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A thorough review of the text of Joshua confirms that God's only role in this story was to suggest the circumambulation of the city under attack. Every other aspect of the story is attributable to natural causes. When we read that the LORD told the Israelites to do something, we ask ourselves, how did God do this? Did he bring them all together in a public meeting, or did he tell one or two priests that these were his orders? If he spoke to priests, can we trust what they say? And given that Joshua was written several centuries after the events it records, how much can we trust it as a record of actual events...? Take another, non-Biblical example. In Section 3 we compared two detectives examining a murder scene. The first detective was convince that the murderer was the victim's rival in love and looked for evidence to confirm that theory. The second detective was open-minded. Now imagine a third detective who starts open-minded, but he's lazy or not very good at reasoning. He sees the same evidence as the first detective does and immediately assumes that the rival was guilty. And if he makes the arrest, the real criminal escapes... Here's a third example - the appearance of design. Believers - particularly Creationists and proponents of Intelligent Design - observe that elements of the universe and life on earth appear to have been designed. From "appear", they jump to the conclusion that those elements must have been designed. But in order to reach that conclusion, they ignore other evidence, as we will see in Chapter Three: God the creator? - evidence which confirms that a designer is unnecessary. There's a simple lesson to be learnt here: don't jump to conclusions. Examine all the evidence before coming to any conclusion. And remember that proof of part of theory (ancient Jericho collapsed) is not proof that the whole theory (the Bible confirms that God exists) is true. Joshua 6:20 concludes: "so every [Israelite] charged straight in, and they took the city." It is followed by Joshua 6:21: "They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it — men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." Next: Introduction: Section 7 No way 
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If God existed, he would... admire the beauty of a universe that he did not create recognize that eternity is meaningless deny both heaven and hell disown all men and women who speak in his name denounce the harm caused by religious "morality" help the human race to thrive without him If God existed, he would be an atheist. What is the difference between science and faith? science is certain of nothing and requires proof of everything faith is certain of everything and requires proof of nothing Which do you trust? "I know there is no God" or "I believe there is no God" ??? Check the answer |
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