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Offline mister bickles

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Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #240 on: September 04, 2015, 01:12:44 PM »
even "the Laws of Noah" which, in and of them-selves, seem fairly straight-forward and easy would be totally impossible for man to keep;  :(

Jesus said that even if a man looks at a woman with lust, then, he has committed adultery in his heart;

the Scriptures say that the heart (i.e: the flesh) is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things!

St Paul, the great apostle to the gentiles, bemoaned the fact that "in me dwells no good thing";

Jesus' admonition reminds me of a sermon my old pastor preached many years ago.....abt a passage in the Epistle of St James;

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.


he likened the human psyche/flesh to a large work-bench in a garage where a home hobbyist had lots of little projects in different stages of completion......but the ultimate result of them all, upon completion, is death ("the wages of sin is death")....the Devil wants people to commit greater and greater sins so that they are further and further removed from God's grace.....so...."a white lie" can, for instance, lead to "a black (intentional) lie" to intentional false witness to guilt to anger to fear to hatred and, then, if the opportunity presents itself, to murder......the ultimate conclusion of the "project" :(

all  this, of course, totally negates most of modern psychiatry although not necessarily the 'approach' of Thomas Szasz;
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz ; )

strange that Szasz is an 'atheist';
maybe he should'v read C S Lewis  :(

nisi Dominus frustra

Yaakov ben Avraham

Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #241 on: September 05, 2015, 10:58:11 AM »
Hello, Mr. Bickles:

Your post is an interesting one, and deserves a considered response, so I shall take each of your points one by one. Although we do have our differences, I am coming to respect that you are quite knowledgeable in Christian theology. So, allow me to "dig in" to your very interesting article, if you will.

even "the Laws of Noah" which, in and of them-selves, seem fairly straight-forward and easy would be totally impossible for man to keep;  :(

Jesus said that even if a man looks at a woman with lust, then, he has committed adultery in his heart;

Indeed Jesus did say that. I have read the New Testament twice myself, and I can of course confirm that you are correct on that. However, I think the Law itself is intended to refer to the literal commission of adultery, in this particular case.

Quote
the Scriptures say that the heart (i.e: the flesh) is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things!

I actually wouldn't argue with that, what with my long experience of knowing that trying to obey 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) is fundamentally impossible, hence the need for the Jewish Sacrificial System, and Fire Offerings of Israel that I discussed in my last post, that have been replaced, in the absence of the Holy Temple, by special prayers, until such time as the Holy Temple can be rebuilt.

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St Paul, the great apostle to the gentiles, bemoaned the fact that "in me dwells no good thing";

And it was fundamentally Pauline theology that understood the death of Jesus to be a Sacrifice to replace the Fire Offerings of Israel. Whilst I disagree with him, I do to an extent understand his logic.

Quote
Jesus' admonition reminds me of a sermon my old pastor preached many years ago.....abt a passage in the Epistle of St James;

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

James 1:15. Interesting passage. Having read it in context, as I am sure you also did, the Disciple of Jesus is saying that no man should accuse G-d of tempting him, but rather, should acknowledge that it is his own desire that tempts him. I certainly would not quarrel with that.

Quote
he likened the human psyche/flesh to a large work-bench in a garage where a home hobbyist had lots of little projects in different stages of completion......but the ultimate result of them all, upon completion, is death ("the wages of sin is death")....the Devil wants people to commit greater and greater sins so that they are further and further removed from God's grace.....so...."a white lie" can, for instance, lead to "a black (intentional) lie" to intentional false witness to guilt to anger to fear to hatred and, then, if the opportunity presents itself, to murder......the ultimate conclusion of the "project" :( 

Now that is a thought that deserves very careful consideration. In spite of our different solutions to the moral quandry of the human condition (you the Sacrifice of Jesus, me the Fire Offerings of Israel), I think the basic argument that evil starts small and gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until we are completely dominated by it, is a logical one.

I further would not dispute that the wages of sin ARE death. And lets face it, Friend Bickles, you and I are but little things in the vastness of G-'s far-flung Creation. He created us PURELY out of love. He did not create us because he needed us, or for any reason other than that he loves us. It would be within the realm of his perfect and most profound justice to wipe us off the face of the Earth like bugs. Just as he was justified in the Flood, so he would be justified in taking both you and me and smashing our wee little heads. Although I am NOT a Calvinist, by any means, I shall quote Jonathan Edwards. We are sinners in the hands of G-d. I don't care to MAKE him angry, thank you!

Quote
all  this, of course, totally negates most of modern psychiatry although not necessarily the 'approach' of Thomas Szasz;
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz ; )

strange that Szasz is an 'atheist';
maybe he should'v read C S Lewis  :(

Really not strange that he was an atheist at all, although unfortunate. He was a Jewish psychiatrist. Most of them ARE atheists. As for reading CS Lewis, I actually agree with you. I find him to be VERY stimulating reading, on both moral/religious grounds as well as entertainment (in terms of his fiction) grounds.

