Purveyor of Confusion

cvanwey said:

From post #492:

All passages regarding blasphemy, i.e. Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:29-29, and Luke 12:10 are cryptic. Period.

1) To 'speak against', 'blaspheme', or 'speak a word against' are not clarified.

2) The verses do not speak about the point of when you have gone too far, and are damned eternal, no-matter-what.

3) These verses remain ambiguous/vague/undefined.

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I already told you, the original greek word for blaspheme means to switch right and wrong.

God told us that if you blaspheme God/Jesus it can be forgiven.
God told us if you blaspheme against Holy Spirit you can't.
Reason? Holy Spirit is the one that opens your eyes and let you see things. Once you have the Holy Spirit you really know God. If you don't have it, no matter how good/pious a life you have been living, been a Monk, been a devoted Christian/Jew/Muslim (but a fake one since you don't have the Holy Spirit), you don't know God.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:17-20).

cvanwey said:

4) Many, whom read the Bible as literal, would read these, and worry obsessively about not committing such and act. Or, worry that one of their close loved ones may have already committed this act. It appears to present reckless/obscure language; with a rather large threat attached.

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If they have the Holy Spirit they won't be afraid.

cvanwey said:

Again, we are speaking about God's forgiveness here. And you know what happens to the ones He does not forgive or pardon, right?

And further still, going with your 'conclusion', let us explore; just for goofs...

What if a 'pharisee-like' individual, did exactly what you eluded to, but, a year later, had a complete change of heart? He realized the error of his ways, dropped to his knees, professed to the real almighty, confessed as a sinner, and committed to follow. According to the undefined and less-than-clarified verses provided, he's toast.

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See my quote above. A pharisee-like individual will not have the holy spirit. The Holy spirit might come down and change him, but before that he does not have the holy spirit and does not know God.

cvanwey said:

I doubt it. I was a Christian for 30+ years. I fell away, do to some of my reasons you responded to...

So yes, I feel it does warrant some 'worry'

On a side note, why should I care what Paul says?

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You doubt it? Sir, what is THE FOUNDATION?

Do you care what is written regarding the FOUNDATION in Zechariah 4

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cvanwey said:

Can you elaborate a bit? I'm getting differing answers, from virtually anyone I ask. And further still, you could give this brief answer to another Christian, and they may either not agree with you, or read the verses and conclude in a differing take-away

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I did already...see what I have posted for you regarding John 6

cvanwey said:

The passage in Luke 14:33 asks that you give up all your possessions. Hence, He is speaking about material wealth.

How do you know Jesus does not want you to give up all possessions to demonstrate you are a true follower?

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Again, Luke 4 is directed at those who were on the fence...
Who builds and does not count the cost?

Do you THINK the ONE who builds doesn´t know those whom HE has chosen, sir

cvanwey said:

What if one's heart tells them they truly see the Bible as a fiction, where it 'counts' anyways (i.e.) anything supernatural in claim?

Again, this is an earnest interpretation of many. It would seem God would reject this human's inward heart, in this instance. So it would appear that the 'heart' is not enough. It would depend on what that person's heart has concluded.

Thus, I ask you again, who's teaching the right stuff, and who is delivering false teaching, which might lead an earnest human astray from the real God?

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I think you might want to refer to Jesus words in John 9.

cvanwey said:

What if one's heart tells them they truly see the Bible as a fiction, where it 'counts' anyways (i.e.) anything supernatural in claim?

Again, this is an earnest interpretation of many. It would seem God would reject this human's inward heart, in this instance. So it would appear that the 'heart' is not enough. It would depend on what that person's heart has concluded.

Thus, I ask you again, who's teaching the right stuff.

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Are you asking who will be responsible for those who reject THE TRUTH of THE GOSPEL, sir?

Is that what you are asking?
Every teaching man will be judged and whatever ädditional material they have laid on THE FOUNDATION will be burnt up...but they will be saved

But the man who heard THE GOSPEL, and did not believe? He alone is responsible for himself.

