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	<title>Comments on: Genesis 1</title>
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	<description>Not responsible for any minds blown.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 19:52:54 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>By: M</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-2#comment-45551</link>
		<dc:creator>M</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 19:52:54 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>Anyway, myths, traditions and beliefs are fascinating.
You can take them as insightful (some less insightful ;) stories.

You don&#039;t have to &quot;believe&quot; a story to appreciate it in some way. Be it beauty of text, wisdom in some aspect of life, whatever...

Besides, taking everything to &quot;true or false&quot; ground is kind of childish anyway. =_=
Be it Bible or Wicca or some cheesy self help book, there&#039;s surely a lot of interesting things to contemplate and to appreciate, or to disagree with... a great source of wisdom ;)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Anyway, myths, traditions and beliefs are fascinating.<br />
You can take them as insightful (some less insightful <img src='http://dmitrybrant.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' />  stories.</p>
<p>You don't have to "believe" a story to appreciate it in some way. Be it beauty of text, wisdom in some aspect of life, whatever...</p>
<p>Besides, taking everything to "true or false" ground is kind of childish anyway. =_=<br />
Be it Bible or Wicca or some cheesy self help book, there's surely a lot of interesting things to contemplate and to appreciate, or to disagree with... a great source of wisdom <img src='http://dmitrybrant.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: M</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-45549</link>
		<dc:creator>M</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 19:45:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-45549</guid>
		<description>Personally, I think what prevents me from believing in a god is what his followers do

xD</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Personally, I think what prevents me from believing in a god is what his followers do</p>
<p>xD</p>
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		<title>By: Krime</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-39653</link>
		<dc:creator>Krime</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:34:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-39653</guid>
		<description>well ill say this db, as an athiest, agnostic, or whatever you call yourself, ill give you this, at least you actually picked up the book bsfore you condemed it, which is more than i can say for most athiests(etc)!
the problem is, no matter how much of it is actually proven, to most athiests(etc) it never seems to be &#039;enough&#039; proof, or is debunked with no opposite evidence disproving the evidence before you.
you stated to someone in one of your first posts, &quot;you can google it&quot; well you can google it too! how about a youtube video from googling, Scientific Evidence that God is real! by GateMaster (be sure to type that spelling and all)
but i suppose you&#039;ll just come back and explane those scientists are fools or frauds, with no actual evidence to disprove them!
how about the millions of pictures of angels, spirits, ghosts, entities, yes even im totally sure most are faked, but surely a few out of them had to be genuine, how do you explain that? if those spirits exist, how can you say a &#039;holy spirit&#039; does not?
if you truely want proof, bend a knee and ask god to come into your life, mind, body, soul, and maybe, just maybe you&#039;ll find the proof you&#039;ve been looking for!
btw, to let you know, im bookmarking this site, i WILL be back!
please forgive any misspellings, i suck at spelling!
God Bless!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>well ill say this db, as an athiest, agnostic, or whatever you call yourself, ill give you this, at least you actually picked up the book bsfore you condemed it, which is more than i can say for most athiests(etc)!<br />
the problem is, no matter how much of it is actually proven, to most athiests(etc) it never seems to be 'enough' proof, or is debunked with no opposite evidence disproving the evidence before you.<br />
you stated to someone in one of your first posts, "you can google it" well you can google it too! how about a youtube video from googling, Scientific Evidence that God is real! by GateMaster (be sure to type that spelling and all)<br />
but i suppose you'll just come back and explane those scientists are fools or frauds, with no actual evidence to disprove them!<br />
how about the millions of pictures of angels, spirits, ghosts, entities, yes even im totally sure most are faked, but surely a few out of them had to be genuine, how do you explain that? if those spirits exist, how can you say a 'holy spirit' does not?<br />
if you truely want proof, bend a knee and ask god to come into your life, mind, body, soul, and maybe, just maybe you'll find the proof you've been looking for!<br />
btw, to let you know, im bookmarking this site, i WILL be back!<br />
please forgive any misspellings, i suck at spelling!<br />
God Bless!</p>
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		<title>By: Zeibura</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-38578</link>
		<dc:creator>Zeibura</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:58:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-38578</guid>
		<description>&quot;This implies that there is a single continent and a single ocean on the planet, and yet we know that there are multiple continents and multiple bodies of water.&quot;

