Politics

[Red Leg]

There are many inaccuracies/misunderstandings of scripture. A trip to the holy land with a biblical historian/archaeologist will greatly enhance your understanding of scripture and this God. I highly recommend it to all believers once the current dust up settles down.

Absolutely. I would further suggest to also do the same walk about with a Jewish and Muslim religious scholar. And yes, I have done all three.

 

[gbflyer]

On the contrary, I think God (that’s the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) cares quite a bit about how we interpret Scripture [that’s the Old & New Testaments of the Holy Bible, excluding the apocrypha (along with all their false teachings)] that the Catholics accept. The fact that He gave us His Word which is so explicit about what He wants us to believe and how to live and (wholly) sufficient to gain understanding on any subject proves how much He cares.

The Calvinists and the Catholics don’t believe in the correct doctrine of salvation. Both the Catholic and the Calvinist beliefs on the topic are antithetical to what Scripture says and wholly inconsistent with the nature of God presented in Scripture. Their beliefs are founded on twisting of Scripture and uninspired canon. If you don’t even have the doctrine of salvation, which is the entry point to the Christian faith, correct then how do you proceed any further? At the time Martin Luther enlightened many (freeing them from the corrupted Catholic Church), John Calvin came to mislead many.

Jesus Christ (the Christ of the Scriptures) is the only way to God. The Jews have largely rejected Him. That said there are many who have been, are being and will be saved. For God’s chosen people His promises will be kept.

As for Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and all the other false religions of the world see the first sentence of my previous paragraph. There is no hope in any other and no other source for salvation.

On the subject of the many denominations of Christianity, some schisms initially occurred over secondary issues but it looks like many are now truly disqualifying themselves as they increasingly adopt false teachings.

True Christianity is by nature narrow and exclusionary (necessarily so and according to Scripture). Many will see those as negative connotations but they are not and I would simply tell them to study and decide for themselves whether my claims are true or not.

I am curious as to where you attend services?

 

[WAB]

Absolutely. I would further suggest to also do the same walk about with a Jewish and Muslim religious scholar. And yes, I have done all three.

Agreed. We had a fascinating meeting with a Jewish scribe in Jerusalem. It is so critical that we learn how to truly listen, as opposed to listening for an opening to make the next point of our argument.

 

[Red Leg]

Agreed. We had a fascinating meeting with a Jewish scribe in Jerusalem. It is so critical that we learn how to truly listen, as opposed to listening for an opening to make the next point of our argument.

Touché

 

[Tucketed]

While we are on Christianity one of my favorite YouTube channels is Bible Expedition. Joel Kramer, a biblical archaeologist and former expeditioner in his younger years ties ancient history of the great historian Josephus and others and the Bible. He spent his early years in the Middle East, degree in archaeology and then theology. I belive his shows can open many eyes. I love history and this show has helped me become closer to Christ.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

In my very humble opinion God is so very great, and we are so woefully inadequate to understand, let alone live our lives accordingly, that He threw that path out and made it so much easier: Jesus becomes the way and all we have to do is accept it and believe it. Period, finished, over. It is just that simple!
Why, you might ask did He do that? And here in these last ten pages or so I think is the answer and such a wonderful example of it. There are some great intellectual minds on this group, and you can't agree! And there are little, simple folks like myself who cannot begin to hold a light to your knowledge. But I can smile, not in conceit, but in gratitude, that my simple acceptance and blind faith is all it takes. What a burden to be relieved of, free to feel the warm sun and just hunt impala.

 

[SaintPanzer]

Given a $2T federal budget deficit, it wouldn't surprise me even a little if all states were beggars to the USG

This is kind of a pet peeve of mine: Judging states by federal outlays in relation to per capita expenditures.

The reason this is a peeve is that this is usually based on how much $$$ the federal government takes in from the state, in comparison to how much it spends in the state.

This metric completely ignores what the federal government does/owns in the state. Most western states are limited in population size compared to their eastern counterparts, but the federal government spends large amounts out west. Per capita, vastly more. But the federal government also owns roughly 50% of the land out west. So yes, they are spending out of proportion to the number of people, precisely because they have more to maintain. It's important to keep this in mind, and is frequently left out of the conversation.