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It may help, in your deliberations on this topic, to recognise two types of evil. Natural evil is earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and other tempests, etc. No one is responsible for natural evils, except, maybe, God. Moral evils on the other hand, are the direct results of human sin...

Thanks for your replies. I am not sure I would advocate the complete equality of the distribution of wealth, (one needs to maintain some degree of incentive in the economy) but I am sure we could improve matters greatly. For example, we could have a rule such that no-one earns more than seven...

You seem proud of that. I would remind you that the church fathers thought pride to be the deadliest of the seven deadly sins, and they ascribed it to Lucifer as the motive for his rebellion, by which he became Satan. Best wishes, 2RM.

This is the thread where we get to discuss money and wealth. Jesus famously said that 'the poor you shall always have with you, but me, you shall not have always.' I would contend that He was talking to His disciples, in their time, not us in ours. I did some back of an envelope calculations a...

So according to you, a serpent is not a snake? Can't you see the linguistic knots you are tying yourself up with, and the violence you are doing to the English language? Best wishes, 2RM.

So there is the 'untruth' you asked me for earlier, and why we need a measure of distance from a literal interpretation of the Bible. Best wishes, 2RM.

OK, let me rephrase that. What is deceptive about an animal behaving the way it evolved to behave? (And, presumably, the way God intended for it to evolve?) Best wishes, 2RM.

There is nothing deceptive about hissing and slithering. It's just the way serpents evolved to behave. Best wishes, 2RM.

Which attribute would that be then?

Not to my knowledge, but I enjoy a good discussion. Best wishes, 2RM.

Agreed. That is a sensible point of view. The book of Genesis gives us a accurate portrayal of how the Jews of the time thought the world was created and populated, and why we need to work for our living. It is an early 'just so' story. Best wishes, 2RM.

Hmmm. Perhaps I was not making myself sufficiently clear. You can have a true and correct scripture, and speaking serpents, or no speaking serpents, in which case scripture is not (entirely) true and correct. Which do you want? Best wishes, 2RM.

I agree there are truths in scripture. I just don't think it all to be 'true and correct'. Meanwhile, it seems to me you need to decide whether you want a true and correct scripture, or non-existing speaking serpents. Best wishes, 2RM.

So, you think the Bible is not all literally true, then? And requires interpretation? And that interpretation depends on the original context? Best wishes, 2RM.

I don't really want this thread to turn into a discussion on evolution, but I would point out that Darwin pretty much put an end to the idea of an original sin. I see the ascent of Man as steady improvement from the state of our primate forbears. And, for what it's worth, I don't believe in...

Uh huh. But man is not so steady, and it is among men (and women), that the paradigm shift occurred. Best wishes, 2RM.

I think so too. Having been once, an atheist, I am in a position to contrast the two ways of being. And can report that the peace and contentment of which you speak makes the pursuit of virtue an altogether easier mission. Best wishes, 2RM.

I suppose there is a point, and that is that the OT was rendered pretty much obsolete by Jesus. And my interpretation of the OT is that its importance is limited to the access it grants us to Jesus' context, so we can get an idea of the paradigm shift in theology He wrought. Best wishes, 2RM.

You're the one who seems keen on context. I agree that context is important. And that Scripture ought be interpreted in the context of those who wrote it, which is, for the early Old Testament, a primitive bronze age tribe. Best wishes, 2RM.

It matters because we are to be judged at the end of days according to objective criteria. By what God thinks to be good. We do not know exactly what that standard is but recorded history may be seen as humanity working it out. What humanity thinks to be good (subjective, as you pointed out...