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Ellen White on photographs

As a member of a traditional church, I have to say I wouldn’t be commenting at all on the SDA were it not for the continual and relentless criticism of my denomination by a vocal minority of the members of your denomination on this forum. Most of the Adventist members I’ve never had any issue with and one of them I regard as a friend.

I don’t see why you can’t simply stop criticizing our churches.

It won't stop. The vocal minority are the ones actually following Adventist doctrine.

Ellen White in Great Controversy says:

The Great Controversy, by Ellen G. White. Chapter 21: A Warning Rejected​
Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith.

As you can see, Rome is the harlot, and protestant churches her daughters.

Eastern Orthodox, of course, since you were with Rome for a 1000 years are lumped in with them, from their perspective.

So there could be people of God in those churches. But if one of them hears the last day message of warning, they must come out of Babylon, join the remnant, or they will be opposed to God. There will be no quarter. They will continue criticizing.


Ellen White is part of Adventist doctrine. But she is also indispensable to their remnant status:

From the Fundamental Belief:

The Gift of Prophecy 18​
The Scriptures testify that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and we believe it was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. (Num. 12:6; 2 Chron. 20:20; Amos 3:7; Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:14-21; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 12:17; 19:10; 22:8, 9.)​
Note the texts listed:

Revelation 12:17​
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (KJV)​

Revelation 19:10​
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (KJV)
That is why for some Adventists, finding that Ellen White contradicts Scripture, or does not meet the tests of a prophet, is the beginning of leaving the remnant concept, and criticism of other churches, and sometimes the SDA church completely.

Of course, some don't leave, but just decide that they can pick and choose from what she says, even though she counseled against that. Or some drop Ellen White all together, but still support the general biblical framework, minus Ellen White. But without Ellen White, you undercut the remnant.

The truth is, it is those who need to defend this remnant concept who are stuck in these threads. They are stuck defending it because to do otherwise is to concede the remnant theology.

And that is why they tend to show up in every one of them, claim they don't like these threads, but always keep coming back.
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Anti-evangelical evangelicals.

The word evangelism means spreading the good Word to bring more to Christ. Today's evangelicals appear to be doing the opposite. The majority of today's evangelicals' political actions are dissuading most people. In the words of David French: "This is a finding that should trigger soul-searching among American evangelicals. If Jesus instructed his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations,” then it’s worth pondering whether the decision to so loyally support a man like Trump is worth actively repelling millions upon millions of Americans from church."
But I’m not holding my breath."
I wonder if you yourself are a stalwart of the Christian faith. Do you support candidates that are pro-abortion, pro transitioning youth and allowing schools to usurp the rights of parents of those troubled youth to intervene. ???
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Why do we pray for people by name?

I feel very much the same way. Especially at the start of services when we bring up Special Requests; I can’t remember all of ya’lls names! I think what’s most important is to match the focus & sincerity of knowing people by name with our prayer requests. If knowing someone’s name helps - more power to ya. All that matters is the authenticity of our prayers & our relationship with God when we pray. He will search our hearts, he knows what we need, so the words don’t have to be perfect.

In Eastern Orthodoxy (remember, this is the Eastern Orthodox forum) we believe in praying for people by name where possible for the reasons stated - God calls us by name, we want to focus on each individual person, we wish to ask for the intercession of their patron saint if they are baptized Orthodox, and so on.

The Oriental Orthodox and the Assyrian Church of the East use the same practice, as do many other traditional and liturgical churches.

Remember, what motivates us is the desire to make ourselves icons of Christ, since He completed, restored and glorifed our creation in the image of God, we want to make sure we align ourselves with His image, and in our relations with others we aim to make ourselves an icon of the Holy Trinity, an eternal union of perfect love which we believe is the template God has provided for how His children should embrace each other. If everyone loved everyone else as intently as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other, there would be no war and no strife.

Hence, Christ gave us a new commandment: that we love each other as He loves us.
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My Soul Thirsts for You O God

Psalm 63:1 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1 O God, You are my God.
Earnestly I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You.
My body yearns for You
in a dry and weary land without water.”

What should this look like, in all practicality, for the life of someone who believes in Jesus Christ? If God is truly our God whom we earnestly seek, then that means He is Lord of our lives, but not just in words only, but truly our lives are surrendered to Him, to doing His will, and He is the one guiding and directing and leading us each day in the ways of the Lord and in doing the things we ought to do in obedience to His commands and according to His leading daily in our lives. We live, not for the flesh, but to please God.

