One of many (but one of my favorites):

http://www.theologica.net/paul.html

My apologies....I took this as an inference that I had never read the pertinent scriptures:



This is not "God" predicting the future, it's "God" engineering the future.

As for wasting your time, it was your choice to respond; besides, a simple chapter and verse reference was all that I requested, not an ad hoc regurgitation of scripture. The reason that I asked in the first place, is that I knew that no reference existed that supported your interpretation. The language of Exodus is quite simple (even in the Hebrew), and needs no additional esoteric divination.

I feel like I'm watching MRT3K ("Mystery Religion Theater 3000").

Upon further reflection (since it is highly unlikely that he wrote any of the content attributed to him, with the exception of Galatians, and all of the anti-female quotes are in Cor, 1 Tim, Tit, Eph & Col), I will tentatively withdraw the mysogyny charge; however, I will hold staunchly to: Overzealous, schizophrenic, opthalmiac, delusional, manic-depressive, OCD impaired, and just generally insane.

Again, as I have mentioned in an earlier post, Paul had no authority to make anyone an Apostle, since not even he was an Apostle.

These verses clearly show that the "heart hardening" was premeditated, and preemptive. Pharoah never had a chance. "God" was going to do this, no matter what. "God" clearly says to Moses that even though I give you these signs and wonders, it won't matter, because I have already caused a predisposition in Pharoah to discount and ignore them.

"(3) But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, (4) Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them."

You are also making a grave error in assuming that I am not fully familiar with, conversant in regard to, and cognizant of, many religious tracts; not just the several versions of the "Bible". With Christianity, I was once, as you are.....Now, I know that I can be happy without the drugs.

Reference supporting scripture please....I am going by Exodus 7:3......

But, then again, Paul was a misogynist. What would you expect from him?

This logic is backward....It does not properly address the "fact" that "God" personally intervened & manipulated the situation to ensure Pharaoh's heart was so hardened that he would refuse to faithfully negotiate with Moses, so that "God" could fulfill his master plan of punishing Egypt for not worshiping him instead of their own "Gods". This little "lesson" is so contrived & underhanded that it is as prime an example of Machiavellianism as I have ever seen.

Will you kids shut up for one minute? I can't even think!

Get the he11 away from each other, before I beat you both.

I swear, one day I'm gonna run down the road screaming, tearing my hair out.

I should have been a nun.

"Bolded" for emphasis.

Re: Liberia
The same place you got your info...I just happened to read all of it


And since you seem to enjoy perusing the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus

Numbers involved in the Exodus

Exodus 12:37 refers to 600,000 adult Hebrew men leaving Egypt with Moses, plus an unspecified but apparently large number of non-Hebrews ("A mixed multitude also went up with them" - Exodus 12:38); allowing for women and children, the total number involved may have been two million or more.[1] Egypt at the time might have supported a total population of around 3-4 million, maybe even up to 6 million,[2] although Napoleon estimated only 3 million when he invaded in 1798; in any event, the numbers given in Exodus 12:37 seem to represent something between half and almost the entire probable population of Egypt.

The logistics of the Exodus also present problems. A simple calculation shows that a group of 3 million walking 10 abreast with 6 ft between rows would extend for around 340 miles (3,000,000 / 10 * 6 = 1,800,000 ft. = 340 mi). The "very many cattle, both flocks and herds" which accompanied the fleeing Hebrews, plus straggling children and the elderly, would have increased this distance. Recent archaeological research has found no evidence that the Sinai desert ever hosted millions of people, nor of a massive population increase in Canaan, estimated to have had a population of between 50,000 and 100,000, at the end of the march.

