The Black Vault

If you follow the creationism vs evolution debates as I do you will come across Hovind almost instantly, as he is a very outspoken proponent not only of creationism, but more ridiculous things like dinosaurs coexisting with man, and the Earth only being a few thousand years old instead of billions (young earth creationism).

I believe he also opened a theme park about dinosaurs where we see graphics of men riding dinosaurs around with plaques for the kids to read on how this is "historical fact".

Then he went to jail for fraud and has slipped from the limelight for a bit. More than likely he is a con-man rather than someone who really believes this stuff, and has made himself rich because of it.

You can read about Kent's theme park here.

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/stupid_di ... ture_land/

Interestingly it describes Kovind's other scraps with the law, including "a felony charge for assault, battery, and burglary with assault or battery". Also, "The IRS is charging that Hovind is evading taxes on more than $1 million in annual income and does not have a business license nor tax-exempt status for his ministry and the park".

Shady character indeed!

Some more nonsense at Kent's park:

"there are also some that describe how to fight the coming New World Order. Beyond conspiracies, Hovind also seeks to inform visitors about cryptozoology (books about sea and lake monsters—more about that later), home schooling, the risks of immunization, and a government-suppressed cure for cancer (Laetril)."

The link I showed from wikipedia also tells about his theme park, and his boloney....

Yeah I missed that, the Wiki link pretty much covers it all.

Not a man to be trusted.

OraProNobis wrote:I think there is a very real possibility that men lived with dinosaurs.

I also think that the huge flood, during the times of Noah, could be connected with the dinosaurs disappearing.

I also think the flood maybe linked to the disappearance of Atlantis as well.

None of this I can prove, just theories I have read that seem plausible.

When I went through my de-religionization, the flood was high on the list of reasons. Not so much that God performed genocide on every non-aquatic creature, that is enough to make you go hmmm, but the fact that God knew it would be doing it and set things in motion with Adam and Eve anyway...

The Architect - The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

Neo - The Oracle.

The Architect - Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.

shadowcass wrote:Not worried about it, actually. But you make some good points. I see a few posts from people who have a problem with "such a God". So foolish, really. They clearly don't know Him if they feel that way.

One can only hope that (as in the tale of the Sage who went to visit Vishnu) they will GET to know Him and realize how childish their resentment has been.

Cassandra

http://thetruthaboutalmosteverything.wo ... he-christ/

nice link

at1with0 wrote:If you're so interested in proof, where is the proof that the bible is the word of God?

Where do I start?

The Bible was written through 40 men over a 1500 year period, living in different parts of the world, some rich, some poor, some educated, many didn't have access to the other writings and yet, it fits together as if it were written by one person. That's because God told them what to write. There truly is no other book like it in the world.

The next Amazing thing are the literally hundreds of prophecies in the bible, which were written literally hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born that were of Him. They include where He would be born, when, that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, that He would die, His manner of death, the city of His birth, ect. ect. ect. Ever heard of the 3 wise men in the New Testiment? They knew Jesus Christ would be born because they studied their Bible. These prophecies are spread out throughout the bible, written by people who didn't know each other or have access to each other's writings many times.

Another reason is the Transforming power of the bible. This book has changed literally millions of lives. These people can attest to having a genuine, personal relationship with God as a result.

Another reason is the mere fact that it still exists. The sheer amount of adversity and those who have tried to destroy it and yet it's still around. Kings, Nations and Religions have tried to destroy it and have all failed.

Another is the prophecies that are in it that are coming true to this day. It predicted that the Jews would be scattered before they were and that they would reject Jesus Christ and they have. It predicted that they would become a nation again and it did. It talks about things that there is no way that anyone from that day that could have known.

For instance. It states that the earth is round and hangs on nothing (in outer space)

Written 3000 years ago

Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:


Written 3500 years ago

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.


It has changed my life and all of those who not only read it, but actually APPLY it to their lives.

Kent Hovind's legal trouble does not take away from the validity of his arguments. If he is right, he is right, no matter what. With that said, his theme park was a non-profit organization meaning that it doesn't have to pay taxes, yet the IRS came after him for tax evasion. Does this sound fair to you?

xfrodobagginsx wrote:

at1with0 wrote:If you're so interested in proof, where is the proof that the bible is the word of God?

Where do I start?

The Bible was written through 40 men over a 1500 year period, living in different parts of the world, some rich, some poor, some educated, many didn't have access to the other writings and yet, it fits together as if it were written by one person. That's because God told them what to write. There truly is no other book like it in the world.

So far, nothing to support the claim that the (entire) Bible is the word of God.

The next Amazing thing are the literally hundreds of prophecies in the bible, which were written literally hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born that were of Him. They include where He would be born, when, that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, that He would die, His manner of death, the city of His birth, ect. ect. ect. Ever heard of the 3 wise men in the New Testiment? They knew Jesus Christ would be born because they studied their Bible. These prophecies are spread out throughout the bible, written by people who didn't know each other or have access to each other's writings many times.

Not evidence that the (entire) Bible is the word of God. For one thing, here you are using the Bible to prove the Bible is the word of God. That's called begging the question, I believe.

Another reason is the Transforming power of the bible. This book has changed literally millions of lives. These people can attest to having a genuine, personal relationship with God as a result.

The Bible is not alone in this regard, so, here, it is only evidence of it being the word of God inasmuch as other books with transforming power would also be the word of God.

Another reason is the mere fact that it still exists. The sheer amount of adversity and those who have tried to destroy it and yet it's still around. Kings, Nations and Religions have tried to destroy it and have all failed.

Not evidence that the (entire) Bible is the word of God unless all ancient texts are the word of God.

Another is the prophecies that are in it that are coming true to this day. It predicted that the Jews would be scattered before they were and that they would reject Jesus Christ and they have. It predicted that they would become a nation again and it did. It talks about things that there is no way that anyone from that day that could have known.

Would any text containing a correct prediction be the word of God?

For instance. It states that the earth is round and hangs on nothing (in outer space)

Written 3000 years ago

Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

This is evidence that the Bible is the word of God inasmuch as an astronomy book is the word of God.

It has changed my life and all of those who not only read it, but actually APPLY it to their lives.

Perhaps you should stick to your faith...Just because it changed your life doesn't mean it is the word of God.

According to the IRS, Hovind reportedly earned $50,000 a year through speaking engagements and, in 2002 alone, the ministry sold more than $1.8 million in merchandise.[36] Also, Hovind's theme park and merchandise sales earned more than US$5 million from 1999 to March 2004.[37] On average, they say, Hovind "has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year."[38] Eventually that grew to about $2 million a year.[39] About half that income went to employees who were salaried or were paid hourly wages. However, Hovind derived "substantial revenue" from these activities that appeared to be "income to [him] personally."[40]

Prior to his prison term, Kent Hovind also owned at least 10 properties, including DAL.[41] As of 2009 the government is seizing the property for money owed,[42] but in a court filing Eric Hovind said he owned one of the properties and "took active control over the lot by personally building a home on it with $70,000 he borrowed from CSE."[43] The court accepted Eric's ownership due to improvements made on the property and allowed Eric to keep that property, but is allowing the government to seize the other nine properties.[43]

This does not sound like a non-profit organization that meets the federal requirments for that.