Michael Shermer, who appears in the video, asks Christians to explain why there are unicorns in the Bible. (H/T Letitia) The Bible certainly mentions the word unicorn. But does it refer to the mythical horse-like creature, like Shermer seems to think?
Once you back to the original Latin words, it turns out that the unicorn that is mentioned is really a rhinoceros.
You can read a debate between Greg Koukl and Michael Shermer here. This debate was moderated by radio show host Hugh Hewitt, and presumably transcribed by his much-maligned producer Duane Patterson. Hewitt also moderated the famous debate at Biola University, featuring William Lane Craig and Christopher Hitchens.
Filed under: Videos, Atheism, Bible, Bible Difficulty, Context, Freethought, Michael Shermer, Rhinoceros, Unicorn, Unicorns
I appreciate this video, but I’m surprised that the author didn’t point out the fact that modern English translations of the Bible translate that word as “wild ox.”
The whole unicorn dilemma (which isn’t really a dilemma at all, as the author of the above video carefully and clearly explained) seems to be exclusive to the KJV. While the rhinoceros explanation is accurate and adequate to solve that textual hangup, wouldn’t it be much easier to simply say to the skeptics: “Hey, look, the word ‘unicorn’ doesn’t even appear in modern English translations of the Bible. It’s only in the KJV. But, if you really want to go there, that’s not a problem either–it’s referring to a rhinoceros. End of discussion.”
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