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

[KristyHall]

I admire your effort to check facts and get back ups on you arguments. It shows that you have critical thinking skills. I'm enjoying the open discussion on biblical studies and how it relates to human history too. I hope this thread stays open and everyone keeps being civil. it has great educational potential.

 

[SourRoses]

I'm kind of..... wondering.... how it is... you are going to "persuade the stubborn people" with what you are saying so far.

I hope not to hurt your feelings... but it seems to me you think you are going to be able to change minds based on your convictions alone?

Unless you can change your goals and your methodology, I don't think you will have much success.

A goal I think would be great for you to have in your paper, is to provide information, provide a different viewpoint. Those are great things to share.

Like I said previously... Knowledge is always a good thing.

People are going to believe what they want to believe no matter what. That has something to do with the meaning of the word "Believe".

I would hope, if I were the audience for your paper... that you were going to research thoroughly. A quick read of Genesis and "throwing some verses in there"..... is only going to handicap your paper.

There are a lot of sources you can find... that will help with more details of parts of Genesis. Breaking down one word at a time has helped many Biblical scholars shed light on many areas. From the base of a word, from the word itself, one can work out usage, emphasis, connotation. From context, one can work out many things, including customs that often have *everything* to do with the meaning of a word.

For example... we here in this age and *land*... might say.. "They did it". What many different meanings might that have? It was no different in the ages recorded in the Bible.

Wikipedia is not a great source for this kind of information. I would suggest looking online for websites of Biblical scholars.. even contacting one and asking for assistance.

An under-researched, over-opinonated paper will draw the interest of very few.

With proper research and an unbiased approach, you can actually make a better case for whatever-it-is... and you will be more likely to have a rapt audience thats actually listening to you.


On another note... those who posted after me dismissing what I said about scientific discreditation... Please note Pluto. When I was in school that was a "Fact"

Being a Christian who believes solely in Creation.... I think science proves everyday, the beauty of what God has made.

 

[chickened]

I might add that shedding insight into the little known facts about a subject that the masses may not know helps keep your audience involved and listening as opposed to the general facts that everyone already knows. You do not want to sound like a broken record. I will give an example most think that the phrase "the Lord helps them that help themselves" is in the Bible, it is not. There is a reference book called Strongs Exhaustive Concordance available online I think, it combines the KJV with the Greek and Hebrew lexicon.

There is a fellow that did what you are doing his name is Josh McDowell, you may find his book "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" helpful.

 

[Matthew3590]

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Didn't Benjamin Franklin say that?

 

[Beekissed]

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Excellent points and good advice!

 

[AquaEyes]

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It seems you are attempting to show that the literal reading of Genesis is not an accurate representation of this world. This has already been settled by most Christian denominations, and was discussed 1600 years ago by St. Augustine in his work The Literal Meaning of Genesis (De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim).

"Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods and on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion. [1 Timothy 1.7]"

[This translation is by J. H. Taylor in Ancient Christian Writers, Newman Press, 1982, volume 41.]

In essence, your speech seems mostly to dispute religious ideas held by Christian fundamentalists, who do not heed St. Augustine's warnings from so long ago. Is your class permitting religious debate as an assignment? I hope not.

 

[chickened]

It is credited to Ben Franklin in a quote from Poor Richard's Almanac in the 1750s'. It actually originated from Algernon Sydney in about 1700 or so in an article titled Discourses Concerning Government.


Quote:
Didn't Benjamin Franklin say that?

 

[LegginMF12]

There is great book my dad has that you might be interested in looking at. It is a book that debates whether we evolved or were created by god. They list the statistical chance of a virus, bacteria etc... evolving into organisms. It also brings up very valid points on why or why not to believe in science or God. I can't remember the name right now. If you wan to know the title pm me and I will ask my dad for it. He has been agnostic his whole life, but stated that this book made him sit and really think.

 

[AquaEyes]

I have, perhaps, a better format for your essay. Why not discuss the creation myths of several religions (and don't limit yourself to "the big three" Abrahamic religions)? Show how stories considered to be holy by various cultures have different accounts for how the world (and people) began. Compare and contrast -- perhaps discuss the relevance of the stories and their symbolism to the philosophy of the religion to which each belongs.

Then discuss how advancing any one of them in secular education would be showing favoritism over all the others, so science seeks to explain the natural world using a different process -- by studying the natural world itself, without a specific religion-based preconceived notion of how it works. In this way, rather than portraying just one creation myth as being wrong, you are showing why science must turn a blind eye toward ALL of them and seek its own answers using its own processes. And this is actually respectful of ALL religions because it ignores them equally and seeks answers using a completely different process.

The value of creation myths is not in whether the accounts are literally true. The value lies in how believing the story affects peoples' thoughts and actions, and how it defines the philosophy by which they live their lives. These benefits are very important to the people who cherish these beliefs, regardless of whether or not they also see the truth in a scientific analysis of natural processes. Picking apart the details of just one story and holding them up to the light of science really misses the point of the stories themselves. I think such an action would be warranted if someone was to stand up and proclaim that his myth trumps science, but that is really debating the MISUSE of the stories and not the stories themselves.

 

[KristyHall]

There is an interesting article about misquoted verses in the bible. You might find it useful in your research.


http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/05/thats-not-in-the-bible/