‘Secret Code’ Used to Bury Bad News in the Bible Is Discovered and It’s Called the ‘Genesis Death Sandwich’
Researchers are claiming that the Bible’s book of “Genesis” may actually follow a distinct pattern — one that intentionally buries negative news. The literary device employed in the book is known today as “bracketing,” however, its newly-discovered presence in the first book of the Bible is its first known usage. Experts are calling the phenomenon the “Genesis Death Sandwich.”
While the Daily Mail calls this process of embedding negativity a “secret code,” the use of bracketing is apparently very common today. Employing this device in politics and written works, individuals will sandwich one theme in the middle of two mentions of a separate team (hence the term “sandwich”). To frame it in more understandable terms: Bad news is placed in the middle, with good news being placed at the beginning and end of a written work.
This way, readers or listeners are showered with positive themes, fed the negative and then, again, given the more favorable information. It’s a method of buffering unpalatable ideals by sticking them in the center.
Experts at Keele University, located in the United Kingdom, and Amridge University, located in the United States, found that this familiar technique was used when dealing with two themes in Genesis — life and death. While the latter subject is clustered into the middle of the book, the former is at the beginning and end of its scriptures.

Photo Credit: AP
Those exploring the issue are unsure if the rhetorical technique was intentional. But either way, it’s noteworthy. If, indeed, use of the technique was purposefully employed, it may have been done to soften the negativity surrounding death or to provide stark difference between the concepts of life and death in readers’ minds.
“This is a significant discovery for historians and theologians interested in the Old Testament, and shows that whoever wrote the version of the text that has been passed down to us was clearly employing this rhetorical structure,” explained Dr. Gordon Rugg of Keele University, the individual who developed the tool used to analyze the text.
This tool, called Search Visualizer, looks at texts through a grid. Each square present represents a word, with colored suares representing search terms. When the words “life” and “death” were searched in the King James Version of Genesis, the aforementioned sandwich pattern became evident, the Daily Mail reports. Here’s how the Search Visualizer web site explains the search process:
The core concept behind the SV is simple. You can tell a lot about a document just by seeing where your keywords occur within it. Imagine that you’re seeing a printout of the entire document with colour-coded highlighting on each of your keywords. The illustration show what happens when you do this for the text of Macbeth, with red highlighting for where the word “sleep” occurs and green highlighting where the word “witch” occurs. You can see at a glance that there’s an opening section with many mentions of “witch” and one mention of “sleep”. Then there’s a gap, with neither word mentioned, and after that, there’s a section which mirrors the opening section – many mentions of “sleep” and one mention of “witch”. With SV, you’re able to see this sort of pattern within a document the size of an entire Shakespeare play in just one image.
Below, see a graphical example of life versus death as presented in Genesis. The green boxes represent mentions of death and the red ones showcase themes pertaining to life. The “sandwich” theme is clearly visible based on the tool’s analysis:

Photo Credit: Search Visualizer
This software won’t only help to analyze Biblical texts, but it can also be applied to other books to look for equally-fascinating patterns. Additionally, it can be utilized in police investigations to help examine witness testimony in the search for common themes and statements.
(H/T: Daily Mail)
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Comments (441)
rfycom
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:14amI have heard of this people; it is real. The most often use is the ice cream sandwich. Ice cream is carefully concealed between two cookie type covers. Of hell. I got to get one now.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:29amMind if I join you? The sour pusses on this website suck!
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mlimberg
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:10amAhhh… I see someone got their Ph.D not long ago… There are only so many thing you can write about before its plagiarizing. That’s how come we have so many bright ideas introduced into Government, with some young Ph.D hoping their dissertation sticks and they make the big splash.
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OhDaystar
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:01amI think some christians have become defensive, instigated by it being called a “Secret Code”. Relax. All they have found are some patterns. And God created patterns in the earth, the stars, and mankind. That is why He said no one will have an excuse for not recognizing Him. They are seeing patterns….a door opened….now it’s their choice to believe or not.
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TX_Ag_Engineer
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 12:09pmWell said!
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tootsie roll
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:30pmOdaystar is that like morningstar? Lucifer
God created the Universe in ORDER NOT PATTERNS. God is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow. Not buying your posts or this story
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Libby_Tarian
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:01amBrutal Truth REPLY to Brutal Truth
When you study a book in its original language the truth really does come out.
