ANSWERS: 11
  • Scriptures and Mythology of all organized religion are limited by person, place and time; because their content is limited by the knowledge and intelligence of those who first proposed the idea. * Although Eastern civilizations traded widely with Europe, all events in Hindu & Buddhist mythology happened at places where these religions had influence. * So when Cain murdered his brother Abel, he could easily emigrate from 'Lord's presence' eastwards (Nod), build a city (Enoch) and prosper for generations! (Genesis-4:16-18). * Biblical god must be some local warlord of limited influence over his Eden, as Bible clearly describes (prosperous) places on (flat!) earth without God’s presence, where it was entirely possible for deported and exiled murderers like Cain to prosper for generations! e.g., The city of Enoch, Nod, east of Eden! (Genesis-4:16-18). How impotent, powerless and pro-criminal is the Lord! (Cain never repented, according to Bible!)
  • Be aware that the Bible has been edited several times.
  • "Lied in the Far East." I'd bet that they also told the truth in the Far East. There is no mention in any portion of the Bible of the Far East at all. Maybe the Hebrew God didn't know there WAS a Ear East. Or, just possibly, perhaps the human writers of those books that we call "The Bible" didn't know.
    • Army Veteran
      "Lied" in the far east means "lay" in the far east.
  • +4 There some references in the OT to civilizations to the East of Israel but they are not what you would call the Far East - China isn't mentioned for instance. . The Persian Empire is mentioned in the OT and this extended almost up to what we might call the Far East. It had become the Parthian Empire by the time of the NT and was considerably smaller by then, but it was a competitor/enemy of the Romans, so travel to it and through it if you were from a Roman province wasn't common.
  • None, therefore the Far East does not exist.
  • The bible is a history of the Hebrew people and the predictions of the major and minor prophets regarding salvation and the advent of the Messiah. The NT is the memoirs of the apostles and the vision of John. It is not a book on world history, sociology, science or anything else. Those people would only have been brought into the story after interaction with the Jews. That didn't happen, hence, they are not part of the story.
  • Just because the Bible doesn't mention the Far East doesn't mean the earth wasn't already populated when Adam and Eve were created. When God created Adam and Eve, He said "Let's make man in **OUR** image". "Our" suggests that there were other gods. This is supported in the first commandment when God said "I am a jealous God; thou shalt have no other gods before me". It is also supported in the Book of Genesis when God banished Cain from the Garden of Eden. Cain was concerned that other people who learned what he'd done (to Abel) would try to kill him. This indicated not only that there were others on the earth, but that they were a civilized society with laws (hence the concern about retaliation for killing his brother). The Bible is a sort of journal that chronicles God's family tree. One of the most often raised questions about God is "what is the true religion"? That's a good question. If a previous civilization existed on earth prior to the creation of man in the Garden of Eden, there's no reason to assume that they've died out. It may be that the Chinese are one of those ancient civilizations that existed at that time. Their worship of Buddha may just be a totally different religion than what we normally think about. That wouldn't necessarily make it wrong for them. In worshipping their god, they naturally wouldn't have any association with God of the Christian faith. It would therefore not defy the first commandment since the 10 commandments wouldn't apply to them. The same would be true for other religions that are not based on the Christian faith. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please share. This is just something that came to me as I was writing this comment.
  • The Gospel of Matthew says little about the Three Wise Men who visited baby Jesus. Although Brent Landau, a Bible scholar investigated a manuscript that tells of the Three Wise Men who were from the land of "Shir" (China) who traveled to Bethlehem following a star. Newsweek article: https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-christian-text-bible-story-magi-birth-jesus-bethlehem-epiphany-772786 Not only that, there is a sense in the Bible of how far the East is. Isaiah 24:15 "Fear not, for I Am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the Earth,"
    • Army Veteran
      There's a problem in your narrative. According to the Bible, the star appeared in the east. Thus, the Wise Men would have been coming from the west if they were following the star. Your other reference to east and west is moot. Anywhere a person is standing, there are four directions. Without a specific distance, any direction could be anywhere from a few inches to thousands of miles. Interesting FYI: the word "news" is an acronym of where the information comes from: "North", "East", "West", and "South".
    • Jenny The Great ⭐
      To understand the Star of Bethlehem, you need to think like the Three Wise men. Motivated by this "star in the east," what you are forgetting is that they first traveled to Jerusalem and told king Herod the prophecy that a new ruler of the people of Israel would be born. You also need to think like king Herod who asked the wise men when the star had appeared, because he and his court apparently were unaware of any such star in the sky.
    • Jenny The Great ⭐
      Quote: "Your other reference to east and west is moot." Precisely, Isaiah 24:15 is speaking of the 4 corners of the Earth from coastline to coastline. It is how the Bible explains the "end of the Earth." And amazingly, Isaiah 24:15 is a prophesied verse of the Jews scattered on the 4 corners of the Earth or the 4 stations of the cross, which in the last days they will return home to Israel.
  • None. Nor does it mention the Americas, Australia, Northern Europe or Antarctica. Why? Because the Bible is not a World Atlas, nor does it pretend to be. Similarly: you won't find mention of East Asia in "A History of Bronze-age Britain". Sure, there were fantastic civilizations in the Far East and the Mediterranean during that period...but that's simply not what that book is about. LIKEWISE: the Bible covers specific topics, topics that the authors chose to address. You could make the same point concerning the lack of dinosaurs in the Bible...and then, you could make that same claim about the other book I mentioned as well, and with regard to the Bible you could add ducks, domesticated cats, turtles, etc. - that is: you could even mention things that almost certainly were known to the Biblical authors, but that were never mentioned by them. Why? Because those things are not relevant to the purpose and content of the documents they were writing...just as dinosaurs and ancient East Asian civilizations are not relevant to the subject matter addressed in the book "A History of Bronze-age Britain".
  • Nothing good. The Hebrews were only for that section of the world. Christianity is more a cult on steroids, as it's the only religion not founded by it's first follower or his family. Neither Jesus or his family were "Christians".
  • Perhaps you should ask the other way around and what ancient Chinese characters have to say about what is written in the Bible. God is truly great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7_QhwtdTqQ

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