Actually, we know that continents attach and detach from each other in cycles, and at many times throughout the Earth&#039;s history there have been one continent and one body of water (e.g. Pangaea and Panthalassa). But if you believe the world is 6,000 years old as well as the creation story being valid then your point stands.)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>"This implies that there is a single continent and a single ocean on the planet, and yet we know that there are multiple continents and multiple bodies of water."</p>
<p>Actually, we know that continents attach and detach from each other in cycles, and at many times throughout the Earth's history there have been one continent and one body of water (e.g. Pangaea and Panthalassa). But if you believe the world is 6,000 years old as well as the creation story being valid then your point stands.)</p>
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		<title>By: db</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-27487</link>
		<dc:creator>db</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:45:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-27487</guid>
		<description>@John,
Where to begin...
Since I doubt you&#039;ll return to read my reply to your drive-by venom-spewing, I won&#039;t even attempt a reply, except to say that it&#039;s fascinating how a brainwashed mind can be so vehemently resistant to new information.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>@John,<br />
Where to begin...<br />
Since I doubt you'll return to read my reply to your drive-by venom-spewing, I won't even attempt a reply, except to say that it's fascinating how a brainwashed mind can be so vehemently resistant to new information.</p>
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		<title>By: John</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-27476</link>
		<dc:creator>John</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:57:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-27476</guid>
		<description>This smacks of someone standing in front of the mirror clapping at themselves. I had to ask myself..is this guy even serious? The retorts are so nah nah nah like a child.

The lack of imagination is startling. Did it ever occur to the writer to read the whole bibles descriptions of God. If you did you would see that the universe is IN God. The universe is sustained by Gods thought. Remind you of anything? Had any dreams lately? Did you not create entire spaces in your dream with your tiny little mind. How much more can God, with infinite thoughts, sustain? 
And how good is he to let you roam his existence mocking him.
Your little whiny retort about where is God &quot;outside the universe&quot; is just a person with no education whatsoever of theology or philosophy. If you claim you do..boy you didnt retain a pebble of it.

The other planets are useless? What,haven&#039;t picked up a scientific journal in your life? The entire universe, including its weight are paramount for life on earth. Any different and we could not exist. Ever think God might love to create..that he loves populating the universe? Can you really be this dumb? Or are you just so biased you cant concede a single point of reason?
Pathetic
You dont have the answers probey</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This smacks of someone standing in front of the mirror clapping at themselves. I had to ask myself..is this guy even serious? The retorts are so nah nah nah like a child.</p>
<p>The lack of imagination is startling. Did it ever occur to the writer to read the whole bibles descriptions of God. If you did you would see that the universe is IN God. The universe is sustained by Gods thought. Remind you of anything? Had any dreams lately? Did you not create entire spaces in your dream with your tiny little mind. How much more can God, with infinite thoughts, sustain?<br />
And how good is he to let you roam his existence mocking him.<br />
Your little whiny retort about where is God "outside the universe" is just a person with no education whatsoever of theology or philosophy. If you claim you do..boy you didnt retain a pebble of it.</p>
<p>The other planets are useless? What,haven't picked up a scientific journal in your life? The entire universe, including its weight are paramount for life on earth. Any different and we could not exist. Ever think God might love to create..that he loves populating the universe? Can you really be this dumb? Or are you just so biased you cant concede a single point of reason?<br />
Pathetic<br />
You dont have the answers probey</p>
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		<title>By: Seb</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-18608</link>
		<dc:creator>Seb</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:22:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-18608</guid>
		<description>I found this an interesting read, in my case I try to treat religion with patience. I do find those like Richard Dawkins push their points too far and end up &quot;becoming the monsters they fight&quot; so to speak. However I find your style refreshing, to those who say he is obnoxious (Luke, I&#039;m looking at you): it is a stifling society that requires us to dilute our words till they are meaningless to avoid &quot;offending&quot; people. I believe in this case the fault lies in those who are offended, outrage kills a good debate.

