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This is part five in a series of according to pageview statistics via Blogger, Statscounter and Site Meter, a reasonably successful one by internet standards. If one likes this post the other four can be viewed in the archives on the right side of the blog.
Thank you to my loyal supporters. Feel free to drop me a line to discuss whatever needs to be...
The 'super secret fan club' will live on even if someone emails me once in awhile...
If some of my most loyal readers emailed me especially with content suggestions for this blog it may be good. These persons are the most reasonable persons to comment. Jeff Jenkins has been helpful.
Not saying I would follow the suggestions, however...;)
Although the other more academic blog is technically more difficult, I actually have more difficulty with ideas for this blog. For the Dr. Russell Norman blog I either go to my PhD or use a Bible commentary, theology text book or philosophy text book for articles. This blog requires a lot more blogging creativity. I should down the road probably pragmatically marry a young lady that could write this blog half the time.
'The End of False Religion is Near!'
In regard to 'The End of False Religion is Near!', this piece of religious propaganda based on my online research is from the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower Society. But ironically, this religious organization is considered a false religion by the majority of orthodox Christian scholarship (I often receive some kind of contact within a day or so from a unofficial representative of the Jehovah's Witnesses or Latter-Day Saints when I comment on them).
According to John Ankerberg and John Weldon this religious group states Jesus Christ is not the orthodox Almighty God and perfect man contrary to orthodox Biblical theology, but is a created angel that existed in three stages or phases, as archangel Michael, Jesus Christ and exalted Michael. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 129). Jesus became the anointed Christ at baptism at which point he also became spiritually reborn by this theology. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 129).
The Holy Spirit of God as God, is instead viewed as the impersonal force of Jehovah God. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 129).
There are other notable difficulties such as false prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ, as in Christ's supposed invisible return in 1874, later changed to 1914. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 129).
Scripture, the Bible, is only considered to be authoritative when interpreted by the Watchtower Society. It is philosophically dangerous to leave Biblical interpretation in the hands of one group of persons with a particular theological agenda. This also gives them cult-like control over their membership. They can insist that there will be terrible spiritual consequences for membership if leadership is not obeyed because it is the Watcher Society that alone really understands God's word properly.
There is also too much reliance placed on faith by works. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 129). This would be common to many cultist structures that place too much emphasis on following a particular church as opposed to relying on the completeness of the atoning and resurrection work of Christ that has chosen his followers as in Ephesians 2, by grace through faith unto good works.
There are many difficulties, but these are some central ones.
'Reason Is The Greatest Enemy Faith Has' (No Image)
As a Reformed, philosophical theologian and philosopher of religion that also looks at religion and the Bible from secular perspectives I think is incorrect and can be philosophically potentially poisonous.
Faith will arise because a finite human being has to for example trust in the infinite God. God has for example an infinite amount of information to supply on a certain issue and related events and the finite human being is only provided a certain amount of that information at a given time. Since some of the information has been properly given and is sound, it is a sign that God is worthy of faith. Therefore the entire process is of reason and is reasonable.
It is potentially poisonous to place faith outside of reason in the realm of senseless wishing that is not grounded in reality in what God has done and will likely do.
'You Make Me Sick' (No Image)
When I see that kind of in your face evangelism I think that kind of person is probably not very educated, or if he is, he is not using it well. When I look at Romans 1-3 for example, and then Romans 1-6, I realize how sinful all of humanity is and that persons are saved by grace through faith, unto good works if persons are in Christ. I reason a more humble approach is warranted as in when some persons read that presentation and see that the person with the message is sickened by them they may assume he does not consider himself ill, but in my mind his approach itself is an illness. It is religious ugliness and a lack of love, a lack of following the Great Commandments of Matthew 22, and Mark 12 to not only love God but to love thy neighbour. A Christian is not told to go out and expose the supposed sin of thy neighbour in such a manner, that is not evangelism.
'Why Do You Love The Devil'
'Excellent' work from the Chairman of the Public Relations and Evangelism Department. 'Sports Nuts' are even of the Devil. I suppose only 'Crazy Fundamentalist Christians' belong off that list.
'The Bible Handbook...'
A Pastor writing a handbook for racists is disgraceful, there is no excuse for it.
'Spiritual Safety Tip'
We have here posters that mock sinners and will assuredly keep masses of them out of radical fundamentalist Christian Churches, so for the sake of that type of evangelism I suppose it would be intellectually consistent to train one's youngsters to avoid atheists altogether. I mean, forbid, one may chat with an atheist be challenged a bit and have to search through the Bible, perhaps even Greek and Hebrew, theology texts and philosophy books to strengthen one's Christian faith and reason.
Or even read related blogs...
ANKERBERG, JOHN AND JOHN WELDON (1999) Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Eugene, Oregon, Harvest House Publishers.
JW.org
Pleated Jeans
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| From Google Images and the Jehovah's Witnesses |
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| From pleated-jeans.com |
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| From pleated-jeans.com |
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| From pleated-jeans.com |
Wondershare movie demo I worked on for a few minutes with customized Mahavishu Orchestra intro clip from You Tube and it sort of looks like my photo is blown-up at the end...
perhaps it was the certainty of such abominations in His name that caused Jesus to suffer so?
