prodromos said:

At least he doesn't preach a flat earth cosmology

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Or that we landed on the moon

David Lamb said:

Now, can you provide a verse that is similarly clear about the shape of the earth? Not a verse like the Isaiah verse you often quote, which says that the earth has a circle or circuit, but a verse that says clearly that the earth is such-and-such a shape?

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No I can't, I can only give verses that state that the earth is unmovable which must refute a spinning globe.

keras said:

.....with scriptural truths.

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Jesus is a perfect example of telling the truth and silencing those arrayed against Him.
But still they kept multiplying, getting worse, and ultamitely seeking His death.
And after the Almighty Creator Resurrected Jesus from the grave,
it continues still ! As Jesus said, the same way He was treated, beaten, mocked, spit upon... so also His children.

keras said:

No one is claiming they have all the answers.
I have yet to see you post something positive and helpful.

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Here is the list of other members, visitors, or posters, whatever,
who have posted only truthful posts in the last ten years: <null set>
So, then, is it 'good' at all for any of us to be here ? any benefit ? erson_shrugging:

boughtwithaprice said:

God is love and for love to be love, it must be freely given, else what is it? A display of the power of the Almighty? God does not need to display His power. He knows it unto Himself and does not require His creation

Double predestination delays his power. Love with free will displays His Glory, of which we will sing for eternity
I have a heart for my Calvinists friends, but I could no longer join them in their theology

I would be interested which points of Catholic theolgy with which you disagree

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I would like to contribute to your thread. First let me thank you for your threads. For me, they're therapeutic.

For I have already indicated to you in another thread that the inquisition obviously brings into question the validity of apostolic succession, and it actually felt good in my soul to get that off my chest. And that's all I wanted to say about that.

But here I would like to comment on God displaying His Power, God's Spirit as an incorruptible Love, and your application of the sentiment 'free will' above.

When people reference the will, the terms volition and/or desire come to mind as pertains to the term "Will". The term 'Free' is actually an adjective if it is meant to imply an uncoerced will. My immediate point here is that the term "free" must be qualified so as to comprehend what the will is free from, so as not to be redundant when describing the "will", and also so that the term 'free' doesn't become fluid and morph through subjective meanings when saying it and hearing it.

Having said that, the greater point I wish to make is that I would NOT agree that God giving us of His Spirit so as to bestow upon us His Characteristics of kindness, graciousness, caring compassion, or charitableness, would qualify as coercion since these attributes are qualities that are Light to the soul. I would even say that the only coherent meaning of a freewill in the moral/immoral context, would be a will free from the disability of sin.

Moreover, sin is corruption of that which was once pure. The first commandment is Love God with all your heart mind and soul. I therefore surmise that if I had no Love in my heart, mind and soul, I could not even care that I had no Love in my heart mind and soul.

So, as pertains to God displaying His Power, scripture speaks of the power of the cross preached through the Gospel and I interpret that as the displaying of the Incorruptible Love crucified on a cross by a wicked world. And that without this Image of God in my heart, I would probably remain subjugated under the image of the god of this world, and I would be without The Holy Spirit to convict me of sin that I would otherwise not even see.

2 Corinthians 4:3-5​

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:​

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

1 John 3:10
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Always in His Presence said:

Because no charges were filed. Same reason why Clinton is not in jail for multiple counts of rape and assault.

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Unlike Trump, Clinton never raped anyone.

ozso said:

It also seems a tad suspicious that they'd object to a system that makes it harder to rig an election.

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What system is that? Trump was promoting mail-in until Putin told him otherwise.

ozso said:

It also seems a tad suspicious that they'd object to a system that makes it harder to rig an election.

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You mean a system that takes much longer to count, and is far more prone to human error? Why would anyone have a problem with that??


But, as to rigging an election, that already seems a lot harder to do than some might wish to suggest. Especially in view of the fact that no one has ever been able to prove any such thing happened on any significant scale.

-- A2SG, unsubstantiated conspiracy theories notwithstanding.....

peregrinating

@prodromos @Strong in Him @Hentenza

I have three questions in regards to the moon landings.

1. Why have we never been back ?
2. Who filmed the Apollo Lunar Module leaving the moon ?
3. Why has NASA never landed a camera on the moon ?

heaps of herbs

Douggg said:

God is Who has all the answers - no one else.

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Indeed; the Lord does nothing without revealing His plans to His servants the Prophets. Amos 3:7

So where does the fanciful notions like a 'rapture to heaven'. or there being a 'King of Jewish Israel' come from?
I note too; that your idea of the final seven years of this age being related to the Mt Sinai Covenant, simply doesn't fit with the rest of the 70 'weeks' Prophecy of Daniel 9:25-27.

Michie said:

Does spiritual growth increase emotional intelligence?

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If by spiritual growth we mean to grow to become and to love like Jesus . . . this will affect our emotions. And yes it is emotionally intelligent to live only in Jesus love and the emotions of Jesus in us.

