BibleBeliever1611 said:

I would say it's commandments also. It's not like we're just here living a Christian life casually and reading the Bible, no, we're supposed to have a mission. Christianity is all about a mission and the mission is to get souls saved.

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Judaism`s mission is to bring light into the world.

Psalms 49 tells that a man cannot redeem his brother, nor pay his ransom to God.

The redemption of their soul is too costly, and forever unattainable.

A brother takes the time to write a heartfelt testimony.

His thread is immediately hijacked by a couple of geniuses in debate.

Welcome to christian forums.

WASHINGTON — The Museum of the Bible's latest exhibit, “Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition,” features the oldest copies of biblical fragments, and Matthias Walther, the museum’s chief marketing officer, hopes it will invite nonbelievers to reconsider their assumptions about the Bible.

“When you come here, you see the actual documents. You go back to the source,” Walther told The Christian Post during a preview of the exhibit on Wednesday ahead of its weekend opening.

“And all the theories that you have about ‘Is this true,' 'Is this not true,' and ‘Can I trust the Bible or not?’ I hope this will be a step to say, ‘Man, there's something there that I need to discover,’” Walther added. “‘Maybe I need to do my homework and identify all the preconceived notions that I had about this book. Maybe they're not true?’”

Continued below.

A proposed Islamic-focused development in North Texas may be eyeing approval under a new name after developers scrubbed their original website and revised marketing materials amid a storm of state investigations and legislative crackdowns.

The controversial 400-acre project, originally branded as EPIC City — an initiative from the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) — was initially planned for unincorporated areas of Collin and Hunt counties, just north of Josephine, located about 40 miles northeast of Dallas. With a stated vision of 1,000 homes, a mosque and community center, a school, and other facilities tailored to Muslim families, the project stalled earlier this year following a series of legal challenges.

On Nov. 8, Collin County Judge Chris Hill updated residents on Facebook, signaling that developers at Community Capital Partners, LLC (CCP) are gearing up for formal submissions, starting with a name change for the project. "According to a diagram of the planned neighborhood, the developers have changed the name of the project to The Meadow," Hill wrote.

He added that there are “reports that CCP have filed or soon intend to file an application” with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to form its own municipal utility district for The Meadow.

Continued below.

The U.K. Supreme Court has ruled that the current approach to religious education (RE) and collective worship in Northern Ireland schools breaches human rights and is unlawful.

The court reached its verdict based on the view that the present curriculum doesn't approach the subject in an "objective, critical and pluralist manner."

The judgment was handed down on Wednesday after a father and daughter — who cannot be named for legal reasons — challenged how RE is being taught in Northern Ireland schools.

The family became concerned after the girl, named only as JR87 in court documents, started praying before meals at home. When asked about it by her non-religious parents, she told them she had been taught to do this at her primary school, which she attended between the ages of 4 and 7. Her parents then approached the school because they didn't want their daughter to be taught that Christianity was an absolute truth. The school told them they were following the core syllabus for RE.

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44% of Canadians say they never feel God’s presence

New research reveals the religious views of Americans and Canadians and who's more supportive of politicians talking about their faith in public, and which country's population is more engaged in acts of service.

The non-partisan think tanks Cardus and the Angus Reid Institute released a reportWednesday contrasting the religious views of Americans and Canadians. The research, based on responses collected from 5,001 Americans and 5,001 Canadians in March and first published earlier this month, found that Americans are significantly more religious than their Canadian counterparts.

When asked if they agreed that religion was “very important” in their “day-to-day life,” 33% of Americans indicated that they “strongly agree” compared to just 17% of Canadians. Conversely, nearly half of Canadians (45%) told pollsters they “strongly disagree” that religion is “very important” in their “day-to-day life,” while just over a quarter (26%) of Americans said the same.

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BelieveItOarKnot said:

Adam was God's son. A PART of God Himself.

Your attempt starts right out the gate trying to "divide" that fact from Adam and everyone else.

People really are God's children, when all is said and done. A generally accepted fact within larger orthodoxy.

