Meanwhile, I think you have accurately described my position, and I take my hat off to you for being open-minded.

It seems there is a growing cult whose members call themselves "YouRangists". They believe that the universe is only about 10 years old! Evidently, it all started when some of their "prophets" saw my "YouRangism" post here (OhioChessFan chessforum).

I've tried to explain to them that they've taken that post too literally, but they fire back that they are 100% convinced that their interpretation is correct.

I tell them that their interpretation defies common sense and science, but they counter that I am guilty of giving common sense and science priority over the Holy Book of YouRang.

I ask them to at least accept that science is an honest independent search for truth by seeking natural explanations, but they insist that scientists are liars running away from YouRangism, and those who believe them are fools.

I tell them that their views reflect a religious bias, but they tell me that I have an anti-YouRangism bias.

One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.

That's ok, Bill Maher makes the least impression himself, so you're equal.

I agree that you haven't made a comment quite like that. This part of the analogy was based on views that other young-earth creationists have expressed.

But you may take that whole post to be "tongue in cheek". Although I disagree with your "young earth" reasoning, I don't care nearly as much about that as your willingness to accuse the vast majority of scientists of being liars.

Regarding the Last Supper "contradiction:"

I, for one, don't even see that there is a contradiction. I assume you are referring to John 13:1, which simply says that the L.S. was before Passover. I don't see any contradiction there. But since you obviously have done much deeper research than I have, I decided to give you a full rebuttal. The answer lies in a difference among the Jews in the way they reckoned the beginning and ending of days. From Josephus, the Mishna; and other ancient Jewish sources we learn that the Jews in northern Israel calculated days from sunrise to sunrise. That area included the region of Galilee, where Jesus, and all the disciples except Judas had grown up. Apparently most, if not all, of the Pharisees used that system of reckoning. But Jews in the southern part, which centered in and around Jerusalem, calculated days from sunset to sunset. Because all priests necesarily lived in or Jerusalem, as did most of the Sadducees, those groups followed the southern scheme. That variation doubtlessly caused confusion at times, but also had some practical benefits. During Passover time, for instance,, it allowed for the feast to be celebrated legitimately on two adjoining days, thereby permitting the temple sacrifices to be made over a total period of four hours, which made things easier. The separation of days may also have had the effect of reducing both regional and religious clashes between the two groups.

Regarding the Last Supper "contradiction:" >

I'm well aware of how the days were defined. While it's important to understand that in making sense of the passages (e.g., how the Last Supper and the Crucifixion could apparently both happen on the same "day"), that is not the issue at stake. The issue is that John says the Last Supper was a passover feast, while the other gospels disagree. However John chose to read the calendar, if he was indeed at the Last Supper, he should know whether that meal was a passover feast or not.

Looking at the specific passages, not only does John refer to the day of the Crucifixion as the preparation for passover (which as you say could be reconciled if he were simply working to a different calendar) [<John 19:14> "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour" and similarly <John 18:28>], he also:

1) Clearly refers to the Last Supper as being the day *before* the passover feast [<John 13:1> "It was just before the Passover Feast."]

paraskeuç 3) in the NT in a Jewish sense, the day of preparation

a) the day on which the Jews made necessary preparation to celebrate a sabbath or a feast

The NIV has John 19:14 <It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.>

What is going on here? Usage of the word paraskeuç in first century Koine Greek had become fairly synonomous with "Friday". In modern Greek, the word for "Friday" is paraskeuç. Usage of the term "of the Passover" is the same as "of the Passover week".

We see that in Luke 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,

The whole feast, the entire week, is called "Passover", one day. We have some sense of that in English. "What'd you do for the Christmas holiday?" does not mean I am asking about only December 25th. We have a song about the 12 days of Christmas. It is reasonable to think the Feast of Unleavened Bread, over time, would be called Passover.

<YouRang: I think you're addressing this to the wrong person.>