Has the God deceived us?

[63tty]

That's a difficult question to answer. I believe the world has existed for a while. Unfortunately, I would disagree with the author simply because it is all speculation that to God, a day is thousands of years. I side with science for now but I acknowledge his research and sharing his opinions.

Yes, definitely we have to give some credit to the author for his extensive research regarding the subject and developing a compelling theory. But as most of the people believe, I too believe what science has said so far is true. Earth is few billions of years old, and even life on earth is few billions of years old. Maybe this author has misinterpreted some scriptures and come to the conclusion of this 6000 year concept. But apparently it has no value when we look at what we have gained through science

Yeah it is highly likely that the author misinterpreted or interpreted some of the Bible on his own and came to his own conclusions on the age of the world.

[Sonya Nicolaidis]

I doubt an omnipotent God would waste his time setting up a hoax in order to deceive us simple minded humans! It is not congruent with anything else that he has done (as recorded in the Bible account) and there’s no reason as to why he would have done it. More likely, it is humans’ interpretation of the evidence that is erroneous and will be corrected and enlightened as time goes on.

[Yvonne Monique]

What reason would God have to deceive us? What would he gain by doing that? I certainly don't think that this statement is true, nor that all scientific discoveries are false.

[Brenda Creech]

First of all, science or scientists do not try to dispel religious beliefs, because it is not the purpose of science, but to ensure a comfortable life to the humans (though sometimes they go against this purpose). It is the religions and the believers that often try to gain a scientific validity for their beliefs.

Well, let's say that creation of human body needed a master's touch. Then what about the fossils and even well preserved bodies of humans that were subjected to extensive experiments and were found to be different than what our bodies are today? So did God create Adam as a predecessor to Homo Sapiens, or did he create him as a Homo sapiens and left some fossils to lead scientists in a wrong direction?

Only God has the answers to those questions, I certainly don't! My job is to have faith and believe in Him and He will grant me eternal life. That is what the Bible tells me, and that is what I believe. It is too complex for man to understand because God is all power; He is omnipotent and He is God. Sometimes we make what is so simple way too hard to accept.

I see. There is no use of arguing on a point which only God knows the answer. But, if all the inventors and scientists could have easily remain in their homes without going out and risking their lives to find answers to various questions that humankind faced through all these past thousands of years, why did they do so without praying to God for answers.

I think there are questions that we can think about and answer by ourselves. Otherwise what is the use of God granting free will to humans?

I agree with your statements about scientists, I'm not arguing it. I am simply stating my own personal opinion. God has given the scientists the knowledge to uncover things, I don't dispute that. Yes, we all have free will, so we all have to live our life and believe in what we believe in regardless of what someone else thinks.

[cd20]

(Playing devils advocate here) What do you think of Judaism? Because they believe in the same God as Christians, but they do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah that the Old Testament predicts, they are still waiting for theirs. Christianity is technically a schism from Judaism, with modern Judaism being at least 500 years older than Christianity and having its roots 1300 years before that! Islam is also an Abrahamic religion, their God just has a different name. Jesus is very important in the eyes of Muslims and Jews, but rather as a prophet instead of the son of God. So in terms of Abrahamic religions, surely the one true God is the same, just is slightly different contexts? Obviously religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism are not Abrahamic, but we have to remember that while it originated in the middle East/the eastern Roman Empire, Christianity is very much a western phenomenon, not every area of the world believes in it, and not every area of the world would have even heard about Judaism, let alone Christianity back when Jesus was alive, so who are we to tell them there is only one true God, if that god didn't exist to them in the first place? - again, playing devil's advocate, your point is very valid as are your beliefs!

Haha, Maddie, I know you like to play devil's advocate and that is okay. It keeps the conversation lively and makes me think (although my brain hurts today!). I do not know a ton about Judaism, but yes, they believe in one God and they follow the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, the Law books), but they also have ancient writings that are only for them.
As far as Christianity, the term, it started out as a racial slur...I actually wrote a blog post about it a while back in December, but the word "Christian" is only used three times in the Bible.

Oh wow I didn't know that, that's really interesting! Was it a racial slur or more of an insult? Because back then racism wasn't really a big thing. There was discrimination sadly, yes, but not so much racism!
I am sorry your brain is hurting today, I shall try to not make you think to much
So all Abrahamic religions tend to follow the same God, they just have different names and contexts for Him! So in essence, to those religions there is one true God and He is the same for all!

Sorry, didn't realize I put racial slur, it was an insult, a sign of derision, yet those who followed Christ saw it as a badge of honor.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I honestly do not believe this to be true. Granted, the question of the timeline of the universe is a difficult one, it is also subject to individual understanding and perception. To me, I do not believe it is that complicated God deceiving us. I believe that the school of thought is based on the author's understanding of all the knowledge he has acquired. I also believe not everything will be figured out, some will forever remain a mystery.

Some will remain as mysteries forever. That is true. But why can't we let religion and science alone forever? Why we want to compare these two and go into this sort of complicated assumptions?

I agree that the biblical stories cannot be taken with their literal value. But seemingly not only this author, but many scholars who were before him has done various studies regarding the beginning of the universe as per the bible, and they have made various conclusions. What this author has done is only to collect them and present them as a whole. So have all these scholars gone in a wrong path? Have the God always been true but these scholars are at fault?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

That's a difficult question to answer. I believe the world has existed for a while. Unfortunately, I would disagree with the author simply because it is all speculation that to God, a day is thousands of years. I side with science for now but I acknowledge his research and sharing his opinions.