So notions that God has children that fail and He is then forced to burn them alive forever is not only bizarre, but patent nonsense. Just another lie of the devils in the carriers. I don't think the people who get sucked into that kind of vortex have given it much thought myself. IF they did they'd have a better opinion of God and His Capabilities to actually be their SAVIOR.

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I do believe in a place of torment, but eventually every person in hell is annihilated, but that takes lots of scripture and words to explain.

Yes! We are all God’s children, but some of God’s children continue to reject God’s help (Love/charity/grace/mercy/forgiveness) to the point they would never of their own free will humbly accept God’s charity as charity. So, what can be done with them? They would be very unhappy in heaven where there is no carnal type of love and only Godly type Love (Which they do not want or like).

These refusers of God’s help, can take on the lesser objective of helping those who still can choose to accept God’s Love, by the refusers being examples of what they do not want to be or become.

BelieveItOarKnot said:

I would suggest that is where the interesting parts reside. The classic theodicy realm.

You have to admit that the scriptures DO present a world of invisible actors overlaid upon people. It's pretty much beyond denial for a legitimate believer is it not?

An "antiChrist" spirit is, let's say, a unique but temporary thing kind of beyond our definite grasp other than the disclosures we have in scripture and what we can "see and perceive" in reality, even within our own minds.

Haven't you ever been blindsided by a "bad thought" seemingly out of nowhere? I'd dare say it's a "universal" experience to people. Take it from there.

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You are not addressing the question: “Why is satan wondering around and/or in people?

bling said:

BelieveItOarKnot said:

iirc Jesus IS The Savior of the world. I actually believe He gets the job done. My bad?

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Just because some people refuse God’s Love/charity/salvation does not mean Jesus is not their savior. The gift can be refused.

36% support handing over rights pertaining to speech, religious practices and property

A little over four in 10 young voting-age adults are in favor of giving artificial intelligence broad government powers, according to a recently released survey.

The Heartland Institute’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center and Rasmussen Reports announced on Wednesday the findings of a poll taken of 1,496 likely voters aged 18-39 with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

According to the study’s findings, 41% of respondents said they support giving “an advanced AI system authority to control public policymaking decisions.”

This sizable minority in favor of AI controlling policy decisions included 55% who self-identified as conservatives and 54% of respondents between the ages of 25-29.

Additionally, according to researchers, 36% of respondents supported a proposal that gives AI control over “rights that belong to individuals and families, including rights related to speech, religious practices, government authority, and property.”

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DaisyDay said:

Note the asterisk.

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Vaccines do not cause Autism*​

Pursuant to the Data Quality Act (DQA), which requires federal agencies to ensure the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information they disseminate to the public, this webpage has been updated because the statement "Vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim. Scientific studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines contribute to the development of autism. However, this statement has historically been disseminated by the CDC and other federal health agencies within HHS to prevent vaccine hesitancy.​

​

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* The header "Vaccines do not cause autism" has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website.​

​

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What petulant child is "Junior".

ThatRobGuy said:

Framing in ones own words and being able to articulate things in a certain "convincing" style are/were the bread & butter of the likes of Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, and the late Charlie Kirk.

I would presume that you'd agree that just because they all can "beat" a random 22 year old college liberal in a debate, that doesn't mean they actually have the right answer, correct?

AI levels that playing field. (Leveling the playing field is a liberal virtue, is it not?)

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You arent even on the playing field when you just do an AI dump. Thats more like sending in an autonomous drone you bought off the shelf.

As for public intellectuals (real or pretend), I find zero inherent value in leveling the playing field by any other method than study and practice. It should be human mind vs human mind. Study could well include AI help. But on "the playing field" I want a sense you are there, and not some surrogate whos methods you may not even grasp.

ThatRobGuy said:

If I had to debate Ben Shapiro on the topic of the Gaza conflict in a public setting, strictly based on the facts that we both had committed to memory and could rattle off quickly, he'd own me. (A - Because he has something of an identic memory, and B - because he has more practice at public speaking in front of large crowds -- less nervous, able to project confidence, etc...)

