Old Irish proverb "Never engage in a debate with a priest at the local pub"

I would love to hear explained how recently discovered dinosaur bones contain soft tissue.

Curious to know how many ‘actual’ dinosaur bones Michael looked at (with his own eyes, in real life) in the course of his research for this book.

The problem is equating the Bible (or any other scripture) with God. Scriptures are ways of approaching spiritual understanding and realisation, they point to the thing, they are not the thing itself.

A Jew marries a Native American woman. His mother disowns him. After a few years he calls her and says she is now a grandmother. He assures her not to worry because they have given their newborn daughter a Jewish name, Whitefish.

I hate the arrogance of these people who laugh at Usher as if they know something, anything, about the reality of the world around us.

The Genesis Enigma , Why the Bible is Scientifically Accurate. by Andrew Parker , is an interesting read along the lines of this discussion.

Religious Britain builds empire. Britain elites become secular. Precipitous decline. Populous becomes secular. British public becomes secular. Decline continues. I may be wrong about this and I know there are details but still, religious inventors gave us the modern world. We secularists (myself included) have created the modern cesspit.

I await the day where honest intellects know with humility not to conflate natural selection with origin of life & species as though assuming 'we all now know' 'the science is settled'. Especially as we see advances in biological & medical understanding & the narratives surrounding them being so malappropriated to the detriment of individuals & society in general.

Western Church, not Eastern.

Christianity has SO much more to say about public morality and even political theory (note the bulk of the Old Testament narrates political object lessons from history), that it never should have been sidelined over our confusion over our scientific understanding of the early chapters of Genesis. People throw it all off too easily. And yet that in itself is nothing new; it too is described in the Bible, from the early history of Israel onwards. Just because Ballymena chained up the playpark on Sundays does not mean that Christianity itself is likely to be bunk and the elite should be dissolved. The main problem, I think, is that people know so little about Christianity and its history. If they did, they would know that things like that are not the norm. Slavery was not the norm; quite the reverse. I was not really aware of Byzantium until the last few years; there never was a Christian Dark Age, nor does our current time seem to be particularly enlightened compared to what came before. It seems more dangerous and fanatical than ever, and I don't mean around the edges: Look at the incredible bloodlust to fight Russia; the naive credulity that accepts that Putin is a new Hitler; the lack of curiosity to understand what is really going on.

I have never understood why both can't be true. Dinosaurs beat dogma. If you believe in God is also existence then Dinosaurs can't win

I love it. This guy gave a great explanation of how organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the YMCA emerged. Lol

I enjoyed the guest. The host needed to stop interrupting. Also, he just had to get in that jab at Sam Harris, didn’t he, to prove he’s on the right side of history.

“The Bible is just stories. But we know dinosaurs are definitely real because the Greeks and ancients wrote about Griffins and monsters” 😂

What is the best dinosaur joke?

To me this makes sense: it is logical to believe in Creator that created the Universe with its own rules (laws of Nature), and this Universe is developing according to these laws of Nature. That means even the evolution is the result of the Creator's work. Regarding Creator itself - Herbert Spencer had a very logical take on this. Not believing in Creator is actually less logical than believing. The other alternatives - that Universe created itself, or it has always existed, are contradictory. We can also accept that we will never know the true nature of the Creator or - it is our eternal quest to find that true nature. Religions are just mental frameworks that people came up with to explain the Universe and organize their lives. They are all equally false, but they are still valuable (if false). However, we might need a major update to them - what worked on illiterate peoples in the past may not work with educated ones anymore.

here is a chatgpt summary: - The speaker is a 19th-century historian interested in culture wars. - The speaker's first book was about the abolition of slavery. - The book about dinosaurs explores the intellectual battle between forces of reaction and progress during the same period as the abolition of slavery. - The term "dinosaur" was not initially used; discoveries like the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus predate it. - Mary Anning's discoveries in 1811, including the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus, marked the beginning of significant fossil findings. - Gideon Mantel discovered iguanodon teeth, and William Buckland pieced together megalosaurus bones, coining the term "dinosaur." - The term "dinosaur" could have been "scrotum humanum" based on a misinterpretation of a thigh bone found in the 17th century. - Ancient civilizations knew of dinosaur bones but interpreted them as mythological creatures like griffins and dragons. - The development of paleontology in Britain was aided by the Industrial Revolution and the country's academic and societal infrastructure. - Archbishop James Usher calculated the Earth's creation date as 4004 BC, which became widely accepted after being printed in the King James Bible. - The speaker discusses the shift from religious to secular society in Britain and the role of paleontology in this transition. - The discovery of dinosaurs and new geological theories challenged the biblical timeline and prompted a cultural and intellectual shift. - Richard Owen coined the term "dinosaur" to argue against theories of evolution and species development. - The speaker discusses the integration of Charles Lyell's geology and Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. - Thomas Huxley used fossil evidence to support Darwin's theory, leading to the acceptance of evolution. - The speaker addresses the intertwining of science and religion, with many early dinosaur discoverers being devout Christians. - The "culture wars" over dinosaurs and science were also influenced by broader political ideologies and social changes. - The speaker suggests that the story of dinosaurs and the culture war has relevance today in how evidence is presented and ideologies are challenged. - The church adapted to the changing intellectual landscape by focusing on community and morality rather than strict biblical literalism. - The speaker notes that dinosaurs are still relevant today, with some people holding unconventional beliefs about their existence and history. - Main message: The discovery of dinosaurs and the development of paleontology in the 19th century played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural shift from religious to secular society, influencing both science and religion.

Bone of contention :D

The type of discussion that comes as a result of too much coffee, to little actual work doing something useful

So you dont believe in human evolution ?! Cause war doesn’t pay ….

Go dinosaurs

God put dinosaur bones into the ground as a practical Joke.....he's a bit of a funster

It all comes back to trusting the Bible right from Genesis. No matter what intellectual levels we try to 'change the channel' to, this issue never goes away. You'll never be satisfied with your faith until you're satisfied you can trust God from His first Word.

Bon Vent! 😜.

Godzilla vs Kong vs T-Rex vs God

Resting a glass of wine on top of a book, really? Have some respect for books.

Everybody knows dinosaur bones were discarded by ancient giant aliens on their way home from a night out.

Spoiler alert: Women inherit the earth.

Spoiler alert: Dinosaurs win.

The Second Coming occurred in 70 AD. The Culture War has been raging since then: 'Who are the Jews?' - Don't ask that! Ask about evolution, gender, blah, blah, just don't ask 'Who are the Jews?'