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I should be getting to bed soon, but I think I can provide some insight on the geneticists thing.

Presumably (now, I say this without the time to research it), if we all evolved from two humans (as opposed to there being many humans evolving from relatives of monkeys), geneticists would be able to (roughly) trace everyone back to that one set of DNA.

sanddbox wrote:

clrkbar wrote:I'm did not say it is true because nothing disproves it. That would be stupid, I agree. I was just commenting on your earlier quote above when you question the validity of the Bible's claim (sort of) to a 6k year old earth without giving any reason as to why you were questioning it.

Very well. I suppose it's also fair I give an example of an argument for the earth being 6000 years old, which you can find here.

Notice how vague the article is. They claim there is enormous evidence yet fail to produce anything palpable.

It also uses flawed arguments. For example, they claim that a population grows by 0.5%-2% per year - except they forget to account for the fact that a) people actually die (suprising, right?), b) entire civilizations have been wiped out, and c) just because a population is growing in an age with much better living conditions, that doesn't mean that 2000 years ago that was the case.

Now take these articles.

These articles have actual scientific evidence that you can easily verify. Enough said.

Anyone can find good articles supporting one idea and horrible articles supporting another idea. According to Dr. Charles Jackson, a Christian biology professor that was denied tenure at a college because of his beliefs, by adding up the generations in the Bible, the earth was created (he says) 4,004 years ago. Other, scientific evidence is the amount of various gasses in rocks. Gasses such as Helium and the amounts of lead in rocks and crystals point toward a young earth. If millions of years had passed, more helium should have leaked from the rocks than has. I won't talk too much in these areas because I'm not very familiar with this evidence. I don't want to pull stuff from the internet and pretend I know all about it.

Here's the link to Dr. Jackson's video blog where he comments on the age of the earth if anyone is interested. It's only a minute and a half video or so. Click on the May posts on the right in the Blog Archive and then click on "The Age of the Earth"

http://www.creationtruth.com/index.php? ... Itemid=148

-- Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:06 am --

sanddbox wrote:I should be getting to bed soon, but I think I can provide some insight on the geneticists thing.

Presumably (now, I say this without the time to research it), if we all evolved from two humans (as opposed to there being many humans evolving from relatives of monkeys), geneticists would be able to (roughly) trace everyone back to that one set of DNA.

Ah, ok. I see what you mean. I know very little about genetics and how all that works, and I don't figure it would be an easy topic to research so I wont try. Do you know if that's something geneticists could do? I've also wondered how one couple could produce such a vast array of human traits. One idea I heard was that God created Eve with different DNA in her egg cells, so they weren't all the same. I don't know.

clrkbar wrote:Do you have sources for these ideas? Please don't think I am demanding sources. I almost never source my ideas because I can't normally remember exactly where I learned what I have learned. But if you have them, I would like to research them. Anyways...

I may be ignorant, but what do you mean when you say "genetics would be screaming about it"? Why is a world-wide flood not plausible? What about the animals? Yes, I agree, this all seems a bit far-fetched and fantastical, but go with me here for sake of testing ideas. I am capable of thinking as best I can from a non-believing point of view.
Why does Mark not knowing his geography very well matter? I suck at spelling, maybe Mark was bad at names and remembering places. The book of mark is the shortest of the gospels and is kinda a quick run-through of Jesus' life. It's not for recording facts, but for summarizing Jesus' ministry, just hitting the important highlights. If you want good, solid, recorded facts, look to the gospel of Luke. He was that kind of meticulous person. Does lack of evidence for David and his son mean it is historically accurate? Come on, you guys have gotten mad at me on other posts for saying stuff like that.

I can't speak for anyone else, but, no, I haven't become upset over anything that you've said.

I don't have the patience to write up a research paper on the matter, at the moment. But, I'll gladly point you to a few sources that can help you learn more, if you are willing to invest the time to read them at your leisure.

In regards to biblical accuracy, Asimov's book is as good a place as any to look. He was Jewish born, a brilliant scientist, and one of the most renowned science-fiction authors in the world. There are a ton of other books out there on the subject, and I recommend researching the authors, in addition to reading their works, as this can tell you a lot about their motivations and credibility.

In light of the evolution topics, I would check out What Evolution Is by Ernst Mayr. It can be a little over the head of folks that aren't familiar with biology, so you could read Science, Evolution, and Creationism by the National Academy of Sciences. That one is tailored more for people who do not have much knowledge in that field.

An absolute gem is The Counter-Creationism Handbook by Mark Isaak. It is loaded with a ridiculous number of sources (50 pages worth), and answers hundreds of creationist claims.

No, not you, and not in this post. It was in other posts where people were getting onto me.

Thanks for the resources.