A comment on a previous post:
I know a guy who used to idolize Theil of the Mayan Cross back when he was the COG Writer. He would always send me "insightful" from the COG Writer. One time, the COG Writer, and my friend, were cruelly mocking "co-called Christians" and their ridiculous "just believe" philosophy and claimed that the "just believe Christians" knew nothing about the Bible. So, I sent him these verses:
Acts 13:39Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.
Romans 10:9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
1 John 3:23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 5:5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Romans 10:10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
John 5:24“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 6:29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Romans 10:4Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Mark 5:36Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
John 6:40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:47Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
John 3:14-16
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Mark 1:15“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 9:23“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
John 1:7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
John 1:12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
John 6:35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 7:38Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
John 8:24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
John 11:40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
John 12:44Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
John 12:46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Acts 10:43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Acts 16:31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Romans 1:16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 3:22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
Theil cannot be a Prophet from God since he is such a Bible ignoramus.
I have three questions, for everyone:
ReplyDeleteQuestion #1:
What if you stumbled upon evidence that convinced you to the core Christianity, the Armstrong version, were true? Would you accept the teachings and follow along or reject it entirely?
Question #2:
Do you want the God of the Bible to exist and the Bible to be true? If yes, why? If no, why?
Question #3:
If you found evidence contrary to your beliefs, that God exists, assuming you're an atheist or agnostic, would you desire to know God and his ways? If yes, why? If no, why?
My answer to question #1:
DeleteYou can substitute Armstrong with any other name and it would make zero difference to me if what is said is Biblical and I am able to prove it for myself. That being said, if many things that the “Armstrong version” teaches is in line with what I see to be in the Bible, I will follow the Bible (not because of Armstrong) and make best use of the “Armstrong” resources but not just follow along with Armstrong but follow along with the Bible.
If it turns out Armstrong follows the Bible and I follow the Bible, then it turns into both of us following the Bible rather than me following Armstrong and him following the Bible. Make sense?
My answer to question #2:
I already believe God to exist and the Bible to be true so I’m not sure if this applies.
Question #3 is irrelevant since I already believe God exists.
Speaking of the Torah
ReplyDeleteDeu 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHVH your God which I command you.
Deu 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."
Deu 13:1-5 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for YHVH your God is testing you to know whether you love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after YHVH your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from YHVH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which YHVH your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.”
Zech 13:6 (KJV) And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
ReplyDeleteNote: The NKJV used ‘arms’ instead of ‘hands’. The original Hebrew is ‘yad’ which the KJV translated correctly to hand. Let’s read it in context …
Zech 13:2-6 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, saith YHVH of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of YHVH: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
The article brings up the "just believe" debate without really addressing it. The bible teaches to "prove all things," which hence condemns belief without proof. Even if sufficient proof is present, people still the choice to reject the obvious since choose life or choose death is always present. In the typical case of Thomas, he witnessed enough miracles from Christ to confirm that He was indeed the son of God. Requiring him to touch Christ's wounds should not have been necessary to prove the point.
ReplyDeleteIf someone is called a son of God, it does NOT mean that person is divine - Israel (Ex 4:22, Deu 14:1), Ephraim (Jer 31:9), Solomon (2 Sam 7:13-14).
ReplyDeleteChristianity does not have a monopoly on miracles and healings. Buddhists, Hindus/Hare Krishnas, Moslems, Jews and others also claim miracles and healings. I have yet to read a news where someone who have lost his eyes (eyeballs) were able to grow their eyeballs back and see.
Performing miracles (signs and wonders) does not mean the person is of God. In Deu 13:1-5, a miracle working prophet can turn out to be a false prophet if his message is contrary to the Torah. In Ex 7:22, Pharaoh's magicians were able to duplicate the things God did through Moses and Aaron.
Jer 29:8-9 For thus says YHVH of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says YHVH.
Anon 7:00,
ReplyDeleteI get what you are saying, but how did the apostles "prove all things"? Did they pore over their OT manuscripts? My point being, that their belief was not gained through study. Flesh and blood did not reveal to Peter that Jesus was the Christ... it was revealed from above. Matt. 12 or 14 I think.
Also, though not my main point, "prove all things" from 1 Thes. 5 is good general advice so as not to be duped, but it is impossible to prove all things. Can you prove photosynthesis (do you need to)? Many things we cannot prove, but we can be inspired to believe or choose to accept things like photosynthesis without proving it as no one can prove all things.
Joseph Smith claimed that in 1820, God and Jesus appeared to him and started preparing him to bring back the precious truths and sacred authority lost from the church.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't the Christian denominations accept the teachings of Mormons? Joseph Smith had revelations directly from God and Jesus. Isn't it similar to Paul's vision of Jesus? Why do Christians reject the Book of Mormon? Isn't it an extension or further revelation of the teachings of the New Testament? Don't they believe in progressive revelation?
Christians reject the Book of Mormons because it is incompatible with the New Testament.
Let me share a joke ... Why did God invent Mormons? So Christians will know how Jews feel.
Jews reject the New Testament because it is incompatible with Tanakh.
At various times, men and women have appeared claiming to have had visions of God. Do we immediately take their word for it?
9.45 AM
ReplyDeleteWe get a feel and understanding of the credibility of modern science and hence extrapolate to believe many of their conclusions such as photosynthesis. It's the topic of having to decision make without having all the information, unlike in high school maths, chemistry, physics and similar. I think you know all this.