The Book of Leviticus Contains Many Silly Ideas

>> "I ask you Tarzan. What possible logical reason could ever be "discerned" that would justify ignoring the people that wrote the Bible?" Because they were barely literate primitives living in a time where iron chariots were God-defeating technology? >> "Their very words both wrote the words of Leviticus and shaped the understanding of Leviticus. " That's all well and good, but they still wrote some very silly things. >> "The people who wrote the Bible, those individuals that lived, breathed, slept and died IN the very culture we are discussing wrote all of the words in the Bible." Simply because their culture was formed around silly ideas does not indicate anything at all about the nature of the ideas themselves. >> "Do you trust yourself when you claim that the man who wrote those same words in Leviticus is irrelevant or that the very ones who are approved by God and cannon are irrelevant? That is SADLY absurd and illogical." What is illogical about assuming that some very strange and humorous notions are silly? Simply because God endorses some silly ideas says nothing at all about the ideas themselves. >> "Do you ignore the Mechanic's teacher when your car mechanic's teacher says something? Might he have bearing on your mechanic's statement?" That makes no sense... if the mechanic's teacher told me the car ran on potatoes, toenails, and lizard farts, I'd consider him a fairly incompetent teacher. >> "Do you read the 4th chapter on a book about the stock market and ignore the rest?" Except we're talking about just that 4th chapter... not the whole book. >> "Why do most Christian Scholars not completely agree with you(Tarzan) that Leviticus is silly?" Appeal to improper authority - Christian Scholars are hardly an unbiased group. >> "We also see that you have no knowledge of the Culture of Middle Eastern Judaism in Africa at the 2500-3500 B.C. timeframe." Knowledge of just HOW silly the culture was doesn't really help... >> "We also see that you have no knowledge of the Semitic languages these books were written in." As though it was somehow less silly in Hebrew... >> "But realize you are NOT putting your trust in Tarzan's contextual criticism to get a good grade…." What? >> "The standard use of Silly is this. Silly- an adjective describing the lack of intellect: Foolishness." Really? You posit yet another definition after I accepted your first one and actually made you USE it? >> "each of the laws in Leviticus has a particular symbol behind them, and were DONE with intent and intellect behind them. They are intellectual laws." Slavery had a particular symbol behind it - it was done with intent and intellect - it's an intellectual law.... Now... are we talking about colonial slavery or the slavery in Leviticus?? Food for thought - is slavery a silly idea? *********************************************** My opponent inserts a video in order to extend his argument FAR beyond the limits of the debate field he is limited to. I submit that this is dishonest debating. Furthermore, much of the movie is spurious and not related to the resolution. We are talking about the notions in Leviticus, not the history of the bible. Also, Galiban states that "All of the Levitical sacrifices, all of the Levitical laws were pointing to that very sacrifice of the Messiah. In fact, Job says 'My redeemer lives" - he knew a redeemer was coming." Obviously this has nothing to do with the resolution, and Galiban is just dismissing these silly ideas as pointing toward the sacrifice and "describing a holy God." He also states that God has "laid out these people's lifestyles." I submit that if God actually did lay out these people's lifestyles, he did so in a silly way. ********************************************** Regardless of any sort of purpose, intellect, or design, the notions that are put forth are silly notions. Simply because someone is intelligent or has purpose/design does not mean that their model is inherently not silly. This debate concerns only the Book of Leviticus. If it were about the Bible as a whole context, the resolution would state "The Bible Contains Many Silly Ideas." But it is not. I now ask the readers: Are any of the following, which Galiban did not directly address individually, notions that are "(1)weak in intellect, (2)foolish, (3)exhibiting or indicative of a lack of common sense or sound judgment, or (4) trifling or frivolous??" 1. God spends 9 chapters detailing how to kill animals in sacrifice (#4) 2. God seems to especially like the smell of burning fat, as it is a "sweet savour" to him. (#4) 3. If you touch something unclean (animal or bug or the "uncleanliness of man") then you will be unclean. (#1, 2) 4. Moses dresses Aaron with the "curious girdle of the ephod." (#4) 5. Jews are not to eat seafood because it is an "abomination." They can't even move the carcasses. (#1, 2) 6. All four-legged fowls (which would be...?) are abominations. (# 1, 2, 3) 7. So are all other four-legged flying creeping things. (#1, 2, 3) 8. Weasels, mice, turtles, ferrets, and chameleons are all unclean, even when dead. (#4) 9. Chapter 14 has some silly medical advice for lepers. (#1, 2, 3) 10. If it slithers, creeps on four feet, or has more than four feet you can't eat it. (#1, 2, 3) 11. If you masturbate or pull out too soon and get any sperm on yourself or your clothing, you are unclean. (#4) 12. Homosexual activity is an abomination. (# 1, 2, 3, 4) 13. Bestiality is "confusion." (#4) 14. Don't look at your naked relatives. And especially don't take their clothes off. (#4) 15. The fruit of freshly planted trees is "uncircumcised" and cannot be eaten for 3 years. (#1, 2, 3, 4) 16. If you have a threesome with your wife and mother in law, you will all be burned. (#4) 17. Priests must take a virgin for a wife, but not profane their seed among the people. (#4) 18. Handicapped people can't go to church, even if it is just a "flat nose." (#1, 2, 3, 4) 19. Men with damaged testicles can't go to church either. (#1, 2, 3, 4) 20. God details the punishment for breaking these laws including animals that eat your children and forced cannibalism. (#1, 2, 3, 4). As one can see, all of these statements qualify as silly in some way. AFFIRMED.