I have a question

All Things Are One

 

So how can you use those prophecies as any kind of evidence?

 

To put it simply, lower the standard. The evidence in question is far from ideal, but historical evidence rarely is -- especially evidence that's aged in millenia, instead of centuries. But that doesn't mean it's completely without value or merit. I think it's true of any of the sciences -- the farther back you go, the thinner the proof gets.

There's no small amount of subjectivity involved in the idea of "proof". I wouldn't argue that fulfilled prophecy is the strongest evidence, but I wouldn't throw it completely out, either. It is what it is. By itself, it's tenuous at best (IMHO). I think some scholars argue that the cumulative effect of Biblical prophecy speaks more loudly than any individual prophecy, and I would tend to agree with that.

 

Cumulative effect? There's really no evidence that the any of the prophecies were correct...unless you are biased and want to believe in them, the prophecies don't amount to much.

 

Prophecies leave a lot to be desired, which we've already established. It definitely wasn't any kind of deciding factor in my deciding what I believe and trust. You have high standards, and you should. These are serious questions we're discussing -- serious enough to be life-altering.

In the spirit of objectivity, I would urge you to look at it this way: you set a standard of what qualifies as a prophecy; no prophecies were found which satisfy the standard you set; therefore, prophecies must be discounted altogether. They neither contribute nor detract from the question of Biblical integrity.

 

There were a lot of prophecies about the Messiah, and many of them incidentally apply to the life of Jesus. You sound like you expect prophesy to be a road map...I'd say it's more like a checksum..... you check it against what you believe to be true and it will either eliminate a possibility or not. That's just my opinion.

Certainly interpretation of prophesy is often up for debate, but unless they eliminate Jesus as a possibility of being the Messiah, then they have been effective, assuming you believe there will be/was a Messiah. If you don't believe that to begin with....the prophesies are pretty useless.

 

Man is not the ultimate being. Man is just the most intelligent mammal to evolve on this planet at this point in time. In a few million years, I'm sure they'll be something else better than us now.
Just check out the timeline of Earth history. It is 4.5 billion years old, and has undergone numerous mass extinctions during that time line, each essentially leading to a whole new environment of life.
We're not "DONE", now that Humans have evolved. In fact, what we call human life is merely a pinprick on our planet's history.

 

Some humans, then are superior to others? Yeah?