Letters to the Editor
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Jimmy the Judge
Yes, I believe in God, in Christ His only Son, the resurrection, and all the basic tenets of the Christian faith. I have a deep distrust of a strain of American "christianity" that goes all the way back to Calvinism, witch hunts, defense of slavery and women and property, hatred of Catholics, and a list to long and loathesome to continue. I could be wrong; Lord knows I've been there far too many times. But you seem straight out of that tradition, and I have the suspicion you'll tell me I'm not really saved because I don't buy what you're selling. I'll trust God to sort that out.
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Jim C
I never concealed my beliefs, as they were not germane to the discussion I simply never spoke of them.
I was raised an Episcopalian and I was taught that one's religious beliefs are a private matter between oneself and God and are not to shared with others on a casual basis. In my opinion that is a good rule to follow since it eliminates a lot of strife that will otherwise happen when people of differing beliefs come together.
It's no accident that Sunni and Shia hate each other more than they hate the infidels and fundamentalist "Christians" hate Catholics more than they hate Muslims.
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Have You All Forgotten the Teachings of Ra?
With your hip, modern appreciation of this new-fangled Judeo-Christian religion, obviously some of you kids forget the real classic religious insights.
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The Legend of the Destruction of Mankind
http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/texts/destruction_of_mankind.htm
...Then said the Majesty of this god, "Your transgressions of violence are placed behind you, for the slaughtering of the enemies is above the slaughter [of sacrifice];"
thus came into being the slaughter [of sacrifice]. And the Majesty of this god said unto Nut, "I have placed myself upon my back in order to stretch myself out."
What then is the meaning of this? It meaneth that he united (?) himself with Nut. [Thus came into being] .........
Then said the Majesty of this god, "I am departing from them (i.e., from men), and he must come after (me) who would see me;" thus came into being .........
Then the Majesty of this god looked forth from its interior, saying, "Gather together [men for me], and make ready for me an abode for multitudes;" thus came into being
And his Majesty (life, health, and strength be to him!) said, "Let a great field (sekhet) be produced (hetep);"
thereupon Sekhet-hetep came into being.
[And the god said], "I will gather herbs (aarat) therein;"
thereupon Sekhet-aaru came into being.
[And the god said], "I will make it to contain as dwellers things (khet) like stars of all sorts;"
thereupon the stars (akhekha) came into being.
Then the goddess Nut trembled because of the height. And the Majesty of Ra said, "I decree that supports be to bear [the goddess up];"
thereupon the props of heaven (heh) came into being.
And the Majesty of Ra said, "O my son Shu, I pray thee to set thyself under [my] daughter Nut, and guard thou for me the supports (heh) of the millions (heh) which are there, and which live in darkness. Take thou the goddess upon thy head, and act thou as nurse for her;"
thereupon came into being [the custom] of a son nursing a daughter, and [the custom] of a father carrying a son upon his head.
This chapter shall be said over [a figure of] the cow.
The supporters [called] Heh-enti shall be by her shoulder. The supporters [called] Heh-enti shall be at her side, and one cubit and four spans of hers shall be in colours, and nine stars shall be on her belly, and Set shall be by her two thighs and shall keep watch before her two legs, and before her two legs shall be Shu, under her belly, and he shall be made (i.e., painted) in green qenat colour. His two arms shall be under the stars, and his name shall be made (i.e., written) in the middle of them, namely, Shu himself.
A boat with a rudder and a double shrine shall be therein, and Aten shall be above it, and Ra shall be in it, in front of Shu, near his hand, or, as another reading hath, behind him, near his hand. And the udders of the Cow shall be made to be between her legs, towards the left side.
And on the two flanks, towards the middle of the legs, shall be done in writing [the words], "The exterior heaven," and "I am what is in me," and "I will not permit them to make her to turn."
That which is [written] under the boat which is in front shall read, "Thou shalt not be motionless, my son;" and the words which are written in an opposite direction shall read, "Thy support is like life," and "The word is as the word there," and "Thy son is with me," and "Life, strength, and health be to thy nostrils!"
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Only thing I know
I think L.W.M. (can't remember; I apologize if I attribute that incorrectly) said in the other thread, the only thing I know is that I don't know anything. That's certainly true for me.
Congratulations, JimC, you've done what the shooter242 has been trying to do for a long time. You've derailed the original point of the conversation, managing to move the focus away from Glenn's original post, even while protesting that you haven't been doing that.
From atop my tower of turtles, congratulations.
No kings,
Robert
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Tommy
No, Tom, I believe that if you understand you are a sinner, if you understand the consequences of sin, wages of sin is death and all that, that you need salvation, and only Christ can save you, it is a gift from God, by grace alone, then I believe you are saved and one of the bretheren. What church you go to could influence your true understanding where salvation comes from, not works or anything we've done, but from Christ alone, but if you understand the salvation as taught in the NT and reflected all the way back to Abraham, God will provide Himself a lamb for a sacrifice, then I believe you are saved. Now, doctrine is a different issue, how you approach witnessing and spreading the Gospel, those things to me are Christian growth. I'm not a calvinist, John Calvin was a butcher, my church "lineage" comes not from Protestants but from even an earlier group called the anabaptists (or rebaptizers). The anabaptists were persecuted by Protestants like John Calvin and Catholics alike. I believe by example of the theif on the cross, a man can get saved by faith in Christ alone, no church, no ritual, no good works, no baptism, nothing, the theif was saved, this is the hope and promise I see for all.
No, I talk about sin because it is sin that bars people from hearing the Gospel. A person who loves their sin and does not feel guilty, does not have the spirit in them. A person can have the Spirit in them and still sin, but the Spirit will let them know of their sin and they will feel guilty, dirty and seek repentence.
So, no I don't say you are not saved, that's between you and God, but I don't agree with your doctrine. I can't understand how you can read something like 2 Peter 2 and not have a burden for those who walk in sin or abide with sinners being ensared by them. The Bible is clear on the effects of sin and associating sin and harboring sin. So to ignore all of that and say everyone is ok to use the Bible by what they get out of it, seems to be setting people up to create idols. For if someone creates and image of God in their mind that ignores sin, then that is an idol....