Wednesday, October 18, 2006
---Still The Scariest Story Ever Told
Mark 5I guess my October Festival scary-story repertoire is limited to one---from last year. It still scares me:
9Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?
"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many."
The Scariest Story Ever Told
Labels: Bible and Religious Commentary
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
--A Practical Understanding, Part 2:
John 14It is unlikely that anyone would trust his life to a surgeon who admitted that he hadn’t
26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to
you.
attended medical school or served an internship, but protested that he had read all the
books. The practice of medicine requires not only memorization of facts about the care
and repair of the human body, but carefully supervised practice and instruction.
Why are there so many strange and often contradictory ideas about what the Bible says?
There are thousands of denominations, often founded on arguments about whether certain
things should be eaten or drunk (see Romans Chapter 14), whether there should be musical
instruments in worship (read a few of the Psalms of David), whether the things Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 have the exactly opposite meaning to the one he
actually presented in the text, whether the strict literary interpretation of a few words at a
time from second- or third-hand translations of the Biblical texts into obsolete
Elizabethan English should take precedence over praying for God’s understanding of
what they mean (see James 1:5), and an apparently endless variety of similarly mystifying
conclusions that have little or no basis in what the text of the Scripture actually says.
Worse, there are probably more fraudulent or deceptive belief systems that pretend to be
Christian denominations than there are major non-Christian religions---Catholicism,
Mormonism, Adventism, the Witnesses, various Gnosticisms, Arianism, Deism, and a
bewildering variety of similar nonsense which often doesn’t bear even a superficial
resemblance to the teachings and Example of Jesus ( I can still remember when
Scientology presented itself as a Christian denomination, tomato cans and all ). Why
do people pursue these pretensions to Christianity when it is so much easier---and
infinitely more effective---to believe and practice what the Scripture actually says?
Like other vital, applied disciplines, Christian life cannot be based on merely reading and
memorizing the Textbook. We are required to undergo a rigorous course of instruction
and training---and an “internship” which requires the rest of our lives. We have to
quietly sit in the Presence of the Teacher and learn about His Ways, study His Examples,
and put the things we learn into practice in our lives.
Labels: Bible and Religious Commentary
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Monday, October 16, 2006
---The Others
[Writing in Ubuntu Linux & Open Office today. Several problems are making the switch-over kind of difficult Hyperlinks are hard to use, etc. Still, it's not XP or Vista]Revelation 22
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
It is unfortunately becoming clearer why complaining to the Roman Catholics about the complete lack of Biblical authority for their claims seems to produce only the online equivalent of bemused condescension. They are correct in their judgment that I don't understand their religion:
Papal infallibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Papal supremacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is a basic principle of Christian interpretation of God's Word that it must originate solely by exegesis (ἐξηγεῖσθα, "drawing out") from the valid testimony of contemporary witnesses to Jesus' Life recognized as the New Testament Canon, and from the recognized Canon of the Old Testament.
Instead the Roman Catholics have determined that a fallible, mortal individual selected as Earthly monarch over their assembly may at his sole whim, apparently by adopting a certain format and demeanor (e.g.. ex cathedra ), write edicts which instantly attain a status among Catholics equal to Canonical Scripture.
Thus, they are able to speak of such preposterous fables as the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception of the entity they entitle "Mary" apparently without even blushing slightly, even though these notions are entirely contradictory to legitimate Scripture.
[The Wikipedia entry on "Infallibility" sums up the problem fairly concisely:
“Protestants generally reject the doctrine because they do not consider the development of dogmatic theology to be authoritative apart from Biblical exegesis....]
Jesus encountered a somewhat similar problem among the Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 15:3-9} and their "traditions". The difference is that the Pharisees practiced a faith which at least contained a kernel of God's Word, and bore some resemblance to His Will at times. Some of the Pharisees were able to recognize the Truth that Jesus represented, like Nicodemus and Paul, based in part on their background in the Law and the Prophets.
Roman Catholicism, on the contrary, is a completely different religion from Christianity, which merely takes on Christian names for its entities and proceedings to delude people who haven't been paying attention. This is a horrendous tragedy affecting millions of people around the world, and it is entirely unnecessary.
How much simpler is it to just accept that God means what He says? Why not set aside all of this "secret handshake/decoder ring" religion (and old knuckles, and rebadged statuary, and seepages, and dribbles, and screen doors, and cave walls...), and commit yourselves in humility and repentance to become God's children, to grow up to be like Jesus---obeying His Commands, believing His Words, living according to His Example, receiving the Instruction of His Holy Spirit, and speaking the Truth in Love?
Labels: Bible and Religious Commentary
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