Wayne

Intentional contradictions. That is aninteresting idea. I never thought that the inconsistencies the Biblewere purposefully put in. I read today in my humanities text book that “ The Bible is not a philosophical treatise; its a sacredbook” I have to say I'm not sure what that means. The statementseems to suggest that we shouldn't use critical thinking withreligious books and just take it on faith. If that is so, I thinkthats fairly insane. Personally I think that we were given these nicefunctioning brains and if we do not use them we are showingdisrespect to who or whatever gave them to us. Therefore, I willcontinue to explore all these new ideas that all you greatphilosophers have given me. Thank you for that fine point you madeon the Trinity. Thanks for the response.

I always thought that the Trinity was a New Testament thing. I'm going to have to look into that. Thanks for the response.

Thankyou for your response, I never considered that the belief may have come from an older polytheistic religion. That would certainly explain the passage. I recently learned in my humanities course that translating the Bible into modern languages was a big deal during the Reformation. But I never considered that they could of made an error. I love posting questions on this site, because I always get such great responses and it make me see things in a different light. Thanks.

My question is just about a story in the Bible I have always been curious about: in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. Who is He talking to? Again in Genesis 3:22 “The man has now become like one of us.” Who is “us”? The answer that Ive recieved from religous folk is that "I over-think things". I thought maybe one of you philosophiers might be able to help me out. Thanks, Wayne

Its funny I've only ever used the dictionary part of my first argument as an illustration, I never thought of actually looking it up. Having the definition makes the argument stronger. I don't know too much about the social contract theory. I asked some of my friends and it really sparked a lively (and bit heated) debate. I found a copy of that book you recommended No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority by Lysander Spooner. So I'm going to check it out. Thank you for the great input. And yes I absolutely have more to think about!

You make a good point. Socrates waspretty old at the time and running to a different polis might not ofsounded like such a good idea. I did not take into account the effectthat martyrdom can have. Perhaps if he had chose to live, his liveand work would not have the impact it has had. Socrates did haveyoung children at the time, so I find in hard to believe thatdrinking the hemlock instead of escaping was the right thing to do.But like you said that might be my own values. Thank you for the response. It wasreally helpful and has given me something think about.

I am a big fan of Socrates. The way hewas steadfast in his search for truth is inspirational. However, Ihave recently had a few questions about Socrates and I thought thatthis would be the appropriate place to ask. 1: When Socrates was questioningEuthyphro about piety. Euthyphro's first response seem to me to bethe correct one. Eurthyphro says that piety is the action that he isperforming. By taking his father to court for killing a slave.(Euthyphro's father killed the slave by tying him up and putting himin a ditch; the slave died before the father could get back to him.)Socrates rejects this because Euthyphro gave Socrates a example ofpiety instead of a definition. I think Euthyphro did know what pietyis, he only lacked the linguistic ability to give Socrates theWebsters dictionary definition of piety; does not actions speaklouder than words? By Euthyphro performing a pious act andunderstanding that the act that his is performing is pious, it seemsto me, that Euthyphro does in fact know what piety is; he justcouldn't put it into words. 2: While Socrates was in jail he wasgiven the opportunity to escape; but refuses to. All the reasonsSocrates gave to Crito are good ones. However, is it not better tolive to fight another day than die a martyr for a cause? I do not want to sound like I'm beingdisrespectful toward Socrates. I hold Socrates in the highestregards. He is the reason I started to get interested in philosophyin the first place. I really have gotten into reading about Socrateslately and your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Wayne