Standing On The Premises

Here Dan basically tries to say the bible is full of contradictions. I'm not sure if he's trying to make stuff up for people who don't read the bible or if he really believes these are contradictions.

Some things Barker talks about really don't make sense, such as the statement about a helper.

"Servants are inferior to their masters. Woman was created from Adam's rib to be a helper to man. Woman is a servant, therefore inferior to man."

Unless I'm losing his meaning here, he's saying helpers are inferior to those whom they are helping. I've been helped by many who are superior to me, especially teachers! The original Hebrew meaning for helper here is "one who helps", which is the same word used for God when "He" helps us.

Exd 18:4, Deu 33:7, Deu 33:26, Deu 33:29, Psa 33:20, Psa 70:5, Psa 115:9, Psa 115:10, Psa 115:11, Psa 121:2, Psa 124:8, Hsa 13:9

Dan also tries to say Christians dismiss their doubts and questions, that they just accept what they are told. I think this is half true. Once you see the proof of the bible the answers it gives to questions unanswerable by science, such as can God really save your soul, can easily be taken as fact. We've gained trust in God now to the point of accepting this promise. No one else can actually give an answer to those questions unless you claim equality with God.

I believe questioning "why" something is wrong or "why" God tells us something is the way it is, is a GREAT way to learn more about God and yourself! How much more would we love God if we knew more about how He thinks? Some people say the more you get to know someone, the more you hate them. Really, you're just getting to know more of the sucky things about them. With God, since He's perfect, you learn that the things you thought were so horrible about Him actually are freakin' awesome! Pretty cool, hu.

It's easy to say I've often been frusrated with God and His ways, but when I study the act or situation, I soon learn He's got a point, and a good one at that. Not only does He have a point, but it really shows how much He cares and loves the people He's created.

Moving on...

Dan asks the question, (paraphrased) "do we really need to ask all of these questions?"

For example, "Is there meaning to life?"

I think the reason people ask this is because if there "is" meaning to life we sure would like to find it out. Due to our lack of power and life span, settling with our own meaning to life is not very exciting, so people tend to abandon the thought of it.

In the end, using Dan's logic, we can all just assume there is no meaning to life rather than hope there is and try to find it... or assume the real meaning to life is your day to day activities. Just turn off your brain and stop searching. Have some icecream.