If he and I had a text-based debate where I could leverage AI as a tool for retrieving valid, cited information, I can beat him, because on the Gaza conflict topic, the actual facts are on my side.

That should really be the goal of any debate that's substantive (and not purely performative), right? Finding the right answer.

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Im fine with you using AI as a study tool to direct you to various sources you can examine and assimilate.

But just a dump of AI generated text has no interest for me. Theres no sense Im arguing with you there.

How can a nation protect it's borders without law enforcement?

Even the Vatican prohibits illegal entry.

Truth7t7 said:

The liberals will be out in the cold, the "Ten Commandments" will win!

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Not in court. Wherever else they may win is not the business of We The People.

Singing a hymn out loud, could be any hymn

When I hear the Agnus Dei in Latin, I still have to try and translate it mentally
to English in my mind. Latin is the official language of the Church having to do
with documents. However, it's not the mandate in Mass celebrate as the ordinary
throughout the Church.

Dikaioumenoi said:

This sentence presupposes exactly what you need to prove. A "refusal to act on it" is only meaningful after a genuine capacity exists. You cannot refuse to act on a capacity you do not possess. So by framing it this way, you are presupposing the very thing at issue: that the enablement has succeeded.

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Ok, and that's actually the point I've been trying to make. By "resist and thwart the enablement" I meant only that, even though enabled, I can nonetheless refuse to act on it. I could've worded it better. In any case, at this point this would still be consistent with Catholic thought- allowing room for grace and God's intent to be resisited.

Dikaioumenoi said:

1. Semantics. ἑλκύω describes the decisive transition from inability to ability. It does not speak to whether someone later exercises that ability, and therefore the question of resistance is not relevant here. The claim "someone can be drawn but refuse to come" is not a semantic point; it is a category mistake. ἑλκύω addresses only whether the Father has successfully generated the necessary capacity to act, which is something that must be in place before the very question of resistance even becomes meaningful.
2. Grammar of the whole verse. The final clause ("and I will raise him up on the last day") identifies the one raised as the same one who has been given the ability. That is the only place where the text links ability with actual coming. That syntactical linkage -- not the semantics of ἑλκύω -- is what yields the argument for irresistible grace. If the resurrection clause were absent, no argument for irresistible grace could be constructed from verse 44 alone.

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1. Ok, again, having been given the ability-to come to Christ- only by grace, is completely consistent with Catholic and historic Christian teaching.
2. 6:44 says nothing about whether or not the enabled one necessarily comes to Christ, only that those who are enabled and come will be raised up. 'No one can come to me unless they are drawn...' simply does not insist that all who are drawn will come. The verse only maintains that those who come will be raised up.

But the bottom line is that this single isolated verse of Scripture which is being fixated on here simply addresses a basic principle of the faith, that the only way to God is through Christ. As we turn to Him in faith we’ve now come to Him. The whole counsel of Scripture informs us that we must first open that door when He knocks, respond when He calls, that we must then remain in Him and He in us; we must cooperate, we must pick up our cross daily, we must persevere, we must produce good fruit, we must love. And not that we necessarily will do so, but that we must, and can, by embracing and not resisting His grace, the action of His life within us.

We must end up being good soil; we cannot know or predict our own election with perfect certainty, IOW, which is why Scripture also exhorts us to make that calling and election sure.

FBI intercepted communications of Newsom administration officials, California political players​

Current and former members of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration were among the dozens of Sacramento insiders who received FBI letters in recent days notifying them that their phone calls, texts or other electronic communications had been intercepted as part of the federal corruption case tied to Dana Williamson and two additional longtime Democratic operatives.

Williamson, known as one of California’s toughest political insiders who previously worked as chief of staff to Newsom, was arrested last week on federal charges that allege she siphoned $225,000 out of 2026 gubernatorial hopeful Xavier Becerra’s dormant state campaign account. She also was accused of spending $1 million on luxury handbags and highflying travel and illegally declaring them as business expenses on her tax returns.