And if we thirst for God, and we yearn for Him, like we would yearn for water in a dry land, He will have top priority in our lives above all else. He will not be someone we go to just when we are in trouble, or when we need something, or when we have a prayer request, or who we worship only on a Sunday morning during a “worship service.” Our desire for Him will be continuous, daily, and not just for a few minutes during a daily “quiet time” with God. But He should be in our hearts and minds throughout every day.

Psalm 63:2-4 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“2So I have seen You in the sanctuary
and beheld Your power and glory.
3Because Your loving devotion is better than life,
my lips will glorify You.
4So I will bless You as long as I live;
in Your name I will lift my hands.”

What is the sanctuary of God today? Another word for sanctuary is tabernacle and/or a sacred or holy place. And I remember when I was growing up and we attended church services in a building called “church,” that the room where we had the worship services was called “the sanctuary.” And another word for tabernacle is temple. Well, the temple of God today is the church, but not the building, but the body of Christ, the people of God. We who believe in Jesus are that temple in whom God dwells by his Spirit.

So if we see God today in the sanctuary, we see Him working in our lives and in the lives of others who are indwelt by the Spirit of God via God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ. We see God’s power and glory being displayed by the faith of those whose trust is in the Lord, who have repented of their sins, and who are now walking in obedience to God’s commands. And we hear of God’s love and devotion for his people as evidenced in the lives of His followers and in the words that we speak – we who bless God by our words and our deeds.

Psalm 63:5-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“5My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
6When I remember You on my bed,
I think of You through the watches of the night.
7For You are my help;
I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
8My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me.”

These are the words of someone who is in a personal relationship with the Lord via true biblical faith in Jesus Christ, if what they speak is a reality in their daily lives. For this is not speaking of what is external, but of what is internal, of what is in the heart and mind and soul of the one who professes to know and to love God. This is someone who, by faith in Jesus Christ, gives glory and honor and praise to the Lord, but not in words only, but by how they live their lives in daily surrender to the will of God in obedience to Him.

If we are like this in our relationships with the Lord, then He should be on our minds and in our hearts throughout the day and night every day. And we should be willing to listen to Him and to do what He says even if it is in the middle of the night and it interrupts our sleep. And not only should we view Him as our help, but we are to serve Him with our lives in being and in doing what He has called us to be and to do. And if our souls cling to the Lord, our dependency is in Him and our will is to do His will, all in the power of God.

Faith: [Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]

My Soul Thirsts for You O God
An Original Work / July 30, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love


As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1


As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

German Pride March attacked by Islamist

I don't think we can agree on anything in this forum.
Not even this? That seems wrong somehow.
Speaking about going off the rails...
It is in line with the topic of the thread. An Islamist attacking people. Which is what Islam eventually comes to as it becomes more predominant. At least is most places. Take a look at what has happened in the west. Germany, France, and the UK. Look all around the Middle East. Take a look at rhe increasing fraud and other issues than have occurred in the US as the Islamic population has increased here. That cannot be denied.
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The Investigative Judgment or Pre-Advent Judgement.

You can read through what the corruption did here as don't want to derail this one..
So there's a whole bunch of issues in your claims there--some of which other posters pointed out in that topic--but here's the thing. Even if all of your claims in that topic (which are mostly just copy/pasted material you lifted uncritically from often questionable websites) were true, it wouldn't actually refute a single thing I said. Your original claim was about how a difference in phrasing between the KJV and NIV--which wasn't even important to the point you were responding to either--was because of this "corruption." But it wasn't, because the Greek text underlying both translations was the same in this verse. It was just a difference in translation. You just saw a difference between them and due to not doing any research to confirm it, wrongfully assumed it was due to a textual variant, which was not the case at all. If you think the NIV's translation was faulty, whatever (though as I noted, the specific question of translation wasn't actually important to the question posed by the person you were responding to), but that wasn't your claim, it was specifically the claim about the difference being based on bad manuscripts.

