And how did this doctor person come into being?
Billions of years worth of evolution. The same way that the medical profession came about. It started out with illnesses that weren't curable, but by chance, 1/100 things tried, actually worked. 1% of medical cases were improved and were treatable. Of those cases that were treatable, humanity survived to see different treatments evolve in the same way. LITTLE by LITTLE over time.
The medical profession didn't just wake up one day and say, "Let's get rid of witch-doctoring" (some still haven't to this day, showing the different 'branches' that evolution takes). They improved it slightly over time, to get what it is, today.
Much the same as the doctor evolving from a fish. No fish laid an egg one day and created a different species. It
happened over billions of years. Some of the eggs took the path of getting larger, some took the road to form legs, etc. Both came from the same ancestor, but when people hear that "We evolved from apes" they immediately think, "Why are there still apes, then?" It is simple. The fish turned into apes (and cats and dogs, etc) and the apes took a fork in the road like everything before it and some of them grew less hair (and bred with each other) some of them didn't.
Keep adding variables to the 'no-hair' or the 'hair' species and you'll find that it is very easy to look extremely different with just a couple of small changes, here or there.
You can do the same with a marijuana plant, if you wish. Everything can be modified, it just takes time. Lots of time, not the 6000 years that the bible claims that the world has existed for. Evolution from a single-celled organism to a human being CAN NOT happen in 6000 years.
If you can see that the world is older than that, then you mustn't believe everything in the bible, the word of God.
Do you believe that the world is a mere 6000 years old?
Faith rules, it’s so easy to not believe.
It is once you 'see the light' and
know for sure that there is no god. But
it is NOT easy to disbelieve in a god that you've been brought up with. It is why the fear is written into the stories, to begin with. It keeps even a lot of disbelievers thinking, 'what if' etc. Most people, even among the non-believers if pressed for an answer, would admit to Hell being something worth 'hedging your bets' over. I've done it myself, I'm sure. But even the most logical person is not immuned to the occasional irrational thought, so I don't hold it against myself. I'm as imperfect as we all are.
Good thing we’re not all weak.
But some of us are, though. Especially nowadays, with all of the cotton-wool that we send our kids out to play wrapped in and the 'safe spaces' and politically correct terms that we use to not 'hurt' anyones feelings, with the truth.
We are getting weaker and weaker and more easily scared now, than ever before. We didn't always have access to worldwide news of things to keep the populations scared and needing rulers to 'protect' them with new laws for 'their protection'. What we see as a disaster happens every day to us if we watch the news or use the internet. It makes people scared and scared people need a cuddle. The disasters used to just be local and occasional. Now they are 'everywhere, all the time'.
Good thing we’re not all weak.
That is a good example of how evolution by natural selection works. We're not all weak, because the weak ones are dead. Left to nature, we'd only get stronger but with humans interfering and protecting the weak, they are living to reproduce their genes and polluting the pool.
@Ozmap seriuosly? You’ve read the Bible how many times? I’m serious.
How did you tackle this feat? Straight through starting IN THE BEGINNING? What version do you prefer? Did you use any type of assistant or reference guide?
Yes. I've read it a few times, start to finish, over the years. I don't know why. It's not a good example of chronology, but I guess that you just need to be aware of that, starting out, as it is (as you'd know) a bunch of stories written by a bunch of people, over a bunch of generations. Some of these stories are written MANY years after the 'fact' and I found it interesting that
shepherds and fishermen could do that reliably back the,, when WE can't even get a well documented story straight, that happened only a few years ago.
The first time I tried to read the bible, I was told to start with the Roman Road and the gospels first, because it talked about Jesus. The roman Road was like reading a 'choose-your-own-adventure' book and I found that the gospels were just the same retold version of the story with increasing 'spectacularity' of miracles performed as time progressed. It seemed more like Chinese Whispers, than anything. The story kept 'evolving' a bit at a time. Much the same as the footnotes that I have in a bible here, does (
Second sentence on page one), Genesis 1:2 says:
Genesis 1.1-2
(1)In the beginning, when God created the universe, (2) the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and
the power of God(b) was moving over the water......
The footnote (b) for this says, "(b) the power of God;
or the spirit of God;
or a wind from God;
or an awesome wind.
This is the type of thing that makes me read things to find out what other goodies are hidden.
I think I know what was moving across the water. I won't rule out God as a cause just yet but at the moment, they are admitting two possible causes. So we need to keep reading to see what else is attributed to the supernatural OR something natural.
If a book continues with "God did it OR something else did it", it seems pretty easy to dismiss, to me.
What version do you prefer? Did you use any type of assistant or reference guide?
I prefer (in terms of easy-to read) the KJV but I've also read my nanas catholic version NJB or whatever, and a tried reading the JW book, (whatever they call theirs) but couldn't get past the spelling of YWHY or whatever it is. It annoyed me.
I have a GNB next to me at the moment. That is the one that I like to underline all my 'favourite' bits in. I had another christian pocket bible but it was only the new half of the book. Although I'd read that on my lunch breaks at work, I see no point in ignoring the Old Testament and calling it 'outdated' because the word of god shouldn't become outdated, should it? Who are we to outdate it?
Assistance or reference guide? Yes, I used to have a very good one with maps and timelines and family trees, etc but I gave it to someone who had more use for it than I did. I've been to churches, study groups, lived with different religious people that wave books and I talk to the Jehovahs Witnesses when they come to the door. Occasionally I'll invite them in for a coffee and have a friendly debate with them, but I haven't seen them for a while now.
The assistance that I use these days is the electronic version (websites) where you can compare the different books verses and see the reality of what was originally written before it got 'cleaned up' or 'made nice'. One book may suggest raping a girl, but one might suggest 'shaming' her or whatever. I think that the books before the seventies were a better read to see that the bibles were written by primitive men, for primitive men and to claim that they are the
inspired 'word of God' is just an excuse to 'make it so'. ...because if you believe in God, then you believe in Hell, right? ...And not following his rule book and believing it, will send you there, will it not?
Just out of curiosity, do you believe in ALL of the gods? YHWY, Apollo, Jehovah, Thor, Ra, Horus, Neptune, etc?
What do you find so convincing, that you believe in the god/gods that you do?
Also, I can be more relevantly post back to you if I know what your religion (if any) is or at least what you believe or the book that makes you believe that.
Do you think it is better to believe in no gods at all, or the wrong god?