tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2379362424457867972024-03-11T08:53:09.809+05:30Reasoned MusingsRaj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.comBlogger446125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-26457609385148854192022-08-18T11:00:00.000+05:302022-08-18T11:00:15.954+05:30Different Levels Of Punishment In Hell<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iCiCueG69dQrRZF_SgjDl-dDLhBsnsbJ2JKMFcbjqCKNZY1Jphp1IJNZbiyUh5bv1Jpqm4zu5WmlHZ5GIKxV9dmhYiZMhCiDisv8-phmqCfr-5_oey4uVzOn3vxsEcMQDOidyqzi2Vc78Gy1vNkg4TpCos_fQvWX4mTkHTnskUeUM2OG6mKLCODj/s960/Hell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3iCiCueG69dQrRZF_SgjDl-dDLhBsnsbJ2JKMFcbjqCKNZY1Jphp1IJNZbiyUh5bv1Jpqm4zu5WmlHZ5GIKxV9dmhYiZMhCiDisv8-phmqCfr-5_oey4uVzOn3vxsEcMQDOidyqzi2Vc78Gy1vNkg4TpCos_fQvWX4mTkHTnskUeUM2OG6mKLCODj/s320/Hell.jpg" width="320" /><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Christians
would be rewarded differently in heaven, “Christians will be offered varying
rewards in heaven (cf. Daniel 12:3; 1 Corinthians 3:14-15). The Bible says all
Christians will stand before the judgment seat of God and each of us will give
an account of himself to God (Romans 14:10,12). Apostle Paul writing to the
church in Corinth tells the Corinthians, “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he
has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10; cf. Luke
19:17,19)...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Even though there will be degrees of reward in heaven,
the joy of each person will be full and complete for eternity. If we think that
those with greater rewards or higher status would be more joyful in heaven, we
are mistaken. For if those with higher status would be more joyful, the
apostles and the heavenly creatures would be more joyful than the others. In a
state of perfection, this disparity does not seem plausible.”<sup>1</sup></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Similarly, would there be varying degrees of punishment in hell? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> J. Warner
Wallace in his article entitled “Are There Different Degrees Of Punishment In
Hell?” writes: “In the next life, some will be punished more than others. There
are clearly degrees of punishment...those who reject the teaching and calling
of God will be harshly punished, while those who have less clarity on what can
be known about God (“the one who did not know it”), will be punished with less
severity...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Those who know more are held in a higher degree of
accountability and responsibility. If you know the truth about God and reject
it, you will be punished more than someone who doesn’t yet know better.”<sup>2</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So yes, just
as there will be varying rewards in heaven, there will also be different degrees of punishment in hell. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> If we are
sure of going to heaven, let us strive for a greater reward. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<sup> <o:p></o:p></sup></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">http://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2021/04/varying-rewards-in-heaven.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/are-there-different-degrees-of-punishment-in-hell/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 18<sup>th</sup> August 2022. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-54682583004873480852022-06-13T18:19:00.001+05:302022-06-13T18:19:30.412+05:30How “Undesigned Coincidences” Enhances The Reliability Of The Bible?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzzGqVBY_wGrDsBMHJqS9oEfqstNqBchx_6kArBVggLNKVu6N-VeLHYJbpyoh-tACm_ssdSSmKPfxd-m_TstBgV2a1Ykx-pN6dAWlqUlwFr3bQYHDQvNT4eGDRot52QzAxS0QdmewkvyTfLUKCcysV1lcUr6-gQMHAJvw4KWnjEA1Gnd5uiH-ldru/s960/Puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzzGqVBY_wGrDsBMHJqS9oEfqstNqBchx_6kArBVggLNKVu6N-VeLHYJbpyoh-tACm_ssdSSmKPfxd-m_TstBgV2a1Ykx-pN6dAWlqUlwFr3bQYHDQvNT4eGDRot52QzAxS0QdmewkvyTfLUKCcysV1lcUr6-gQMHAJvw4KWnjEA1Gnd5uiH-ldru/s320/Puzzle.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Those
interested in learning more about the reliability of the Bible should study the
very interesting topic of </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">“Undesigned
Coincidences.” </span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christian
analytic philosopher Lydia McGrew, who has written a book entitled <i>Hidden in Plain View</i>, defines undesigned
coincidences as, “An undesigned coincidence is a notable connection between two
or more accounts or texts that doesn't seem to have been planned by the person
or people giving the accounts. Despite their apparent independence, the items
fit together like pieces of a puzzle.”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> An article
in <i>Christianity Today</i> further
explains this, “In other words, an undesigned coincidence occurs when
multiple passages of Scripture include details that at first seem unrelated but
which, upon further reflection, fit together in a way that only makes sense if
both accounts are based on the same underlying historical truth.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How do
undesigned coincidences enhance the reliability of the Bible? The same article
states, “Undesigned coincidences are subtle enough that it would be pointless
for a fabricator to make them up. But on analysis, they provide valuable
internal evidence of the reliability of the New Testament histories. The only
plausible explanation for their occurrence is that the authors were carefully
recording real events.”<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Consider two
examples of undesigned coincidences from the New Testament:<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the simplest coincidences
concerns Herod’s reaction to the commencement of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 14
reports that Herod “said to his attendants, ‘This is John the Baptist. He has
risen from the dead!’” (v. 1). But how would Matthew know what the king said to
his servants in the privacy of his palace? A skeptic might conclude that he was
taking liberties with the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unless, that is, the skeptic in
question happened to notice an obscure phrase in the Gospel of Luke. On a
totally different topic, Luke 8 lists a number of women who were following
Jesus. One of them is named as “Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of
Herod’s household” (v. 3).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The second passage explains the
first. Matthew could have known about Herod’s comment to his servants because
the wife of one of those servants was a follower of Christ. And yet the
connection is incredibly oblique. If the Gospels were fabricated, Luke would
have had no particular reason to invent this detail. The best explanation is
that the pieces fit so well because they are both true.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another coincidence is even more
striking. In John 6, Jesus asks Philip where to buy bread just prior to the
miraculous feeding of the 5,000 (v. 5). Why Philip? John gives no explanation.
Yet elsewhere, in unrelated passages, he does mention something that turns out
to be relevant: Philip was from Bethsaida.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is no obvious connection
between these two pieces of information until one turns to the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 9 notes that the feeding of the 5,000 occurred near Bethsaida (v. 10).
Jesus asked Philip where to buy bread because he was a local.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">If the Gospels were fabricated, there
would be no particular reason for John to report that Jesus asked Philip where
to buy bread. There would be no particular reason for listing Philip as a
native of Bethsaida. There would be no particular reason for Luke to situate
the feeding of the 5,000 near Bethsaida. Further, the details are so randomly
strewn through the accounts that they are obviously not an attempt at subtle
harmonization. Once again, the best explanation as to why the puzzle pieces fit
so well is that they are all true.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Undesigned
coincidences are not only found in the New Testament. They are found in the Old
Testament also. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Here is one
such example from an article authored by Christian Apologist Jonathan
McLatchie:<sup>5</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why Does Ahithophel Turn on David?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">2 Samuel 15 details the story of King
David’s son Absalom conspiring against his own Father. In verses 7-12, we read,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go
and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. For your servant
vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying, ‘If the Lord will indeed
bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the Lord.’” The king
said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent
secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you
hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’” With
Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they
went in their innocence and knew nothing. And while Absalom was offering the
sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his
city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept
increasing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In verse 12, Absalom sends for
Ahithophel, David’s counselor. Who is this man, Ahithophel? According to 2
Samuel 16:23:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one
consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both
by David and by Absalom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ahithophel, then, was the most
trusted adviser to King David. Why, then, did Absalom count on Ahithophel to
join him in conspiring against the King?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 2 Samuel 23, in a completely
unrelated part of the text, we have an important clue. Verses 24-39 list the
thirty-seven body guards of King David. In verse 39, we have a familiar name –
Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba. Another individual mentioned is
Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite (verse 34). This means that
Ahithophel’s son was a colleague of Uriah the Hittite.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It gets even more interesting when we
look over at 2 Samuel 11, in which we read of David’s adultery with Bathsheba
and his murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Here is what we read in
verses 2-3:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was
walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman
bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about
the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the
wife of Uriah the Hittite?<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thus, it appears that Bathsheba was
the the granddaughter of Ahithophel, David’s counselor, and her father Eliam
himself was among the King’s body guards along with Bathsheba’s husband Uriah.
This then explains why Absalom in chapter 15 expected Ahithophel to be ready to
conspire against King David and why Ahithophel joined Absalom’s rebellion. He
wanted revenge on David for what he had done to Bathsheba and Uriah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But it gets even more interesting.
Flip over to chapter 16 and verses 20-22:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?”
Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has
left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself a
stench to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be
strengthened.” So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof. And Absalom went
in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why do they pitch a tent for Absalom
on the roof so that he can sleep with his father’s concubines? It was on the
roof that David’s eye first caught Bathsheba bathing, resulting in his
adulterous affair and his murder of her husband Uriah. Her grandfather
Ahithophel then seeks revenge, and so encourages Absalom to sleep with his
father’s concubines on the roof of the palace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now, note that it was only by putting
together different, seemingly unrelated, parts of the text that we were able to
arrive at these explanations. Nowhere in Scripture is it explicitly spelled out
that Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba. Rather, one has to do
detective work in order to see beneath the surface what exactly is going on
here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not the sort of pattern that
one might expect in stories of myth and legend. Rather, it is the hallmark of
truth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/unique-evidence-for-the-new-testament-interview-with-lydia-mcgrew-about-unintended-coincidences-1<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/august-web-only/defending-accuracy-of-scripture-one-coincidence-at-time.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://jonathanmclatchie.com/undesigned-coincidences-in-the-scriptures-an-argument-for-their-veracity-part-1-old-testament-examples/</span></span> </span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 13<sup>th</sup> June 2022.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-76431064235076346812022-06-03T16:42:00.000+05:302022-06-03T16:42:58.645+05:30Pride Month: Evolution Of Homosexuality In India And Its Next Step<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLPaVz_FADC5jUUGyMHUxrYqA18xPNf9dEr7d1C-ToODVCNLPcHsQTWIdY1U-jKQXN-mOdQfbIbVgu19yLVxWboZ2F94KU7fbp9OD_cfCRU84AP5olVZ20EjiE6s1gnDNYCAu72QCiiDdPioFyXnbAeIXwRyFg8ead-G-OfH0pcFcbYJWDiYb5n0q/s960/Gay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLPaVz_FADC5jUUGyMHUxrYqA18xPNf9dEr7d1C-ToODVCNLPcHsQTWIdY1U-jKQXN-mOdQfbIbVgu19yLVxWboZ2F94KU7fbp9OD_cfCRU84AP5olVZ20EjiE6s1gnDNYCAu72QCiiDdPioFyXnbAeIXwRyFg8ead-G-OfH0pcFcbYJWDiYb5n0q/s320/Gay.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
appalling practice of homosexuality has been in existence since time
immemorial. But its lengthy existence for centuries in the past has not made it
either legitimate or honorable, for the God of the Bible unequivocally
condemns the practice of homosexuality (Genesis 19:5; Leviticus 18:22, 20:13;
Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:10; Jude 1:7). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We need to
remind ourselves that the Bible condemns the practice of homosexuality and not
its orientation. One can possess homosexual orientation, but if he/she resists
that orientation through prayer and godly counsel, he/she is not in sin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I strive to
obey the Bible, for I believe it is absolutely the Word of God. I have no
doubts! Hence, I consider homosexuality to be an abnormal or a sinful practice.
Significantly, I do not have the power to declassify a sin. So when God has
deemed homosexuality to be a sin, I merely obey. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Homosexuality
has been legal in India since 6<sup>th</sup> September 2018. So homosexuality
is no longer a crime in India. This obviously implies that the practice of
homosexuality was regarded as a crime in India prior to 2018. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Until the 90s,
Indian television and the movie industry were highly conservative. Erotic
scenes were diligently censored. Today it is not so. Erotic scenes are no
longer taboo! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Few web
series portray homosexuality as a natural phenomenon, thus corrupting minds in
the process. Homosexuality piggybacks on the theme of ‘tolerance.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So what’s
next for homosexuality in India? How would homosexuality further evolve in
India? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> At some
point in time in the future, Indian society will endorse homosexuality.
Homosexual marriages would be as common and as approved as heterosexual
marriage (although a minority subscribing to Historic Christianity would
continue to oppose this evil).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This is when
another problem (not new) will rear its ugly head. The young generation, especially
the biblically illiterate, will passionately believe that homosexuality is not
a sin. They would also believe that homosexuality is normal behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Now, while
homosexuality continues to gain a stronger foothold over minds, unfortunately,
a vast majority of churches are losing their battle against this evil. These
churches are not preparing their congregation, especially the young generation,
to fight this evil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The ruler of
the kingdom of the air will continue to work in the minds of the disobedient.
But this is not the end of this story. A minority would continue to prayerfully
raise their voices against this evil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Are you one
among this prayerful minority? <br /></span><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-37522934585091974542022-05-30T17:08:00.000+05:302022-05-30T17:08:02.827+05:30Does God Answer The Prayers Of Unbelievers?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYk_GVDokNo0_mE2ilXgyCi1KMOf6C_3_cKnAe8WsNFWckTg97Fz2t7Pc0ytVEUd7yeG-1ms91aRUwfad2v9vL6Lk6DfvMV099rHSNxSYrv0mv3r_3ZvQKxd_7y8DbKfSkd-x-Q477s1C9FlX9FIUAxLcbr-s4taEzJOowrCuuR4huY_I3Qu91qQY/s960/Prayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYk_GVDokNo0_mE2ilXgyCi1KMOf6C_3_cKnAe8WsNFWckTg97Fz2t7Pc0ytVEUd7yeG-1ms91aRUwfad2v9vL6Lk6DfvMV099rHSNxSYrv0mv3r_3ZvQKxd_7y8DbKfSkd-x-Q477s1C9FlX9FIUAxLcbr-s4taEzJOowrCuuR4huY_I3Qu91qQY/s320/Prayer.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Some
Christian leaders teach that God would not answer any prayer of unbelievers
other than their prayer of repentance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Bible
portrays God answering the prayers of unbelievers:<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are some passages dealing with
prayer by an unbeliever:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The people of Nineveh prayed that
Nineveh might be spared (Jonah 3:5-10). God answered this prayer and did not
destroy the city of Nineveh as He had threatened.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Hagar asked God to protect her son
Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-19). God not only protected Ishmael, God blessed him
exceedingly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1 Kings 21:17-29, especially
verses 27-29, Ahab fasts and mourns over Elijah’s prophecy concerning his
posterity. God responds by not bringing about the calamity in Ahab’s time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Gentile woman from the Tyre and
Sidon area prayed that Jesus would deliver her daughter from a demon (Mark
7:24-30). Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cornelius, the Roman centurion in
Acts 10, had the apostle Peter sent to him in response to Cornelius being a
righteous man. Acts 10:2 tells us that Cornelius “prayed to God regularly.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Consider
an instance wherein a Christian visits hospitals to pray for the sick. In such
a situation, that Christian would pray for both believers and unbelievers who
are sick. While praying with an unbeliever, he could advise the unbeliever to
pray for healing in Jesus’ name. If the unbeliever prays earnestly to Jesus for
healing, would not the living God answer his prayers? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I
am not remotely suggesting that God will heal every unbeliever who prays for
healing in the same way that God need not necessarily answer the prayer of
healing of every believer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> But
if an unbeliever pleads for God’s abiding presence, peace, encouragement, strength,
and power to endure his sickness, would not the living God answer his prayers?