Keep it up db</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I found this an interesting read, in my case I try to treat religion with patience. I do find those like Richard Dawkins push their points too far and end up "becoming the monsters they fight" so to speak. However I find your style refreshing, to those who say he is obnoxious (Luke, I'm looking at you): it is a stifling society that requires us to dilute our words till they are meaningless to avoid "offending" people. I believe in this case the fault lies in those who are offended, outrage kills a good debate.</p>
<p>Keep it up db</p>
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		<title>By: Bible Project: Genesis 1 &#171; Beyond Assumptions</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-18526</link>
		<dc:creator>Bible Project: Genesis 1 &#171; Beyond Assumptions</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:21:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-18526</guid>
		<description>[...] &#8220;the evening and the morning&#8221; on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?&#8221; Skeptic Dmitry Brant writes: &#8220;For light to exist, there needs to be a light source. The light source in our solar [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] &#8220;the evening and the morning&#8221; on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?&#8221; Skeptic Dmitry Brant writes: &#8220;For light to exist, there needs to be a light source. The light source in our solar [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Barrett</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-16847</link>
		<dc:creator>Barrett</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:12:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-16847</guid>
		<description>Well that fun to read. There is a serious aspect to this kind of work though. As long as Earth is populated by large tracts of Abrahamic believers (or others even) it is important to impress upon ourselves and others (believers) what exactly it is that is being believed. Only by much review and critiquing through generations are we likely to shake off this primitive coil (why oh why does it appeal to so many still?? Even if they are generally less intellectually adroit or honest?). The Copernican &#039;revolution&#039; took its own time but is now pretty much accepted by all. By comparison it was a wavelap compared to the tidal wave that is the physics/chemistry/biology description of our universe (and let&#039;s not forget; these are mutually incompatible models of the universe) and so we can expect a long haul. Paine et al. are all part of the change that will one day look instantaneous (as the Copernican revolution does now) and hopefully we are able to preclude Armageddon in the interim. Keep up the good fight.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well that fun to read. There is a serious aspect to this kind of work though. As long as Earth is populated by large tracts of Abrahamic believers (or others even) it is important to impress upon ourselves and others (believers) what exactly it is that is being believed. Only by much review and critiquing through generations are we likely to shake off this primitive coil (why oh why does it appeal to so many still?? Even if they are generally less intellectually adroit or honest?). The Copernican 'revolution' took its own time but is now pretty much accepted by all. By comparison it was a wavelap compared to the tidal wave that is the physics/chemistry/biology description of our universe (and let's not forget; these are mutually incompatible models of the universe) and so we can expect a long haul. Paine et al. are all part of the change that will one day look instantaneous (as the Copernican revolution does now) and hopefully we are able to preclude Armageddon in the interim. Keep up the good fight.</p>
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		<title>By: Cassius</title>
		<link>http://dmitrybrant.com/nitpicking-genesis/genesis-1/comment-page-1#comment-16484</link>
		<dc:creator>Cassius</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:46:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://dmitrybrant.com/?page_id=6#comment-16484</guid>
		<description>&quot;...heaven with the earth&quot;.  To ALL the ancients, &quot;heaven&quot; (Grk. Ouranos, Heb. Heshmim, Lat. Celo) meant the same thing, and that one thing (unlike &quot;atmosphere&quot; or &quot;space&quot;) was one that all prescientific knew and were well aware of: all those words mean &quot;the sky&quot;, and - this is important - the sky as presented to the natural human eye.  Zeus or Jupiter was &quot;God in Heaven&quot; because - and this is important - his domain was, specifically, the sky and ruled everything in its domain (Posoiden ruled the waters, and Hephaistos the the earth, and between them the three ruled the whole world.)

The use of the word &quot;Heaven&quot; for a state after death is a late corruption, based on a misunderstanding of the Gospel logos (Grk., as used by Aristotle: &quot;story&quot;, &quot;fable&quot; or &quot;plotline&quot; of a drama); that is, the story that the Gospel was trying to tell.

Jesus &quot;ascended into heaven&quot; after his death: this means that HE FLEW OFF INTO THE SKY, LIKE NEO OR SUPERMAN.  (!!!!!!!  Did you even get that?  I had to figure it out myself: no Christian has ever pointed it out to me, but that&#039;s what &quot;to ascend into heaven&quot; LITERALLY, do you hear me?  LITERALLY MEANS.)