I would guess ( I used to be married to an ordained minister) that 99.9 percent of christian ministers have no idea how to read the Tanach in Hebrew.
So, here goes. The original Hebrew says in the verse Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.
It does not say that you shall not kill. Murder in Hebrew connotes shedding innocent blood.
You shall not shed innocent blood. If you are guilty of a sin against YHWH then in some instatnces you may kill people. You have to read your bible in Hebrew to find out what it says.
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BrutalTruth
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 1:34pmWe are in agreement with “you shall not murder”. I’m not clear on what your last point is though.
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The Third Archon
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:57am“This is a significant discovery for historians and theologians interested in the Old Testament, and shows that whoever wrote the version of the text that has been passed down to us was clearly employing this rhetorical structure,”
Yeah “rhetorical structure” isn’t really “secret code,” but okay.
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tootsie roll
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:26pmDuh ,a real fine. Dr. Rugg creates a computer program to get the results HE wants. NOW that is a real find
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spfoam1
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:56amI was the biggest religious skeptic of all time, so there’s not an atheist out there who can say anything to me I haven’t already heard or said many times. Most people have fallen for the biggest deception of all time. If you can watch this series with an open mind you will start to see the depth and magnitude of that deception. No, I’m not a muslim. This series will be of great interest to Christians and atheists alike, and anyone with any interest in prophecy:
http://www.worldtocome.org/player.html#!Item=558769,1
There is also a more in depth series on the 4 horsemen. It is absolutely fascinating, especially when you consider what is happening today:
http://www.worldtocome.org/player.html#!Item=559114,1
Actual Mid-East history compared to biblical prophecy, which gives credibility to biblical prophecy, as you have probably never seen it before.
http://www.worldtocome.org/player.html#!Item=559783,1
If you can avoid shooting at the messenger long enough to hear the message you will be amazed.
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tootsie roll
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:28pm@foam
No thanks, I will read God’s word and that is sufficient for me and my family
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spfoam1
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 2:47am@tootsie roll….You didn’t click any of the links or you wouldn’t have replied as you did. You may not know your scripture as well as you think you do.
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BurntHills
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:55amwe must not forget that a group of HUMAN MALES decided WHICH books will become the Bible. these men were not saints or miracle workers, they were ordinary everyday men who got up every day and farted and blew their nose and peed and put on their pants and went to break-fast.. GOD only knows which books & works they left OUT of the Bible. Irish monks transcribed the Bible from ancient Hebrew & Greek into Latin. then English men like Tyndale transcribed and edited it AGAIN, into English. every time it was messed with it has been edited. = Bad news for us. but a Miracle we still feel God’s Word in it.
We already know it has been severely translated wrong in the most basic command: THOU SHALT NOT -KILL- is wrong. In the ancient Hebrew it is really THOU SHALT NOT =MURDER=. and that is a whole different meaning.
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Atrum Angelis
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:34amApparently I used a censored word…
Those men would be the ones from the First Ecu menical Council of Nicea. They left a great deal out, and it’s those Gnostics that I find truly fascinating. In particular, the Books of Judas and of Mary (Mother, not Magdalen).
However, on the topic of Original Context, you should read the book “Misquoting Jesus.” It’s about all the problems with translations, the additions and subtractions over the centuries and the history behind why some of those changes took place. It was a very interesting read.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:41amBehind every human male is his mother. Nagging him. Telling him what to do. Such as”Moses, Moses, have you written down what the Lord told you to write today? Moses?
“Not now Mom! I’m writing to my girlfriend!
LOL!
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:54amBRUTAL TRUTH:
Genesis account of creation and the flood are designed to force people to decide. God’s pretty smart.