Who knows, maybe the unbeliever would turn to Christ through this event as
well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
living God, who healed Commander Namaan (2 Kings 5) – an unbeliever – of his
leprosy, is sovereign in HIS nature. An article on the <i>Biblword </i>website pertinently summarizes, “God is sovereign,
and there is no limit to his power and ability. We cannot put Him in a box and
say this or that is what He will or will not do. He knows what is in the heart
of every man, woman and child. He hears the cry of their heart and He can
choose to answer any prayer that He sees fit.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.gotquestions.org/unbeliever-prayer.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: -2.3pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.biblword.net/does-god-hear-the-prayers-of-the-sinners-and-unbelievers/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-family: Calibri, "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Websites
last accessed on 30<sup>th</sup> May 2022. </span></span> <br /></span><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-87916212752063589412022-05-08T22:23:00.000+05:302022-05-08T22:23:49.050+05:30Did God Create Music? Can Christians Listen To Secular Music? <p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhticQFYoamqJ2Z_hx4iW2esc9hwvC2bJtIwaZLwh9upP-CNVSgW1ITMPuoNSS9cosBpax7k7v6m9QN3LNMbIqRO5KLPjVIVTnUhiO-iak63IpOpzE4gYLhXmpyK1Rfrr5WaCsg8Zg5AAWOeBAl_GssFjAyy7FkpvnQLXMTnZv60HF4oyIEEI3yPBpG/s960/Listen_Music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhticQFYoamqJ2Z_hx4iW2esc9hwvC2bJtIwaZLwh9upP-CNVSgW1ITMPuoNSS9cosBpax7k7v6m9QN3LNMbIqRO5KLPjVIVTnUhiO-iak63IpOpzE4gYLhXmpyK1Rfrr5WaCsg8Zg5AAWOeBAl_GssFjAyy7FkpvnQLXMTnZv60HF4oyIEEI3yPBpG/s320/Listen_Music.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> Music is an
art engineered by man. Some people are blessed with the talent to play musical
instruments, write songs, and/or sing. Others are not naturally inclined to
music! (They may be more inclined towards other forms of art, science, etc.)</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This raises
a pertinent question. Why are some naturally gifted to play music and/or sing
whereas others are not? The reason is God. Martin Luther said, “Music is one of
the fairest and most glorious gifts of God, to which Satan is a bitter enemy;
for it removes from the heart the weight of sorrow and the fascination of evil
thoughts.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> God is the
source of music, not Satan or anything else. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It is God
who creates man, not Satan. Hence, it is God who blesses people with the ability
to participate in the field of music. So music is a gift from God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Bible
reveals music’s purpose:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 1.
To worshipping God (Psalm 4:1; 6:1, 54:1).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 2.
To soothe a troubled mind (1 Samuel 16:14-23). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 3.
To warn of danger (Nehemiah 4:20).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 4.
To surprise the enemy (Judges 7:16-22).</span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Having said
this, could Christians listen to or play or sing secular music? (Let's just define secular music as that which has nothing to do with Historic Christianity.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Without
pontificating, the broad answer is yes as long as the music does not malign
Jesus or the Triune God or Historic Christianity in any form or manner. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> But let’s
assume that a Christian is employed in a music band and that his job demands playing
music (at times) that glorifies other gods. In such a situation, how should
this Christian respond? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As long as
this Christian’s life is devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, he could play that
music, for playing that music does not absolutely or necessarily imply a denial
of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Let’s extend
this question to a restaurant. Can a Christian be employed in a non-Christian
restaurant, wherein non-Christian prayers and rituals are a daily occurrence? The
answer is yes, as long as the Christian does not subscribe to the prayers and
rituals directed towards another god. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> However,
here’s a caveat. If non-Christian prayers, rituals, and music are distracting a
Christian from worshipping his God, then he would be better off being employed
elsewhere in a spiritually non-threatening environment or he should take actions to
intentionally worship the living God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> If
Christians are to be employed only in Christian settings, then most Christians
would be rendered jobless. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So to return
to our context, a Christian could listen to secular music as long as that music
does not deny or malign the God of the Bible or Historic Christianity and as
long as that music does not prevent or distract the Christian from worshipping
the Lord Jesus or growing in the Triune God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To
conclude, music is good. But Jesus is all in all. Music is a gift from God, but
not a god. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-9488476493192167572022-04-22T11:59:00.000+05:302022-04-22T11:59:20.055+05:30How Is The Date For Easter Determined? <p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx31wvNpfx-vObhf-JuhPvOqHevFB7HoZx9vjhp7t_jFOwAxJnKqtEBU7UY79e0rr0JSOONKcoPA4PRbXdvvMw9iVPTsJ_lzniURPE-MkpuheNVxlsa6c_ic84IYXhFjEwEWnr6CkTNE81KWeaPPB6vuh7T4r7Kl2ktjl8njVwtzQhL9aN4VuNjXUu/s960/Easter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx31wvNpfx-vObhf-JuhPvOqHevFB7HoZx9vjhp7t_jFOwAxJnKqtEBU7UY79e0rr0JSOONKcoPA4PRbXdvvMw9iVPTsJ_lzniURPE-MkpuheNVxlsa6c_ic84IYXhFjEwEWnr6CkTNE81KWeaPPB6vuh7T4r7Kl2ktjl8njVwtzQhL9aN4VuNjXUu/s320/Easter.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> Easter is
not celebrated on a particular date of any year like Christmas.</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Last year
(2021), we celebrated Easter on the 4<sup>th</sup> of April. This year we celebrated
Easter on the 17<sup>th</sup> of April. Next year (2023), we will celebrate Easter on the 9<sup>th</sup> of April. The year after (2024), we will celebrate Easter on the 31<sup>st</sup> of March. In the year 2025, we will celebrate Easter on the 20<sup>th</sup> of April.
Easter will be celebrated on 5<sup>th</sup> April in the year 2026. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Why is there a variation in Easter dates every year and how is the date for Easter determined every
year?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry</i>
briefly details the backdrop, “Luke 24:1 says that Jesus rose on the first
day of the week, Sunday. This is why we have Easter Sunday as the day of the
celebration which occurs once a year. Furthermore, Jesus was crucified at the
time of the Passover which is the 14th of Nissan. So traditionally Christians
would celebrate the resurrection of Christ on the first Sunday following the
traditional date of Christ’s crucifixion, which was a Friday following the
first full moon of the month, which corresponds to our modern month of April.
Therefore, “the dates of Easter can range from March 22 to April 25.””<sup>1</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Professor Farrell
Brown in his article in <i>Christianity
Today</i> describes the dating process:<sup>2</sup> [Emphasis Mine]<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our first stop on this tour of the
wandering Easter is a quick study of how calendars were used in the Biblical
lands around 30 A.D. Although the Julian or solar-based calendar of the Roman
Empire had been in place since 45 B.C., it did not supplant the lunar calendar
that was the chart and compass of 2,000 years of Jewish history. (A lunar year
is 12 lunar cycles of 29.53 days each or 354.36 days while a Julian year is
365.25 days with a leap day every four years.) The Julian calendar functions by
having three years of 365 days and one year of 366 days every four years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The incongruence of the two calendars
had marred historical recordings in the Eastern Mediterranean and environs
since the dual systems began. And to add to the confusion, Jesus' followers had
failed to record the exact date of their Lord's resurrection. Many of those
first believers expected Jesus to return soon, a hope that (some scholars
believe) rendered such anniversaries unimportant for them. For these reasons, a
single, universally accepted date for the event's celebration had little to no
chance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Nicean accord<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Three hundred years later in the
reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christianity was beginning to spread
though [sic] out the Empire. Since any self-respecting religion was expected to have
its religious festivals and days of observance, a date for celebrating Easter
now became a priority. In fact, this was one of eight major topics considered
by priests and bishops at the church's first Ecumenical Council in 325, in
Nicea (present-day Turkey). One unanimously accepted canon guaranteed that
Easter would never fall on the beginning the Jewish Passover, perhaps reflecting
Christian animosity towards the Jewish people for their perceived role in
Jesus' death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, each church group present at
Nicea seemed to have a different opinion on the matter of Easter's date. The
biggest division was that between the Eastern churches of Antioch and Syria,
which still relied on the Jewish or lunar calendar for determining the date of
Easter, and the Western churches of Alexandria and Rome, which employed the
efficient solar calendar. The resulting accord, as commonly stated, was that <b>Easter shall fall on the first Sunday
following the first full moon following the spring equinox.</b> (The spring
equinox is one of the two times in the year when the sun crosses the celestial
equator and the length of day and night are approximately equal.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">This explains the 35-day span where
Easter can occur (March 22 - April 25, inclusive): the first Sunday after the
first full moon after the spring equinox may occur as little as two or as many
as 37 days from the equinox.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://carm.org/other-questions/what-is-easter/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/why-does-easters-date-wander.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites
last accessed on 22<sup>nd</sup> April 2022.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-63662715648726441112022-02-28T05:48:00.002+05:302022-02-28T05:48:40.332+05:30The Ukrainian Church: What Is God Teaching Us?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSI4vn8blx4ffxsyK7gVpUstmrY--zWJKLm4vwdqiI1s7G6kvBIfZhZDTMIvjE4aVwqCKK9EWz7SmYQoEY6QgPzhgCRrAA_nwQryhaLgl6j_aWUsXKWQPYLQbDPVcSjtrOBRyAR71qzYqhIUMONTTsOoDm7Mnre9Fi_lFRxODktKa3iOwV6RLCIyHE=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSI4vn8blx4ffxsyK7gVpUstmrY--zWJKLm4vwdqiI1s7G6kvBIfZhZDTMIvjE4aVwqCKK9EWz7SmYQoEY6QgPzhgCRrAA_nwQryhaLgl6j_aWUsXKWQPYLQbDPVcSjtrOBRyAR71qzYqhIUMONTTsOoDm7Mnre9Fi_lFRxODktKa3iOwV6RLCIyHE=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How is God
blessing the Ukrainian church during the Russian invasion? What can we learn from
it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Stay <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Although
the directive is for the missionaries to exit Ukraine, some missionaries are choosing
to stay back in their mission field. These missionaries are not only risking their
lives but the lives of their family members as well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Vasyl
Ostryi - Pastor at Irpin’ Bible Church and Professor of youth ministry at Kyiv
Theological Seminary writes, “My wife and I have decided to remain in our city
near Kyiv. We want to serve the people here<b>
</b>along with Irpin Bible Church ...In anticipation of coming disaster, we’ve
bought a supply of food, medicine, and fuel so that, if necessary, we’ll be
able to help those in need rather than burden them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Ours is a
family of six. We’re raising four daughters. What I worry about the most is my
16-year-old who travels to college every day for an hour and a half, one way,
by public transportation...Thankfully, her classes have now gone online.”<sup>1</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To
stay back to serve the people in need, while potentially sacrificing their
lives and that of their families, is indeed remarkable, “...if you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light
will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
(Isaiah 58:10, NIV)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Serve<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Churches
in Ukraine are in a state of readiness to serve (cf. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew 25:34-40), “The All-Ukrainian Union of
Evangelical Baptist Churches, the largest Protestant community in Ukraine,
reports among its ranks 2,272 churches, 320 missionary groups, and 113,000
adult believers.</span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Many
of these believers are mobilizing. Bandura explained that plans are underway to
turn church basements into refugee centers, as they stock up on supplies.
Members with medical backgrounds are readying for service.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “We very
much hope that our house of prayer will not be needed to shelter people...But
we are preparing so that people can come here, if necessary, to find safety and
shelter.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christianity
Today reports, “Valentin Siniy, president of Tavriski Christian Institute (TCI)
in Kherson, about 50 miles from Crimea, had to evacuate his seminary along with
a team of Bible translators as Russian helicopters attacked local targets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “The
majority of old pastors of the churches stayed in the cities. Youth leaders
started evacuating young people,” he told CT. “We managed to purchase a van
with 20 seats in order to evacuate people. About 30 people are in a safe place
now, in western Ukraine. There are about 40 more people driving west [in]
vehicles that are in bad condition.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Meanwhile
his church has opened its basement to shelter neighbors living in multi-story
buildings from bombings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I
and all ministers stay in Kyiv,” said Yuriy Kulakevych, foreign affairs
director of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church. “We continue our intercessory
prayers, talk to people to reduce panic, and help those in need.”<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Pray<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
Ukrainian church is praying for unity, peace, wisdom, and the blessing of
Ukraine and even her enemies, “...the focus turned to prayer: for wisdom,
courage, ministers in the occupied territories, the national army—and even the
enemies of Ukraine...And on Sunday evening at Grace Church of Evangelical
Christians in Kyiv, over 1,000 people gathered to pray for the unity, peace,
and blessing of Ukraine.”<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Preach<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Even
before the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian church was preaching for peace,
calm, and protection, “Preaching on the Sermon on the Mount’s injunction toward
peacemaking, Kulakevych continued his laser-sharp focus on the possible Russian
invasion. Five weeks ago, as the separatist conflict in the eastern Donbas
region began to escalate, he surveyed the Bible for its teaching on “wars and
rumors of war.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He
followed that with an application of “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and,
on the next Sunday, a treatise on worry. Last week, he tried shifting to
include more mundane examples in a sermon on Jesus calming the storm, such as
pandemic, career, and relationship difficulties. But the Russian threat did not
dissipate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Protect
yourself and your family by all possible means,” Kulakevych told the church.
