Wow, this thread is all over the place, so my post will really fit in.
Well here you go, a response from a real life, Bible reading/believing Christian. Keep in mind, that as a Christian, I will reference biblical concepts, ideas, this is usually the point some skeptics stop reading and disregard what I post. I read through yours, so I guess common courtesy, would say you read through mine.
I've actually read the Old Testament from Genesis to midway of Job, chapters in between Job and Malachai, and all the New Testament, sans Revelation, of which I've read parts here and there.
I'm pretty sure I've read more of the Bible than you. That's a actually a big reason I chose Christianity.
I'm told, now this is only what I've been told, so anyone please feel free to correct me; compared to Protestants/Orthodox, Catholics do not place as much weight in the Bible, reading it, studying it, or it's authority. Some Protestants don't either, but compared to Catholics, more so?
You say you were brought up Catholic for 17 years, well you have more of an understanding of Catholicism as I do. I was brought up in the "Protestant" form of Christianity, for about 17 years. Since 17, I actually started figuring things out for myself, looking into other religions, philosophies, and basically I chose Christianity because it made the most sense to me. (I'm guessing your laughing at me, or are really fascinated by me).
Original Sin. A concept lost on me. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they introduced the "ability" to sin, what some Protestants might call "sin nature," but we have the choice to not sin. We are born innocent, but have the capacity to sin.
FACT - Christianity started as blackmail. If you give 100 bits of gold to the Church, your time in purgatory will be reduced to 500 years, if you don't, you will have to wait for 5000 years!
To most Protestants, the concept of purgatory and paying penances, is somewhat "foreign," for want of a better term. There is only Heaven and Hell. You can't pay anything to get into Heaven, Jesus was the payment,.. I have some disagreements with Catholicism, but I respect those who are Catholic. Many in my family are. People were baptised, usually immediately after accepting Jesus as the Messiah, and repenting of their sins.
The Bible states, in different verses, that the Earth is round, hangs upon nothing, and rotates. Hmm, from my basic science education, I'm pretty sure the Earth is kinda round, from space photos, is suspended in space, and I'm informed by scientists, that the Earth rotates. Science confirmed this, the Bible was written centuries before the telescope was invented, and waaaayyy before the "Space race" by the Russians and Americans.
The Bible doesn't out right state it, but does allude to creature, that sounds like a dinosaur, a creature with a tail compared to a cedar tree. Can't possibly be referring to an elephant or hippo, cos they have rather puny tails. Maybe if the verse said a tail like a reed, but no, it says cedar tree.
Job 41 if you want to read it.
The Bible has references to currents, the water cycle (rain falls, gets caught in streams/rivers, gets back to the sea, starts again), underwater mountains; how can someone know there are mountains underwater (which has been discovered), when there were no submarines, lucky guess? Must have been lucky with the Earth's features too, water cycle, ocean currents.
Oh, and the Bible says there is only 1 race, the human one, so racism can never be justified with the Bible.
THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE LESS YOU BELIEVE
You know, when I first heard about evolution, I thought it was bit strange, but then I believed in what some might think strange things too. However, the more I learn about evolution, the less I believe it, the Big Bang works if you throw out the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics. Evolution has less complex things, going to a state of higher complexity and order.
Carbon dating huh?
"One part of the Vollosovitch mammoth carbon dated at 29,500 years and another part at 44,000.
--Troy L. Pewe, Quaternary Stratigraphic Nomenclature in Unglaciated Central Alaska, Geological Survey Professional Paper 862 (U.S. Gov. printing office, 1975) p. 30.
"One part of Dima [a baby frozen mammoth] was 40,000, another part was 26,000 and the "wood immediately around the carcass" was 9-10,000.
--Troy L. Pewe, Quaternary Stratigraphic Nomenclature in Unglaciated Central Alaska, Geological Survey Professional Paper 862 (U.S. Gov. printing office, 1975) p. 30
Not that accurate really.
Follow science then, cause and effect. If the Big bang is true, it had to have a cause. Where did the particles of matter (effect), come from (cause). Where did oxygen and hydrogen (effects) come from?
Evolution may work for living things, but what of the Universe. If you can believe the Universe, always just existed, well there you go, many Christians feel the same way, God just is. He has no cause, just is. God is believed to be supernatural, ie. not subject to nature. Matter and energy can be created and destroyed, by something not subject to natural laws; that's what supernatural means, above or not subject to nature.
Jesus walked on water, that would go against nature.
Give me your explanation for the origin of the universe, life, non-life (rocks) came from, if cause and effect is true. What's the cause of all this, I believe God was the cause. Lots of people with advanced science and math degrees are creationists.
I don't believe a pen, just appeared out of nowhere, I know someone made them, so how could I possibly think something like the human brain, (which scientists barely understand, how it works, etc), to be the result of chance, or accident/no design or creator whatsoever?