the Earth?!?!? Why not simply save Noah and his family.....use his magic Creation power to simply re-create all the animals again? Or were His batteries running low?
You need to prove that Genesis is talking about a literal day as in 24 hour period. I haven't seen that in there but if you can point it out that would be great....thanks.