Sir, there is a difference between condemnation and stripes...
Just as there is a difference between the unbeliever and the believer.

cvanwey said:

This response seems to more-so justify my conclusion? No matter how much one may study, no matter how intelligent one may be, many will read the Bible. Some may reject it, due to apparent contradictions/other. Some may choose to follow, for various reasons. For the ones whom fall away, in earnest; seems as though God might smite them for something which may be beyond their control. See below...

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In case you haven't noticed I didn't come here to disagree with you.

God will not "smite" anyone, He responds with mercy and compassion even to those whose hearts are hardened (some of which are hardened by Him.) It is we who have responded with condemnation and ostracism.

Luke 9:52-55 They entered a village of the Samaritans, but they did not receive Him. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

Romans 14:1-4 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, but I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.

Lamentations 3:31-32 For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Romans 9:22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

1 Corinthians 5:5 Hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

1 Timothy 2:4-5 This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

cvanwey said:

I don't know. And neither do you.

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cvanwey said:

Or maybe, there exists nothing there listening. You see how Occam's Razor works there?

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Exactly, we don't know. Like humans have always done, we explain the unexplained by turning to the divine. You see how faith works there?

cvanwey said:

Okay, your notion of salvation is by 'grace'. Can you direct me to the verse(s) which elude to this conclusion; as opposed to another means to salvation?

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Ephesians 2:5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

I don't think a dead person can do much to save themself, do you?

cvanwey said:

Well, for three reasons.

1. You claim you are a theologian.
2. You answered the question.
3. You choose what you will and will not engage upon.

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1. I don't claim it, I have to qualifications to prove it.
2. I answered the original question but you kept changing the subject when the answer was quite reasonable
3. See 2

cvanwey said:

It's been said that Catholics currently, or once thought, that if an infant died without baptism from original sin, they end up in 'limbo' eternal. I was brought up in this 'thought' process as well. Not sure how many still think this?.?.?

But the bigger question remains... Truth is unchanging. Hence, what IS the right answer? Were the Catholics wrong then, or are they wrong now? And how do you know?

You see how the confusion mounts, at virtually every turn?

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Well confusions mounts not because you are looking for AN answer, but because you want there to be multiple answers. I suspect if you ask a Roman Catholic they will tell you there is only true answer and it is theirs. I don't see a lot of problem with that even if I think they are wrong. As a theologian (thanks for pointing this out) I need to weigh up all of the possible answers where there are discrepancies and attempt to understand what actually happens.

So instead of taking an answer weighing it up and deciding if it is right or wrong yourself, you simply present them all as though they were the right answer and then say that confusion abounds. That certainly isn't how theology works. In fact I don't think it's how science works either. Just imagine the sun's relationship to the Earth.

Ancient Science says the Sun revolves around the Earth.
Modern Science says the Earth revolves around the Sun.
cvanwey says this is all confusing because they can't agree.

So my advice study all of the answers, determine why people think the way they do, engage with their ideas and why they might think a different way. Possibly you could come up with your own solution (just be prepared for it to be shot down in flames if it doesn't make sense).

If it is a question that has only one true answer, but you have got multiple answers to pick from, saying you have multiple answers isn't an intelligent way of find the one true one.

cvanwey said:

Okay, here you claim faith is the way to salvation. And yet, you have Matthew 25:31-46, which speaks nothing of faith, and tells humans they are judged by how much they help others; and nothing else. Why is this verse (less than) the others? --- (i.e.) verses about faith, or verses about grace...

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Now I know you are not reading my posts.

cvanwey said:

It does not matter. I adhered to them as a believer. And nothing happened. I adhere to them now, in asking others to pray for me, which they state they do, and nothing happens.

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What were you asking for when you adhered to these scriptures which you posted?

cvanwey said:

How about the ones whom investigate earnestly, and find lack in evidence for His postmortem existence? Is there any way God may spare these folks? The ones whom may harbor lifetime doubt, but maybe adhere to Matthew 25:31-46?

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So you will let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, sir? You mean the works that you do will be robotic with a motive behind them? And not done specifically because of love?

Because sir, if you recall, those whom HE blessed were those who didn´t even know that they had fed, or clothed HIM , or gave HIM to drink. They just naturally did what was noble and right because it was noble and right to do...