NONSENSE FROM THE BIBLE (14 page)

This story also reveals more unintelligent traits of the heavenly Father, he is not only a jealous God, he also feels threatened by his children. Did he seriously believe that the people were about to build a tower that would reach heaven, wherever that may be?   He was obviously greatly concerned about their efforts, enough to react in such an extraordinary way! Of course this is just another nonsense story of human origin as a feeble explanation of why there are so many languages in the world. 

Now it gets really silly!

5. JONAH AND THE ‘WHALE’ EXPERIENCE

God spoke to the Prophet Jonah and told him to go and speak against the wickedness in the city of Ninevah. But Jonah didn’t think this was a good idea so he went to Joppa and found a ship which was going to Tarshish, he paid his fare and went aboard and they set sail. God of course saw this attempt by Jonah to avoid his instructions. When the ship was well out at sea, God sent a great wind to frighten the sailors. Jonah was asleep inside the ship and was not concerned until the captain woke him up to pray to his God to save them. The crew decided to discover who was causing the problem which made God bring the storm upon them. 

Jonah 1:7   

 
And they said every one to his fellow,
Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah
. 

When he told them that he was a Hebrew who served God and that he had tried to hide from God, they became even more afraid for their lives. Jonah told them to throw him into the sea. 

Jonah 1:14-15  

Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
 

As the story goes, Jonah is not in the water for very long before something amazing happens:

Jonah 1:17   

Now
the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights
. 

Jonah now found himself in the belly of a great fish, commonly but erroneously held to be a whale, where for those three days and three nights he not only survived but prayed and God heard him and:

Jonah 2:10   

And
the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land
. 

Well I guess if we can believe that a human being can live and pray inside the belly of a whale and survive for seventy two hours, we can believe anything! 

Nonsense of course - more imagination of  human origin!

BIBLE NONSENSE NUMBER 8

The question is - does prayer work or is it just a waste of time?

For us to even consider that prayer is an effective way to solve problems and empower us with wisdom or a supernatural experience, we would need to believe that God actually exists. We should also need to know that He is interested in hearing each and everyone whenever we spend time praying to him.

By reason alone, even if such a supernatural being exists, it would be most unlikely that he could listen individually to at least three billion people who claim to believe in him. (Christians, Jews and Muslims)

Prayer is an essential part of a committed Christian’s life and for most it is an everyday commitment. Many will start their day in prayer whether this is for a few minutes or a prolonged time according to their needs and for others. Times of prayer will usually be included in their routine throughout the day and before sleep. They may also be part of a prayer group at the church they attend several times each week. For ‘nominal Christians’ prayer may only mean saying grace at meal times and at bedtime saying The Lord’s Prayer. Whatever the level of faith, it is expected that believers should pray often; in fact the Bible teaches many times on prayer and here are a few examples:

From Jesus:

Matthew 6:5-8

And when you pray
, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him

From the Apostle John

1 John 5:14-15

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that i
f we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him

From the Apostle Paul

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything
,
but in everything
,
by prayer and petition
,
with thanksgiving
,
present your requests to God
. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always;
pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances
, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

Some may consider that their prayers are almost always answered. Many are often eager to tell others how wonderful God has been to them as he answered their prayer, whether this was for a specific serious need or a trivial request. It is always a self satisfying experience to be able to exhibit spiritual superiority within any group of believers. Some, I have known claimed to have had their prayers answered almost on a daily basis, whilst others struggle in their endeavours to make that special personal contact with God.

Is prayer a genuine experience whereby a believer can enter into a conversation with God, as some claim?  At best for the believer it appears to be a hit or miss occurrence rather than a learned skill. Then of course, the question will always be - was the prayer answered by divine intervention or would it have happened in the course of natural events? I heard so many times from people claiming that God had answered their prayers, but they were referring to trivial problems, such as lost car keys or a parking space. Finding your car keys does not require divine intervention - they are usually found by a mental recollection and a parking space will be available, not through an act of God but rather because someone has just vacated a space - only patience is required.  

Is prayer an effective means of communication between human beings and an alleged God or is it nonsense? I believe the realistic answer to that question has to be based on whether prayer is effective in a general or universal sense. This is prayer which is unhindered by personal hopes, claims or imaginations of individual people who have been programmed to believe that God is real and that He answers their prayers.

By this I mean prayers which have been made usually by many people in groups, churches or individually to effect a change in a major event which is beyond their personal control. Here I will suggest a few examples:

World War Two and the Holocaust.

