Missing the point

It turns out that someone replied to the letter I wrote to my local paper. Tom Berry's the name, and missing the point is his game...

An interesting letter was published in the July 12 paper about the Bible not being without error. I suggest that nitpicking his edition of the Bible that bats are birds may be misleading him.

Tom doesn't seem to understand the point being made. Pastor Jerry Cooper wrote into the paper to claim that the Bible is without a single error. I wrote in to point out that his claim was false. I was not mislead or nitpicking. Simply pointing out that the Pastor's claim was obviously false.

Perhaps before jumping to conclusions one needs to study the original script. After all, there are scores of revisions to the book, and it has been translated into hundreds of languages. It just might be possible that something could be lost or misinterpreted along the way.

Yes, there are many versions of the Bible. And perhaps the whole bat/bird issue could be a mistranslation. But I noticed that Tom ignored my other examples. 'Creation' being done in the wrong order seems less likely to be a translation issue, and being so very wrong about the nature, location and size of stars... Also claiming that to be a translation problem seems to be a bit of an ask.

What more, if one wants to claim that these things weren't translated correctly, what if the same is true of Mary being a virgin, Jesus performing miracles, or the parting of the Red Sea? One should be wary of the implications of their own argument.

Also consider that if one can’t prove something is true, that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Maybe we’re just not smart enough or have enough information yet to figure it out.

True, but shouldn't we at least reserve belief until we have a reasonable idea of what we are talking about first?  

On a related topic, the belief that, “The time to believe something is true is not when it is simply claimed to be true, but when it can actually be shown to be true” is asking for 100 percent certainty, a rare thing indeed.

I'd say that interpretation is taking things a bit far. I'm not asking for 100% certainty, but reasonable evidence that supports the claim. There really is no such thing as 100% certainty, but we can build a strong case in favor of the veracity of a claim or idea. I'd rather believe something is true when it can be shown to be true beyond a reasonable doubt, rather than just because the claim was made, or I like the claim.

I am reminded that our commander in chief made a claim in the Rose Garden not long ago that the discussion is over on global warming/climate change/climate disruption. His claim does not mean it’s over. Maybe he’s just not smart enough or does not have enough information yet to figure it out.

When the president stated that the discussion is over on climate change, what he was saying is that it is as much a scientific fact as gravity. Sure, science is always open to correction or revision. But as of now, all the evidence supports the truth that climate change is real, and it is here.


-Brain Hulk

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