"Churchianity"

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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"Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?" Mark 8:18 (KJV)

King James Version, Spade. You must be a serious Bible student. Concerning Mark 8:18:

In context, Jesus recently fed 4000 people from 7 loaves of bread and "a few small fish". A short time later, Jewish politico-religious leaders approached Jesus "to test him" by asking him for a sign.

Jesus warned his disciples, "Be careful. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." Still stunned by the recent miraculous picnic or distracted by hunger, the disciples missed Jesus' spiritual warning about false religious teaching.

"And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" (Mark 8:17-18 NIV)

Is that what you were getting at, Spade?
 

Spade

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Nov 18, 2008
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King James Version, Spade. You must be a serious Bible student. Concerning Mark 8:18:

In context, Jesus recently fed 4000 people from 7 loaves of bread and "a few small fish". A short time later, Jewish politico-religious leaders approached Jesus "to test him" by asking him for a sign.

Jesus warned his disciples, "Be careful. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." Still stunned by the recent miraculous picnic or distracted by hunger, the disciples missed Jesus' spiritual warning about false religious teaching.

"And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?" (Mark 8:17-18 NIV)

Is that what you were getting at, Spade?

Not quite, Brother Motar. My box-score response to TB was an facile acknowledgement of the tribal nature of man's beliefs, both religious and secular. And, an admission that our faults are poorly remembered and less confessed. For a quirk of history, North American society perceives itself as Christian - followers of the Prince of Peace. Yet, when viewing our "adversaries" we cast them as less than human to be soundly trumped by bomb or plague. The recent rhetoric over Crimea and the Ukraine is classic. We divide the people there into white hats and black, even if those very people can see no difference. War as foreign policy seems to contradict the message of whom you call the Prince of Peace.
What is your message for society? You know mine, the view of heretic and apostate.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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Not quite, Brother Motar. My box-score response to TB was an facile acknowledgement of the tribal nature of man's beliefs, both religious and secular. And, an admission that our faults are poorly remembered and less confessed. For a quirk of history, North American society perceives itself as Christian - followers of the Prince of Peace. Yet, when viewing our "adversaries" we cast them as less than human to be soundly trumped by bomb or plague. The recent rhetoric over Crimea and the Ukraine is classic. We divide the people there into white hats and black, even if those very people can see no difference. War as foreign policy seems to contradict the message of whom you call the Prince of Peace.
What is your message for society? You know mine, the view of heretic and apostate.
Praise the lord and pass the ammunition! Onward Christians soldiers marching off to war. Hmmm. Would Jesus approve of this BS? I don't think so.
 

Motar

Council Member
Jun 18, 2013
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Not quite, Brother Motar. My box-score response to TB was an facile acknowledgement of the tribal nature of man's beliefs, both religious and secular. And, an admission that our faults are poorly remembered and less confessed. For a quirk of history, North American society perceives itself as Christian - followers of the Prince of Peace. Yet, when viewing our "adversaries" we cast them as less than human to be soundly trumped by bomb or plague. The recent rhetoric over Crimea and the Ukraine is classic. We divide the people there into white hats and black, even if those very people can see no difference. War as foreign policy seems to contradict the message of whom you call the Prince of Peace.
What is your message for society? You know mine, the view of heretic and apostate.

Dear Brother Spade. I am your sister and the biggest apolitical pacifist you will ever meet : )
 

Motar

Council Member
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Yur not from the Ozarks are yu? Ya cud be his motha too. Spade is yur cousin. Not sur wat he thinks of kissin' cousins, though.

I am Canadian, Cliffy - a surprisingly stable mix of French, Welsh and Irish. What is your pedigree, Friend?
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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I am Canadian, Cliffy - a surprisingly stable mix of French, Welsh and Irish. What is your pedigree, Friend?
Mutt - English, Welsh, Scot, Irish, German, and who knows who else is in the wood pile. My first mother-in-law was Irish and French. She tried to kill me.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Mutt - English, Welsh, Scot, Irish, German, and who knows who else is in the wood pile. My first mother-in-law was Irish and French. She tried to kill me.