@Brutal Truth:
This statement above is quite ridiculous if you asked a Jew about Genesis. Have you? I have. If it were not for “the Jews” then Christians would have no Bible or faith at all, right? So, why don’t we “interpret” Genesis like a Jew, okay? Since it is “their book” to begin with. First of all, if you ask a Jew about Genesis, and I have, they will say, “Genesis is OUR WAY of talking about the beginning of our life with Elohim.” It is a way of understanding HIM and US with HIM. It is written in such a way as to show HIS: Power, Majesty, Character, Purpose WITH US in THIS WORLD. That is what a Jew would say about Genesis. Within Judaism there is much discussion over ‘meaning’ and the Jewish scholars will debate all day long and then some into each “meaning” behind each word or phrase of their Genesis Creation Story. There are volumes by Jews about Genesis. You can pick one up and then you will KNOW what a JEW thinks. Christians have this “blind spot” when it comes to the Old Testament. To Genesis in particular. They need to be viewed through a Jews EYES and not a Christian in America living in 2013 who thinks that somewhere back in the Middle East snakes really talk. Pick up anything by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994). I recommend: Torah Studies compiled by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on amazon.com
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BrutalTruth
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 1:33pmRight, so let me talk to those who rejected God to understand God? Why do you think they spent 40 years in the desert. Do you really want to ask a Pharisee what they think? Didn’t go over to well for them, did it.
God is faithful, Jews not so much. (you can use any ethnicity here)
The bigger problem you have is the inconsistencies your ideas point to in making them fit the ENTIRE Bible. Or do you support the idea that the Bible is not inerrant? If so, why do you believe any of it?
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2Amend
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 10:04pmI was thinking the same thing.. let me call a Rabbi for the scoop on Jesus. And why do so many anti-Bible folks refer to a ‘talking snake’? It was made clear that Satan used the snake, like a ventriloquist uses a dummy. John speaks of this in Revelation, at both 12:9, and 20:2 saying,”So down the great dragon was hurled, the “original serpent”, the one called Devil and Satan.”
Also, Genesis is not “their book”.. it was written for all humans!
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thereyougoagain
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:51amIs it just me or is it a pervasive human condition that our fingers are not as smart as we?
Along with the mix of meaningless articles and comments; both of which are hastily written, we watch as “The Blaze” continues to burn out.
However, any entertainment or distraction is preferable to watching the “progressive enemy from within” destroy us.
It is a cool night here on the deck of the Titanic! The band is excellent, however the noise and smoke is quite distracting!
God save us and our country!
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rochrealtor
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:50amEveryone on this blog (if not already) read “A Scientific Approach to Biblical Mysteries.” by Robert W. Faid. A book about a “Scientist,” who proves the bible stories and explains how they happened!
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person.of.nocolor
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:37amWhat’s the point? I don’t understand why this is so interesting. Isn’t it more interesting to understand what the text is actually telling you? God created. Man sinned. Death was brought into the world thus. The world died except for Noah and his family. Earth was destroyed utterly of all humanity. Demons were no longer allowed to share genetic material. Mankind repopulated. Mankind given hope for eternal life for a coming savior. The savior Jesus arrive by Holy Spirit providing 1/2 of genetic material, showed people how to live, was murdered for doing so. All foreknown. Jesus was resurrected to life leading others to follow His example. There are no secrets it is all very plainly written so read it and enjoy while you are still alive.
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WhiteFang
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:44amWow, the Bible in one paragraph. I enjoyed that. :-)
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:35amHere is a full list of articles on intelligent design written by Stephen Meyer and you can read a list of scientists who dissent from Darwinism here for even more proof of the cracks in the edifice of the theory.
My Reflections on the Intelligent Design Debate by. S. Meyer
I believe in evolution. I believe in intelligent design. I’m not sure what my opinion is of macro-evolution and I’m pretty sure I’m not a young-earther in the traditional sense, but there are certainly others who share my opinion on both of these issues (See peer reviewed article links & the dissent from darwin as well as the article by Stephen Meyer, which is an incredible article). I believe that textbooks should at least teach the controversy for greater public awareness of the issue. Does intelligent it belong in a science textbook? Does intelligent design belong in the science classroom? I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps its more of a civics, government, or history issue rather than a science one. However, it seems that science looses even more if its not included in a scientific context (i.e. they have to re-clarify and re-explain their approach or position on intelligent design at a later date). The current policy seems to be one of avoidance of conflict and controversy….but thats just an elephant in the room.”
source: http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/nobel-prize-winners-who-believe-in-intelligent-design/
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:33amIntelligent Design Vs. Evolution
by Charles Townes- UC/Berkeley
I think it’s very unfortunate that this kind of discussion has come up. People are misusing the term intelligent design to think that everything is frozen by that one act of creation and that there’s no evolution, no changes. It’s totally illogical in my view. Intelligent design, as one sees it from a scientific point of view, seems to be quite real. This is a very special universe: it’s remarkable that it came out just this way. If the laws of physics weren’t just the way they are, we couldn’t be here at all. The sun couldn’t be there, the laws of gravity and nuclear laws and magnetic theory, quantum mechanics, and so on have to be just the way they are for us to be here.