“And serve as a mentor for people in a bad state.”<sup>5</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;">5. God Rules</span></b></span><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> God continues to bring HIS people into HIS presence even
during this invasion, “But even amid this conflict, we’re hearing stories of
people who’ve been prayed for over the years now coming to faith and making
huge steps forward. In a word, what the Enemy has intended for evil, God is
using for good.</span></span><b>”</b><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">6</span></sup><b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/church-stayed-ukraine/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/ukraine-russia-churches-donetsk-luhansk-putin-independence.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/russia-ukraine-invasion-putin-war-christian-churches-prayer.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/ukraine-russia-churches-donetsk-luhansk-putin-independence.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">6</span></sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/church-planter-ukraine/<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Websites last accessed on 28th February 2022.</span></span></p><p>
</p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-15600801252933255692022-02-27T19:03:00.000+05:302022-02-27T19:03:41.527+05:30Five Credible Reasons To Believe The New Testament<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpJiqDhdTjR0FNH1ooJk-JvTwVLxYK_WBGRL3WIoh51z65bnTwREchv5XuPpNCBtSG1d8m4qiJxm5z3GSqL-N4D1iFtsnr-O9KRd2Ep5KiOJKCg9JF-1AqwfG6af7TRzK-HSQZdEr168z6_b3RklhOxPyQPtN32wguXL7QoV0BQhr668B71PAcY8k0=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpJiqDhdTjR0FNH1ooJk-JvTwVLxYK_WBGRL3WIoh51z65bnTwREchv5XuPpNCBtSG1d8m4qiJxm5z3GSqL-N4D1iFtsnr-O9KRd2Ep5KiOJKCg9JF-1AqwfG6af7TRzK-HSQZdEr168z6_b3RklhOxPyQPtN32wguXL7QoV0BQhr668B71PAcY8k0=s320" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> Find below
five credible reasons to believe the New Testament.</span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"> 1. Internal Evidence:</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> The New
Testament claims to be truthful and factual (Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John
1).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>2. External Evidence:</b> Archaeology
affirms the New Testament. There is ample evidence to corroborate the
credibility of the New Testament. A recent discovery (in December 2021) of a
2000-year-old second synagogue that may have been visited by the Lord Jesus is
a classic case in point.<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>3. Confirmation by Eyewitnesses:</b>
Another instance is that of Apostle Paul’s affirmation of Jesus’ resurrection,
“...historians trust that Apostle Paul preserved an oral tradition about
Christ’s resurrection that goes back to the early Christian church or the
Jerusalem apostles, who were eyewitnesses to Christ’s resurrection. Paul’s
letter to the Corinthian church narrates Christ’s resurrection from the
perspective of the eyewitnesses and also as a written record of Christ’s
resurrection closer to the time of Christ’s resurrection, “<b>For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance</b>: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that
he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he
appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more
than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom
are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally
born.” (1 Corinthians 15: 3-7, NIV, Emphasis Mine).”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>4. Criterion of Embarrassment:</b> “If a
report in the Gospels provides data that would have been embarrassing to the
early Christian movement, we can have more confidence that the event had occurred,
since it is unlikely that the author would have invented content likely to
detract from the cause for which he wrote. This is called the criterion of
embarrassment. For example, Mark reports that Peter rebuked Jesus and that
Jesus in turn rebuked Peter, calling him “Satan” (Mark 8:31-33). Since Peter
was a leader of the Jerusalem church, it seems unlikely that the early
Christians would have invented and preserved a tradition that casts him in such
an unfavorable manner.”<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>5. Criterion of Unsympathetic Sources:</b>
“If a source that is unsympathetic or even hostile toward the Christian faith
provides a report that agrees with the Christian reports, we can have more
confidence that the event had occurred, since the unsympathetic or hostile
source would not have the bias carried by the authors of the Christian reports.
This is called the criterion of unsympathetic sources. For example, Tacitus
referred to Christianity as an evil and mischievous superstition (Annals
15.44). This identifies him as an unsympathetic source. So, when he reports
Jesus’s execution by Pontius Pilate, a report entirely compatible with what we
find in the Gospels, historians can have more confidence that the event had
occurred.”<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Unsympathetic
or hostile non-Christian sources have affirmed the following about Jesus Christ:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 1. Christ’s miraculous birth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 2. Christ’s claim to be God and the
Messiah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 3. Christ performed the miraculous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 4. Jesus was persecuted by the
Jews.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 5. Jesus’ gory death through
crucifixion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 6. The empty tomb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 7. Jesus’ resurrection, postmortem
appearances to HIS disciples, and ascension.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 8. Disciples’ martyrdom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"> 9. Early Christians’ regular
worship. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Does the
skeptic need more proof than this to believe in the existence of Jesus Christ?
If after learning this information, if the skeptic refuses to believe in the
Historical Jesus, then it seems that the skeptic is dishonest in his search for
truth.”<sup>5</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2022/01/five-significant-biblical.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2016/03/why-should-we-believe-christs.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2020/02/reasons-for-existence-of-historical.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 27<sup>th</sup> February 2022.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-72371469819912689892022-02-25T09:49:00.001+05:302022-02-25T09:49:49.890+05:30If Jealousy Is A Sin, How Do We Understand God’s Jealousy?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI3jbfrlXFucvCUqWgYOlBxrbXHt513qSNHAEYeT_TUeW8gCS2TjNSl-_aXilDbXfYg5_0iE4buTOlkWTYFoY6paxpaKrBhthWhEXIpmtOHpmtPXtdKBkheTmXoZ_k4Hai7v4AlAbCVnZg6XjU-ZAUR8Diabdj1UrgDAivdiK56PPrXw0VmaUNe4A3=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgI3jbfrlXFucvCUqWgYOlBxrbXHt513qSNHAEYeT_TUeW8gCS2TjNSl-_aXilDbXfYg5_0iE4buTOlkWTYFoY6paxpaKrBhthWhEXIpmtOHpmtPXtdKBkheTmXoZ_k4Hai7v4AlAbCVnZg6XjU-ZAUR8Diabdj1UrgDAivdiK56PPrXw0VmaUNe4A3=s320" width="320" /><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Bible
asserts that jealousy is a sin and at the same time it reveals that God is a
jealous God. This, at first, seems to be contradictory, but how do we resolve
this apparent contradiction? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Norman
Geisler and Professor Thomas Howe offer a clear and a concise solution:<sup>1</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">EXODUS 20:5A—DOES GOD GET JEALOUS?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;">PROBLEM</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">: The Bible not only says here that
God is a “jealous God,” but it also declares His very “name is Jealous” (Ex.
34:14). On the other hand, jealousy is a sin. But, if God is absolutely holy,
then how can He be jealous?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;">SOLUTION</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">: God is jealous in the good sense of
the word, namely, He is jealous for the love and devotion of His people (cf.
Ex. 20:5). Paul spoke of a “godly jealousy” (2 Cor. 11:2). The verses on God’s
jealousy are all in the context of idolatry. Like any true lover, God is
jealous when anyone or anything else steals the devotion of His beloved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Human jealousy is often coveting what
does not belong to us. However, God’s jealousy is protecting what does belong
to Him, namely His own supremacy. It is not a sin for God to claim allegiance of
His creatures because He is the Creator. And He knows that it is best for them
not to make an ultimate commitment to what is less than ultimate (idols). Only
an ultimate commitment to what is really Ultimate will ultimately satisfy the
human heart. God is jealous to protect this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christian
Q&A website <i>Gotquestions.org</i> offers a practical example to help understand
this dilemma better: “If a husband sees another man flirting with his wife, he
is right to be jealous, for only he has the right to flirt with his wife. This
type of jealousy is not sinful. Rather, it is entirely appropriate. Being
jealous for something that God declares to belong to you is good and
appropriate. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not
belong to you. Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for
only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship,
praise, honor, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy
the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 11:2, “I am jealous for you with a
godly jealousy...””<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This subject
has been studied more extensively in an article entitled <i>The Jealousy of God</i> on <i>The
Gospel Coalition</i>’s website. Please
read this <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-jealousy-of-god/" target="_blank">article </a>if you desire further clarity on this subject.<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://defendinginerrancy.com/bible-solutions/Exodus_20.5a.php<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.gotquestions.org/jealous-God.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-jealousy-of-god/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
</p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 25<sup>th</sup> February 2022.</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-31942482332403970762022-02-23T09:58:00.000+05:302022-02-23T09:58:15.968+05:30How Could God Forget Sins If HE Is Omniscient?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgic20tStWf2Eqr8kqsy-RKm2v7k44GRdw7Ffhe3jB4dfE6iH19yEr8fV6atqAzbiQ0pXQuLvGmmJ_hp_SajPYf10hrE4SpRCEjq5mihYVNzNpxbQn_9_opiW1XG7GFf2Uuv_tDSryfsSbNN5OABpPgqKHzfLwb0h39HSmevu_b_b4LhS_PXOiUoxMH=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgic20tStWf2Eqr8kqsy-RKm2v7k44GRdw7Ffhe3jB4dfE6iH19yEr8fV6atqAzbiQ0pXQuLvGmmJ_hp_SajPYf10hrE4SpRCEjq5mihYVNzNpxbQn_9_opiW1XG7GFf2Uuv_tDSryfsSbNN5OABpPgqKHzfLwb0h39HSmevu_b_b4LhS_PXOiUoxMH=s320" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"> God is
omniscient (Psalm 139:4; Acts 1:24; 1 John 3:20). God knows everything – the
past, present, and future. The same God also forgives and forgets our sins
(Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 10:17). At its face value, these two doctrines may seem
contradictory, but are they?</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This then is
the dilemma. If God knows everything, how can HE not know (or remember) certain
things? How do we resolve this apparent contradiction? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Some
theologians posit ‘God’s choice’ as a means to resolve this situation. They
believe God “can choose not to remember something. In human relationships, we
can choose to remember the offenses someone has committed against us, or we can
choose to forget. To forgive someone, we must often put painful memories out of
our minds. We don’t actually forget the sin, and it’s not that we are unable to
recall the offense, but we choose to overlook it. Forgiveness prevents us from
dwelling on past troubles.”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Greater clarity is provided in another article on the website of <i>The Gospel Coalition</i>, “God ceasing to
remember our sin is not voluntary amnesia. But, in his mercy, he does not act
against us according to our sin. When the Lord forgives, he does not call our
sins to mind to punish or berate us. He does not shake his head in
disappointment as he whispers, “Shame on you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span> Instead, God
removes our sin from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). “I
will remember their sins no more” doesn’t mean our sin slips his mind, but that
he doesn’t hold it against us (Heb. 8:12). He treats us as if we never sinned.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> And
so God’s omniscience remains intact. He knows, but he doesn’t call to mind. He
sees, but he doesn’t chide. He abounds in love and compassion for his wayward
children...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He
forgives, but he doesn’t clear the guilty. He doesn’t treat us according to our
sins, but sins must be punished. How can this be? We find the answer in the
cross of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Jesus Christ
is the Son of God who became man. He lived a life completely free from sin, yet
took on himself the wrath of God that we deserved. He died for sins and was
raised to life in victory over death. When we trust in him to save us from
judgment, he becomes our representative. He no longer remembers us according to
our sin, but according to Christ’s perfection. His righteousness becomes our
own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We do
not serve a God whose memory is erased at the sound of human confession.
