I think he means scientific *theory* (theory being the "made up" part of science). Which, yes, is a stupid statement.
I'm sure this has already been covered but the Bible is full of literal contradictions when picked apart bit by bit and is best seen as a whole piece of fact, fiction and art. It is the most complex thing ever created by man and should be revered as such.
It is full of analogies, metaphors and enlightened concepts. Anyone who attempts to take the words literally or translate it's meaning independently is headed in the wrong direction and will end of exploiting the text in some form or fashion.
Idk, its how I was raised to understand biblical scripture. It tends to help science and religion meet somewhere in the middle. People get hung up on this or that and pretty soon no one is able to understand each other.
Originally Posted by thathottnurse
First off, there is nothing made up about theories. A theory isn't some tobacco chewing redneck coming up with some idea. A theory is a product of the scientific method:
Step 1 - Ask a question
Step 2 - Do background research
Step 3 - Form a Hypothesis
Step 4 - Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment
Step 5 - Analyze the data and form a conclusion. If your results support your hypothesis, go to Step 6. If not, go back to Step 3.
Step 6 - Report you results for others to test and verify
It's only when multiple scientists repeat the steps of your published experiments and come up with the same results repeatedly, that the hypothesis is accepted as a theory. To lay people, a theory is something unproven or speculative, which is totally incorrect.
Religion doesn't help science in any way. I've never been in the lab or on the job and cracked open a Bible, Koran, or Torah to solve an issue. Angels have never come down from the sky to hand us anything of the things that makes our lives so convenient today. It was all humans.
Saying the Genesis isn't literal an apologetic cop-out. Humans being created before animals and plants is pretty literal. Plant's being created before the Sun is also literal. How in the world would that be a metaphor?
Genesis says that black people came into being because one of Noah's son's saw him naked after the got drunk. Noah then put the "mark of Cain" on him to give him black skin. That's absolutely fucking stupid. Black people are black because they bodies produce an increased amount of melanin, which is nothing more than a derivative of an amino acid, which in turn creates pigment. People whose ancestors come from warmer climates with higher levels of sunlight and UV radiation tend to have darker skin that people who come from cooler, northern climates without as much UV radiation.
The Bible says that women who get raped have to marry their rapists, tells parents to stone disobedient children, and it says that men who have had their testicles or dicks cut off can't get into heaven. Same for those that are uncircumcised. For a being that supposedly hates gays, god made a lot of them and he really has a preference of how he wants a man's dick to look like.
How is god sending two female bears to kill 42 kids for making fun a bald man a metaphor?
Both God and Jesus have absolutely no problem with slavery, even if the slave master is cruel. That's no metaphor. You'll see that in red letters in the New Testament. God and Jesus support human trafficking.
People used to think that getting sick was a punishment from god. Now we know a lot of illnesses can be avoided with proper hygiene and proper food handling. We know that bacteria, viruses, and genetic defects cause a great number of health issues. People used to believe a condition like Down Syndrome was a punishment from god. We know now it's cause by a extra chromosome.
I grew up Christian too, and I was able to figure out that it wasn't all on the up and up when I was about 12. Unlike most Christians, I actually took the time to read my Bible instead of being spoon-fed whatever it was someone wanted me to hear. I could see the gears turning in people's head when I asked them questions like; "Who created god or where did god come from?" or "How come god only showed himself and powers to Jews living in the Middle East thousands of years ago." Preachers aren't suckers. They don't want you reading the Bible, because they know it's collection of Bronze Age fables told by nomads in the Middle East.
It's a lot easier for them to tell you what to believe, and even better if you accept it without question.