So, that is my perspective on your interesting post. I am most curious to read your response, which I have no doubt will be equally fascinating. I look forward to it. Until then, I wish you peace, and many blessings.

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Offline mister bickles

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Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #242 on: September 15, 2015, 04:46:33 AM »
the New Birth in the New Testament;
(he puts it better than i could  :(  )


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Offline mister bickles

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Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #243 on: September 16, 2015, 06:38:11 AM »
normally, i wouldn't venture to post links to this fellow here since he is, quite definitely, anti-Christian but his audio-book of David Kupelian's The Marketing of Evil is brilliant...esp his reading/commentary on the last chapter of same  "Last, Best Hope: The Fall and Rise of American Christianity";

it is a scathing critique of many American (and other Western) Christians who think salvation is nothing more than a get-out-of-Hell free card and a carte blanche to live how-ever they damn well please totally ignoring Jesus' strident injunctions to "keep the commandments";  >:(


mp3 link
(go to abt the 1hr mark for the really 'meaty' stuff..... other chapters here)

☞ edit ☜

more highly insightful commentary from the abv-mentioned source......
viz a 1977 book, "The Feminization of American Culture", by a US feminist, Ann Douglas......

old-style Calvinism with masculine preachers, intellectual rigor, foundation of America's first and top universities, gives way, via complete disestablishment of Protestant churches by 1833, to a softened, sentimentalized, femized consumer mass culture dominated by a new alliance between a new breed of preachers and middle-class women. originally the religious DOCTRINE mattered in a church, when colonies in NE at least were founded; but this concern declined, and churchgoing became mere middle-class social function. feeling > thought. niceness > rigor. femininity > logic or masculinity, first within the cultural sphere (evolution from 1820 to 1875), then later, in 1900 on, in ENTIRE sphere (aided by jews, the feminized mindset for whites dominates not just the reading culture of middle class, but the entire, uh, Ideosphere). protestantism was a very different thing after than before. she puts dates at 1820 and 1875. different type of man becomes preacher; different concerns (serious theology vs catering to women clients/customers) in 1900 than in 1800. loss of status as preacher becomes another supplicant to the Shesus. from Edwardseans (sinners in the hands of an angry god - focused on INDIVIDUAL soul and sin and salvation) to namby-pamby anti-intellectual feelings-mush centered on love - which quickly perverted into Social Gospel around 1900. christianity in america evolved into something very useful to jews, just about the time they showed up. of course she doesnt touch on that part. ... douglas laments the rise of an anti-intellectual mass-consumerist, feminized but not feminist american culture; she wishes calvinist patriarchal intellectual rigor had opened to others rather than lowered. but can you have serious intellectual culture AND feminism at the same time? is intellectual culture consistent with non-patriarchal values, with matriarchy? douglas thinks so. but she might be wrong
(my comments: jews didn't start to have a major impact on US culture until well after WWII...so....this devolution of Christianity from the devout Calvinism of Jonathan Edwards must, here, be laid @ the feet of other, more sinister forces...."doctrines of demons" operating subtly behind the scenes and laying the foundatins for "the great falling away" of the latter ¼ of the twentieth century)

intro'

(chptr I...."Clerical Disestablishment")

chptr I, prt i;

chptr I, prt ii ;
« Last Edit: September 16, 2015, 02:58:00 PM by mister bickles »
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Offline mister bickles

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91st Psalm
« Reply #244 on: September 18, 2015, 03:51:41 PM »
the 91st Psalm.....read it, believe it and live it.....and you will be delivered  :)


the Douay-Rheims version (prblby the most accurate English translation, from the Vulgate)

Qui habitat.
The just is secure under the protection of God.

The praise of a canticle for David.

He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.
His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. 
But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge.
There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.

For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.
In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 
Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name. 
He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.
« Last Edit: September 18, 2015, 03:54:54 PM by mister bickles »
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Offline mister bickles

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forgiveness
« Reply #245 on: September 19, 2015, 11:47:09 AM »
the importance of forgivenes.....get direct access to Almighty God's power by praying the prayer that Jesus prayed on the Cross


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Offline Ghost Spaghetti

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Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #246 on: September 19, 2015, 03:21:42 PM »
Does it bother you in the least that you're just talking to yourself?

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Offline Rushy

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Re: A Commentary on Religion and its Societal Implications
« Reply #247 on: September 19, 2015, 03:37:46 PM »
Does it bother you in the least that you're just talking to yourself?

Well now he isn't, genius.

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Offline mister bickles

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get LITTLE before Almighty God
« Reply #248 on: September 28, 2015, 06:55:57 AM »
a v good msg.....well worth a 'view'/listen....apropos Romans VIII;



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