Imitator:

Quote:
Daniel uses the term sevens, sometimes translated weeks, to mean a group of seven years. 7 + 62 sevens = 69 sevens. 69 x 7 years equals 483 years. The decree came in 445 b.c from Artaxerxes the king of Persia.Using 360 day years as the Hebrews did, we add 483 years and come to ad. 32 plus or minus 1.5 years.
Imitator:

So wait, it sometimes is translated into weeks, but just for this excercise we know that he meant seven years? How do we know, excluding the fact that it fits your excercise here, that he didnt mean weeks? Especially if what he said could be interpretted as weeks?
I have my concordance right here with me, and here is the meaning of the word used for weeks:

shabuwa

- lit. sevened, i.e. a week (spec. of years): seven, week.

from online concordance:

Outline of Biblical Usage

1) seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week

a) period of seven days, a week

1) Feast of Weeks

b) heptad, seven (of years)

So for starters, it meaning seven years cannot be ruled out. It would mean a day for a year, that is seven years. There are other examples in scripture of the day for a year rule:

Ezekiel 4:6
6And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

numbers 14:34
34After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
In both of these examples it was meant to be reminder of the rebellion of the Hebrews. In Daniels time, God had appointed 70 years for them to be held in captivity in Babylon. THis was foretold and prophesied by Jeremiah:

11And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.


Jeremiah 25

12And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

13And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
Daniel 9

1In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

2In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

3And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Now in response to this prayer God sent him the response of the prophecy of the seventy weeks. Now the 70 weeks begins "From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" (Dn 9:25) to the coming of "the Anointed One , the ruler, comes, and is then "cut off" (Dn 9:26). Now the word sevens could mean a regular week, but not in this context, and not comparing the other examples of prophecy that have been shown above. The decree to rebuild the temple was issued right about 445 BC, and took several years to finish. There is no mention of any claimed annointed one right around this period, as it would have been only 483 days until he would be killed! This doesn't fit the context at all and from comparing to the other prophecies shown it fits the context of the prophecy given to Daniel that it would mean a group of seven years, or a year for a day. You must also keep in mind these verses:

Daniel 9
26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
That's a pretty specific prophecy that was also fulfilled in Christ. In fact, the fact that Christ fulfilled all of his prophecies just as it was foretold over 600 years earlier is iin itself be proof enough. It took them years to buiild the temple, and after the end when the messiah was to be cut off the temple and city were to be destroyed. This never happened in 446 b.c. but it was fulfilled exactly in the time of Christ.
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For example, the only way you could logically support buddhism is to deny that the second law always holds true, or to deny that the outside world exists, or that time is real, or that reality is even real. In fact, these are some of the things that buddhism does claim! They are forced to. I think this is unrealistic, and dangerous. Besides, there is no evidence to support that the 2nd law, the outside world, or reality are not real. The case is quite the opposite. I hope these facts do not elude anyones notice.
Imitator:

You took a shred of truth there, and spread it into something entirely different.

Buddhism says that its foolish to look at things as having a definite start, and a definite end. Such things are human creations to help deal with the first Noble Truth, Pain. Doing so, will only cause more pain, and will prevent you from ever reaching nirvana.
To deny that the universe had a definite start is to deny the second law. It's interesting how you can say we know so little but you're so sure there was never a beginning.

Secondly, what Buddhism says makes perfect sense, because alot of what they speak of works on the scientific level.
I know that evolution and buddhism go hand in hand, and tha't probably one of the greatest reasons so many westerners are embracing this religon. There is believed to be a parallel in the antithesis between Darwin's theory of the evils of evolution and Buddha's doctrine of the evolution of evils. The former is due to the great struggle for existence and the latter, to the will to live (tanha). which gives rise to the struggle for existence.

Buddha taught that all things are impermanent, constantly arising, becoming, changing and fading. Nothing exists 'from its own side' or by reference to its own essence. So yes, it does deny reality. It's hard for a religion that teaches total impermanence to fit with science's foundational axiom which is that the natural laws remain true, and that the material world exists.



Everything in life is waiting for the proper conditions to support its current manifestation. It doesnt completely poof out of no where, pretty much everything needed for it to manifest is there, its waiting for proper conditions.
It's waiting? Life doesn't come out of nowhere but the proper conditions do, it seems like what you're saying.
natureisawesome Reviewed by natureisawesome on . A path to faith with science Some people don't think that faith and science are compatible. This is to demonstrate that is not the case and that science plays a part in helping to confirm God's existence and reveal his divine nature. This is to demonstrate one path to God. There is contained within both evidence for God's existence and attributes from the nature of the physical universe, and also evidence from direct communication from God and mankind. Finding out whether God exists or not is not just for philosophers Rating: 5