Jesus says >

"'Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:29)

So, Jesus is gentle and humble in His love with His love's emotions. And while we live in Jesus and His love, then, we have gentle and humble emotions. I would say this is intelligent . . . so submit to Jesus so we share with Him, like this.

And part of getting with Jesus and growing in Jesus is how we reject emotions which are not gentle and humble in God's way of loving >

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice." (Ephesians 4:31)

God is almighty to get rid of any evil emotions. We can not do this, by our own understanding and strength; but we depend on God to do this with us. And then He gets us into His love and His way of relating, instead >

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)

I offer how this says to "be" . . . kind . . . not to "act", but this is how to be. This means how our character becomes kind in God's love, so that wrong emotions can not get the better of us. We grow in Jesus with His natural immunity against sin-sick emotional stuff ! ! !

So, this is not only a matter of what humans might call "intelligence". But in the character of Christ in us, this character has God working in us to reject and get rid of wrong emotions and drives, with almighty immunity of God in us making this work so well. If the emotions are unkind to us, they are not God and need to be rejected.

So, if emotional intelligence means to submit to God and how He gets rid of wrong emotions and corrects our character so we are submissive to Him in His love and gentle and humble emotions of love . . . yes, spiritual growth does increase this.

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)

"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

We can be devoured by unforgiveness, anger, worry, and lusts. But God is able to make us "sober" in His love with His immunity almighty against these cruel and sin-sick things. Also, we have >

"Do all things without complaining and disputing," (Philippians 2:14)

People and our relationships can be devoured by arguing and complaining. And, again, God is the One who is almighty and sensible and swift enough to detect and reject what in us would start to get us to argue or complain. Plus, I have found to my delight, God can easily stop me right in the middle of my arguing and self-righteous complaining against other people. And He can restore me into sweet and sensitive sharing with Him in His peace . . . where we have our Creator's own creativity for how to love and relate with any person, at all. God commands us to submit to Him in the ruling of His peace in our hearts >

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

Here we have our Father's own creativity, in His own peace ruling

Pentecostals, seek the power of God and gifts, and being filled with the Holy spirit, even do deliverance.
I think baptists don't do deliverance, or seek being filled with the Holy spirit as something that can happen after conversion.
By the way, for me being filled with the Holy spirit, like Pentecostals believe is the meaning of life itself.

WordSword said:

Hi, and appreciate your reply! True, and appreciate the correction. Erasmus produced the first printed edition of the Greek New Testament. He also included in his text "the Codex Montfortianus (Greek early 16th cent.), which he named the Codex Britannicus" (-AI Google). This was used in later editions that contained the Johannine Comma (1 John 5:7-8); though he doubted the originality of this manuscript, other scholars encouraged him to include it.

The Eclectic Text (also known as the Critical Text or Minority Text or Alexzandrian Text) was available to Erasmus but he did not refer to them (Vaticanus, Sinaitcus, Alexandrinus). "Erasmus did not use an eclectic text in the modern sense when preparing his Textus Receptus. While he did consult multiple Greek manuscripts, his primary focus was on producing a Greek text that aligned with the existing Latin Vulgate, rather than constructing a text based on a comprehensive comparison and evaluation of diverse textual witnesses."-AI Google

"Early editions of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament were indeed initially based on the text of Westcott and Hort. Specifically, the first two editions of Nestle's text used Westcott and Hort's work, along with Tischendorf's, as a foundation. Later editions incorporated the work of other scholars like Bernhard Weiss. While the Nestle-Aland text has evolved and incorporated new manuscript discoveries over time, the influence of Westcott and Hort remains significant, and many modern translations still rely on the Nestle-Aland/UBS text, which has roots in Westcott and Hort's work.” –AI Google

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People usually don't like things that conflict with existing tradition or established theology. Erasmus was challenged and then tricked into including the Johannine Comma later on when someone tabled a manuscript that had those verses. But he was absolutely right in his opinion this was not part of what John originally wrote. Compare St Augustine writings and see how the interpolation in 1 John 5 interrupt the natural flow of the surrounding verses, observe how the interpolation is missing from any pre-Nicean quotations - and it's easy to see Erasmus was correct in his assessment as this being non-authentic.

The key take-away from my contribution on the existing most modern Critical Text is that it is incorrect to reject that text as basis for modern translation because of Westcott & Hort. KJV-only people also don't reject the KJV because Erasmus was a staunch Roman Catholic.

Be blessed!

The Putin-Trump deal on the table

IT SEEM CLEAR THAT
Ukraine would be expected to accept giving up the provinces where Russia invaded and has held elections. Much of these territories are now held by Russia.

Russia would be expected to accept the sovereignty of Ukraine and security measures guaranteed by the US and by European countries

Russia would gain veto power over who can join NATO, now excluding Ukraine (Moldova would be next).

THESE WILL BE STICKING POINTS
Ukraine does not want to give up land that Russia has not yet been able to capture, including 3 important fortified cities.
Russia probably won't accept European troops or bases in Ukraine and would try to reduce the strength of its military
Russia probably won't accept Ukranian rights to import modern missiles.

