Just goes to show me why I stopped reading you in the first place, go ahead and ban me too, maybe I will try again in another year or two. I doubt it though.

MS, sometimes even the mighty imonk can be wrong.

Otherwise, you get another “When coin in Tetzel’s coffer rings…”

One quick question, would you think the same way if the same amount of money, by equally qualified researchers were spent on The Shroud of Turin, or Juan Diego’s tilma with Our Lady of Guadelupe on it?

Thank you.

I’ve been using the term “Stupid Christian Tricks” — a subset of “Stupid People Tricks” — for several years. What else can you call a lot of crap like that mentioned in this thread? Or in a lot of IMonk’s rants?

OK. I’ll expand my criticism to 99.99% of the fund raising done on TV in relation to religion. The people on the asking end have a moral obligation (in my opinion) to not appeal to the weak of spirit and those who confuse giving to a cause with building up points for salvation.

“What does the Christian faith gain from finding the Ark?” Well, what do Christians gain from books such as “Jesus and Paul: Places They Knew”? We gain some appreciation of the historical setting of events, individuals, and objects described in the Bible. The discovery of Noah’s Ark would do the same thing. It would indicate that Genesis 6-9 has a larger historical core than many people suppose it has. It would not remove the need for faith.

You asked, “Is our belief in the Scriptures and the witness of the Holy Spirit so flimsy that we must make ourselves feel good by looking for and possibly finding archeological crutches for our faith?” The question is loaded: you don’t really think that authentic pieces of archaeological evidence that pertain to Biblical events, individuals, and objects are nothing but crutches. They foster a better understanding of Scripture, and help avoid misunderstandings. And that is something that the discovery of Noah’s Ark would do.

You noted, “Just because Dr. Price is well educated … doesn’t prohibit him from doing something foolish.” I agree, but that does not make it foolish to look for Noah’s Ark on Mount Sinai. There is a possibility, however minute, that Noah’s Ark, or some other significant find, may be discovered.

You asked about what Dr. Price stands to gain from the possible discovery of Noah’s Ark. As you mentioned, it could make him rich and famous. But that is completely superfluous to the point of my post, which is simply that the enterprise of searching for Noah’s Ark is not as unreasonable as Michael made it out to be, in light of ancient records of some boat or boat-like object being somewhere on Mount Sinai.

You asked if the discovery of Noah’s Ark would make God more glorious or make the Gospel more effective or make Scripture more valid. Of course the glorious nature of God and the veracity of the gospel and Scripture do not stand or fall on the success or failure of Dr. Price’s search for Noah’s Ark. But try picturing a hypothetical 2009 in which Noah’s Ark had already been discovered on Mount Sinai in, say, 1809, and that it had been transported and deposited, piece by piece, to become a special exhibit in the British Museum. Looking back on the Ark’s discovery, two centuries afterwards, would you accuse its discoverers of attempting to make God more glorious, and so forth? Would you consider the exhibit a waste of time on the grounds that the discoverers became rich and famous? Would you say Christians who say that the exhibit helped them understand and appreciate Scripture must have fragile faith? Or would you say that the discovery of Noah’s Ark has, like the discoveries of some other Bible-related artifacts, led some people to glorify God who otherwise might not have done so, and that it has led some people who had doubted the story of Genesis 6-9 to take a more open-minded view of Scripture and the gospel?

Also, to Ky Boy But Not Now:

Unless you can provide some example of Dr. Price telling people to contribute to his trip even though it will cause a financial hardship, I don’t see how the tendency that you describe applies to him any more than it applies to, say, fund-raising drives by Christian radio stations, appeals-letters from universities and medical research centers, advertisements for charities, and so forth. The existence of unwisely generous people does not indict Dr. Price specifically, or responsibly-stated public appeals for donations generally.

Yours in Christ,

James Snapp, Jr.

I have no problem with anyone spending their OWN money to go looking for almost anything anywhere they want. I do have a problem with people appealing to the general public for funds for journeys (adventures?) such as this and taking on the “prove the Bible” label. This tends to draw funds from many people who just flat out should not be giving money to these causes. My mother in particular. The sheriff has been at her door over money issues but she still gives to things like this.

Ray Vander Laan on the other hand travels the middle east doing documentaries on the lands and how they fit into various Biblical stories. But his funds are raised privately from people who can afford it.