Questions on common beliefs

[snafui]

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. - Genesis 11:1

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. - Genesis 11: 5-9

1) If the whole world had one language, from a single source, doesn't this mean that they all had a common culture, from a single source, as well?

2) If all mankind are decendents of Adam and Eve wouldn't they all know about the One God?

3) Since these are the concepts of the Bible then why do 3/4^ths of the world's population not have a common law based on the Bible? (The Bible's laws are based on Mesopotamian law, they aren't even original.)

4) There are too many cultures in the world that do not have these teachings. Too many cultures have developed their own concept of god(s). Laws in these cultures are grounded in different cultural belief systems. Origination stories of mankind are quite varied and do not share a common thought or belief system. The only thing that is consistent is the story of a great flood but there are cultures that do not have this story. If mankind had been of one source, if mankind had one language and then man had one origination after the Great Flood in Genesis then why are there so many different belief systems in the world that do not come from a single source?

5) On a final point, why was God concerned of man's ability to accomplish anything? What did He have to fear from that? What happened to free will?

[necroshine]

What I want to know is why isn’t it a sin to learn more than one language? I mean if god made the different languages so we could not speak to one another then you wjould think it would be a sin to do so.

[Dragon*of*Heaven]

I would think that the Churches of God knowing that they would only be handing us fire power to use against them, would stop before making it a sin to learn. Besides if it were a sin Pope John Paul the second would be in Hell. He knew like dozens of languages.

[snafui]

Dragon*of*Heaven: I would think that the Churches of God knowing that they would only be handing us fire power to use against them, would stop before making it a sin to learn.

They do try. Take a look at 2 Timothy 2:15, in the KJV it says study, in subsequent translations the word study is removed.

[necroshine]

dragonofheavon said:

I would think that the Churches of God knowing that they would only be handing us fire power to use against them, would stop before making it a sin to learn.

for that matter, why isn't it a sin to learn at all?
when adam and eve bit the apple that was a sin. so in the same way, why isn't it a sin to learn if it is a sin to eat form the tree that will let you learn? i bet if you look in the past far enough you will see where preachers says that its bad to learn. at least learn a lot of different stuff. just a thought. what do you guys think?

[snafui]

My books are packed up to move, so can't get to them... but found this one:

1564 To commute his death sentence from the Inquisition for dissecting human bodies, Andreas Vesalius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/christian/blchron_xian_reform1.htm

God forbid we learn something about death from the human body.

The Catholic church kept using a latin translation of the Bible for centuries after people no longer used latin as a common language so that the "common" people could not know what the Bible actually said. They had to go by what the priest told them in church. It was the Protestant Reformation that started the english translation of the Bible.

Going from memory on this one: I recall that part of the acts of the Inquisition (Mel Brooks movie flashing through my head now) did burn people at the stake, calling them heritics, for knowledge the Catholic Church deemed from Satan. And look at what the Catholic Church did to Galileo because his theory was against their interpretation of the Bible.

[Dragon*of*Heaven]

I think this point is valid, if for no other reason then that for most Catholics/ Christians the whole Adam and Eve thing is becoming a Little debased. (dispute the Catholic Church telling people that the devil is real and the Baptists having a literal translation of the Bible) You would think that most of their believers would still think of Adam and eve as being real people if it were not turning into a myth. Also I think I will make a statement here. I am more disposed to believing in what humanity overall comes to on its conclusions of what is real and not real, than what a bloody religion dose. (if only by a slim margin)