At an early age I experienced the reality of war. I was just 3 years old when World War Two began and for the next five years our lives were deeply affected by the war. We lived in England close to a large naval dockyard and several military bases; it was a target area for the enemy, just 30 miles south of London. I remember the sound and smell of gunfire and falling bombs. I remember the ground shaking as a bomb hit nearby. I remember the searchlights and the air battles being fought overhead. I remember the rationing and shortage of almost everything. I remember being carried into the air raid shelter night after night as soon as the air raid warning sounded. For periods of several months, this would happen almost every night and in the morning we would emerge from the shelter wondering whether our home had again escaped damage. On several occasions a house nearby had been destroyed. I knew that members of my family were praying for safety and for the end of the terrible war. The churches were full, people everywhere where praying for victory and for the end of hostilities.  Every day and every night, countless thousands of human lives would end or be ruined for life. Millions died, millions suffered yet most were praying and believing in a loving God to help in the time of trouble. At the same time millions of God’s ‘chosen people’ the Jews were systematically being annihilated as they cried out to God to save them!

I am equally certain that millions of German and Japanese people were also praying for peace and for safety for their loved ones. Men, women and children of every nation caught up in the war, were praying. Obviously, God either did not hear their prayers or if he did he decided to let events take their course. Some may claim that they prayed for safety for a loved one and that he or she returned from the war without a scratch. Were their prayers answered? If we say yes, then we must assume that God is extremely selective in his mercy. Clearly, many were saved from death and permanent injury but was that the result of prayer or simply chance? The evidence undoubtedly has to be heavily on the side of chance rather than some form of divine intervention.

Steven Pinker is an eminent Canadian-born Harvard College Professor, experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist and author. In his book
The Better Angels of Our Nature
 Published in 2011, gives the WW2 death toll as 55 million and estimating that civilians account for about half of the deaths in war.

An estimated total of up to 55 million lost their lives despite the prayers of those who died and the prayers of many more of the number who were killed.

Result - Horrendous prayer failure!

It does not only take a war to motivate people to pray.

In Australia for almost ten years there was virtually a total drought affecting huge areas of farmland in three states. During all these years Christians prayed for the rain to fall. Year after year they prayed but still no rain fell. Many lives were ruined, huge numbers of cattle and sheep were slaughtered for want of grazing. Farmers were made bankrupt and some committed suicide. Still the Christians prayed.

Finally, in December 2010 and January 2011 the rains arrived and covered the land and swelled the rivers. The deluge affected an estimated 200,000 people who had to evacuate their flooded homes or had completely lost their homes. At least 35 people lost their lives and the damage was estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

Obviously all those prayers by multitudes of people over a period of almost ten years were unanswered! No one could possible claim that God had acted or answered those prayers.

Result - Major prayer failure!  

In Eastern Europe and the Middle East during the past 20 to 30 years, wars and ethnic or tribal disputes involving killings on a large scale have been almost continuous. Hundreds of thousands have been killed including women and children and the elderly. Even more have lost their homes and meagre possessions. Almost all of the inhabitants of these countries believe in God and much of the violence is in fact caused by their differences in beliefs. Can we imagine that those families were not all praying to their God? The killing and cost in human terms and life deprivation continues to this day!

Result - Major prayer failure!

In Africa many countries have become virtual ‘basket cases’ as their populations endeavour to survive in the midst of countless tribal and territorial and religion-based wars. Many hundreds of thousands have died of famine and starvation and the scourge of AIDS and other terminal illnesses. Again, most of these people are devout believers as Christians or Muslims - all would be praying for peace and help and thousands continue to die.

Result - Major prayer failure!

My conclusion: Prayer is a waste of time! - There is no God to answer prayers, however desperate the need. If there is such a divinity, why did he completely disregard all those millions, maybe billions of prayers by believers who were crying out for his help in times of great need?

Prayer is more Bible nonsense!

Jesus taught on prayer and made these incredible statements:

Matthew 21:21-22

Jesus answered and said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Matthew 18:19-20

Again
I say unto you
,
That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask
,
it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven
.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name
,
there am I in the midst of them
.

Mark 11:24

Therefore
I say unto you
,
What things soever ye desire
,
when ye pray
,
believe that ye receive them
,
and ye shall have them

John 14:13-14

And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name
,
that will I do
, that my Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask any thing in my name
,  
I will do it
.

 Really? - Amazing nonsense!

Prayer does not work! - Just a waste of time.