My point was that there are plenty of things to suggest that the Qur'an is not divinely inspired (I can elaborate on this if you like - I've spent considerable time studying it). These things are generally scientific in nature and well substantiated enough to lend me the confidence I need to declare the Qur'an a book without divine inspiration.
The most obvious of these things would be a divergence between the Qur'anic and the scientific explanations for a particular natural phenomenon. A good example of this type of divergence is the explanation of the production of semen found in sura 86:5-7. In this verse semen is said to be produced in an area found between the ribs and the backbone (i.e. the upper chest). Science declares semen production to be conducted in the testicles. The ribs in a human being end above the stomach and well above the testicles putting the Qur'an off by roughly a foot (depending on a particular man's body size). Who is right? I hazard a guess that most people would side with science on this one - wouldn't you?
I'm not claiming to know absolute truth about the universe as you seem to imply. I am however claiming to be almsot certainly right about things like the example I gave above. It goes hand in hand with an assertion of this kind that the Qur'an is almost certainly wrong. Given that the record shows that the Qur'an is almost certianly wrong on a number of different issues I believe it to be a work of fiction made up by Muhammed. I don't need to know everything about the universe to say this - I only need to know enough about things dealt with by both science and the Qur'an.
When I spoke about peoples discomfort with the truth I was talking about how when facts and objective reasoning enter a discussion or debate a religious believer will often hastily abandon the posture of an apologist and adopt that of someone who holds that belief and faith revolve solely around factually un-moored opinions and 'persepctives' totally unassualtable to reason and argument.
The most obvious of these things would be a divergence between the Qur'anic and the scientific explanations for a particular natural phenomenon. A good example of this type of divergence is the explanation of the production of semen found in sura 86:5-7. In this verse semen is said to be produced in an area found between the ribs and the backbone (i.e. the upper chest). Science declares semen production to be conducted in the testicles. The ribs in a human being end above the stomach and well above the testicles putting the Qur'an off by roughly a foot (depending on a particular man's body size). Who is right? I hazard a guess that most people would side with science on this one - wouldn't you?
I'm not claiming to know absolute truth about the universe as you seem to imply. I am however claiming to be almsot certainly right about things like the example I gave above. It goes hand in hand with an assertion of this kind that the Qur'an is almost certainly wrong. Given that the record shows that the Qur'an is almost certianly wrong on a number of different issues I believe it to be a work of fiction made up by Muhammed. I don't need to know everything about the universe to say this - I only need to know enough about things dealt with by both science and the Qur'an.
When I spoke about peoples discomfort with the truth I was talking about how when facts and objective reasoning enter a discussion or debate a religious believer will often hastily abandon the posture of an apologist and adopt that of someone who holds that belief and faith revolve solely around factually un-moored opinions and 'persepctives' totally unassualtable to reason and argument.