This is the imagery that the author of the Gospel was aiming at, in context of the story which is being told: Jesus, who is supposed to have been the most remarkable man ever to live, appears to his disciples, alive and in his own body, after his death.  He&#039;s SURVIVED DEATH, and he invites Thomas to poke his finger into his holes, to make sure he knows for sure that it is he, Jesus, in the flesh.  And HERE IS THE CLIMAX OF THE STORY: after Jesus appears to his disciples and proves that it&#039;s he, himself, he FLIES OF INTO THE SKY!!!!!!

How cool is that???  Woah, Keanu Reeves-style!  If Gibson hadn&#039;t been a complete idiot, he would have put that into his movie.

By the way, this is entirely consistent with Jesus&#039; character.

Later, however, because Jesus was a good man and he ascended into heaven after he died, the idea was corrupted, and &quot;heaven&quot; BECAME, not the sky, but &quot;a place where good people go when they die.&quot;  This understanding of the word &quot;heaven&quot; is one that the ancients - neither Jew not Gentile - could never possibly have had, and it is never, ever used in that sense in any pre-Christian literature, in any culture, including the Hebrew bible.

So Genesis 1:1 would have been read as the simple statement, &quot;To start things off, God created everything all at once,&quot; which is the evident sense of the passage anyway.  It DOES NOT MEAN that God &quot;created Earth, and the afterlife for good people all at once&quot;, because that&#039;s not what &quot;heshmim&quot; meant to the Jews; it meant, &quot;the sky&quot;.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>"...heaven with the earth".  To ALL the ancients, "heaven" (Grk. Ouranos, Heb. Heshmim, Lat. Celo) meant the same thing, and that one thing (unlike "atmosphere" or "space") was one that all prescientific knew and were well aware of: all those words mean "the sky", and - this is important - the sky as presented to the natural human eye.  Zeus or Jupiter was "God in Heaven" because - and this is important - his domain was, specifically, the sky and ruled everything in its domain (Posoiden ruled the waters, and Hephaistos the the earth, and between them the three ruled the whole world.)</p>
<p>The use of the word "Heaven" for a state after death is a late corruption, based on a misunderstanding of the Gospel logos (Grk., as used by Aristotle: "story", "fable" or "plotline" of a drama); that is, the story that the Gospel was trying to tell.</p>
<p>Jesus "ascended into heaven" after his death: this means that HE FLEW OFF INTO THE SKY, LIKE NEO OR SUPERMAN.  (!!!!!!!  Did you even get that?  I had to figure it out myself: no Christian has ever pointed it out to me, but that's what "to ascend into heaven" LITERALLY, do you hear me?  LITERALLY MEANS.)</p>
<p>This is the imagery that the author of the Gospel was aiming at, in context of the story which is being told: Jesus, who is supposed to have been the most remarkable man ever to live, appears to his disciples, alive and in his own body, after his death.  He's SURVIVED DEATH, and he invites Thomas to poke his finger into his holes, to make sure he knows for sure that it is he, Jesus, in the flesh.  And HERE IS THE CLIMAX OF THE STORY: after Jesus appears to his disciples and proves that it's he, himself, he FLIES OF INTO THE SKY!!!!!!</p>
<p>How cool is that???  Woah, Keanu Reeves-style!  If Gibson hadn't been a complete idiot, he would have put that into his movie.</p>
<p>By the way, this is entirely consistent with Jesus' character.</p>
<p>Later, however, because Jesus was a good man and he ascended into heaven after he died, the idea was corrupted, and "heaven" BECAME, not the sky, but "a place where good people go when they die."  This understanding of the word "heaven" is one that the ancients - neither Jew not Gentile - could never possibly have had, and it is never, ever used in that sense in any pre-Christian literature, in any culture, including the Hebrew bible.</p>
<p>So Genesis 1:1 would have been read as the simple statement, "To start things off, God created everything all at once," which is the evident sense of the passage anyway.  It DOES NOT MEAN that God "created Earth, and the afterlife for good people all at once", because that's not what "heshmim" meant to the Jews; it meant, "the sky".</p>
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