The Bible is Literally True

Before beginning my opening argument, I would like to clarify a few things that I forgot to mention in the introduction (definitions, Burden of Proof, etc. ) I would assume that the Burden of Proof in this debate is shared, as the debate will essentially revolve around whether there is valid evidence that supports the truth of a literal interpretation of the Bible (whoever makes the most convincing argument wins). As my opponent did not specify whether he wanted to use the Old or New Testament, I assume that he believes in a literal interpretation of both, and so I classify both as valid for targeting in my arguments. My opponent may choose which *reasonable* version of the Bible to use for the remainder of this debate, though I will be using the New International Version in my opening argument. With that, I thank my opponent once more, and wish him the best of luck in the debate! Argument 1: For my first argument, I will be pointing out contradictions between a variety of Biblical accounts and contemporary widely-accepted scientific evidence. 1. The Creation Myth - In Genesis Chapters 1-3, the Bible describes God's alleged creation of the universe and everything within it (heavens, earth, light, stars, water, land, plants, animals, people, etc. ) This section of the Bible further describes Adam and Eve, the supposed first human beings to exist, and how they made the 'Original Sin' by eating fruit when they weren't supposed to. This creationist account (estimated by modern Biblical scholars to have 'occurred' around 6,000 years ago) is full of falsehoods and fallacies, as will now be explained: a. Mainstream science has collected evidence for the age of the earth using two main methods. The first of which, calculating the age of the oldest known stars, helps to estimate the universe's age using the logical principle that nothing inside the universe is older than the universe itself (therefore, the universe must be at least as old as its oldest contents). To find the age of the universe's oldest contents, scientists have researched globular clusters, or large, dense groups of stars that all formed at around the same time. Scientists have calculated the age of these stars using ample evidence that mass (measured through brightness, orbit size, and distance from Earth) determines a star's life span. Due to this evidence, science has calculated that the age of the oldest stars is between 11 and 18 billion years old - much too long for any reasonable literal interpretation of the Bible to be true. The second method scientists use to measure the universe's age is to calculate the earth's expansion rate and use it to determine when the universe first started expanding. This is done using the Hubble Constant, a measurement that determines the universe's expansion rate. Using the Hubble Constant, science can determine that the universe is between 12 and 14 billion years old - using this method combined with the star aging method, science can safely determine that the age of the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old. This age is much to old for any reasonable literal Bible interpretation to be true, and shows that the Bible, as would be expected, is fallacious (tinyurl. com/ko53le). b. In Genesis 3:1, a serpent talks to Eve. There is no scientific evidence that serpents can, or ever have, been able to communicate in any form of human language. c. In Genesis 5:5, it is reported that Adam lived to 930 years old. There is no scientific evidence that any human can or has ever been able to live to such an age. In the late Neolithic period, when Adam was said to have been born, the average life span was 33.1 years for a male. This makes Adam's reported 930 year life span immensely incredible (tinyurl. com/2u3xhs). 2. Noah's Ark - In Genesis chapters 6-9, it is said that a man named Noah built a large wooden ark and loaded two (or more) of every animal species onto it in a seven day period. Allegedly, he then sailed this ship for forty days and forty nights, while withstanding a worldwide flood caused by a supernatural power. This account is incredible and extremely unlikely to be true due to the following evidences (for more information, go to tinyurl. com/44sku): a. Building the Ark: Scientists and mechanical engineers have determined that, contrary to the Biblical account, cypress wood is not strong enough to sustain a 450 foot long ark without technologically-advanced metal supports (these supports couldn't have been found, created, or used in the time of Noah). b. Gathering the Animals: - Many animals cannot all live in the same environments. For example, some animals require an extremely humid and moist environment, while others require an extremely hot and dry environment. It is unrealistic to say that Noah and his counterparts could have, within a seven day time frame, created a ark so technologically-advanced that it could foster all of the animals appropriately. - Many animals have, since the alleged time of the flood, lived on islands and continents other than Afro-Eurasia. These animals could not have known to come to the area of the ark within seven days, and would not have been able to nonetheless. An argument saying that the animals were already near Noah at the time preceding the flood is unrealistic, as these animals would likely have killed each other off in short time due to competition for food, water, shelter, etc. - Since the Bible is incompatible with evolution, Noah must have (provided that the Biblical account is true) been able to load every single animal species currently on Earth (plus those extinct) into the Ark in seven days. This means (with 1,233,186 known currently-alive non-fish animal species and 604,800 seconds in a week) that Noah and his accomplices would have needed to load more than one animal every .25 seconds in order to get them all in on time - and that's just with the 1.2 million known species of the 7.7 million animal species estimated to be on Earth - and even that's just with the ones that are currently alive. Obviously, Noah and his family couldn't have been able to load every single animal on Earth into an ark in only seven days' time. c. Global Flood: Currently, there is NO evidence whatsoever that a global flood could have or did occur in the past 6,000 years. If such a flood did occur, there would be ample scientific evidence showing the effects of such a large and recent flood. Proposing without a shred of evidence that a flood of such size and manner did occur is simply preposterous. 3. Rabbits Chew Cud - In Leviticus 11:6, a rabbit is said to chew cud. However, all scientific evidence says that a rabbit does not chew cud. Argument 2: For my second argument, I will be including just a few contradictions within the Bible itself. As nothing can be both objectively true and untrue, these contradictions show for certain that the Bible, literally interpreted, is not a book of truth: 1. Joseph's father is both Jacob and Heli (MAT 1:16 and LUK 3:23). 2. The Son (Jesus) is both equal to and lesser than the Father (JOH 10:30 and JOH 14:28). 3. The righteous both live and perish (PSA 92:12 and ISA 57:1). 4. Jesus's first sermon was on a mountain and in a plain (MAT 5:1 and LUK 6:17). 5. Judas died both through self-inflicted hanging and through explosion/bowel-gushing (MAT 27:5 and ACT 1:18). 6. Michal had both zero and five sons (2SA 6:23 and 2SA 21:8). 7. Baasha died both in the 26th and 36th years of the reign of Asa (1KI 16:6-8 and 2CH 16:1) 8. Jesus wore a scarlet robe and a purple robe at his trial (MAT 27:28 and JOH 19:2). 9. Jesus had three different sets of last words (MAT 27:46,50 and LUK 23:46 and JOH 19:30). 10. There were three years and seven years of famine (II SAMUEL 24:13 and I CHRONICLES 21:11). ^All information from tinyurl. com/ln29oad. Conclusion: I believe that I have successfully provided multiple pieces of evidence that show that the Bible is full of lies and falsehoods and therefore is not literally true. However, before I end this round, I wish to inform my opponent that if he or she attributes any of the above Biblical accounts as true due to the will of a supernatural power, he or she must also provide evidence that a supernatural power exists and is omnipotent.