Here's the post I gave before that you are quoting from:
Well, in the first place, this doesn't seem to actually address the message you were replying to, as that person noted that a literal translation of the phrase in Hebrews 9:12 meant "holy places". But the big issue I need to point out is that your entire post here rests on a faulty assumption, one that you would have discovered had you done just a bit of verification. Specifically, you blame this translation difference (the KJV in Hebrews 9:12 saying "holy place" versus the NIV in that saying "Most Holy Place") on "the corruption of the text by the Alexandrian Codices". This is bizarre, given that they have no textual difference in the verses you cite.

This is pretty easy to confirm with a textual apparatus like this one. So, for example, let's take your first example, Hebrews 9:12. One can look at that here and see that it says "No textual critical info for this verse" which means there's no notable reading differences among manuscripts or quotations. The same applies to the other verses you refer to. You get the same reading whether one uses the "Alexandrian Codices" or not.

But you wouldn't need to have used a textual apparatus to see that it was very unlikely to have been a difference in textual basis; all someone has to do is look at any one of the various translations based on critical texts that involve things like the "Alexandrian Codices" because they don't agree with the NIV on this. So proper verification would have meant taking a quick look at something like the NASB or ESV, and then someone would have seen they say (respectively) "holy place" and "holy places". That should have made you realize that the reason for the difference in translation is well, a difference in translation, not textual basis, given that translations with the same basis as the NIV turned out differently.

So it looks like you saw a KJV/NIV difference and then, due to not spending any time at all to verify it was actually a textual issue, just assumed this was some textual difference and due to not verifying this idea, spouted off this completely inaccurate claim of it having something to do with the "Alexandrian codices".
So again, rather than acknowledge the fact you were flat-out wrong on this issue regarding the applicable verses (because there was no textual variance here) you ignore that and try to talk about what you claim are corrupted manuscripts even though--once again--that wouldn't actually negate my point about your error. You're just deflecting to avoid admitting your error or engaging with the points I brought up.
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Mamdani flunks Bollywood quiz, struggles to name Shah Rukh Khan’s classic songs

I would fail miserably at a Bollywood quiz if it was about the music (sad to say, given that my quasi-InLaws are Indian)

On movies however, depending on the genre, I may know a few lol


I went through a bit of a phase back in the mid-2010's where I was watching a lot of foreign action films (it started with some of the South Korean films like Oldboy, and then over to Indonesian action films like The Raid and Marantau, and then went down the rabbit hole of some Indian action films.


There's an odd blend of extreme violence and pageantry within the same film, and it completely catches you off guard.

The first one I watched was this:

No joke, there's a violent curb stomp (like the one in American History X) and plenty of Blood and Guts shootouts, and then bam...out of nowhere...a 7 minute long choreographed Indian dance routine featuring an upbeat song and belly dancing. I remember me and brother laughing hysterically because it was so out of place and unexpected. The same ended up being true of the movie "Singham"

Imagine you're watching what has been a somewhat gritty violent action movie with scenes involving headshots, curb stomps, teeth getting ripped out with pliers, putting a lightbulb in someone's mouth, and then punching them in the mouth...

And then, 40 minutes in, this pops up seemingly out of nowhere:
Login to view embedded media

It'd be like if in the middle of a violent Mafia movie, all of the Mobsters jumped up and sang a showtune completely out of the blue.
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Are there any Thomists here?

Yes, yes, and yes. This goes hand in hand with Thomas' essence/existence distinction, which safeguards the ultimacy of God in a way that is different from simple immateriality. This is why, for Thomas, each angel is its own species. See ST I.50.4.
Yes, I know of the whole angels being their own species idea.
My doubts mainly come from this: How Do Angels Change? An Introduction to the “Spiritual Matter” Debate

This has an Orthodox critique of this aspect of Thomism. (I hope it's allowed to link it!!!)
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Anyone up for a chat thread?

My nephew - who is only four months older than my daughter - came into my permanent care last month. I've been working hard trying to settle him in and establish a new normal for everyone; I think that will be a work in progress for a while.
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A question concerning gravity... and the animations thereof

Here is another of my AI tests relevant to this thread and applicable to OpenAI's latest version ChatGPT-5.6 SOL which is reputably 'smarter' than version 5.5 which I have been using on this site.

Firstly I posed the question whether it was familiar with the following works which I had used in formulating my responses and is used in undergraduate applied mathematics.

