Posted by Spiff Also, you are mistaken about the extent of the knowledge of ancient peoples. It is a popular myth that Columbus 'proved' that the world is round. Although the concept of a heliocentric solar system was not widely understood until the middle ages, ancient peoples did understand that the world was round and not flat. They knew this because if you sailed away from a mountainous coast, the mountain would drop into the horizon quickly rather than slowly shrink away. Columbus didnt really prove anything except that there was a whole big bunch of land where everyone thought was just one huge ocean. Columbus incorrectly thought that the stretch of ocean from Europe to Asia was a few thousand miles. Most scholars at the time correctly approximated (somewhat) that the distance was upwards of 10,000 miles. They just didnt know that the Americas was in between. Ancient peoples already knew the world was round. What you've suggested about the Quran or the Hebrew Bible asserting advanced scientific knowledge is not accurate. And we dont need those arugments to shoot down Islam. It does it with its own tenets. Mohammed's writing openly advocate murder as a way of destroying those who did not conform to his claimed divine authority. He personally led armies of conquest and his Quran approves of such measures today. Imagine Jesus of Nazareth telling his followers something like 'Go out and cut down and destroy all who do not accept my teachings.' While it is true that Moses and Joseph advocated the destruction of pagan peoples during their conquest of Palestine, it is important to remeber that according to the Bible's premise, this wasn't actually sanctioned by the Almighty directly, but merely tolerated as a cruel necessity. The ancient Hebrews were fighting for their life as a nation and culture. If they hadn't battled and pushed the Caananites out of Palestine, they would have perished as a people. Joesph and his successors did what had to be done. In the Bible's narrative, the Almighty only has direct contact with these men in a few brief instances, like the delivery of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. For the sake of argument let's say that Jesus was indeed a spirit son sent by God, then his teachings more accurately reflect the feelings of the God of Abraham. The Quran discredits itself with the content of its teachings, not use of poetic language in reference to what people experienced visually. One cannot discredit the Bible on similar grounds. Creationists like to point to phrases in the Book of Job such as ''the circle of the Earth'' as proof of advanced knowledge. Then atheists point out other passages that say things like 'then God put doors on the oceans to separate it from the land' as proof that the Hebrews had their science all wrong and therefore it couldnt have been inspired by a divine source. Neither is correct because the atheist is taking the passages out of context. None of those passages are an attempt to demonstrate 'ahead of their time' scientific knowledge. Those scriptures are an attempt to use descriptive language while carrying out a discussion about moral truths, the human condition, and all of that sort of stuff. If you want to shoot down the Bible, I suggest you try doing it on philisophical grounds. If you want to make it easier on yourself, try knocking out the Quran on that basis first. Also, please remember that atheism is a religon in itself. And just like Muslims, Christians, and everyone else is all caught up in proving that their view is the one true faith, atheists are doing the exact same thing with their nilistic 'religon'.
on 11/21/2006, 9:19 pm
66.94.75.35
Im not a muslim, and have no interest in defending that faith. However, the logic of your column is faulty. None of the passages you quoted from the Quran (sp?) actually asserted any scientific fact. It is no mystery that ancient writers of religous texts had no knowledge of true astronomical principles. You have no evidence to prove that those writers were asserting such knowledge. In our time we often say that 'the sun sets' or refer to a 'sunset' and that is because from a purely visual perspective, the sun does appear to 'set' into the horizon. We all know today that Earth orbits the Sun, yet we use the phrase 'the sun sets'.
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