Instead, we serve a God who sees the sin that hides in the darkened corners of
our hearts as bright as midday—yet who chooses to offer us mercy in Christ. We
serve a Savior who knows us fully and still loves us deeply, even to the point
of death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We have a
far greater hope than a God who forgets. Our hope is a God who forgives.”<sup>2</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.gotquestions.org/does-God-forget.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/god-forget-sins/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 22<sup>nd</sup> February 2022. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-75083682718868304302022-01-19T09:02:00.002+05:302022-01-19T09:02:58.891+05:30Could There Be Two Gods (Or Two Maximally Great Beings)?<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo80teeHF3ZZYg5jkQ_EHBA26tTG_h2D58yHBV1a-brsrEDAEFh-nlZsOO8yw5OZLVRUsk3MPUlsexHjSOG1hsZw_rNnLGK_LMz2hq7fVhp5xPTSptcSDJJyKDSkO-tDazeN3xz3W-LPwKIBaBPMyJ7-Iben7L1t3YnIHCrGUsg23n6QKnVH207wJn=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgo80teeHF3ZZYg5jkQ_EHBA26tTG_h2D58yHBV1a-brsrEDAEFh-nlZsOO8yw5OZLVRUsk3MPUlsexHjSOG1hsZw_rNnLGK_LMz2hq7fVhp5xPTSptcSDJJyKDSkO-tDazeN3xz3W-LPwKIBaBPMyJ7-Iben7L1t3YnIHCrGUsg23n6QKnVH207wJn=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> Could there
be two Gods? This question should be addressed from a metaphysical
standpoint. From the perspective of comparative religions, the term ‘God’
refers to the God of Judaism or Brahman of Hinduism or Allah of Islam or YHWH
of Historic Christianity (with respect to Historic Christianity the scope of
this subject does not extend to address the tri-personhood of the monotheistic
God).</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> God is
ontologically defined as the ‘Maximally Great Being.’ A maximally great being,
as Alvin Plantinga defines, should be a maximally excellent being, wherein God
is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect in a world, and this being would
be maximally great in a world if and only if HE is maximally excellent in every
possible world.<sup>1</sup> The maximally great being is also a necessary being
(not contingent), uncaused, spaceless, timeless, immaterial, changeless,
personal creator of the universe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> One question
that could be asked while engaging in religious conversations with
brothers/sisters of other worldviews or even within one’s own faith is whether
there is a metaphysical possibility of an existence of two Gods i.e. two
maximally great beings. Or is it metaphysically impossible for two maximally
great beings to exist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> First,
consider a rather elementary philosophical thought process. Is it plausible to
conceptualize a metaphysical or an ontic impossibility of two maximally great
beings? From an ontic sense, a maximally great being can only be singular. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There cannot
be two maximally great beings because, for any given attribute or for the
cumulative set of all innate attributes, only one being could be maximally
great whereas all the other beings would be inferior to this maximally great
being. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Second,
philosophers have wrestled with this question and have come up with
sophisticated philosophical arguments to prove God’s unicity. Unicity of God is
“The attribute of God by which He is one and unique, and thus set off from the
multiplicity of His creatures.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> If you are
interested in comprehending the various arguments affirming God’s unicity, then
do deep dive into the article entitled “Monotheism” in the website of <i>Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</i>.<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So to
conclude, God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29). It is metaphysically
impossible for the existence of two maximally great beings. So, there cannot be
two Gods. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://iep.utm.edu/ont-arg/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/unicity-god<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 19<sup>th</sup> January 2022. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-15148690011490943492022-01-15T16:48:00.000+05:302022-01-15T16:48:17.974+05:30Is The King James Version (KJV) The Most Literal Translation Of The Bible?<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcq8cbPVjOx0Hlxj70E1h-aOfRqH8wMjyblxy6TsIsDDbz0U5PFVhOCMyyEZJS8vcskRSlmobFkekpCS-aJWxIMT_wAAfA-ucnexHZQfPhlkM9c22UyIMDhpOMOBvgniVaYATkIJBSilkQlpXvO7bRV8CHRiTuVPiyOM8hRcrQytU3P1x0IcokpQjj=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcq8cbPVjOx0Hlxj70E1h-aOfRqH8wMjyblxy6TsIsDDbz0U5PFVhOCMyyEZJS8vcskRSlmobFkekpCS-aJWxIMT_wAAfA-ucnexHZQfPhlkM9c22UyIMDhpOMOBvgniVaYATkIJBSilkQlpXvO7bRV8CHRiTuVPiyOM8hRcrQytU3P1x0IcokpQjj=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> Some
well-meaning and sincere Christians claim that the KJV is the most literal
translation of the Bible. However, Daniel B. Wallace,<sup>1</sup> an authority
in the field of New Testament manuscripts, refutes this claim.</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> If the KJV
contains more words than any other translations of the Bible, then the claim
that the KJV is the most literal version would be invalid. Dan Wallace writes:<sup>2</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">...the Greek New Testament has about
138,000–140,000 words, depending on which edition one is using. But no English
translation has this few. Here are some examples:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">RSV 173,293<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NIV 175,037<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">ESV 175,599<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NIV 2011 176,122<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">TNIV 176,267<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NRSV 176,417<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">REB 176,705<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NKJV 177,980<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NET 178,929<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">RV 179,873<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">ASV 180,056<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">KJV 180,565<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NASB 95 182,446<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NASB 184,062<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">NLT, 2nd ed 186,596<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">TEV 192,784<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s no surprise that the TEV and NLT
have the most words, since these are both paraphrases. But the translations
perceived to be more literal are often near the bottom of this list (that is,
farther away from the Greek NT word-count). These include the KJV (#12), ASV
(#11), NASB (#14), NASB 95 (#13), and RV (#10). Indeed, when the RV came out
(1881), one of its stated goals was to be quite literal and the translators
were consciously trying to be much more literal than the KJV.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 11.85pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, Dan Wallace cites KJV’s
preface, which claims that it is not exactly a literal translation, “The
preface to the KJV actually claims otherwise. For example, they explicitly said
that they did not translate the same word in the original the same way in the
English but did attempt to capture the sense of the original each time...”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So to
conclude, the KJV’s preface and its word count lends credence to the fact that it
is NOT the most literal translation of the Bible. But it is very important to
note that the KJV does not impede man’s salvation in any possible manner. It is
as trustworthy as the ESV, RSV, NASB, NIV et al. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Dan Wallace is the Senior Research
Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and Executive
Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts [CSNTM].<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://danielbwallace.com/2012/10/08/fifteen-myths-about-bible-translation/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 15<sup>th</sup> January 2022. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-70205393451694028322022-01-12T09:51:00.000+05:302022-01-12T09:51:50.269+05:30Five Significant Biblical Archaeological Discoveries Of 2021<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSHU6RX6aRwu7kofugLHudg3vppAB62sptlJScqGZzLYl26NqFrjE0KAUpkfkV0o4pCRVTQLKOgMtFvxIvaLlAhLfjbqdBzd6kFhuXKUJiums6DOzJbBHpwKuCPUilzF5fd9xkPDTfnfdc5PCNWv7lLjgS4ZLAb8EgtTJJk8oHtfbDThs3vR04FAkz=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSHU6RX6aRwu7kofugLHudg3vppAB62sptlJScqGZzLYl26NqFrjE0KAUpkfkV0o4pCRVTQLKOgMtFvxIvaLlAhLfjbqdBzd6kFhuXKUJiums6DOzJbBHpwKuCPUilzF5fd9xkPDTfnfdc5PCNWv7lLjgS4ZLAb8EgtTJJk8oHtfbDThs3vR04FAkz=s320" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Every year
the Bible’s credibility/trustworthiness is further augmented by archaeological
discoveries. These are five significant biblical archaeological discoveries of
the year 2021:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Second Synagogue in
Magdala (December 2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A second
2000-year-old synagogue was discovered late last year. Biblical archaeologists
consider it plausible that this synagogue could have been visited by the Lord
Jesus!<sup>1</sup> If so, this discovery affirms the ministry of the Lord Jesus
as stated in Matthew 9:35.<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This
synagogue is located at Migdal (or its ancient name Magdala), which is also the
birthplace and the hometown of Mary Magdalene.<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Gideon’s Jug (July
2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A fragment
of a pottery jug dated 1100 years before Christ was discovered in July 2021, “An
ostracon (a pottery sherd with writing) bearing the name Jerubbaal, has been
unearthed at Khirbat er-Ra‘I, located near the ancient city of Lachish.
Jerubbaal (“Let Baal contend against him”) was the nickname that Gideon was
given after he destroyed the altar of Baal (Judges 6:32). The ostracon dates to
the 12th-11th century BC (ie. the time of the Judges) based on typology and
radiocarbon dating from organic samples taken from the same archaeological
layer in which it was found. The name Jerubbaal is only ever used for Gideon in
the Bible, and this is the first discovery of it in an archaeological context.”<sup>4</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This jug
need not necessarily belong to the biblical Gideon because Gideon lived 100
years prior to the dating of this jug.<sup>5</sup> “Regardless, this discovery
is significant in that it affirms the name Jerubbaal was used during the time
the Bible describes.”<sup>6</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Dead Sea Fragments
(March 2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Additional
Dead Sea Scroll parchments were discovered for the first time in almost 60
years! These parchments included verses from Zechariah 8:16-17 and Nahum 1:5-6
written in ancient Greek. This discovery was significant because of the
presence of “two interesting aspects: (1) A special treatment for the
Tetragrammaton (the transliteration of the Hebrew name of God in four letters
YHWH), and (2) Evidence of changing words to improve a new translation.<sup>7</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Sandstone
Inscription of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra (June 2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> “A stela
naming the Egyptian Pharaoh Wahibre (known as Hophra in Hebrew, Apries in
Greek) was recently found by a farmer who was cultivating his field; he
immediately turned it over to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">The Bible records that King Zedekiah rebelled against
the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar (Ez 17:15), who had placed him on the
throne (2 Kgs 24:15-17), and turned to Egypt for help. Hophra’s army marched to
Zedekiah’s aid, and Nebuchadnezzar’s army withdrew from attacking Jerusalem
(Jer. 37:5-8). It will be interesting to see if the recently-discovered stele
of Hophra is related to this campaign. Pharaoh Hophra is mentioned by name in
Jeremiah 44:30, which reads, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to hand
Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I
handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy
who was seeking his life.’” It should be
noted that, the stela was discovered in Ismailia, Egypt, only 29 miles south of
the ancient city of Taphanhes, where Jeremiah had been taken (Jer. 43:6-7) and
from where he made the prophecy against Pharaoh Hophra (Jer. 44:1).”<sup>8</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Missing Wall of
Biblical Jerusalem (July 2021)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The “Israel
Antiquities Authority announced the groundbreaking discovery of the eastern
section of Jerusalem’s Iron Age wall. The wall, stretching along the eastern
slope of the Kidron Valley, was uncovered in the City of David Archaeological
Park, a short distance from the Temple Mount. Stamps seals and other objects
found along the wall allowed the excavators to date the wall to the Iron Age,
indicating that it was likely part of the fortifications built by King Hezekiah
(Isaiah 22:9), as he prepared for the Assyrian invasion (c. 701 B.C.E.). This
also would have been the very same wall that was ultimately destroyed during
the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem about a century later (2 Kings 25:10).”<sup>9</sup>
This discovery “conclusively proves that
Jerusalem was strongly fortified during the time of the kings of Judah.”<sup>10</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">ENDNOTES:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-new-artifacts-2021.html</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.timesofisrael.com/second-ancient-synagogue-found-in-migdal-alters-ideas-of-jewish-life-2000-years-ago/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-new-artifacts-2021.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">6</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">7</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2021/05/latest-dead-sea-scrolls-discovery-what.html<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">8</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/12/28/top-ten-discoveries-in-biblical-archaeology-in-2021/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">9</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/missing-wall-of-biblical-jerusalem-discovered/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">10</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/2021s-top-ten-stories-in-bhd/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 12<sup>th</sup> January 2022. </span><br /><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-60992136891720365492021-12-30T10:20:00.000+05:302021-12-30T10:20:08.501+05:30Why Only Three Persons In The Holy Trinity?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTxIxdKWscDGhRKEgDaAaP0_c7nRQzT6-yA-W1JkXlf1S_nrFtfRUY6UqoB0tEYA5zeA_myfSoG4KfSGez7c0ZcjxcSHrOffCExsYNSw6Je750AQCYNWhL68OynVoaJkxeIw6oLo8K5RmKj8uiInHMPGXghHIyodanVhqu3UZIQZUj-TGn4QUNHYL7=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTxIxdKWscDGhRKEgDaAaP0_c7nRQzT6-yA-W1JkXlf1S_nrFtfRUY6UqoB0tEYA5zeA_myfSoG4KfSGez7c0ZcjxcSHrOffCExsYNSw6Je750AQCYNWhL68OynVoaJkxeIw6oLo8K5RmKj8uiInHMPGXghHIyodanVhqu3UZIQZUj-TGn4QUNHYL7=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The doctrine
of the blessed Trinity is indeed complicated and construed as mysterious. This
is not to say that the Trinitarian doctrine cannot be understood entirely. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Rather, the
complication, in my opinion, is this: it is an ongoing effort of our
incorporeal (immaterial) mind dwelling in our corporeal (material) body and the
universe, which constantly experiences an intellectual struggle while trying to comprehend the underlying schema of two opposing architectures (Corporeal vs. Incorporeal)
inasmuch to understand the fullness of an uncaused, maximally great, incorporeal
being, namely God, who is wholly Trinitarian in nature. However, this
intellectual struggle could be conquered with the help of God Himself, who indwells
us (cf. John 14:23). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Thomistic
philosopher Ed Feser offers a positive outlook, “...when Trinitarian
theologians refer to the doctrine of the Trinity as a “mystery,” they do not
mean that it is self-contradictory or unintelligible. Nor do they mean that
there are no rational grounds for believing it. What they mean is that while it
is perfectly consistent and intelligible in itself, our minds are too limited
fully to comprehend it. And while, for that reason, the doctrine cannot be
arrived at “from scratch” by purely philosophical arguments, we can be
rationally justified in believing it on the basis of testimony, viz. the
testimony of Jesus Christ, whose reliability is demonstrated by His
resurrection...Furthermore, while human reason cannot fully grasp the Trinity
even after it has been revealed, it can show that no attempts to prove the
doctrine self-contradictory are successful...”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Notwithstanding
this backdrop, we can still contend with questions related to the Blessed
Trinity. One such question is <b>‘Why are
we limited to only three persons in the Trinity?’ </b>Why can’t there be one,
two, four, or more? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Medieval
Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas posited the following:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 1.
<b>Argument from ontology:</b> It is ontologically
impossible to have more than three persons in the Godhead of the Blessed
Trinity:<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “First,
the usual way you get multiple things from one thing is by cutting it into pieces,
as you might produce a temple's worth of marble pillars from a single slab of
marble. But that's not how we get the three Divine persons: we aren't cut God
into pieces. God is a single substance, and by His essence has no pieces; that
was determined by Thomas' initial argument for the existence of God. So how do
we get multiple persons? Here's Thomas' summary:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">There cannot be more than three
persons in God. For the divine persons cannot be multiplied by a division of
their substance, but solely by the relation of some procession; and not by any
sort of procession, but only by such as does not have its term in something
outside of God.”</span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> God
is an uncaused immaterial being. So God, eternally, is composed of three
persons. Since God cannot change, and since God is perfect, it would be metaphysically
impossible for God to have less or more than 3 persons. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 2.
<b>Argument from Perfection:</b> Since God
is perfect, HE lacks nothing. Hence, the presence of three persons in the Blessed
Trinity construes perfection and since perfection lacks nothing, the Blessed
Trinity has no need for less or more persons:<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">“Thomas
now makes an argument from perfection: a thing is perfect of its kind if it
lacks nothing that would make it more itself. Half-an-apple is half an apple;
part of it is missing. And if a thing's nature is perfect, then there can't be
more than one of it: the one thing of that kind must perfectly express its
nature. This is true of the Son and the Spirit, so we can't have more than one
of each.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again: the perfect is that beyond which there is nothing.
Hence a being that would tolerate anything of its own class to be outside
itself, would fall short of absolute perfection. This is why things that are
simply perfect in their natures are not numerically multiplied... But both the
Son and the Holy Spirit must be simply perfect, since each of them is God, as
we have shown. Therefore several Sons or several Holy Spirits are impossible.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So to
conclude, the blessed Godhead (the Blessed Trinity) can only have three persons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/02/trinity-and-mystery.html<sup>
2</sup>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/crywoof/2015/11/todays-aquinas-why-a-trinity-why-not-a-quaternity/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 30<sup>th</sup> December 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
</p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-64442278191884322652021-12-23T07:23:00.000+05:302021-12-23T07:23:18.242+05:30Christmas Myths: What Not To Believe!<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ-59YtxKqzsd4JDvQNt_qgxw-RdAjt-YPJ3jZfF7WcJyqPqY-IHcLIGjXnU9Bu4kg5U3RrVu6T_5XpoN9KfgFvV7SXjb4IwTnekYwt4Qfn2ocIwQYf5C2avdU-gTEEmX495DgH9ON8O4sOTzlI1PJpXlydkvsOaRyIAuhmwRngrQXB3BMXgtN2Zmn=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ-59YtxKqzsd4JDvQNt_qgxw-RdAjt-YPJ3jZfF7WcJyqPqY-IHcLIGjXnU9Bu4kg5U3RrVu6T_5XpoN9KfgFvV7SXjb4IwTnekYwt4Qfn2ocIwQYf5C2avdU-gTEEmX495DgH9ON8O4sOTzlI1PJpXlydkvsOaRyIAuhmwRngrQXB3BMXgtN2Zmn=s320" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We should believe
in facts and not fiction, especially if it relates to one of the essential
beliefs of Historic Christianity. Herein, <i>The
Gospel Coalition</i> details five common misconceptions Christians continue to
believe about the Christmas narrative:<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. There Was a Star the Night Jesus Was Born<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s difficult to find a nativity
scene (or Christmas play) without a star over the manger. Indeed, this might be
the quintessential symbol of the birth of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is there’s no indication
the star hovered over the manger on the night Jesus was born. On the contrary,
when the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds watching their
flocks by night (Luke 2:8–11), they weren’t told to look for a star. They were
told to look for something else: “And this will be a sign for you: you will
find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The star was given not to the
shepherds but to the Magi (Matt. 2:2), who appear to be visiting Jesus at a
later time period. How much later is unclear, but the fact that Herod commands
all the babies in the region younger than 2 years old to be killed suggests
Jesus may have been in Bethlehem for some time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. There Were Three Wise Men<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of the wise men, in both art
and in song (“We Three Kings”) we get the undeniable impression there were
three of them (also called “Magi”). The problem, however, is that this number
is found nowhere in the biblical accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew simply tells us, “Now after
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
wise men from the east came to Jerusalem” (Matt. 2:1).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The idea of three wise men likely
came from the fact that Matthew mentions three gifts: gold, frankincense, and
myrrh (Matt. 2:11).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. There Was No Room for Them in the Inn<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another staple of modern nativity
plays is the scene at the inn. Joseph and his wife, Mary—who is on the verge of
giving birth—are cruelly turned away by the innkeeper who shows them no
compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is another popular misconception.