Are you familiar with the following works?
(1) Vector analysis and an introduction to Tensor analysis (Schaum's Outline Series). Murray R Speigel.
(2) Introduction to General Relativity. H.A. Atwater.


Yes, I am familiar with both.

  1. Murray R. Spiegel, Schaum’s Outline of Theory and Problems of Vector Analysis and an Introduction to Tensor Analysis. The surname is spelled Spiegel, not “Speigel.” It is a calculation-oriented text covering vector algebra, differential vector operators, integral theorems, curvilinear coordinates and an introductory treatment of tensor notation and tensor operations. Its large collection of worked problems makes it especially useful for developing the mathematical techniques required before studying general relativity. (Google Books)
  2. H. A. Atwater, Introduction to General Relativity. This is a relatively compact introductory text of nine chapters covering special relativity, tensor methods, curved spacetime, Einstein’s field equations and standard applications of general relativity. It was intended as an accessible physics introduction rather than a comprehensive modern differential-geometric treatment. (Elsevier Shop)
They complement each other reasonably well. Spiegel supplies much of the computational background in vectors and elementary tensors, while Atwater applies tensor methods to spacetime and gravitation.

For the Gravity Probe B discussion, the most relevant material would be:

  • from Spiegel: curvilinear coordinates, tensors, covariant differentiation and transformations;
  • from Atwater: the metric, geodesics, Christoffel symbols, parallel transport, curvature and the weak-field gravitational equations.
One limitation is that Spiegel’s introductory tensor section may not develop manifolds, tangent spaces, differential forms and connections in the modern geometric language used in current general-relativity texts. Atwater likewise uses an older, comparatively coordinate-based presentation. Nevertheless, together they are adequate for working toward a mathematical description of the Gravity Probe B orbit, spin-vector transport and relativistic precession.
I requested ChatGPT-5.6 SOL to only concentrate on these two sources in coming up with a representation of spacetime curvature around the Earth using the Gravity Probe B results.

Only use these two references to develop a representation of spacetime curvature using a modelled cumulative deviation curve and an infinite number of tangent space slices.
You must show the spin deviations are defined by the Christoffel coefficients as the Gravity Probe B's orbit undergoes parallel transport.
Finally produce a spacetime diagram showing the spacetime curvature around earth on a spacetime diagram with the t-axis being vertical.


An explanation of Christoffel symbols and parallel transport was discussed in the following thread.

In curved space the projection vector does change direction.
This can be illustrated by the change of a projection vector as it moves along the arcs (parallel transported) on the surface of a sphere.

1785451410187.png


The concept of the derivative in curved space needs to be redefined which factors in the changes in the projection vectors.
In this case we need to calculate the partial derivatives of the metric tensor components which define the geometry of the spacetime in which the projection vectors change.

Without going in specific details which would require a detailed knowledge of tensor analysis the derivative of a tensor known as the covariant derivative is defined as:

1785451574388.png



The left hand side of the equation is the covariant operator applied to a vector v.
The first term on the right hand side is the normal partial derivative of the vector, the next term contains information how the metric tensor components g
uv change by calculating their partial derivatives which impacts on changes to the projection vector.

The operator in the second term is known as a Christoffel symbol and is defined.

1785451601555.png



With this information which comes from both books, ChatGPT-5.6 SOL came up with the following depiction of spacetime around the Earth using an infinite number of slices unlike the 4 slices used by ChatGPT-5.5 in a previous post.

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Adventist view on the thousand years of the Millennium

That's a non comparison, in Romans 2, I mean those without the Law be excluded as believers in Revelation 20:4-6.
The "one thousand years" in Revelation 20 is explicitly recorded but the beheaded martyrs as you said includes non believers though not stated in the text but the fact that they will came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, proves they're all believers.

You don't seem to be able to understand anything I am saying. So probably no need to continue.

I stated those raised are among believers--but are a more specific group among believers, not all believers.


May we know what made them irreconcilable?

If you haven't figured that out after all this time then we are wasting our energy.

Go back and re-read or don't. Up to you.

May we know what's in the text that made non-believers included in;
1. Beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus,
2. Beheaded because of the word of God,
3. Beheaded because had not worshiped the beast or his image,
4. Beheaded because had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand?

They aren't. Go back and re-read or don't.