Think that's bad try Irish and Indian, but to give her credit she never tried to kill me, pissed me off so I thought about killing her. -:)
 

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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Think that's bad try Irish and Indian, but to give her credit she never tried to kill me, pissed me off so I thought about killing her. -:)

Reader's Digest may have some wisdom for us concerning in-laws in the Quotable Quotes section. We must keep in mind however that although we did not choose our relatives, we did in fact knowingly choose our spouses and their kin.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Reader's Digest may have some wisdom for us concerning in-laws in the Quotable Quotes section. We must keep in mind however that although we did not choose our relatives, we did in fact knowingly choose our spouses and their kin.


There's also an old saying - "you have to take the bad with the good" -:)
 

Spade

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Nov 18, 2008
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Dear Brother Spade. I am your sister and the biggest apolitical pacifist you will ever meet : )

Proud you are my sister. You are the second sister I acquired recently. One is a non-believer and you may be a believer. You must understand that the gods are not capricious. They deliberately even things out.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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Dear Brother Spade. I am your sister and the biggest apolitical pacifist you will ever meet : )


Interesting, and you consider the entire Bible to be THE word of God and follow it "religiously". Is that correct?
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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Minnesota: Gopher State
I don't cling to any texts, modern or ancient. The symbolism of the cross predates Christianity by thousands of years. That is just historical fact. Check out the works of Joseph Campbell, the world's utmost authority on mythology. The Christ myth follows the "Heroes Journey" to a tee just like all Sun (Son) god myths. The Hebrews who wrote the story were not very imaginative.



I believe you were referring to the ancient Egyptian ankh:







While it predates the cross by several millenia as you suggest, the New Testament does indicate that one is to carry a cross in Matthew 16:24 if they wish to follow him.
 

Motar

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Jun 18, 2013
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While it predates the cross by several millenia as you suggest, the New Testament does indicate that one is to carry a cross in Matthew 16:24 if they wish to follow him.

Excellent, gopher. Now you must open this word to us. What does "one is to carry a cross" if they wish to follow him mean?
 

Spade

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The ankh is the symbol of eternal life. The gods bear the ankh by its handle.
The cross is the symbol of earthly trials. It is to be borne gladly on one's back.
 

gopher

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2005
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Excellent, gopher. Now you must open this word to us. What does "one is to carry a cross" if they wish to follow him mean?

Cross reference to Luke 14:27 - 'those who fail to carry their cross cannot be my disciple.'


The word used as cross was ''stauros'' which meant an upright stake. I believe it was meant to symbolize self sacrifice on behalf of Jesus and his teachings. That is to live as he did and do good for others.

Every church has its own definition of what constitutes true Christian living. This is why we have so many denominations.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
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I believe you were referring to the ancient Egyptian ankh:







While it predates the cross by several millenia as you suggest, the New Testament does indicate that one is to carry a cross in Matthew 16:24 if they wish to follow him.
The symbol of the cross was used by many ancient cultures in various forms, a cross in a circle, with arms like a swastika, and many others. They basically represent the same thing.
 

gopher

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2005
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cj44; said:
Gopher, My friend's mother sold her house and gave all the money from the sale to Armstrong's church. Their tithing doctrine was all out of bounds - more than the 10%. If I recall, they convinced the mother that no less than 30% was in order! My friend at the time - we were teenagers. She had to go to Armstrong's college - she willingly went because she was also quite decieved. She was only "allowed" to marry another armstrong follower. Her marriage and life turned into a disaster beyond words. She still was part of a remnant following until about 5 years ago. This group would meet at the home of one of the members. They all still followed most of armstrong's original doctrine. Sadly, she is nearly an atheist now.

Too bad Armstrong would not debate you. I can understand why he would decline debate invitations. His doctrine was astoundingly in error.


It is a shame that cults like that exist and how they get away with stealing people's money and destroying their lives. Thankfully, Armstrong was eventually stopped. But not before he and the cult caused so much damage to so many innocents.