The Bible never mentions an innkeeper. In fact, it’s possible there was never
even an “inn” at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">A recent study by Stephen Carlson
makes the case (a compelling one, I think) that the Greek word normally
translated as “inn” (καταλύματι) in Luke 2:7 is best translated as “place to
stay.” So the passage isn’t saying there was no room in the inn, but rather
there was no room for baby Jesus in the place they stayed. In what place were
they staying? Carlson argues it was probably in the home of Joseph’s family in
Bethlehem, perhaps in an adjacent guest room (which would have been small).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Jesus Was Born in a Barn or Stable<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since Joseph could find no spot in
the inn, the reasoning goes, he must have been forced to stay in the stable.
Indeed, every nativity scene ever created places Jesus in a barn of sorts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the text doesn’t say he was born
in a barn. It only says Mary “laid in him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). Although
that might seem to suggest a barn, it was common for mangers to be kept in the
main room of village houses during this time period. Why? Because the animals
were often housed just a few feet away in an adjacent room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It seems likely, then, that Mary gave
birth to Jesus while they were staying at the home of Joseph’s relatives in
Bethlehem. But the room in which they stayed—likely a tight guest room or
hastily added chamber—couldn’t accommodate a birth. So, Mary had to give birth
in the larger family room and lay Jesus in the nearby manger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Jesus Was Born on December 25<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">If we celebrate Jesus’s birthday on
December 25, it’s logical to think this was the day on which he was born. But
the precise date of Jesus’s birth is uncertain. A variety of options have been
suggested throughout church history, including March 21, April 15, and May 20.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So how did December 25 become the
date? It’s commonly thought Christians took over the pagan holiday of Sol
Invictus (“Unconquered Son”), which was on December 25. But there’s little
evidence to back this up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Instead it seems early Christians may
have reasoned from the supposed date of Mary’s conception, which was thought to
be March 25—the same day Jesus was thought to be crucified. Fast forward nine
months and you land on December 25 for his birth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Real Christmas Story<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">These five misconceptions remind us that
sometimes our picture of scriptural stories is shaped more by popular
perceptions and modern retellings than by the text itself. But when we take a
closer look at the biblical clues, a wonderful—and hopefully more
accurate—picture emerges of what happened that night nearly 2,000 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">And what happened that night still
stands as one of the most monumental events in human history. God became a man
and entered our dark, cold world to redeem a sinful people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">And that is a story that makes
Christmas worthy of being “Merry.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"><sup>1</sup> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-popular-misconceptions-christmas-story/, last accessed on 23<sup>rd</sup>
December 2021. <br /></span><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-12357328703261545412021-12-16T18:30:00.000+05:302021-12-16T18:30:52.182+05:30Could Cryptocurrency Be The Mark Of The Beast And The One-World Currency?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5CX5icQbCkoJWq01NtWEAsoHkdPmljPP4vF-tBMKh8kBtJIM9vFXKikKIwIlUn-YqOcTDEKI-uyaBDKVmPbVktebriOzz0f2CUg3CPIqq9P94qJirwBDhRBNv7vW_mvd4rBY9RG6U_ML-r_fNC5VmtvUY6EH6KTJPhzv_B_Vg12F07jIjXEsxy9bP=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5CX5icQbCkoJWq01NtWEAsoHkdPmljPP4vF-tBMKh8kBtJIM9vFXKikKIwIlUn-YqOcTDEKI-uyaBDKVmPbVktebriOzz0f2CUg3CPIqq9P94qJirwBDhRBNv7vW_mvd4rBY9RG6U_ML-r_fNC5VmtvUY6EH6KTJPhzv_B_Vg12F07jIjXEsxy9bP=s320" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Cryptocurrency,
at this point in time, cannot be construed as the mark of the beast. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The mark of
the beast will essentially force the bearer to: <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (1) Renounce
Christ as the Lord and Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (2) Worship
the Antichrist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Since
cryptocurrency does not mandate the above, it cannot be the mark of the beast.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> However, could
the cryptocurrency be the one-world currency of the end times? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Gotquestions.org
says:<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The idea of a one-world currency is
vaguely suggested in the Bible. Revelation 13:16–17 says that the Antichrist
will require everyone to have the mark of the beast to engage in any financial
transactions. It’s unknown what exactly this mark will be, but it’s entirely
possible that some kind of cryptocurrency will be involved. That would
certainly be more efficient than printing and distributing a standardized
physical currency all over the world. It’s possible that the mark of the beast
will be what allows people to access the cryptocurrency in their virtual
accounts...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The current popularity of bitcoin
doesn’t mean that bitcoin will be the Antichrist’s one-world currency. In fact,
it probably won’t. Bitcoin is only one of over 1,000 different virtual
currencies, including Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Ripple, and Monero. It’s more
likely that, if the Antichrist uses a form of cryptocurrency, it will be
original and more advanced than anything we have today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies
could be precursors to the money eventually used in the end times. But this is
pure speculation. The Bible doesn’t mention computers, let alone
cryptocurrency. Until 1998 cryptocurrency wasn’t even a word, and there’s no
saying what new technological and sociological changes will come before the
tribulation and the appearance of the Antichrist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p>
<span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="font-size: large;"><sup><span style="font-family: Calibri, "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">1</span></sup><span style="font-family: Calibri, "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">https://www.gotquestions.org/bitcoin-cryptocurrency.html,
last accessed on 16<sup>th</sup> December 2021.</span></span></span> <br /><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-84789690730905077302021-11-25T19:28:00.000+05:302021-11-25T19:28:41.295+05:30Pros & Cons Of Cryptocurrency From The Christian Perspective <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxqfLJ2G8kLob-NLBnNEIbMCS7ecfZCbKt7SBwh3z8oW5DM8DOvNsZfE1lvG-OQ7_xajrz0BTZJ6D0RruMeihePuMIAh-uy40-htuJvmRAJtqU_F0GHP0QAKd_ifnYcEPlHpAxFLrzaQ/s960/BITCOIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxqfLJ2G8kLob-NLBnNEIbMCS7ecfZCbKt7SBwh3z8oW5DM8DOvNsZfE1lvG-OQ7_xajrz0BTZJ6D0RruMeihePuMIAh-uy40-htuJvmRAJtqU_F0GHP0QAKd_ifnYcEPlHpAxFLrzaQ/s320/BITCOIN.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Cryptocurrency
is rapidly gaining popularity. Cursory research into cryptocurrency reveals the
pros and cons of trading/investing in cryptocurrency. Since this is a new
development, it would be worthwhile to ponder if any active participation in
cryptocurrency violates/disobeys any biblical principles/doctrines so much so
that our participation could be termed sinful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Before
analyzing the pros and cons, understanding some basic facts about
cryptocurrency (without getting into technicalities) would be in order:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Cryptocurrency:</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Investopedia
states, “A cryptocurrency, broadly defined, is virtual or digital money that
takes the form of tokens or “coins.” While some cryptocurrencies have ventured
into the physical world with credit cards or other projects, the large majority
remain entirely intangible...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Cryptocurrencies are almost always
designed to be free from government manipulation and control, although as they
have grown more popular, this foundational aspect of the industry has come
under fire. The cryptocurrencies modeled after Bitcoin are collectively called
altcoins...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">there are more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies in
existence as of November 2021.<sup>[1]</sup> While many of these cryptos have
little to no following or trading volume, some enjoy immense popularity among
dedicated communities of backers and investors.”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Types Of Crypto:</b> Bitcoin, Ethereum
(ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH),
Stellar (XLM), Dogecoin (DOGE), Tether (USDT), Monero (XMR), and Binance Coin,
are a few types of cryptocurrencies.<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Why
So Many?</b> “The majority of cryptocurrencies today are derived in some form
or another from Bitcoin, which uses open-source code and a censorship-resistant
architecture. This means that anybody can copy and tweak the code and create
their own new coin. It also means that anybody is free to join its network or
transact in it.”<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Bitcoin:</b> According to the <i>Christian Courier,</i> bitcoin was, “The
first-ever implementation of cryptocurrency, created anonymously by Satoshi
Nakamoto, and outlined in a 2008 paper entitled, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer
Electronic Cash System.” Technically, it is “a consensus network that enables a
new payment system and a completely digital money. It is the first
decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no
central authority or middlemen,” according to bitcoin.org. “Bitcoin is
open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone
can take part.””<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Why Bitcoin Is The Most Important:</b> “Despite
thousands of competitors that have sprung up, Bitcoin - the original
cryptocurrency - remains the dominant player in terms of usage and economic
value. Each coin was worth roughly $60,000 as of November 2021, with a market
cap of more than $1 trillion.”<sup>5</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Jesus Coin</b>: “Forbes reports that a new
cryptocurrency called "Jesus Coin" has launched and is drawing
substantial amounts of investor interest and attention. And yet, the currency
itself seems to have been launched as a hoax or as a joke...”<sup>6</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The pros and
cons of actively participating in cryptocurrency are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Case For
Cryptocurrency<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Quite a few
Christian voices endorse the usage of cryptocurrency. One among them is Pastor
Tim Challies. He provides valuable information as to why cryptocurrencies would
be beneficial to the Christian church and the Christian community. He writes:<sup>7</sup>
[Emphasis Mine] <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So what does the world of Bitcoin,
blockchain, cryptocurrency and what’s being called “web3 technology” have to
offer the church? And how should Christians be engaging with this technological
revolution?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In just over a decade, crypto has
grown from a tiny fad for fringe computer nerds to a major force in today’s
financial world. That’s because blockchain, the underlying technology that is
used by cryptocurrencies, has the potential to prove <b>one of the most profound innovations since the printing
press</b>...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blockchain technology addresses some
of the most urgent concerns with modern monetary policy and in that way
promises to <b>help protect the poor and
most vulnerable by securing property rights, thwarting theft, minimizing
inflation, and giving access to a monetary system that traditional banks or
financial institutions would not.</b> It is true, however, that many of these
projects will turn out to be ill-fated moneymaking schemes, silly memes, or
worse. But that is true in the business world and the world of the internet as
well. The existence of bad actors does not mean that wise investments and godly
creativity cannot occur in the same space, using the same technologies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Though sin may find expression
through tools, its source is the human heart. Human history proves again and
again that the technologies that may be used to do evil can also be used for
godly ends. As Christians, therefore, our approach to technology must not be
fearful but hopeful, because we have been given the mandate to subdue and rule
over the world for God’s glory (Genesis 1:26–28).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">...</span></span> <span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Not only
do <b>cryptocurrencies provide sound,
permissionless monetary systems able to be used by believers in repressive
countries, they also provide an accessible and proven engine for financial
creation that stands to benefit the Church and the individual believer.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The web3 space offers increasing <b>ways to wisely and carefully invest, with
decentralized finance staking rewards and interest-bearing custodial accounts
incentivizing and rewarding patience.</b> For every dog-themed meme coin there
are now tens or hundreds of carefully created projects with actual real-world
value.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;">To participate in the present web3 economy, Christians need not become
discontented or greedy.</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> They can walk in this new world the
way we have always walked, by <b>applying
the same biblical wisdom and Spirit-filled guidance that lead us in every other
area of their life, financial or otherwise.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Additionally, the <b>blockchain minimizes costly transfer,
banking, and credit card processing fees which currently take a bite out of
almost all financial donations and transactions. It allows resources to move
freely to aid Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) ministries, churches, and
missionaries inside countries that suppress the church by restricting currency
transfers.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> An article
entitled <i>Would Jesus Buy Bitcoin</i>
offers reasons as to why Churches should actively participate in
cryptocurrencies. Here’s an excerpt:<sup>8</sup> [Emphasis Mine] <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“In a mission context, it’s very
exciting,” says Runyon, noting that <b>churches
will be able to send money immediately </b>overseas to relief and development
projects, and <b>can track where that money
goes</b> on the blockchain...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It takes <b>misappropriation out of the equation</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">...<b>Peers sending peers cryptocurrency, immediately</b>, in a transparent,
traceable way, with little to no fees. <b>It
can’t be laundered, filtered, or intercepted</b>. People <b>can even secure loans</b> via smart contracts in the crypto space, or <b>have a savings account</b> with
“stablecoins,” pegged to the U.S. dollar and therefore their value remains
stable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Case Against Cryptocurrency<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Christian Courier</i> offers a word of
caution:<sup>9</sup> [Emphasis Mine] <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">As with any emerging technology,
there are drawbacks. Here’s a short list: While the potential for hacking and
fraud isn’t quite as high as it once was, the <b>risk still exists</b>; Bitcoin’s value is <b>highly volatile</b>, making it tricky to use for everyday purchases;
energy use is extremely high (coins are “mined” by people using high-powered
computers, often on huge data farms in China. For people concerned about energy
conservation, the “proof-of-work” model currently used in mining, is cause for
reflection); “gas fees” for ethereum (ie., fees paid when making digital
transactions) are extremely high, making it prohibitive for many. Many coins
are unstable, making the <b>potential for
loss relatively high</b>; and, lastly, securing your funds is 100 percent your
responsibility, and requires knowing how the complicated system works, owning
and storing data on a hardware “wallet,” and creating, remembering and
safe-keeping a password (or “key”). If you forget your key, you’re out of luck.