The notifications are routine in wiretap investigations once surveillance ends, but the letters set off a wave of panic across California’s political power structure. The letters are signed by Sacramento Field Office Special Agent in Charge Siddhartha Patel and began arriving in mailboxes from Sacramento to Washington, D.C., last week, according to copies of the communications shared with The Times.

The legal notifications, under the terms of the 1968 Federal Wiretap Act, are sent out routinely to people whose private communications have been captured on federal wiretaps.

A Newsom spokesperson said the governor's office is aware that a limited number of the letters were sent to current and former members of the administration. The spokesperson said that the letters were expected given federal law requires parties to be notified. Newsom's office said the governor did not receive a letter.

FredVB said:

while there is enough evidence to show it is not a simulation.

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Such as?

essentialsaltes said:

FBI fires longtime employee and agent trainee who displayed Pride flag, sources say​

In a previous non-agent role with the FBI, the employee, who received multiple awards for service during his career, had also been a field office diversity program coordinator and displayed a Pride flag at his workstation, sources said.

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FBI veteran alleges he was fired for displaying Pride flag​

A 16-year FBI employee has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired last month because he had a Pride flag draped near his desk.

David Maltinsky, who was weeks away from being elevated to the position of agent, claims the firing was unlawful and sent a ripple of fear through the LGBT employees at the FBI.

The suit makes several allegations, including an argument that the FBI has violated Maltinsky's First Amendment rights and retaliated against him for protected expression.

Maltinsky said the federal government approved the display of Pride flags at federal office complexes in June 2021. His lawsuit alleges that a colleague filed a complaint with a supervisor about Maltinsky's flag on Jan. 20, 2025, the day of President Trump's second Inaugural.

The lawsuit states that Maltinsky was fired in a letter signed by FBI Director Kash Patel in October. A copy of the letter was provided by Maltinsky to CBS News. In it, Patel writes: "I have determined that you exercised poor judgment with an inappropriate display of political signage in your work area during your previous assignment at the Los Angeles Field Office. Pursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States, your employment with the Federal Bureau of Investigation is hereby terminated."

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"The only actions we take, generally speaking, for personnel at the FBI, are ones based on merit and qualification and your ability to uphold your constitutional duty," Patel said [to senators in a Congressional hearing].

Lukaris said:

I responded to your false statement “God is hate” with a definition that God is love and He tells us that is also His commandment to us. I made no claim that any of us can actually keep the commandments or achieve any kind of “sinless perfection”.

Now you go off into to some accusations of “works based salvation” of which I said no such thing. I was concentrating on the fact that God is NOT “hate.”

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But eternal torment proponents, once challenged with a different view from other believers on this matter, must resort to such strawman tactics to save face.

For example,
You: No, God is NOT hate as you say, as there is no Scripture that states that. Rather, here's where it states just the opposite, that God IS love.

Dan1988: *gasp* Legalist! You think works will save you and not Christ Himself!

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Amen

Fervent said:

It's not just apostates, it's anyone they classify as kafiri...which is pagans, polytheists, atheists, and idolaters. Which is the marching orders from the end of Muhammad's life, which is why abrogation is an important concept to understand to understand Islamic jurisprudence.

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Anyone who has made a serious effort to study Islam knows that abrogation is a very complex and controversial subject. Very few verses found in the Qur'an have been agreed on as being abrogated among scholars, and of those that have, none override the verses that teach tolerance, coexistence, and peace. A far more important concept in understanding Islamic jurisprudence is puting things in historical and cultural context when reading any Islamic texts.

Fervent said:

Islamic jurisprudence is heavily regulated until modernists have sought to re-write Islamic history. They say "the doors of ishtijad are closed" and defer to classic interpreters, who unanimously agreed that ayat like 9:29 were unlimited calls to war until the end of time "when there is no more fitnah."

