There's nobody to ask, except possibly for the people in my life who know more than I do or have more experience than I do about... well, whatever I'm curious about I suppose. I was raised in a seriously Christian household, but I stopped praying when logic and reason told me I was just talking to myself.
I read or heard something about that years ago which suggested that North American Native people's carbohydrate metabolism differs from that of Europeans, such that if you and I got roaring drunk one night and passed out, I'd wake up sober but with a vicious hangover, you'd wake up still drunk and ready for more. Dunno if that's true or not, sounds like it may just be part of colonialism's racist narrative. Anyway, not an experiment I'm interested in trying.
It is indeed of interest. I've tried the usual offerings, found them a little harsh, Redbreast is available here and I agree is much to be preferred, the others you mention aren't on the shelves here. When this Covid pestilence ends and I can freely get to bigger cities again I'll look around for them. I have made a note to myself... ;-)
To my mind that's one of the most horrible stories in the OT. God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son, he prepares to do so, then at the last moment god comes along and says, in effect, "Nope, ha ha, kidding, just testing you." Then there's the story in 2 Kings 2:23-24 where god sends two bears to maul 42 children to death for the heinous crime of mocking Elisha's baldness. I'm not asking for wisdom from anyone who behaves like that, that's a psychopath.
From your post #42: "Ask for wisdom, Dex. This is a personal invitation. Wisdom is standing by." Sure looked like it came from you, though I did get that it wasn't you I should be asking. Not that it makes any real difference, I still decline the invitation, because I don't believe there's any substance to it. I know of no evidence that would indicate, or even hint, that anyone's listening. I'll have to get my wisdom the hard way, figuring things out myself.
Now you are getting self righteous and that is one of the greatest sins a religious person can commit. You think that be reading an ancient text that you know god's will, its mind but that is delusional at best. You have to judge another to think you know what is best for them. "Judge not lest ye shall be judged." You have crossed that line and are treading on thin ice.
Nothing like the certainty of the true believer. Whatever I could get that way would not constitute evidence, nobody could see it but me, so it fails the most basic test of what evidence is. I find such certainty a little vexatious. How would you respond if I advised you to read Christopher HItchens' God is Not Great, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and Sam Harris' The End of Faith, with a promise that they would make an unbeliever out of you? You wouldn't take that seriously for a second. That's exactly how I feel about your earnest advice. Bluntly, I'm sure you mean well but after decades of study and thought I'm convinced you're completely wrong and I will not take that advice. If you've got some evidence other than personal testimonial, I'd like to see it, but as things are, for me the evidence and arguments I've seen offered in support of what you believe (and I don't mean just by you) are not sufficient to justify accepting it as true.
I was pretty sure weren't understanding me. I thought I'd made it clear several times that I was claiming only what I understood to be most probably true, not certainty, and that I'm open to contrary arguments. And if you're not here to convert anyone, why did you start a thread called "God is Just and Remembers" and another called "All Will be Made Alive?" They're fairly standard Christian evangelical dogma, and they sure look like preaching to me.
You're aiding and abetting him though, by witnessing on his behalf about what you presume his purposes to be, supported by cherry-picked biblical citations, and encouraging others, me in particular, to accept the message. Hard to see that as anything but proselytizing.