<b>There’s no “reset password” button in
the crypto space. If you lose your key, you lose your crypto.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Associate
Professor of Economics at Williams College, Greg Phelan, mounts a scathing
attack on the active Christian participation in cryptocurrency. <b>He equates</b> <b>cryptocurrency to gambling</b>:<sup>10</sup> [Emphasis Mine] <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies <b>produce no dividends</b>. They will never
provide a place to stay or earned income or even interest. That’s not a
prediction; it’s just a fact. And unlike a stock, which may pay higher
dividends in the future and thus justify a price increase, crypto will never
pay dividends in the future. Future dividends cannot justify a price increase
for crypto.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So why do people invest in crypto? Because they expect the price to rise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have a word in finance for an
investment like this—a bubble. An asset that never pays a dividend but has a
price that keeps rising is a bubble. An investor can believe Bitcoin is a
bubble and rationally invest so long as she expects to sell out before the
bubble pops. <b>But that isn’t investing;
that’s gambling</b>, and it’s a zero-sum game...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">As a currency, <b>Bitcoin is not as good
as dollars or any other currency.</b> There is no debate about that. The only
explanation for investing in Bitcoin is that people expect the price to rise.
An investor could believe that the transaction value will rise and one day
Bitcoin will be a true currency, justifying the price increase today. I don’t
think that belief is realistic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">All economists agree that a stable
price is highly desirable for a currency. But the <b>price of Bitcoin is
incredibly volatile.</b> The crypto sector knows it, which is why an alternative
class of cryptocurrencies has emerged—stablecoins. Stablecoins are virtual
currencies designed to have a fixed price, because a “currency” without a
stable price won’t last as a currency.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s the whole problem with
Bitcoin: it’s not a stablecoin. The price fluctuates tremendously. Becoming a
real currency in the future would require the price to stop rising (become
stable) one day, at which point Bitcoin would need to have the same liquidity
value as other currencies. Bitcoin would have to displace global currencies
like the dollar and the euro to have equivalent liquidity value. Most
economists find that preposterous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How should a Christian feel about
Bitcoin? Well, how do you feel about gambling as an investment strategy?</b>
Investing in Bitcoin means betting on getting out before the bubble bursts.
That’s a zero-sum game between you and other traders, in which your gains are
their losses. You might make lots of money by investing in Bitcoin—many people
have. But I think it is better to put your money elsewhere, even if that might
mean leaving profits on the table...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Given the choice between investing in
a bubble that enables illicit black-market transactions, or investing in real
assets that one hopes serve the common good—the choice should be obvious for
Christians.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;">P.S:</span></b></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> At the
time of writing this article, India has announced that it will regulate digital
currency. NDTV reports, “...the Centre could bring a Bill in the winter session
of Parliament to bar all cryptocurrencies in India, barring a few exceptions,
and create a framework to regulate digital currency issued by the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI).”<sup>11</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.investopedia.com/tech/most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.investopedia.com/tech/most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christiancourier.ca/would-jesus-buy-bitcoin/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.investopedia.com/tech/most-important-cryptocurrencies-other-than-bitcoin/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">6</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.investopedia.com/news/what-jesus-coin-and-does-it-foretell-end-cryptocurrencies/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">7</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.challies.com/articles/a-christian-case-for-bitcoin-and-blockchain/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">8</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.christiancourier.ca/would-jesus-buy-bitcoin/</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">9</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">10</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christian-invest-bitcoin/<span class="apple-tab-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">11</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.ndtv.com/business/cryptocurrency-ban-news-cryptocurrency-ban-unlikely-say-crypto-industry-sources-2622667</span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;">
Websites last accessed on 25<sup>th</sup> November 2021. </span><br /><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-69703091403800866342021-11-22T21:30:00.001+05:302021-11-22T21:30:04.319+05:30Three Biblical Reasons Why Christians Should Not Gamble <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15PssWCXvTFYMKTa_rYEU8JvMwymvN0oBMA9YbFn5BqhX-Xi76x_9CP-mIOWCOVjtXBvfXcft_iuGvPB1JRbHLZ72rPkBB9IkOQ5gWAyUGs5lEPEI8iMWaqw4uNHx7Afvw0W1phkmMBs/s960/23.11.2021.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15PssWCXvTFYMKTa_rYEU8JvMwymvN0oBMA9YbFn5BqhX-Xi76x_9CP-mIOWCOVjtXBvfXcft_iuGvPB1JRbHLZ72rPkBB9IkOQ5gWAyUGs5lEPEI8iMWaqw4uNHx7Afvw0W1phkmMBs/s320/23.11.2021.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Bible
does not explicitly condemn gambling as a sin. This cannot be interpreted as approval! Gambling is predicated on certain principles that the Bible
disapproves of. So here are three biblical reasons as to why Christians should
not gamble:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>1. To Gamble Is To Not Love</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Bible
teaches that we should love one another. But gambling is predicated on the loss
and misery of our fellow human beings. Divorce, bankruptcy, abuse, and violence
are often the logical corollary of gambling. In short, the person who wins in
gambling loots his fellow humans and indirectly afflicts destruction upon them.
This is not loving, for true love cares for those in need (cf. 1 Corinthians
13:4-7).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>2. To Gamble Is To Be Greedy</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Greed is the
underlying motive for gambling. Greed motivates a person to make fast money.
Greed is also the opposite of being content. The Bible teaches against greed,
making fast money, and being discontent (Proverbs 13:11; 1 Timothy 6:9-10;
Hebrews 13:5).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. To Gamble Is To Love Money</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Those who
gamble are lovers of money. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that those who
love money cannot love and serve God (Matthew 6:24). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To conclude,
there are many more reasons as to why gambling is against the Biblical
teaching. But that which is presented here are three commonsensical yet
fundamental biblical reasons that disapprove of gambling. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-14374493315934866182021-11-18T12:13:00.000+05:302021-11-18T12:13:49.181+05:30Did Jesus’ Disciple Thomas Minister In India?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJFddpj8QFCHUrQE0VHE6IK-rZdjkAPheVA-ZYI1tzwb71vogkAby7rJ54aZdr_PZzXUFyxV60yg_QVKmuavEyeM4gWAYUjhrX6Mhlvw8L1tTxxKoEUFGdGX9kkJrbsc_tgJl-yDbBNU/s960/Apostle+Thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJFddpj8QFCHUrQE0VHE6IK-rZdjkAPheVA-ZYI1tzwb71vogkAby7rJ54aZdr_PZzXUFyxV60yg_QVKmuavEyeM4gWAYUjhrX6Mhlvw8L1tTxxKoEUFGdGX9kkJrbsc_tgJl-yDbBNU/s320/Apostle+Thomas.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Many
Christians in India would, normatively, believe that the Apostle Thomas, a
disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, visited, ministered, and died as a martyr in
India. The Christian tradition is the source of this belief. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> However, a
vast majority of western scholarship rejects this belief. They claim that
Thomas never visited India. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How should a
lay Christian understand this dilemma and respond? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This article
is divided into two sections: <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (1) The
Dogmatic View: The Certainty of Apostle Thomas’ ministry in India (Jacobite
Syrian Christian narrative & Dr. Sarah Abraham Knight’s research findings).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (2) The
Probabilistic View: It is more probable than not! (Dr. Sean McDowell’s research
findings).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Dogmatic View: The
Certainty of Apostle Thomas’ ministry in India<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Sarah
Knight is a scholar in the history of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in
Kerala, India. Her doctoral research was the study of the history of the Syriac
Orthodox Church both in Syria and in Kerala, from the School of Oriental and
African Studies (SOAS), University of London.<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr.
Sarah Knight’s website “Malankara Research” cites the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox
Church’s narrative. “They believe that St. Thomas the Apostle arrived in their
Malayala-country by ship, landing in Kodungalloor in 52 CE. Here, by the amazing miracles he worked and
the Gospel of Christ he preached, he was able to convert small pockets of
people to Christianity. This work was
centred in 7 locations, namely, Kodungalloor, Palayur, Paravur, Gokkamangalam,
Niranam, Nilackal and Kollam. An 8th one
in Tiruvithamcode is also included, but it is accorded only a ‘1/2-church’
status for some obscure reason. In all
these places the Apostle established churches and erected crosses, and
eventually he was martyred in 72 CE in Mylapore on the east coast of India. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Although his
relics were removed to Edessa in Mesopotamia sometime in the late 3rd-early 4th
century, this did not alter the Kerala Christians self-articulated narrative of
their first conversion.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Sarah
Knight refutes several assertions by western scholarship to categorically
affirm the presence of Apostle Thomas in India:<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just as in the case of all Syrian
Christians, to the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church of Kerala the
arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle in Kerala and the evangelisation of their
ancestors in the 1st c.AD is an integral and irrefutable fact which forms the
key foundational narrative of their historical origin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, this is refuted by most
Church historians especially in Western academic circles, a trend that appears
to have originated in the early decades of the 18th century. Countless analyses of the Syrian Christian
tradition, its rejection, and proposals of alternative theories and their
amplifications have been attempted over the past three hundred years. With the proliferation of books and treatises
written in this vein, these have gained strength to the point where these new
theories are presented as ‘facts’ by scholars. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The main argument is that the St.
Thomas tradition in India is a ‘myth’, and a product of ‘imagined and
artificially created tradition’. They
based this on the ‘evidence’ that long-distance travel at the time was difficult
to the point of improbability, that when early Church writers mentioned St.
Thomas’ mission field as Parthia, Medea and India, the ‘India’ referred to was
not South India but perhaps Afghanistan or Arabia, that according to Eusebius,
St. Thomas was martyred in Calamina and not Mylapore, thus placing the Apostle
in Mesopotamia to the end of his life,
and that of finding inconsistencies in the account given in the 2nd
century Gnostic book called Acts of Thomas.
They then proceed to put forward many theories on how Christianity
probably arrived in S. India, such as that it was introduced gradually by
intermittently arriving un-named merchants in the 3rd or 4th century.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, it can be seen that not a
single one of these new theories is reliable or standing on good evidence. One
of the striking points is that there is no other place in the world that link
their Christian origin to the evangelical work of St. Thomas in such detail as
that of the Kerala Christians, and no other place that claims this Apostle’s
martyrdom and entombment except Mylapore in India. In fact, after critically examining each of
these new theories with an open mind, the reader is compelled to conclude that
the new theories stand on even weaker ground than the St. Thomas tradition of
S. India.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is significant that European
missionaries and travellers from the 14th to the 17th century in their accounts
had never doubted or questioned the St. Thomas tradition of South India. Historians and doctors of the JSOC, from St.
Ephrem of the 4th c. to the late Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Yacoub III in
1948, and many others in between reaffirm the tradition of India regarding St.
Thomas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Details and citations can be seen in
the following talks:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Thomas Part 1: the Blessed City
of Edessa:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeK858UTKc"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeK858UTKc</span></a><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Thomas Part 2: A critical
evaluation and refutation of Western scholarly arguments rejecting the SC
tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_gYZhSTLQ"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR_gYZhSTLQ</span></a><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">St. Thomas Part 3: the Kerala
Jacobite Syrian Christian tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqXXKbmlH9A"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqXXKbmlH9A</span></a><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Probabilistic View:
It Is More Probable Than Not!<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Sean
McDowell is well known for his research on <i>The</i>
<i>Fate of the Apostles</i>, which is also
the title of his book. In his book, he has examined the martyrdom accounts of Christ’s
disciples. He is a Professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University and a
best-selling author of over 15 books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Sean
McDowell asserts that it is more probable that the Apostle Thomas ministered in
India than not. He writes:<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Eastern Church has consistently
held that Thomas ministered in India. Alphonse Mingana notes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is the constant tradition of the Eastern Church that the Apostle
Thomas evangelized India, and there is no historian, no poet, no breviary, no
liturgy, and no writer of any kind who, having the opportunity of speaking of
Thomas, does not associate his name with India. Some writers mention also
Parthia and Persia among the lands evangelized by him, but all of them are
unanimous in the matter of India. The name of Thomas can never be dissociated
from that of India.[1]<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But how reliable is the evidence?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Can We Trust the Historical Record?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps the biggest challenge in
assessing the Thomas tradition is that the historical record is unconventional
on Western standards. No written history of India exists until the arrival of
the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. As a result, many critics have claimed
that since India lacked historical writing it also lacked a sense of history.