Some scientists argue that “well, there’s an enormous number of universes and each one is a little different. This one just happened to turn out right.” Well, that’s a postulate, and it’s a pretty fantastic postulate – it assumes there really are an enormous number of universes and that the laws could be different for each of them. The other possibility is that ours was planned, and that’s why it has come out so specially. Now, that design could include evolution perfectly well. It’s very clear that there is evolution, and it’s important. Evolution is here, and intelligent design is here, and they’re both consistent.
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Atrum Angelis
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 11:13amSee, were I to believe in God, this is where I would be sitting. Evolution along with a God who planned it. I’d be more along the lines of thought of the deists, like Jefferson, who believed in God, but less on his interactions with humans (ie. the supernatural).
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TX_Ag_Engineer
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:32amWe created this “sandwich” system to make bad news more palatable. God created us and gave us our all of our abilities to reason and process knowledge. Yet people seemed surprised that He would use a literary device in His Message to us? A study of the Bible finds that many literary devices were used to help our imperfect human minds understand God’s perfect Message. This is not a mystical code; it’s a loving Father sharing truth in a way that His children can handle.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:09amMoses Wrote the Torah:
Exodus 17:14 “Then the Lord instructed Moses, ‘Write this down as a permanent record…’”
Exodus 24:4 “Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions.”
Exodus 34:27 “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down all these instructions, for they represents the terms of my covenant with you and with Israel.’”
Leviticus 1:1 “The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, ‘Give the following instructions to the Israelites…’”
Leviticus 6:8 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions…’”
Deuteronomy 31:9 “So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests.”
Deuteronomy 31:24-26 “When Moses had finished writing down this entire body of law in a book…”
Passages elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures:
Joshua 1:7-8 “…Obey all the laws Moses gave you.”
Joshua 8:31-34 “He followed the instructions that Moses the Lord’s servant had written in the Book of the Law…”
Joshua 22:5 “…obey all the commands and the laws that Moses gave to you.”
2 Chronicles 34:14 “…Hilkiah the high priest…found the book of the Law of the Lord as it had been given through Moses.”
Passages in the Gospels which show that Jesus and John the Baptizer believed Moses to be the author:
Matthew 19:7-8 “…why did Moses say a man could merely write an official letter of divorce and send her away?”, they asked. Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted divorce…’”
Matthew 22:24 “Mose
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:06amMoses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Modern Moshe Tiberian Mōšéh ISO 259-3 Moše ; Arabic: موسى Mūsā ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’an, and Baha’i scripture, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, Lit. “Moses our Teacher/Rabbi”), he is the most important prophet in Judaism,[1][2] and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.
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Atrum Angelis
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:06amIt seems like a very shaky premise to work with based on the graphic. You would think that then 66.6% (repeating, of course) of the dots are life while 33.3% would correspond to death, and that the dots would appear in groups of threes. They do not. Also, if they are only using the words life and death, and I would assume tenses of said words, and not themes (which would be intristically vital to the interpretation of the text), the first dot should correspond to Gen. 1:20 in where the “waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life.” But the them of life runs from 1:20 (the fifth day) to the end of Gen 1 (the end of the sixth day, after the creation of man). The first instance of death as a concept appears in Gen. 2:17, when God explains that to eat from the tree of life “thou shalt surely die.” He then goes on in Gen 2 to create woman from the rib of Adam, however no mention of the world life just the theme. In the beginning of Gen 3, death is mentioned, in 3:3. Eve then goes on to eat the forbidden fruit.
That quick review of just the first portion of Genesis would show that it alternates between the concepts of life and death (ie. A, B, A, B, etc) and not the sandwich technique (ie, A, B, A, A, B, A, etc).