Hebrew University professor Abraham Malamat points out that the Bible often refers to 600 and its multiples, as well as 1,000 and its multiples, typologically in order to convey the idea of a large military unit. "The issue of Exodus 12:37 is an interpretive one. The Hebrew word eleph can be translated 'thousand,' but it is also rendered in the Bible as 'clans' and 'military units.' There are thought to have been 20,000 men in the entire Egyptian army at the height of Egypt's empire. And at the battle of Ai in Joshua 7, there was a severe military setback when 36 troops were killed." Therefore if one reads alaphim (plural of eleph) as military units, the number of Hebrew fighting men lay between 5,000 and 6,000. In theory, this would give a total Hebrew population of less than 20,000, something within the range of historical possibility. Nevertheless the Bible several times cites a very specific number of people as in Numbers1:46 The total number was 603,550.

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. ~Mark Twain

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who loves his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair. ~H.L. Mencken

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
~Margaret Chase Smith

There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.
-The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.
-This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.
~Rabbi Sherwin Wine

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. ~Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. ~James Baldwin

Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
~Henry Steele Commager

A full half of Liberia's population is under the age of 18, and a significant amount of the increase is due to immigration. Unless Joseph's family had 2.5 million people in it, that dog won't hunt.

2% is considered healthy; 3% is remarkable; 4% is amazing; 5% is phenomenal. This an observation per annum...Sustained over 215 years is practically unbelievable.

World population has only increased by a factor of 10 in the last 300 years (600,000,000 to 6,000,000,000) which is an average rate of .0077 or .7%. In the case of 70 to 3,000,000, we're talking about a growth factor of 42,857 over 215 years.

No, I'm afraid it does no such thing. This oft quoted and ridiculously incorrect number is the result of some very wild assumptions. To whit, Moses, in scripture, says that there were 600,000 battle ready men. Using this figure as a baseline, some creative soul came up with the observation that there must have been at least 3 to 5 non-combatants to support each soldier in the field. Voila! 1.8 to 3 million population. Well, sorry, but that doesn't compute based on the initial size of the tribe: 70. There is no way, in a mere 215 years, that the population increased by a factor of approximately 40,000. Each child bearing female, of each successive generation, would have had to have birthed (on the average) at least 66 children, based on the Hebrew census data (see below). The statement by Moses obviously suffered a mathematical error by a probable factor of 100, which is not uncommon in Biblical text translations. Even if the error was only by a factor of 10, the women would still have had to average a generational birth rate of 6.6 per mother, over 215 years.

According to the Hebrew census of that time period, the following was recorded:

First Born Males: 22,273

Using this figure, and the general assumption that there were probably just as many first born females, we end up with 44,546. We can probably safely assume that there were just as many birth mothers as first born children: 44,546. To reach population totals of 1.8 to 3 million in 215 years (including the new females, even using 14 drastically short fertility generations of 15 years each being added into the child bearing formula AND assuming no deaths) would require about 35 to 66 childbirths per mother, respectively.

Abra, check my math!

No, but, for myself, the inverse has occurred; intelligent application of logic & reason (combined with 30 yrs of study and research) has resulted in the conclusion that the 'Bible' is so mistranslated, misinterpreted, misaligned, and misassembled that it is ludicrous to base one's spiritual faith on it, much less expect to glean any accurate knowledge of pre/history.

As for the flaming letters spelling out the text of the 'Bible' on a distant planet, my first thought would be that it was a practical joke by some aliens with way too much time on their hands.

Science does not attempt to disprove God's existence; Scientific Method does not work that way. If anything, it would merely acknowledge that, at this time, insufficient evidence exists to draw an intelligent conclusion regarding the issue. Remember, in order for the scientific method to answer a question it must be about something that you can measure (observe) & test, preferably with a numerical value (but not necessarily).

Perfect 'catch-22'. If they do disagree, then they can't really be Christian (by your assessment), and if they don't (which they probably won't, even if they really do disagree, just to avoid public disunity in regard to a common belief system) then you get to smirk, and say 'tolja!'.


An Impossibility Theorem on Self-Belief
http://economics.uchicago.edu/download/szentesbelief.pdf

Anytime.....

The "Devil" has a stamp on his left bum cheek that says "Copyright 325AD - RCC - All rights reserved".

Better yet, would you torture one innocent to save thousands of regular people?