Only recently has this assumption been challenged. While early India may have
lacked extensive historical writings, it does not follow that it also lacked a
historical <i>consciousness</i>.[2]<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Thomas Christians, for instance,
still strongly hold to oral traditions that claim they were founded by the
apostle Thomas. In place of written documentation are songs and poems, such as
the <i>Thomma Parvam</i>, which was not
written down until the early seventeenth century. This is not a good reason to
glibly dismiss their historical value.[3] In fact, Gillman and Klimkeit note a
double standard among Western scholars who dismiss apostolic roots in India,
because the tradition is deemed too late and legend-filled, and yet are ready
to overlook the fact that the earliest record of Patrick of Ireland comes from
the late eighth century, roughly three centuries after his death.[4]<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Was Travel to India Possible in the First Century?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the first century, an apostolic
mission from Jerusalem to India was entirely physically possible. India may
have been more open to direct communication with the West during the first two
hundred years of the Common Era than during any other period before the coming
of the Portuguese in the seventeenth century.[5] Trade between Rome and India
flourished in the first and second centuries, at least from the time of
Claudius (c. AD 45) to the time of Hadrian (d. AD 138). Significant routes and
gaps through the mountains could be traversed quite efficiently.[6] There is no
good reason to doubt that a trip by the apostles Thomas to India was entirely
possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But the key question is whether it is
probable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did Thomas Minister in India?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Early church writings consistently
link Thomas to India and Parthia.[7] Three points stand out regarding their
witness to Thomas. First, the testimony that he went to India is unanimous,
consistent, and reasonably early. Second, we have no contradictory evidence stating
Thomas did not go to India or Parthia or that he went elsewhere. Third, fathers
both in the East and in the West confirm the tradition. Since the beginning of
the third century it has become an almost undisputable tradition that Thomas
ministered in India. In addition to the traditions about Thomas in India, there
is additional evidence that Christianity made it to India by at least the
second century, if not earlier.[8]<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">While the evidence is not conclusive,
a few reasons seem to indicate that it is at least probable that Thomas
ministered in India. First, we have no doubt a mission from Jerusalem to Rome
was physically possible in the first century. Second, Thomas had seen the risen
Jesus (John 20:26-29), was zealous in his willingness to suffer and die for him
(John 11:16), had received the missionary call from Jesus (Matt 28:19-20; Acts
1:8), and, given all we know of him, fits the profile of someone who would
partake of such an endeavor. While the case for Thomas in India is more
provisional than for Peter and Paul in Rome, it does seem more probable than
not that he ministered in India.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To conclude,
two views are presented in this article. The dogmatic view claims that Thomas
certainly ministered in India, and the other view - a more moderate view -
claims that it is more probable than not that Thomas ministered in India.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As for me,
my thought process aligns with the probabilistic view for the simple reason
that my personal research in this subject is not deep enough to affirm or
negate the dogmatic view.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://urhotheway.com/lectures-on-st-thomas-and-the-syrian-christians-of-kerala/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://malankararesearch.org/the-faith-and-tradition-regarding-st-thomas/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://malankararesearch.org/2021/10/13/answers-some-questions-on-the-official-position-of-the-sc-on-st-thomas-whether-the-apostle-made-bishops-in-kerala-and-why-bishops-came-from-antioch/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/did-the-apostle-thomas-minister-in-india<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 18<sup>th</sup> November 2021. </span><br /><br /></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-17393785869341957912021-11-13T10:07:00.000+05:302021-11-13T10:07:53.334+05:30The Red Letter Words In The Bible Are Not The Words Of Jesus!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzyoZyolYyGYYwrpqcGunpHdfPAV0Tdlj35v5dGcBJy1rjfn8VkrX0DX5IMaNDAnUgPPbzBkQBJx19G1kzfTQlLdjPQZW0DwX52cWk8N_Ic5ElmeGfNZ3yCFk2_xNVjY2KxXY_PaZsDEQ/s960/13.11.2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzyoZyolYyGYYwrpqcGunpHdfPAV0Tdlj35v5dGcBJy1rjfn8VkrX0DX5IMaNDAnUgPPbzBkQBJx19G1kzfTQlLdjPQZW0DwX52cWk8N_Ic5ElmeGfNZ3yCFk2_xNVjY2KxXY_PaZsDEQ/s320/13.11.2021.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> For quite
some time I believed that the red letter words are the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But when I came to understand that these words may not be the exact
words of Jesus, I was disappointed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Two
questions are in order: (1) Is it certain that the red letter words are not the
words of Jesus? (2) If so, how does it
impact our faith in the Lord Jesus?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> First, <b>how do we know for certain that the red
letter words may not be the words of the Lord Jesus? <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> New
Testament scholar, Daniel B. Wallace claims that <b>the red letter words may not be the words of the Lord Jesus</b>, “Scholars
are not sure of the exact words of Jesus. Ancient historians were concerned to
get the gist of what someone said, but not necessarily the exact wording. A
comparison of parallel passages in the Synoptic Gospels reveals that the
evangelists didn’t always record Jesus’ words exactly the same way. The terms <i>ipsissima verba</i> and <i>ipsissima vox</i> are used to distinguish the kinds of dominical
sayings we have in the Gospels. The former means ‘the very words,’ and the
latter means ‘the very voice.’ That is, the exact words or the essential
thought. There have been attempts to harmonize these accounts, but they are
highly motivated by a theological agenda which clouds one’s judgment and skews
the facts. In truth, though red-letter editions of the Bible may give comfort
to believers that they have the very words of Jesus in every instance, this is
a false comfort.”<sup> 1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. William
Lane Craig believes that <b>every serious
student of the Gospels should avoid the use of the red letter editions of the
Gospels</b>. He writes:<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Gospels were written in Greek,
but Jesus taught in Aramaic. So even a red letter edition of the Greek New
Testament would not give us the actual words of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Granted, Jesus probably spoke Greek,
at least enough to get by in his trade as a carpenter, since Greek was the
common language of the Roman Empire, as a result of the pre-Roman conquests by
Alexander the Great. Even though the Romans spoke Latin, in their dealings with
Palestinians, they probably conversed in Greek—hence, the arresting centurion’s
question to Paul: “Do you know Greek?” (Acts 21.37).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">But in teaching his fellow Jews Jesus
would naturally have spoken Aramaic. So what we have in the Gospels are Greek
translations of what Jesus claimed and taught. Only rarely do we get glimpses
of the original Aramaic words spoken by Jesus, as for example, Jesus’ words
from the cross given in Mark: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?’” (Mark 15.34).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, we need to keep in mind
that in a culture that lacked even the device of quotation marks, the
distinction between direct and indirect discourse can be blurred. Read the
account of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John’s Gospel 3.10-21,
ignoring the quotation marks introduced by the English translators, and ask
yourself where John’s direct quotation of Jesus ends and John’s commentary
begins. Or read Galatians 2.11-21 about Paul’s public dispute with Peter and
ask yourself where Paul stops recording what he said at the time and begins his
present reflections upon what happened. It’s not clear. So in a culture where
the distinction between direct and indirect discourse is not always clear,
giving a paraphrase or the gist of what a person said rather than his very
words is perfectly acceptable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Gospel writers employed common
techniques of their day in giving the teachings of Jesus, such as paraphrase,
summary, omission, clarification, contextualization, and so on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So it’s very misleading to print
Jesus’ words in red, as though we have the original words of Jesus recorded
there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">What we want to show is that the
Gospel writers gave an accurate representation of what Jesus of Nazareth said
and taught. This is where New Testament historical-critical scholarship can be
helpful. Scholars will sometimes say that in a particular teaching attributed
to Jesus, we hear the very voice of Jesus (<i>ipsissima
vox</i>); that is to say, something that renders very closely (in Greek) what
Jesus said. His teaching on the Kingdom of God would be a good example.
Everyone recognizes that the proclamation of the coming of God’s Kingdom or
reign lay at the heart of the teaching of Jesus. On other occasions, scholars
think that we have the very words (<i>ipsissima
verba</i>) of Jesus, that is, a Greek expression that translates almost
verbatim what Jesus said. His use of the expression “the Son of Man” as a term
of self-reference would be a good example. Instances of this sort would have
the best claim to be printed in red; but then we artificially mar the Gospels
by such a device...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The use of red letter editions of the
Gospels ought to be shunned by serious students of the Gospels, since the device
is fundamentally misleading as to the nature of the Gospel accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It is now
clear that the red letter words need not necessarily be the very words of the
Lord Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Second, <b>how does this impact my faith?</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Although I
was disappointed that the red letter words may not be the very words of our
Lord Jesus, I am thankful to the New Testament scholars for their <b>integrity and honesty</b> in reporting the
truth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We may not possess
the original writings of the Biblical authors (the autographs). But we possess
an <i>embarrassment of riches</i> of the New
Testament manuscripts. The field of Textual Criticism offers us a way to
retrieve the writings of the autographs from the available manuscripts.
Thereby, we understand that the Bible we have is the same as that of the
autographs (99.5% pure and without any doctrinal distortion). Thus we are
confident of the reliability of the New Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The fact
that the <b>Bible is reliable</b> and that <b>it records the very thoughts or the very
voice of Jesus </b>offers me the greatest confidence and comfort. The icing on the
cake would have been the authenticity of the red letter words. But it does not
matter! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:</span></span></b></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://danielbwallace.com/2012/10/08/fifteen-myths-about-bible-translation/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/red-letter-gospels<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 13<sup>th</sup> November 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-57331517658919715862021-09-11T12:55:00.000+05:302021-09-11T12:55:13.117+05:30Evilution of ABCs: The GayBCs!<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVpHPw4elPi7ljIVDaGAce-bIXoYLomqlL8ygfh5r69nDiKgQyd3FpQjFMpxbo5XzwgyDkSzPJZotLQDBFvAckwHh26A9xip8uyJmLdYKwCDCoelpWEJ0oU8860_gwxNsaPCMPShHlVo/s960/ABCs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVpHPw4elPi7ljIVDaGAce-bIXoYLomqlL8ygfh5r69nDiKgQyd3FpQjFMpxbo5XzwgyDkSzPJZotLQDBFvAckwHh26A9xip8uyJmLdYKwCDCoelpWEJ0oU8860_gwxNsaPCMPShHlVo/s320/ABCs.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> When
evolution is plain evil it is evilution!</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ABCs are
going through an evilution! There is now an evil competitor to the traditional
words associated with alphabets: ‘A for Apple,’ ‘B for Boy,’ ‘C for Cat,’ ‘D
for Dog’ etc. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The left has
unveiled the GayBCs, the LGBTQ version of the words associated with alphabets. The
LGBTQ community is now indoctrinating young children with the LGBTQ
terminology. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A book
entitled “The GayBCs” is leading this evilution. ‘A for Ally,’ ‘C for Comin
Out,’ ‘D for Drag,’ ‘G for Gay,’ ‘L for Lesbian,’ ‘O for Orientation,’ and ‘Q
for Queer’ the list goes on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Young
children will be in great peril, for they will be indoctrinated with evil at a
very young age. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How should
we Christians respond? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
progressive Christian community will be elated at this development. Ignore them,
but pray for them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christians
subscribing to Historic Christianity should teach the truth from the Bible to
our children. Children should be taught by their parents and the churches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This is our
bounden duty. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Our children
should not only know the truth, but should also know how to defend the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Let's hope and
pray Christian parents and churches recognize the perilous times we live in and
act accordingly to protect our children. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-33633005963575308492021-09-06T09:24:00.000+05:302021-09-06T09:24:47.200+05:30The Pro-life Response To The Violinist Argument (To Abort Or Not)<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhwJoMbNBo9jS05ChO8uCI64tcHK4rkWAEXnAbWndIgTXuExWn1iqrgNwjwejUX_JaJhO7IbNbd8EYGoLqxjqbUriQ1C4AqrPPuf69op9Uh8RsCBTkqLDMSldxFApQBARNAOkotYEai0/s960/Violinist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhwJoMbNBo9jS05ChO8uCI64tcHK4rkWAEXnAbWndIgTXuExWn1iqrgNwjwejUX_JaJhO7IbNbd8EYGoLqxjqbUriQ1C4AqrPPuf69op9Uh8RsCBTkqLDMSldxFApQBARNAOkotYEai0/s320/Violinist.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> Just as a
brick isn’t a house, so too the single-cell human embryo isn’t a human being,
so just as it’s no big deal to get rid of a brick, it’s no big deal to destroy
the human embryo; so said Canada’s leading abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler.
The flaw in this pro-choice argument is that the brick does not grow into a
whole house whereas the single-cell embryo grows into a fully functional human
being. If there was a brick that had the potential to grow into a whole house,
then no sane human will destroy that brick! This was the response by Dr. Hendrik
van der Breggen in his book <i>Untangling
Popular Pro-Choice Arguments</i>.<sup> 1</sup></span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The moral of
this pro-choice argument is that it exposes the depravity of even the most
intelligent who propose devious and ludicrous arguments to promote their
malicious cause. But to be fair (to the detractors of Historic Christianity)
that’s not always the case. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The
Violinist Argument - a thought experiment - is a compelling argument for
abortion because it concedes the fact that the embryo is a fully human person.
Greg Koukl cites the violinist argument proposed by Judith Jarvis Thompson:<sup>2</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I propose, then, that we grant that
the fetus is a person from the moment of conception. How does the argument go
from here? Something like this, I take it. Every person has a right to life. So
the fetus has a right to life. No doubt the mother has a right to decide what
shall happen in and to her body; everyone would grant that. But surely a
person’s right to life is stronger and more stringent than the mother’s right
to decide what happens in and to her body, and so outweighs it. So the fetus
may not be killed; an abortion may not be performed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It sounds plausible. But now let me
ask you to imagine this. You wake up in the morning and find yourself back to
back in bed with an unconscious violinist. A famous unconscious violinist. He
has been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the Society of Music Lovers
has canvassed all the available medical records and found that you alone have
the right blood type to help. They have therefore kidnapped you, and last night
the violinist’s circulatory system was plugged into yours, so that your kidneys
can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own. The director
of the hospital now tells you, “Look, we’re sorry the Society of Music Lovers
did this to you—we would never have permitted it if we had known. But still,
they did it, and the violinist now is plugged into you. To unplug you would be
to kill him. But never mind, it’s only for nine months. By then he will have
recovered from his ailment, and can safely be unplugged from you.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is it morally incumbent on you to
accede to this situation? No doubt it would be very nice of you if you did, a
great kindness. But do you have to accede to it? What if it were not nine
months, but nine years? Or longer still? What if the director of the hospital
says, “Tough luck, I agree, but you’ve now got to stay in bed, with the
violinist plugged into you, for the rest of your life. Because remember this.
All persons have a right to life, and violinists are persons. Granted you have
a right to decide what happens in and to your body, but a person’s right to
life outweighs your right to decide what happens in and to your body. So you
cannot ever be unplugged from him.” I imagine you would regard this as
outrageous,<sup>2</sup> which suggests that something really is wrong with that
plausible-sounding argument I mentioned a moment ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> In a
nutshell, the Violinist argument permits the kidnapped person to unplug from
the violinist, even if the unplug would result in the death of the famous
violinist. This permission is then extended to the pregnant mother who can
choose to abort her unborn child. This, according to the violinist argument, is
morally permissible. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> What are the
native fallacies in the violinist argument? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Greg Koukl
offers three important differences between pregnancy and kidnapping:<sup>3</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">(1) The violinist is artificially
attached to the kidnapped person, whereas the unborn baby is not surgically
connected to the mother. Pregnancy is a natural phenomenon in human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">(2) Unplugging from the violinist is
different from abortion. Unplugging involves the withdrawal of the treatment
whereas the instance of an abortion is a homicidal act against the unborn.
Abortion is not merely a withdrawal of treatment to the unborn; it is an act of
killing a human person. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">(3) The relationship between the
mother and the child is significantly different from that of two strangers in
the violinist argument, one of which was kidnapped! Parents have special
obligations to their children. So the mother is obligated to care for and protect
her unborn. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To conclude,
the violinist argument, although seemingly compelling, is riddled with
fallacies. Hence the violinist argument cannot reasonably defend the pro-choice
position. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/untangling-pro-choice-arguments-author-interview<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.str.org/w/unstringing-the-violinist<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Read the article entitled “Suffer the Violinist: Why the
Pro-abortion Argument from Bodily Autonomy Fails” if in case you desire to dig
deeper. (https://www.equip.org/article/suffer-the-violinist-why-the-pro-abortion-argument-from-bodily-autonomy-fails/)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 6<sup>th</sup> September 2021.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-51753744614143077292021-08-23T09:35:00.000+05:302021-08-23T09:35:51.531+05:30Is Science The Only Way To Know Truth? (Can Science Validate Christianity?)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDlYKe1L5t4BikPCkpsIpUQEptRR3Yca5AAZLEfLQRb7xme2Bm4qX1u9xlWnQTdFC8ndZKNGOeV_E12IBg52MjvWguz8tHbyw9EYQyP7IaNmgHqTd-QOWCtVSjm5WWySQ69hYEJqx17M/s960/Science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDlYKe1L5t4BikPCkpsIpUQEptRR3Yca5AAZLEfLQRb7xme2Bm4qX1u9xlWnQTdFC8ndZKNGOeV_E12IBg52MjvWguz8tHbyw9EYQyP7IaNmgHqTd-QOWCtVSjm5WWySQ69hYEJqx17M/s320/Science.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Mankind
should always be grateful to science for its incredible foray into the
multivarious facets of life. However, a claim that surfaces during religious discussions assert that science
is the only way to know the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Scientism</b> posits science as the only
source of human knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So, is
science the only way to know the truth? Can science validate Christianity? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The answer
is a definite ‘No.’ Here’s why...<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> First, the
truth claim that <i>science is the only way
to know the truth</i> is <b>self-refuting</b>
because this very claim cannot be validated by science. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Second, <b>science has its limits.</b> Science writer
and public speaker, Dr. Alex Berezow posits the limitation of science, “Science
has nothing to say about ethics. If we were to follow science exactly as
prescribed, we do things like eugenics. Science has nothing really to say about
how we should treat other people. I am a religious person. I am a Christian.
