My topic for a persuasive essay : Good yes? Discuss^^

[SourRoses]

My opinion is, with writing a paper containing differing views... I think it's really important to lay out your paper from a middle ground.. one where scientific theories are presented consistently as theories.
Not making the mistake my science teacher used to make EVERY time, and refer to everything as a fact.
Several things that teacher was adamant about have since been changed and corrected by the scientific community.. something to keep in mind for your future.
If you go the other way and seem to be ridiculing other viewpoints... little will be learned as people will close their ears to you.

For your learning of this subject... you can download E-Sword (but keep in mind licensing agreements of free programs)... http://www.e-sword.net/

As a Christian who is learning something new every day.... something you might also keep in mind is the translation and affects that culture and perspectives had on the Bible. It wouldn't hurt you to do some extra research into the proper translations of verses and not take everything at the very first face-value. Studying the Bible takes time and dedication, the further you get into it, the more you understand other parts.

I just heard an amazing teaching last week on Adam and Eve, including some aspects that I had never considered before. If you'd like a little insight from a believer on specific Bible issues, feel free to PM me your questions. Knowledge is always a good thing.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory Helps break it down as to why, say, the theory of gravity, follows different rules than a theory that JFK was an alien.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

I myself am an Agnostic (well, really an agnostic atheist). Just thought I'd throw you that to make sure you know you're not alone

I always feel much more confident about something I'm presenting publicly when I realize I'm not alone.

One thing I'd like to say is that science is science. Most everything in science is fact as we know fact to be (except for what is labeled otherwise), which has been verified and tested rigorously. Do not discount it just because a majority of the people you are presenting to hold a belief based on ancient writings/happenings which aren't factual as they cannot be proven. Just because they don't accept is as fact because of their beliefs doesn't mean it's not! Also, scientific theories aren't like, say, crazy uncle ed's theory that Hitler is coming back to power through the mass processing of crayons.

The only real advice I have to give is think about what you say before you say it. When I wrote a paper of a similar sort, I didn't think about what I said in the paper before turning it in. While the teacher was hatefully biased and failed the paper because it was "Highly derogatory and offensive", it was not meant to be such (and to a reasonable person wouldn't have been). After re-reading it I realized that some of it may have seemed abrasive to those of the christian/catholic faith. I'm not saying not to make certain points at all, as they need to be said, just keep in mind that people are overly sensitive about it and even if you don't mean to word it in a abrasive way they will easily find it to be such, as they will feel attacked or put down.

I wish you luck.

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

Quote:
As a Christian, I don't agree with a lot of what you've stated, but I do have some ways you can prepare and present your speech better, as a class I'm in is working on speeches right now (we just presented a prepared speech, and now we're working on extemporaneous speeches).

First, the Jewish word that Moses used for "day" in Genesis means 24 hours.

That's all I'll help you with the actual writing of your speech, because our opinions are very different. But as for preparing and presenting...

Just some de-stressers that you may or may not have already talked about in class. Rub/massage your ears; tap your chest (lightly); if you're a natural fidgeter, fidget before the test, because you're usually fidgeting with something that causes you to relax, just remember that you can't fidget during the speech. Always, always, always make eye contact. And don't psych yourself out and think you can't do it, 'cause you can do it.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think for your purposes, looking at the two differing Genesis accounts of the creation of humans might give you some talking points. Jewish scholars have tried to reconcile them, and Christians tend to ignore the fact that they are different. You might also look into the meaning of some of the words used. This is a general sort of information to give you some starting points.

You need to keep in mind that for a persuasive argument, using the Bible as a starting point is going make your argument harder. I think it would be very hard to say any particular hominid corresponds to Adam and Eve. The fact the the words used are actually plural is a starting point. There is genetic information that goes back to a single female human ancestor, I think. You may want to include that in your essay. There are so many creation stories, all of them different. Using the biblical one might be a mistake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve

 

[Spookwriter]

I'll have to ponder this a bit. Not a simple question.

As I understand it, the original bible was written in Hebrew.
The Hebrew word for man was much like "aw-dawn". Meaning not one
single man as we accept it today, but man-kind as a whole.

"aw-dawn-ah" was the Hebrew word for red earth. That aw-dawn
was made from the aw-dawn-ah...or that man was made from the
dirt of the earth.

The early bible was then translated into the Greek, where adam (with
the bar over the a's but I don't know how to do that.)...was again
the word for mankind.

"Adam" was not to come to mean one single person until the King James
Bible.

Consider for a moment for what purpose would God choose to name the
first man ever created "Adam"? Why not Moses, or John, or even Bob?
Could be as the original Hebrew was written?

And if we accept the Hebrew as true, does that then lessen the accepted
modern version of Adam and Eve?

For MAN still sinned.

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Spook makes some good points. Will you be using the original translation or the modern version? There seems to be quite the difference between the 2 options.

I agree with OP's thought process. I've often pondered the same idea many times.
My version is still being processed in my mind but I'm very intrigued by your speech so far and can't wait for the end result.

Looks good so far

Good luck!
Keep us updated

 

[Spookwriter]

"Yom" was a Hebrew word for time. Three different meanings for "yom"
are...

1. The daylight portion of a single day. ie, sunrise to sunset.

2. A single 24 hour span of time. One day.

3. A period of time in which something happened. ie, the dinosaur age.

* an echad yom was a very long period of time.

 

[Desirai]

Make sure you point out that men and women do not have different numbers of ribs ..

 

[Spookwriter]

I think I would love to read the paper when Moochie gets it written.
I would enjoy even more being there to hear it in person.

Nice article in this months National Geographic. Surely everyone gets
this? Or Biblical Archaeology? Or is Mrs. Spook right and I've turned
into a geek?

But if science could prove the bible to be true...to prove it beyond a
doubt, then we wouldn't have much use for faith would we? And without
that faith, would we still have religion?

Like this...many people today do not believe in God. Sounds like a true
enough fact for everyone? Many people choose to not believe in God because
they have no proof that God exists.

On the other hand many other people do believe in God on their FAITH that
He is real. We have no proof that He is real. But we still believe. It's called FAITH.

But IF ---and that is IF--- science could prove that God really does exist...beyond
the shadow of a doubt... At that point it would become a sure thing and all faith
would be lost.

Still like to read Moochies paper...