THERE WON'T BE A FINAL TREATY
any more than there is one in Korea, Cypress and a half dozen more

FOR ME, ONE IMPORTANT STEP
is for European countries to get more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine before Trump changes his mind.

Always in His Presence said:

Great propaganda - Soros, Bezos etc would disagree

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And they're free to do so. Not sure how that counts as propaganda, though.

-- A2SG, but, to be fair, I'm also not sure what point you're going for here at all, so...

It seems to me that the dangers of a longer reading that is “less focused“, whatever that means, are much smaller than the dangers of omitting and what looks like censoring the text of holy Scripture.

JosephZ said:

That is just one of five acts that can be used in commiting genocide, it isn't a required act.

Article II of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Any one of the above acts is sufficient to constitute genocide if the act is committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Even if more babies are being born in Gaza today than before the conflict, Israel could still be guilty of genocide if it can be shown that their actions have been done with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian people in Gaza.

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Except allowing more babies to be born today is in itself contrary to "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

This shows there is no intent to destroy in part or whole and in fact allow the group to increase and live.

The IDF are warning people before they go in to areas looking for Hamas and the hostages. No war is a good war but the Isrealis are not intending to wipe out the Gazans. Only Hamas.

In fact Isreal has conducted one of the most careful and targeted wars in history. They could have just entirely bombed Gaza being so small. There is a lot of propaganda where the actual intentional harm and genocide is from these radicals.

Their manifesto declares exterminating the Jews from the face of the earth. Isreal has many Arabs living in their own nation including politicians and judges.

Stop trying to equate the Isrealis with Hamas. No one is saying the Isrealis have not made some very bad mistakes. But to say they are intentionally wanting to wipe the Gazans out is unreal when they already have a proven lived reality of living peacefully with them in their own nation.

All they want is a neighbour who will treat them as they are treating the neighbours. The only people stopping all this is these radicals. The sooner they are gone the better and then Gaza can begin to get on with life.

JosephZ said:

According to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Israel can still be found guilty of Genoceide against the Palestinian people, despite the living conditions and privileges they may enjoy inside Israel.

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I just find it interesting that there is all this fixation of trying to find something, anything, against Isreal when for years we have had clear and definite genocide all around the world and never such a fixation with these other nations.

JosephZ said:

"Genocide can also be committed against only a part of the group, as long as that part is identifiable (including within a geographically limited area) and “substantial.”

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The UN has lost all credibility. It sits there silent on all the nations who are actually committing genocide and has the hide to then allow those same nations to make accusations against Isreal over and over again. Never once brings any charges against these genocidal nations.

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We can now add to that. Gaza where are your Jews, Yemen, where are your Jews and Iran where are your Jews.

Why has no one ever been fixated and outraged why Jews have been wiped out in all these nations. Turn a blind eye to the real genocide.

Then to compound it by siding with those who are committing the real genocide against the actual victim of that genocide while at the same time creating the false narrative that the victimn is actually the perpetrator of genocide.

They will search high and low for the smallest chink to be judge, jury and exeutioner over Isreal and yet turn a blend eye or at the very least not apply the same level of scrutiny to more obvious wrongs right before their eyes. Its the worst form of hypocracy and all credibility is lost.

The sad thing is many in the west are falling for this false narrative. Which is exactly what these genocidal radicals want.

AV1611VET said:

Do you mean where did I hear that from?

From here.

As I understand it, they say mtdnaEve, which stands for "mitochondrial DNA Eve," is the oldest known human female.

Her counterpart is y-Adam, who is our oldest known male.

They didn't really know each other.

From AI Overview:

According to recent genetic studies, mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam lived around the same time, with their estimated dates overlapping. Specifically, Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived between 120,000 and 156,000 years ago, while mitochondrial Eve is estimated to have lived between 99,000 and 148,000 years ago, according to a study published in Nature. This suggests that the two most recent common ancestors for all humans (one for the Y chromosome and one for mitochondrial DNA) lived during a similar period, rather than being separated by a large gap in time as previously thought.

Prior to these studies, estimates for Y-chromosomal Adam's age were significantly lower than those for mitochondrial Eve, leading to the idea that they lived far apart in time. However, more recent research, using improved methods for analyzing Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA variations, has narrowed the gap in their estimated ages.

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I assume many of our ancestors remains are long gone due to time and decomposition.

Fossils are rather rare.

From what I understand.

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.

ozso said:

Just to let you know, I think of you more as a 48th cousin

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Why, thank you that’s very kind

Always in His Presence said:

Pretty much yes

Oneness is an anomaly

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For a lack of a better word, most Pentecostal Churches recognize each other with the exception of the Oneness Pentecostals?

Thanks for the response

RileyG said:

Essentially, all Assembly of God Christians are Pentecostal, but not all Pentecostal Christians are A of G.

I know there are many Pentecostal denominations that are historically African American, such as the Church of God in Christ.

I don’t know if they recognize being in communion with one another, since SOME Pentecostal denominations, such as the United Pentecostal Church, reject the Holy Trinity.

Is my understanding correct?

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Pretty much yes

Oneness is an anomaly

Venice, Italy