Yes, definitely we have to give some credit to the author for his extensive research regarding the subject and developing a compelling theory. But as most of the people believe, I too believe what science has said so far is true. Earth is few billions of years old, and even life on earth is few billions of years old. Maybe this author has misinterpreted some scriptures and come to the conclusion of this 6000 year concept. But apparently it has no value when we look at what we have gained through science

Yeah it is highly likely that the author misinterpreted or interpreted some of the Bible on his own and came to his own conclusions on the age of the world.

Seemingly this is not only the author's thought process. He has referred to many scholars in his book and showed how they calculated these time periods. He even specifically mentions that God has created everything in 6000 years, but has made it to see far old. If it is a misinterpretation, then whole a lot of scholars have to be wrong, which is quite unlikely

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I doubt an omnipotent God would waste his time setting up a hoax in order to deceive us simple minded humans! It is not congruent with anything else that he has done (as recorded in the Bible account) and there’s no reason as to why he would have done it. More likely, it is humans’ interpretation of the evidence that is erroneous and will be corrected and enlightened as time goes on.

The bible was written by humans too. So it is highly possible for those humans to be wrong too. What if they have written a story that they created? There was no one to supervise them (it says God guided them, but as far as I see, the guided ones only kept those information verbally), so they could very well write whatever they want. Why we always try to say that the present interpretations are wrong? What if it has been wrong from the beginning?

[ReaderAisha2020]

God does not decieve people and things are really are we told they are by revelation. Scientists can sometimes be mistaken, and not everything scientists claim is true, and things can be found to be false after they previously considered true. People and books can also be mistaken. Discussions about the length of the world can only be speculation by scientists, as they were not actually there and I can't see how they know exactly

[riyosha]

The author has a pretty interesting take on this, but I'll have to disagree. This is just a theory, and as many have pointed out not even first hand information. For all we know, God may just be human fiction. In any case, it's hard to decipher what she intended.

[Maddie Atkinson]

Haha, Maddie, I know you like to play devil's advocate and that is okay. It keeps the conversation lively and makes me think (although my brain hurts today!). I do not know a ton about Judaism, but yes, they believe in one God and they follow the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible, the Law books), but they also have ancient writings that are only for them.
As far as Christianity, the term, it started out as a racial slur...I actually wrote a blog post about it a while back in December, but the word "Christian" is only used three times in the Bible.

Oh wow I didn't know that, that's really interesting! Was it a racial slur or more of an insult? Because back then racism wasn't really a big thing. There was discrimination sadly, yes, but not so much racism!
I am sorry your brain is hurting today, I shall try to not make you think to much
So all Abrahamic religions tend to follow the same God, they just have different names and contexts for Him! So in essence, to those religions there is one true God and He is the same for all!

Sorry, didn't realize I put racial slur, it was an insult, a sign of derision, yet those who followed Christ saw it as a badge of honor.

It's sad that discrimination has been around for so long and people still haven't learned there lesson that it is wrong! I guess back then it would have been to basically say 'them vs. us' in the Jewish community? Correct me if I am wrong!

[Ivana Tomaš]

I think it is wrong to say that God has deceived us. I think it is impossible to know the full truth about the origin of everything, but I also believe that the Bible and science complement each other. In addition, I think that in the hundreds of years from now there will be new ideas, theses, but also some kind of evidence about things that we think are true today.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

What reason would God have to deceive us? What would he gain by doing that? I certainly don't think that this statement is true, nor that all scientific discoveries are false.

That is my question too. What might have been God's intention for such a thing? On the other hand, you say that not all scientific discoveries are false. Did you mean that some may be false? Why always science has to be a fault? Why can't be this author has misinterpreted that concept? First of all, why can't the biblical authors have done a mistake or a complete blunder? Why this whole creation story can't be something else?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

God does not decieve people and things are really are we told they are by revelation. Scientists can sometimes be mistaken, and not everything scientists claim is true, and things can be found to be false after they previously considered true. People and books can also be mistaken. Discussions about the length of the world can only be speculation by scientists, as they were not actually there and I can't see how they know exactly

I agree. Scientists cannot know how the universe began exactly. But they did not form a theory out of nowhere, but depending on experiments, observations, and evidence they have formed a theory. They are willingly doing changes or updates to that theory with the ongoing scientific findings.

And I too agree that books and people can be wrong. Keeping that in mind, the bible is also a book written by people. What difference of that book and the authors have for some other book which is written by human authors. It is not that God He Himself wrote it. It is said that the stories came down through generations in a verbal form were written. So why no one consider the high possibility for those stories to be false?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

The author has a pretty interesting take on this, but I'll have to disagree. This is just a theory, and as many have pointed out not even first hand information. For all we know, God may just be human fiction. In any case, it's hard to decipher what she intended.

I am glad that I found atleast one person who is considering the possibility of this whole 'Go concept' has the possibility to be a mere fiction by ancient men. What I believe about religions is that people who could think differently formed them and the ordinary ones chose either to follow them or not. So these fantastic stories has been made by these men and after telling them so many times to so many people, ultimately it has become the truth. So even nowadays, when the scientific knowledge is so advanced, we see still people who want to strongly bbelieve in those myths, rather than being open to new knowledge and new concepts