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 3:00pm@Angel:
Every time you say “sandwich” i want to run to Subway. Is that wrong? :-)
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Atrum Angelis
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 3:16pm@Liz
Only if you order a foot-long and only get 11 inches.
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Atrum Angelis
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 3:20pmI also was planning on ranting more about how the theory is flawed, from an academic stand-point, but I figured I should quit while I was ahead. The academic in me is disappointed that this study is even being looked at, considering it lacks even simple context. Which defeats the whole purpose of studying ANY ancient text.
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NewLife56
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:03amWell darn I guess I’ll just stop reading the bible now and join the world where they are very tolerant to everyone except Christians now. I guess the world was right. Second thought, I just remembered the worlds as it is and think I’ll stick to the truth. God is our creator, he is the only righteous Judge, and Christ Jesus is the true living son of God who died and rose on the 3rd day and defeated Death.
Well time to get off and finsih reading my bible lesson for today.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:59amTROLLTRAINER
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:40am
Did you catch the interview with Spock?
Back on Vulcan, before he worked for starfleet, he was a clock cleaner.
@TrollTrainer:
yes honey. I caught the interview with Spock. He says you are very welcome and he will meet you on Uranus. bye lovey.
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RaydocX
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:58amGlenn, mention this to Penn Gillette.
With the perfection of hindsight you can always find a way to make unrelated points form a line…
It may be curved, it may require worm holes or additional dimensions, but ‘connections’ can always be fabricated by the mind of man.
One has to remember that while divinely inspired, the bible is the word of God passed down by man, through various translations and interpretations. He did not dot every i and cross every t in passing what should be common sense attitudes and behaviors to His followers.
the Genesis Death Sandwich insinuates none of us truly have free will, it is all predetermined… that is used too often to justify bad behavior vs. a simple lack of self control, and it hurts the respectability of organized religion.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:12amIf anything the “Death Sandwich” gives credence to an Intelligent Design and therefore, an Intelligent Designer.
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shorelineliz
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:54amBeep……Beep…….Beep……..this just in folks by way of teletype…..Candy Crawley and Madelyn O’Hairy are both in a donut coma………..in a strange twist of InterFaith and InterScience dialogue the American Association of Atheists and the American Psychiatric Scientific Man Made Theory Division AND the American Charismatic Christian Association have announced plans to what?…………..beep….beep…..you have to be f……..beep…..beep…….okay folks……..in an InterFaith and InterStellar act of cooperation the groups have decided to put on a convention and invite Michael Dorn who played the Klingon “Worf” as their guest speaker! ……..beep….beep…..beep……..the title of the InterFaith convention will be, “A Journey Through Genesis and Uranus with ALL participants expected to carry Bibles AND dress up like their favorite character from either Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. …..beep…beep…..convention topics will include: “Does this costume really make me look worldly or spiritual?” and “Which came first Genesis or Uranus?”…beep……beep…..beep……in other news The 700 Club’s Pat Robertson has holy denounced such an endeavor to be a dangerous mix of “fiction, farts, gas, bathroom humor, Bible tampering, and “getting into bed with the Devil”….beep….beep…..rumor has it he is pissed he was not a headliner nor invited to dress up…..beep….beep……beep……..
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tolerence
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:53amI love people who insult the Bible which is God’s Word…It’s always amazing to me how these haters just calmly strut right into HELL!,as the Devil sits in a chair with His arms crossed not even having to raise a finger to influence the walk of an atheist,”a Path To Hell”,they walk right into Hell proudly! …How Little They Know… ,talk about being your own worst enemy,non-belivers will get a Shake Up! to Wake Up some day,but by then it may be too late…,
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SREGN
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:50amIt’s so entertaing to watch the unbelievers wrestle with The Bible, while completely ignoring its message.
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BrutalTruth
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 10:34amYep. If it’s fiction, why do they give it such attention.
Almost as sad as those who profess to be Christians, but can’t believe parts of the Bible, especially the beginning.
Genesis account of creation and the flood are designed to force people to decide. God’s pretty smart.
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dirtypolitics
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:46amI know the Main Stream Media (CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, New York Tiimes, Washington Post, Politico) buries bad news about Obama.
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 9:43amWhat can be said about a ‘word sandwich’ in Genesis. God does what he pleases and he communicates in ways that are palatable for the human mind.
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