Yes, there are two resurrection;
1. First for the believers, Revelation 20:4, before the 1000 years, - as they will came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

For the MARTYRS among the believers. Which you won't address. So we are probably wasting our time.

2. Second for the non-believers, Revelation 20:11-15,

Which it doesn't say, and you won't acknowledge, so we are probably wasting our time.

Go back and re-read if you want answers, or don't. Up to you. I am tired of answering questions when you will not, or cannot, engage with what I am saying.
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Used to be a non believe now I am having strange spiritual experiences and nightmares ever since my mom converted

What exactly do you mean by a “demonic attachment”? That is not a clear biblical category. It could mean anything from demonic oppression to haunting or even just recurring frightening thoughts.

As I see it, nothing you have described establishes that a demon is attached to you. Dreams commonly incorporate recent fears, images, conversations, grief, religious concerns, and material viewed online. Just because in a dream you were given a date for your death, that doesn’t somehow mean you will die on that date. It does, however, fit a pattern often depicted in paranormal thrillers (e.g., The Ring).

As you implied, demons do not determine when you will die, and a date given in a dream should not be treated as revealed knowledge about your death. Life and death are in God’s hands.

This is part of the security found in the Christian faith. Those who belong to Christ belong wholly to him; they are indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit and cannot also be possessed or claimed by demonic powers. Demonic opposition can occur, as the book of Job illustrates, but demons can do nothing apart from God’s permission and can go no farther than he allows.

Christians do suffer or experience fear, but they are never outside God’s sovereign rule, never abandoned to hostile spiritual powers, and never in danger of being separated from Christ. The answer to fear of demons is therefore not superstition or trying to decode dreams, but taking refuge in Christ.
When I say demonic attachment I don’t really believe in possessions at all or haunting (I think this can only happen when u perform rituals that invite demons), more like a spiritual attachment like my pastor says. Even when I was agnostic I had a feeling that watching paranormal stuff might draw negative attention but because I didnr experience anything weird at the time I kept going and I was entertained by them. I totally stopped viewing paranormal content a while ago cus of these dreams. I firmly believed that it was not just a case of “stress” because this happened a year after my psychotic episode and months after my grandfathers passing, had it been stress I would have had those dreams long before when I was actively watching paranormal content. Only when my mom became Christian I started having these “demonic“ dreams and even when my mom became Christian I kinda didn’t believe in it until I saw those 2 parallel bright lines mysteriously at night. And yes I’ve heard of stuff like those movies and “don’t look or watch (x) or you will be cursed” it’s been a big fear since I was young. So I think some tging was trying to drag me away from Jesus even if my faith wasn’t strong yet
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Lucifer is not the proper name of Satan

It was your demand that was childish. "Would you" works much better than "you'll have too." Basic etiquette.


All that you have provided is hearsay evidence. How many of these same scholars say that the Book of Daniel was not composed by Daniel? I would bet a lot of them.

You still have not responded to my twice-asked statement and question:

Please state for the record whether or not you believe that Jude was inspired by the Holy Spirit, or was deceived in what he wrote about the prophecy of Enoch.
Yes. I think Jude incorrectly used Enoch as Scripture when it is not. It was composed in the third century BCE. It was not composed by the actual Enoch. It is an apocryphal and pseudepigraphal text. Jude also cites the Assumption of Moses, which is likewise a first-century Jewish apocryphal and pseudepigraphal text. Should we count that as Scripture also? Being angry and trying to belittle me in your pedantry isn't going to get you anywhere. Calling me arrogant doesn't make you right.

In fact, if you can't discuss this in a civilized manner, I would ask you to please stop talking to me. I'm not your child. I'm not beneath you. Nor am I arrogant for insisting on proof of your assertions when they conflict with the work of actual, published scholars. If you have proper evidence that Enoch is a genuine Old Testament canonical work predating Moses, just show me the proof of that. Scholars date it to the third century BCE through a variety of academic disciplines. If you say otherwise, the burden of proof is on you. If you disagree with that, then you don't know how scholarship works.
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Senator Ron Johnson says the [COVID-19] 'injection injured' are dying of suicide at increasing rates

During the shot years it appeared that individuals of certain political affiliations were more prone to receive the shot. Having worked for the government several years ago, It really solidified my mistrust of the government and career politicians.

Be Blessed, In Jesus's Name.

And that relates to the OP... how?
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