My Bible is accurate since it sure as hell isn't a cheap one.
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Price doesn't dictate anything on truth or accuracy, pal. I'm willing to posit that some of my textbooks probably have costed more than your babble.
Edit: Damn--Tom made the same point first. Ah well. Bears repeating, no?
You know, I'm sure simmilar arguments were applied to the accountants at the institutions at the heart of our current financial woes.
"Dammit, that number-cruncher wasn't cheap, he's GOT to be right."
LOL. That's like saying my calculus book is accurate because it cost $250 new*. It may be accurate, but it has nothing to do with the price and everything to do with who wrote it [a calculus expert] (and then how much the publisher messed with it after the manuscript was in). And it was firsthand from the authors to the publishers to me. And what it says is what it is. I may need a professor to help me understand it, especially as I'm really not the best at math, but it's not something that needs interpretation or its truth depends on who is using it.
Now your book. It was written by people who were influenced by myths from other groups in their area. It was written by people who had something political to say regarding the circumstances they were living in. It was translated through several languages, by people not necessarily familiar (at least not intimately) with the cultures of the people who wrote it (never mind that translation is not an exact science). Someone had to decide which pieces got into it and which ones didn't. And then on top of that you have to interpret it because we don't live like they did, and most of us are not intimately familiar (if we're familiar at all. . . certain kinds of Christians seem to thrive on being ignorant of how other people live and believe) with the cultures that existed when each part was written so our interpretation is often problematic at best.
*no I'm not crazy enough to pay that for the one semester I was required to take :P
So then the bible I got from my mother is worthless since it didn't cost me a thing? Damn.
I guess the best bible I've ever seen then was a Catholic family bible. Because of the historical/antique values, it was worth lots.
All that glisters is not golden, and that $3 worth of leaf on the edge has not imparted a shred of veracity to the contents, though it sure as hell drove up the price. A fool and his money, etc.
Hmmm, let's see, I have or had a Gideon bible that I picked up at a thrift store for .25, 2 new testaments that I got from a youth retreat in high school, a nice bible that my grandmother gave me as a gift, and now when I need a bible reference I just go to one of about a dozen bible website for free. I'm pretty sure they're all the same accuracy-wise. I paid a lot more for my Harry Potter books.
And I could have sworn that Jesus was against all this elitist crap, so you may want to rethink boasting how much you paid for yours.
My copy of "The complete works of J.R.R. Tolkien (Illustrated)" cost me about 200 euro.
So, that means the universe was sung into existence by Eru. Q.E.D.
Ah, the joys of the Middle Ages when people thought that you could just buy your way to the heaven... A few good donations to the Church and you're already closer to the salvation!
That old attitude lurks out there. It refuses to die. It is quite fascinating.
So if I take international shipping, import taxes and Customs handling fees into account, them my limited edition signed hardcover of Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway holds the secrets of the universe?
Of course! Fizzball! It all makes sense! I need a can of Coke and a Viking battleaxe...
Is he suggesting it has more words or they don't proofread the others?
Does his contain the 'Book of Corrections'? I've been waiting for that one. Or the one edited by Timothy and Denis Leary, that one's worth tons of cash
Performing reconnaissance on the UTF, it turns out Cydoc is talking about the fact that his copy of the Bible is one of the heavily annotated/commentaried ones. (No, not the Scofield one.) What he's REALLY doing is saying that no, the rather fanciful present-day claims about who the Nephilim and Gibborim were are NOT actually what Genesis was trying to convey. With backup from people who actually took a look at what culture and living conditions from the time the books were severally written.
Believer, yes. Fundamentalist...no real reason to believe so.
Context, people, context!
He's speaking about the accuracy of his Bible as it relates to the accurate rendition of ancient Scripture . He's not talking about how well the Scriptures agree with reality, only how well his English-language copy of the Scriptures agrees with the letter and spirit of the original.
My geology text, which begins, "Geology is a fascinating subject. It is concerned with such diverse phenomena as volcanoes and glaciers, rivers and beaches, earthquakes, and even the history of life." It was purchased in a college bookstore, so we know it cost far more than your book that starts, "Placed here by the Gideons. Enjoy your stay," and is far more accurate.
Typical association fallacy: this person believes expensive things are associated with higher quality, therefore an expensive Bible is a higher "quality" (in this case, of accuracy)item.
Then again, logic isn't a fundie's strong point.
And you can spend $4,000 on a USB cable for your PC, or $15,000 on some audio system interconnect cables, and for sure that will make whatever you connect it to work 4000x-15,000x better than if you used a $1 cable.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo
I have a hardback, first edition of "A Brief History of Time" by Prof. Stephen Hawking. It cost me £14.95. It's original cover prie.
There are Christian organisations that give away Bibles for free .
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The ancient Greeks calculated Pi to 75 decimal places. Pi to just 39 decimal places describes a perfect circle the size of our observable universe.
Yet, the 'accurate' Bible says that Pi = exactly 3.
Your 'God' couldn't hit the side of a house with a laser-guided Hellfire anti-tank missile; nor could he do the same with the 30mm Gatling fired from the A-10 said missile was launched from, if it was directly in front of it, if his own 'Word' is that far off-target, yet those pre -Christian Greeks were that accurate in their progress. [/Antikythera Mechanism]
I have an exact and complete reproduction of the 1611 KJV* these fundies swear by so much - it was a gift, but it cost a few hundred dollars (more than some of my science textbooks at uni). It must be much more accurate than yours, and yet in the Apocrypha it contradicts much of the gospels' account of Jesus' life. How is that?
*Actually, I have two - a cheaper one for handy reference just including the preface, OT, Apocrypha and NT and with Roman lettering, and the much larger, fancier one to which I'm referring, which also includes various translators' notes, illustrations, maps, genealogies, etc. and is in the original blackletter script. It's the closet thing available to an authentic original Authorised Edition; perfect for trumping fundies.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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