Old Testament Debate Guide
From PhiloWiki
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Ethics
- It is permissible to buy slaves. It is permissible to kill your slaves.
- There are unusual family practices. For instance, it is permissible to sell your daughters.
- Concerning marriage, it is not permissible to take a second wife.
- It is permissible to kill witches.
- It is permissible to kill anyone who works on the Sabbath.
- Are the dietary laws of the Bible to be followed?
- Do certain medical practices specified by God work?
- Eunuchs are banned from entering churches. [Dt 23:1]
- Are the animal sacrifice as proscribed by God 'forever' valid today? [Lv 1:1]
- The handicapped profane religious altars. [Lv 21:16]
- Concerning fashion, it is an abomination for women to wear men's clothing. [Dt 22:5]
- People with plenty to eat are good, and people who are hungry are evil. [Prov 13:25]
- God destroyed all wisdom and understanding. [Prov 29:14]
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Narrative
- Is the Old Testament reliable?
- Is the creation narrative in Genesis accurate?
- Is the Earth flat?
- Are the animal behaviors described in the Bible accurate?
- Did many strange creatures exist? Did mystical beasts in the Bible exist?
- Did Adam and Eve exist? Whom did their children marry? [Gen 4:17]
- Did all languages originate at the Tower of Babel?
- Is the story of Noah's Ark true?
- Was there a worldwide flood?
- Did Noah get millions of species into the Ark?
- Did some species survive without being on the Ark?
- Did the Ark hold all now-extinct species, such as the dinosaurs? [Gen 8:21]
- Was the Ark big enough to hold all living and now-extinct species?
- Noah was supposed to bring seven pairs of all land animals, except for 'clean beasts', of which he was to take only a pair of each. But the definition of a 'clean animal' was not defined until the specification of the Mosaic law, which came well after Noah.
- How were all viruses, germs, and bacteria preserved?
- What did the carnivores eat after disembarking from the Ark?
- Did some people in the Bible live for hundreds of years? [Gen 25:7]
- Did Israel's population grow from 75 to several million in a few hundred years? [Ex 1:5]
- Did God perform the Old Testament - miracles of Moses? [Ex 3:4]
- Did certain Old Testament - astronomical events happen?
- Is God not all-powerful? Is He unable to defeat certain armies? [Jud 1:19] Is He unaware of Satan's whereabouts? [Job 1:7]
- Did some of the military victories happen as described?
- Is God vengeful?
- Is God anthropomorphic?
- What was the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
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Creation
- Abrahamic version from Genesis
- Egyptian tale of Atum the sun god
- Unkulunkulu, the Zulu creator who came from the reeds
- The tale of Kamui, who made this world as an ocean sitting on the backbone of a giant trout
- The story of Pan Gu, whose assorted body parts became all the things in the world when he died
- Aztec story of the celestial goddess wearing a skirt made out of live snakes
