Biases

Use this forum to discuss the March 2021 Book of the month, "The Biblical Clock: The Untold Secrets Linking the Universe and Humanity with God’s Plan" by Daniel Friedmann, Dania Sheldon
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cd20
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Re: Biases

Post by cd20 »

Mvictoria wrote: 17 Mar 2021, 11:15
cd20 wrote: 05 Mar 2021, 15:38
I am not a history lover or science lover, but I do like and appreciate clear facts. I do believe that the Bible and science can go hand in hand. However, I do not feel that the author portrayed that well. His biases led him in a slightly different direction and most of his work came from the Kabbalah and Talmud. The author also states that the Talmud is critical to understanding the phrase "that it was good," and I do not agree with him. I had never heard of Kabbalah and the Talmud before reading this book.
I had never heard of these books either and this book opened my eyes to the vastness of Jewish texts and scholars! It was my previous understanding that the Old Testament was the main Jewish book. I think it would be really interesting to read these books for myself and clarify the meanings in the Old Testament. I especially want to read the Kaballah after reading this book!
I do think it would be interesting to see how those books align with the Old Testament, but I am not so intrigued that I will actually go do it. It would be interesting to see what all is included, but if I understood the author correctly, they do not have many copies of these books as we do with the Bible. It's interesting.
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Post by Timothy Rucinski »

It's my bias that made me decide to read this book. Jewish mysticism is so much more interesting and noteworthy than Christian mysticism. Once I found out that this book was Kabbalah-centric and focused on the Hebrew Bible, then I knew it was for me. Having studied some of the ancient Jewish mystics and philosophers, and dabbled a bit in studying the Kabbalah, I was ready to gobble up a modern-day approach to thousands of years of speculation about creation and the end of days. If the book had been more concentrated in Christianity, I would have passed on it.
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Post by cd20 »

Mstrtim wrote: 19 Mar 2021, 10:29 It's my bias that made me decide to read this book. Jewish mysticism is so much more interesting and noteworthy than Christian mysticism. Once I found out that this book was Kabbalah-centric and focused on the Hebrew Bible, then I knew it was for me. Having studied some of the ancient Jewish mystics and philosophers, and dabbled a bit in studying the Kabbalah, I was ready to gobble up a modern-day approach to thousands of years of speculation about creation and the end of days. If the book had been more concentrated in Christianity, I would have passed on it.
Yeah, I had not realized it was so heavily centered on Judaism. I had never heard of the Kabbalah before and have no idea where to get my hands on the book. I did learn quite a bit about Judaism from this book, but my biases going in did not really change after I had finished the book. There are a few things that I struggled to understand, but it was interesting seeing a different perspective being presented.
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Post by zulfiyya »

My biases were that I am not religious and am against organized religion in general. I always approach religious "proofs" with a critical and doubtful eye. That bias did not change with this book however I was pleasantly surprised with the way the book was written from a scientific standpoint with lots of historical contexts. I notice that a lot of accounts that attempt to combine religion and science tend to rely mostly on faith rather than actual science.
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Post by Wy_Bertram »

I'd say I'm generally disinclined to trusting anyone who claims to have answers to questions that are difficult on an existential level. But I like to have my opinions tested even though they might remain unchanged in the end.
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Post by Shirley-Tome »

Its very hard to be completely open minded without any bias as our whole lives have been shaped according to certain beliefs, mine being that the Bible is the gospel truth.
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Post by cd20 »

Wy_Bertram wrote: 23 Mar 2021, 02:46 I'd say I'm generally disinclined to trusting anyone who claims to have answers to questions that are difficult on an existential level. But I like to have my opinions tested even though they might remain unchanged in the end.
Yes, exactly!!! How can we really know since we were not there? I think it is interesting that people try to prove the answer to the tough questions, but it is hard to believe them as facts. Especially when we all have our own biases that skew our perspectives. I did learn a few things from this book, and I did appreciate the author letting us know his biases before we got too far into the book.
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Post by Rwill0988 »

I think everyone will have a bias and different way of approaching the Biblical Clock. I tend to be open minded and like learning other peoples' perspectives (even those who I don't necessarily agree with). I do believe religious material and science can coexist. Even when they do not, if that is what the interpreter of the Bible or scientific journals want to do, they will probably accomplish their goal. The tricky part isn't if they can convince themselves of the connection but rather if they can convince others.
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Post by cd20 »

Rwill0988 wrote: 24 Mar 2021, 18:42 I think everyone will have a bias and different way of approaching the Biblical Clock. I tend to be open minded and like learning other peoples' perspectives (even those who I don't necessarily agree with). I do believe religious material and science can coexist. Even when they do not, if that is what the interpreter of the Bible or scientific journals want to do, they will probably accomplish their goal. The tricky part isn't if they can convince themselves of the connection but rather if they can convince others.
You have explained this very well. Especially "The tricky part isn't if they can convince themselves of the connection but rather if they can convince others." I could not agree with you more. I also believe that "religious material and science can coexist." I have been doing a study with my youth group and it is amazing the similarities between The Biblical Clock and the study. In the study, you have scientists that are making the point that religion and science can coexist.
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Post by CGO »

I come from a Christian background and we studied the Bible very well, but I try to keep an open mind when it comes to listening to or reading the scientific points of view about Christianity and the Bible.
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Post by cd20 »

CGO wrote: 25 Mar 2021, 14:26 I come from a Christian background and we studied the Bible very well, but I try to keep an open mind when it comes to listening to or reading the scientific points of view about Christianity and the Bible.
I am a Christian, but not really from a Christian background, but I do know the Bible very well. I had not realized that this would be heavily from a Judaism background, but I did learn a lot. I would get lost in some of the science details, but I do believe that science and religion can co-exist.
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Post by Cwilde13 »

I was a little biased because I am not a religious person. I was skeptical going into this book because I did not see how the author's biblical explanations would overturn my belief in scientific facts and theories. After reading it, I am still unsure, but the author definitely gave me several scenarios to think about.
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Post by Miercoles »

I read it to see the author's take on the subject. He shared his religious and scientific background in the prologue to the book. I am neither Jewish nor scientific, so it was interesting to see another view on this subject.
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Post by cd20 »

Cwilde13 wrote: 27 Mar 2021, 12:20 I was a little biased because I am not a religious person. I was skeptical going into this book because I did not see how the author's biblical explanations would overturn my belief in scientific facts and theories. After reading it, I am still unsure, but the author definitely gave me several scenarios to think about.
LOL, and I was biased because I AM a religious person. However, I do not agree with everything that the author says, but I do believe that science and religion can co-exist. I agree that the author has given us several things to think about and presents several interesting arguments.
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Post by cd20 »

Miercoles wrote: 27 Mar 2021, 20:01 I read it to see the author's take on the subject. He shared his religious and scientific background in the prologue to the book. I am neither Jewish nor scientific, so it was interesting to see another view on this subject.
I am not Jewish or scientific either. I think the author presented several interesting points, but I do not necessarily agree with everything that he said. I did learn a lot about Kabbalah, I had never heard of it before this book.
Real life is dreadfully tedious, the way it interrupts reading. -Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green
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