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The Muslims that were being spoken to in the Qur'an and the classic scholars lived in a different culture, at a different point in time, and were facing unique situations. You can't read the Qur'an, hadiths, or the tasfirs from a modern perspective, you have to read them through a historical lens, if not, you will continue to misinterpret what they are saying.

The violent verses found in the Qur'an don't abrogate the verses of peace because of the context they were written in. There are certain situations where the verses of peace apply, and others where the verses of violence apply, therefore, each verse has a specific context and application. In other words, each verse in the Qur'an is to be applied to its appropriate situation. For example, when Qur'an 9:5 says "When the Sacred Months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them. And capture them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every ambush," it is dealing with a specific event at a point in history when Meccan pagans were breaking their peace treaties and declaring war on the Muslims, so that verse would not negate the peaceful verses in the Qur'an since it is very specific to it's intent and the point in history it was to be applied.

Fervent said:

the Qu'ran cannot be interpreted without the hadith because it is almost entirely without context, and the actions of Muhammad are the baseline for how Muslims are supposed to behave...and he'd fit more with ISIS than with the Ahmadi.

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Neither the Qur'an nor the hadith can be properly interpreted without putting them into the historical and cultural context they were written in.

According to Islamic teachings, Muslims are to emulate Muhammad's character traits like honesty, compassion, and humility and his ethical principles. Muslims understand the historical context in which the Qur'an was written. They see his actions as a warrior to have been appropriate for situations Muslims faced in the 7th century and not as mandates for Muslims to follow in 2025.

Fervent said:

Perhaps I should have added "or pay the jizya" since that is what Islam calls for, modernist whitewashing not withstanding.

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You do realise that Muslims also had to pay taxes (zakāt)? And the tax was for the betterment of society as a whole. Would it be fair for non-Muslims to live in an Islamic state and receive all of the benefits and protections offered by that state without any contribution to the costs involved?

Fervent said:

Nope, it's what Muslims are called to pursue until there is no more "fitnah", the whole world is divided into "dar-al-Islam" and "dar-al-harb" and the only question about implementation is which part of the program is active.

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In very simple terms, Dar al Islam (House of Islam) historically was a Muslim land with a Muslim government where Islamic law governed. Dar al Harb (House of War) was a land not under an Islamic government or Islamic law, which was openly hostile towards Muslims. Since there are no countries or states that fit these definitions today, the terms are no longer used by Muslims for the most part.

Fervent said:

Yeah, an islamist apologetics site is not the best way to get accurate information about things that aren't flattering to Islam. But hey, not everyone has the time to actually read the hadith and sira, as well as the ishtijad which is mostly in disagreement with those claims until recent attempts at whitewashing.

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Fervent said:

You're just falling for Islamist apologist propaganda.

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The only people who talk about jizyah, abrogation, the division of the world into dar-al-Islam and dar-al-harb, and cite Qur'an 9:29 as an open-ended command to Muslims to fight until the end of time today are Islamic extremists and anti-Islamic propagandists. So when someone like yourself presents Islam the way you have in this thread and others, it's clear to me, as someone who has a strong background in Islam, that your understanding of this religion comes from those sources and not the actual teachings and understanding of Islam that the vast majority of the world's Muslims adhere to.

Colo Millz said:

Co-Sufferers (Imitatio Christi): Christians are called to participate in the suffering of Christ. Personal suffering is utilized as a means of purification (removing self-will and sin) and spiritual growth. By uniting one's own pain to the Passion, it ceases to be meaningless and becomes a source of grace for oneself and others.

Is this a Biblical understanding?

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My understanding of "imitating" Jesus Christ of Nazareth focuses on His character and not His suffering.
* Love
* Humility
* Service
* Obedience
* Forgiveness
* Patience
* Holiness
* Mercy

Paul did speak about this frequently:

* 1 Corinthians 10:33 – 11:1
"just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."

* Ephesians 5:1–2
"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

Blessings

This world having life would be for thousands of years, I am believing it would not have been millions of years. It was the unformed world before the days of creation, and it could have been much longer that way. We have nothing revealed showing what it was in any case.