Science is the best secular source of knowledge that we have. If I want to know
how humans evolved, I don’t go to the Bible, I go to science. But if I want to
know why we are here and what we are supposed to do, then I go to religious
texts, then I go to my priests. I think there are two non-overlapping
magisteria—science, which is secular, and religion, which talks about the
bigger questions: the whys, the questions kids ask, which are the hardest ones
to answer.”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christian
apologist J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity lists the many things
that we know without the benefit of science:<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 1. Logical
and Mathematical truths <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 2.
Metaphysical truths <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 3. Moral and
Ethical truths <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 4. Aesthetic
truths<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 5.
Historical truths <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Last but not
the least, if science cannot validate religion, are they both mutually
exclusive? Or <b>is there a definite
relationship between science and religion?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It may not
be appropriate to endorse the idea that science and religion reign over
separate conceptual kingdoms – separate “magisteria.” The magisteria of science
covers ‘empirical facts,’ whereas the magisteria of religion extends over the
search for the spiritual meaning of our lives. These, according to Stephen J.
Gould, are nonoverlapping. This is the principle of Non Overlapping Magisteria
(NOMA). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> William Lane
Craig explains <b>how science and religion
can mutually and fruitfully interact</b>. This is the summary of his thesis:<sup>3</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Religion furnishes the conceptual
framework in which science can flourish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Science can both falsify and
verify claims of religion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">3. Science encounters metaphysical
problems which religion can help to solve.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Religion can help to adjudicate
between scientific theories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">5. Religion can augment the
explanatory power of science.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 2.0cm; margin-right: 40.2pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">6. Science can establish a premiss in
an argument for a conclusion having religious significance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://bigthink.com/design-for-good/on-journalists-junk-science-and-why-science-cant-discover-all-truth<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/the-dangers-of-scientism-and-an-over-reliance-on-science/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/science-theology/what-is-the-relation-between-science-and-religion/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
</p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 23<sup>rd</sup> August 2021.</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-66865087772132629732021-08-14T20:51:00.000+05:302021-08-14T20:51:41.151+05:30Why The Problem Of Evil Does Not Disprove Historic Christianity? (Understanding The Felix Culpa Theodicy) – Part 3<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrYXY8jenoj94BKA54wKeF073I4e9vEukCq0uPXShUU2sAp7WOHh-8LuLx_n_PxUQGpYaaKOzrC7B_Jjon4Q_tETIl-62vzw5guQjW8prLKniEZ9l1rDSea0bBopQRjAiAaLGJKYNfYU/s960/Evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrYXY8jenoj94BKA54wKeF073I4e9vEukCq0uPXShUU2sAp7WOHh-8LuLx_n_PxUQGpYaaKOzrC7B_Jjon4Q_tETIl-62vzw5guQjW8prLKniEZ9l1rDSea0bBopQRjAiAaLGJKYNfYU/s320/Evil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Christian
theologians and Christian philosophers have offered sufficient, reasonable, and
philosophically sophisticated rebuttals to the problem of evil i.e. rebuttals
to why God allows evil, pain, and suffering. Defense and theodicies constitute
these rebuttals. One such theodicy is the <b>Felix
Culpa</b> theodicy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Felix
Culpa (<i>O Happy Fault</i> or <i>Oh Blessed Sin</i>) is a Latin expression
used by the pre-medieval theologian Augustine when he said, “O happy fault that
merited such and so great a Redeemer.” This he said in the context of man’s
fall and the original sin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Two
terms should be primarily defined in this context: <b>Infralapsarianism</b> and <b>Supralapsarianism</b>.
These terms are associated with God’s decrees of the <i>fall of man</i> and the <i>salvation
plan</i> of the Cross. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To
state more precisely, which of these decrees preceded the other? Did God decree
the fall of man <i>logically prior</i> to
the salvation plan? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Supralapsarians
claim that God decreed the salvation plan logically prior to the fall.
Infralapsarians argue that the fall was logically prior to the salvation plan. (Felix
Culpa theodicy is a derivative of Supralapsarianism.) This is an ongoing debate
between the Supras and the Infras in the Christian community. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Although
Infralapsarians assert that the fall was logically prior to the salvation plan,
this cannot be construed as God being ignorant of the fall or as a lapse in
God’s knowledge. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> William
Lane Craig’s explanation about infra and supra is a must-read, “The question is
– does God decree the cross in order to rectify the fall, or does he decree the
fall in order to bring about the cross? Which one is logically prior? Normally,
I think most of us would think that the reason God decrees the cross is to
solve this problem. God knows from the moment he creates human beings – he
knows they will fall into sin – so he has predestined before the foundations of
the world that he will send his Son to die to rectify that problem. That is
Infralapsarianism. Supralapsarianism is different. It says God, in the council
halls of eternity, says The greatest good that I could bring about would be
sending my Son to die for humanity and redeeming this people for myself through
Him. The cross is such a great good that this is my first desire. How am I
going to bring about the cross? I need to have them fall. Otherwise I don’t
have anything to redeem them from. Having decided to do the cross, he now
decrees the fall in that light. You see the difference? It is just a different
logical order. But both of the views affirm that God always foreknows what will
happen. It is just a matter of which one has priority in his motivations.”<sup>1</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>The Incarnation & The Atonement Are The
Greatest Goods:</b> Alvin Plantinga, while postulating the theodicy of Felix
Culpa, asserts that the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and HIS Atoning death
(Atonement) on the Cross as the greatest goods, by far. He adds that the
Incarnation and the Atonement as tremendous goods, better than any combination
of other goods or any combination of evils (horrendous evils included).<sup>2</sup>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Plantinga
then postulates the <i>Value Hypothesis</i>
about goodness<i>,</i> which states that
every possible way that things could have been that includes Incarnation and
Atonement is better than any possible way things could have been without
Incarnation and Atonement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Fall Of Man Is A Necessary Condition:</b> Now
imagine this scenario. God’s desire is to create a magnificent world. But,
given the value hypothesis, that level of value is achieved only when
Incarnation and Atonement are present in the world. For incarnation and
atonement to be present, the fall of man is a necessary condition (cf.
Supralapsarianism). <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Plantinga
writes[Emphasis Mine]:<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I believe that any world with
incarnation and atonement is a better world than any without it--or at any rate
better than any world in which God does nothing comparable to incarnation and
atonement...So consider the splendid and gracious marvel of incarnation and
atonement. I believe that the great goodness of this state of affairs, like
that of the divine existence itself, makes its value incommensurable with the
value of states of affairs involving creaturely good and bad. Thus the value of
incarnation and atonement cannot be matched by any aggregate of creaturely goods.
No matter how many excellent creatures there are in a world, no matter how rich
and beautiful and sinless their lives, the aggregated value of their lives
would not match that of incarnation and atonement; any world with incarnation
and atonement would be better yet. And no matter how much evil, how much sin
and suffering a world contains, the aggregated badness would be outweighed by
the goodness of incarnation and atonement, outweighed in such a way that the
world in question is very good. In this sense, therefore, <b>any world with incarnation and atonement is of infinite value by virtue
of containing two goods of infinite value: the existence of God and incarnation
and atonement...</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> When
human beings sin, there would be evil and suffering. Moreover, only if human
beings sin would there be a need for incarnation and atonement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>God Created Our World With The Incarnation &
The Atonement:</b> So Plantinga concludes one very good reason for God to allow
evil to exist is to create a world with incarnation and atonement, which are
the greatest goods even better than any combination of evil. This then entails
the necessity of sin whose natural and logical corollary is evil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Supralapsarians Win:</b> This
theodicy also paves way for the Supralapsarians to win the battle against the
Infralapsarians. The Felix Culpa theodicy necessitates God’s decree of the
Incarnation and the Atonement to be logically prior to God’s decree of the fall
of man. It is only by virtue of the incarnation and the atonement that the fall
of man was necessitated. Plantinga writes:<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 49.65pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">And as a bonus, we get a clear
resolution of the supra/infra debate: the Supras are right. God's fundamental
and first intention is to actualize an extremely good possible world, one whose
value exceeds; but all those worlds contain Incarnation and Atonement and hence
also sin and evil; so the decree to provide incarnation and atonement and hence
salvation is prior to the decree to permit fall into sin. The priority in
question isn't temporal, and isn't exactly logical either; it is a matter,
rather, of ultimate aim as opposed to proximate aim. God's ultimate aim, here,
is to create a world of a certain level of value. That aim requires that he aim
to create a world in which there is Incarnation and Atonement--which, in turn, requires
that there be sin and evil. So there is a clear sense in which the decree to
provide salvation precedes the decree to permit sin; but there is no comparable
sense in which the decree to permit sin precedes the decree to permit evil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Coming back to the Felix Culpa
theodicy, Plantinga evaluates his theodicy against common objections such as:
(1) Why God permits so much evil, and why God permits suffering? (2) Why is
there so much sin and suffering? (3) God’s actualization of a world with
incarnation and atonement requires suffering and evil on the part of HIS
creatures, and a good deal of innocent suffering and evil (cosmic
Munchausen-by-Proxy syndrome); is this fair and right? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Answers to these objections are
outside the scope of this article. However, if you are interested in learning
more, then please read Plantinga’s answer to these objections in his article
cited in the endnotes.<sup>5</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-1/s1-the-doctrine-of-man/the-doctrine-of-man-part-8/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">2</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le4C8QuUsMs&ab_channel=CenterforPhilosophyofReligion<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://andrewmbailey.com/ap/FelixCulpa.pdf<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">4</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">5</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p>
</p><p style="line-height: 200%; margin-right: 26.05pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites
last accessed on 14<sup>th</sup> August 2021.</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237936242445786797.post-25105831825003935452021-08-10T10:49:00.000+05:302021-08-10T10:49:03.117+05:30Why The Problem Of Evil Does Not Disprove Historic Christianity? (Understanding the Evidential Problem Of Evil) – Part 2<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisa_J8TgEGKqDxPvNBlP5lVThwGjXCiuMf3ONtQmjpVsctYT5j1dfbTT8OB2T6H4KRWLkioGgM39eM-CwlU4YyVtXr6OBrv2yj_-0auN-08clhdkMA8Z5dNBYHZ3nmqqUh72s9idWIjNo/s960/Evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisa_J8TgEGKqDxPvNBlP5lVThwGjXCiuMf3ONtQmjpVsctYT5j1dfbTT8OB2T6H4KRWLkioGgM39eM-CwlU4YyVtXr6OBrv2yj_-0auN-08clhdkMA8Z5dNBYHZ3nmqqUh72s9idWIjNo/s320/Evil.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> My previous
blog addressed the <i>logical problem of
evil</i>. This blog will focus on the <i>probabilistic</i>
or the <i>evidential problem of evil</i>.</span><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The logical
problem of evil claims it is <i>logically
impossible</i> for God and evil to coexist. Whereas the probabilistic or the evidential
problem of evil argues it is highly <i>unlikely
or improbable</i> that God exists, given the abundance of evil in our world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Professor Greg
Ganssle expounds on the evidential problem of evil, “Even though it is possible
that God has a reason to allow the evils we find in the world, it does not seem
likely that there are good reasons for some of the evils we see. We cannot
prove that there is no good reason, but if we have lots of cases in which it
seems as though there is none, we will conclude that there probably is no good
reason to allow these evils. If it is true that probably there is no good
reason to allow these cases of evil, then it is probable that God does not
exist. This argument is called the “evidential argument” because we cannot
prove that there is no good reason to allow the particular evils we are
thinking about. These evils do, then, look like good evidence that God does not
exist.”<sup>1</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He further emphasizes
that the premise “there probably is no good reason to allow these evils” is
dubious and can be debunked. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Is it even
reasonable for man, who is so limited in his epistemic ability (his finiteness)
and who is prone to error (fallible), to grasp the metaphysical nature of God
and HIS reasons to allow evil? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So the
atheologian’s assertion that we should know the reason for the existence of
evil is not reasonable. Greg Ganssle offers two reasons: <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (1) Since
God has given free will to man, he is prone to evil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> (2) A finite
and a fallible man cannot expect to know every reason that God may have to allow evil. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Ganssle
states, “There are two reasons we can’t always make this claim. First, we can
figure out reasons that God might have for many (perhaps most) of the evils in
the world. For example, both human freedom and a stable, cause-effect universe
are necessary for any meaningful action. Meaningful action, then, may be a
reason that God allows various kinds of evil. Second, it is reasonable to think
that God will have reasons that we cannot grasp for allowing evils in our
lives. In fact, to think that we should be able to figure out God’s reasons for
allowing every case of evil implies that we think God is not much smarter than
we are. If God is the almighty creator of the universe, there will be evil the
reason for which we cannot discern. This is exactly what we should expect if
there is a God. It cannot be counted as evidence against God.”<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> William Lane
Craig, in his response to the evidential problem of evil, posits doctrines in
the Christian faith that increases the probability of the coexistence between
God and evil. These are the four doctrines:<sup>3</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A. The chief
purpose of life is not happiness, but the knowledge of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> B. Mankind
is in a state of rebellion against God and His purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> C. The
knowledge of God spills over into eternal life (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16-18).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 4. The
knowledge of God is an incommensurable good.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Therefore,
human freedom, the finiteness and the fallibility of man, and the four
doctrines of the Christian faith offers a reasonable first line of defense
against the evidential problem of evil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><b><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Endnotes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">1</span></sup></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">http://northsidebaptistlakeland.com/home/180006826/180006826/Images/Problem%20of%20evil.pdf</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><sup>2</sup>Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><sup><span style="line-height: 200%;">3</span></sup></span><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;">https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/the-problem-of-evil/<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="apple-tab-span"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Websites last accessed on 10<sup>th</sup> August 2021. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Raj Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043347477044729583noreply@blogger.com0