Category Archives: Bible

* Did Biblical changes occur?

There is a widespread belief among Jews, that Chrstian translators routinely falsify their translations of the Hebrew Bible to create “proof texts” that indicate the Hebrew Bible predicts or substantiates Christianity.

At Messiah Truth, where I am known as “Proteus,” I recently made some remarks on that question; that the participant Ezekah wound up quoting, and questioning himself. I have chosen to respond here.

Please comment!

========================================================================= Continue reading * Did Biblical changes occur?

* I will not be disappointed.

Friday  2015-03-27

Yesterday in shower I decided to think about things I’d like to have happen.  I settled on dreaming of having a cat: a black and white cat; playing with it, petting it, holding it, feeding it, cleaning up.

This vision has positive ramifications:  it implies I have my own apartment, and that implies I have a decent job.  My own place, my own food, my own clothes:  as far as material things are concerned, I want no more than that out of life.

Continue reading * I will not be disappointed.

* Dogmatism vs. pragmatism

A post from a thread at Messiah Truth where we were discussing “Embracing what is.”

This morning as I waited outside for library to open, that remark about what they give us in chapel was still on my mind.

This is a tangent, and a stretch of the forum rules, so if this post isn’t released, I’ll understand.

“The Five Old Guys” present to us two, sometimes three times a month: the third Monday, fourth Wednesday, and fifth Wednesday, if there is one.  Some months ago, for the Scripture lesson, Bro. Wayne gave us a highly redacted version of Matthew 25:31ff.  I don’t believe this text comes from J., but it’s still one of the focal passages of the GT.

Continue reading * Dogmatism vs. pragmatism

* Hell has an exit.

“Embracing what is,” a four-part series:
As seen on TV: The new, improved hubris
Belief: The unforgivable sin
Rationalism cannot save us.
• Hell has an exit.

———— ♦ ————

Night-Sky
Connect the dots however you like. Can you connect them all?

The Serenity Prayer does not depend on belief in God, but rather expresses basic principles of life:

God, grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

This pertains to where one directs one’s attention, how one chooses to feel, and where one focuses one’s desires. These are acts not of the mind, but of the will.

Jeffrey Tayler says, “Given the possibility that terrorists may acquire weapons of mass destruction and nuclear states with faith-based conflicts may let fly their missiles, religion may be said to endanger humanity as a whole. No one who cares about our future can quietly abide the continuing propagation and influence of apocalyptic fables that large numbers of people take seriously and not raise a loud, persistent, even strident cry of alarm.”[15]

Fact: those who direct Iran’s nuclear program aren’t likely to listen to an atheist American Islamophobe.

Continue reading * Hell has an exit.

* Rationalism cannot save us.

“Embracing what is,” a four-part series:
As seen on TV: The new, improved hubris
Belief: The unforgivable sin
• Rationalism cannot save us.
Hell has an exit.

———— ♦ ————

Rationalists insist that love doesn’t matter. Neither does hope. Neither does joy.

“Rational” and “rationality” refer to the activity of reason. Well and good.

“Rationalist” and “rationalism” refer instead to the dogma that one’s affect ought not be allowed to inform or influence one’s thinking. This is a problem.

Continue reading * Rationalism cannot save us.

* Encounters with clairvoyance

Originally posted in July 2005 at Messiah Truth; reblogged here 2021-03-11:

Religiosity can express any of various impulses, including these:
(1) Desire to placate the gods.
(2) Desire magically to assure desired outcomes. This is the essence of the Baal cult. Robert Jenson says it is also the essence of all religions except Christianity (:lol ).
(3) Desire to understand, and live in harmony with, the truth.

My earliest childhood memories are of a sense that there is more to the world than we perceive with our five senses, and of a desire to understand and correctly relate to that larger world. I have my moments or months of what some call doubt, of agnosticism or atheism, but in the end this thing always comes back. I feel it in my flesh and bones. This is ONE foundation of my religiosity.

Continue reading * Encounters with clairvoyance

* Leadership, Patton and Jesus

From a 03/31/08 e-mail to my supervisor at the dollar store. This was a young man who had never had a paying job before, and thus certainly no experience in supervision; and I had a mind to give him some pointers on the nature of leadership. Previous conversations had already established that he regarded himself as a devout Christian.

If you’ve never seen it before, I’d urge you to see the movie Patton (link to Wikipedia).  Actually, I’d urge you to buy a copy (link to Amazon).

Luke 7:

2A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death.  Continue reading * Leadership, Patton and Jesus

* Scientists Discover Ancient ‘Magical’ Amulet With Odd Two-Way Inscription

Bookmarks:
AmuletR.I.P. Andre CrouchSchools should teach against date rape?Individualization in the classroomThe One Universal Secret To A Lasting MarriageWhen a loved one has mental illnessA genetic predictor of breast cancer

Continue reading * Scientists Discover Ancient ‘Magical’ Amulet With Odd Two-Way Inscription

* “We desperately need a war on Christmas lies.”

My second audition file. The sound quality isn’t perfect, but I adjudged not bad enough to prevent posting here.

TRANSCRIPT

December 2014 saw a splash of anti-Christian pieces in the media.

There was Kurt Eichenwald’s January 2 Newsweek cover story, which I need not respond to; an adequate response has already been made by Albert Mohler, M-O-H-L-E-R.

There is Steve Siebold’s December 24 HuffPost article, entitled, “Don’t Just Question the 10 Commandments; Question the Entire Bible.”  I may respond to that at a later date.

And then there was Jeffrey Tayler’s December 22 Salon.com piece, entitled, “Let’s Make Bill O’Reilly’s Head Explode:  We Desperately Need a War on Christmas Lies;” to which I will respond now.

Continue reading * “We desperately need a war on Christmas lies.”

* The emperor’s new clothes: False prophecy in the news

Here is my first audition file.  The sound quality and performance aren’t the best, but I’ve chosen to post it anyway given the weight of the subject matter.

I need to show that I can speak off the cuff about current events, and an opportunity to do so came in the controversy over recent tweets by Maria Chappelle-Nadal.

A transcript appears below.

Continue reading * The emperor’s new clothes: False prophecy in the news