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
Thank you.
ReplyDelete'Mark 10:45
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His [a]life a ransom for many.”'
Hebrews 8:14-16
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through [o]the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse [p]your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a [q]covenant is, there must of necessity [r]be the death of the one who made it.
Um, if the last image were American it would be:
ReplyDeleteA. I hereby repent of my sins and ...
B. I hereby reject Jesus Christ ...
C. Both A and B.
D. Neither A nor B.
E. Both C. and D, but not G.
I will vote for you on November 6th!
'I will vote for you on November 6th!'
ReplyDeleteAh, yes you are from the San Francisco Bay area...
Thank you my friend.
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'I ponder why the opposite
ReplyDeletespecialists of this sector do not notice this.'
Perhaps they are of the Twilight Zone.
Twilight Zone
Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteFor background critical information on Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs and practices browse my blog.
Danny Haszard FMI dannyhaszard(dot)com
Welcome, Danny.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week.
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ReplyDeleteYou could ask the Watchtower Society for a grant, they apparently have lots of money...
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Wow, where did you get those wild images? Those are crazy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the "You Make Me Sick" one is Westboro Baptist? It would be interested if those guys holding that sign were introduced to Pastor Pete Peters. Now that would make for an interesting meeting.
And what are "sophisticated swine"? Are those educated pigs? Oh, and whoever made that sign needs to be educated about apostrophes, because they don't belong in those words.
"If you find an Atheist in your neighborhood, tell a parent or Pastor right away"?? Wow, I wonder if that was written in the 1940's or something.
"Atheists....will lash out at children"??? Yeah, right, I'm sure they're commonly known for that.
"I hereby...accept Barack Hussein Obama as my personal lord and savior"???? That is just ridiculous. A gospel tract like that, I would never want to use.
Jeff Jenkins has been helpful.
Thanks, Dr. Murray!
I am really inspired along with your writing abilities and also with the format to your
ReplyDeleteblog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it your self?
Anyway stay up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays.
‘Wow, where did you get those wild images? Those are crazy.’
ReplyDeleteTrue. Interesting searching.
‘I wonder if the "You Make Me Sick" one is Westboro Baptist? It would be interested if those guys holding that sign were introduced to Pastor Pete Peters. Now that would make for an interesting meeting.’
Good point, Sir Jenkins.
’And what are "sophisticated swine"? Are those educated pigs? Oh, and whoever made that sign needs to be educated about apostrophes, because they don't belong in those words.’
Well-stated.
Backward, yes.
‘"Atheists....will lash out at children"??? Yeah, right, I'm sure they're commonly known for that.’
More radical fundi nonsense.
"I hereby...accept Barack Hussein Obama as my personal lord and savior"???? That is just ridiculous. A gospel tract like that, I would never want to use.
Undoubtedly.
'Jeff Jenkins has been helpful.'
Thanks, Dr. Murray!
Cheers, Sir, Jenkins.
'Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI am really inspired along with your writing abilities and also with the format to your
blog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it your self?
Anyway stay up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays.'
Yes, I am paid in love from my super secret fan club...
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I visited several sites except the audio feature for audio songs present at this web page is really marvelous.
ReplyDeleteYour comment is marvelous. Yes, there is plenty of 'audio' on this site.;)
ReplyDeleteI have attended a couple or more Baptist churches that are KJV-only. I also have an e-mail friend who is KJV-only. And Chick tracts, which were instrumental in my getting saved, are great (for evangelism), except for two things: their strong accusations and attacks against Catholics (yes, Catholic churches do teach false doctrine, but so do many Protestant and non-denominational churches), and their strong KJV-only stance (and attacks against any non-KJV version/translation).
ReplyDeleteSo, Dr. Murray, would you please comment on some of the things presented on the following KJV-only website?:
One Book Stands Alone
I have attended a couple or more Baptist churches that are KJV-only. I also have an e-mail friend who is KJV-only. And Chick tracts, which were instrumental in my getting saved, are great (for evangelism), except for two things: their strong accusations and attacks against Catholics (yes, Catholic churches do teach false doctrine, but so do many Protestant and non-denominational churches), and their strong KJV-only stance (and attacks against any non-KJV version/translation).
ReplyDeleteSo, Dr. Murray, would you please comment on some of the things presented on the following KJV-only website?:
One Book Stands Alone
From:
ReplyDeletereligion facts.com
‘The Role of Textual Criticism
No original manuscripts of the original Greek New Testament have been found. However, a large number of ancient manuscript copies have been discovered, and modern translations of the New Testament are based on these copies. As one would expect, they contain some scribal errors. In fact, "there is not a single copy wholly free from mistakes."
It is the task of textual criticism, therefore, to study and compare the available manuscripts in order to discern which of the variations conforms the closest to the original. Bruce Metzger of Princeton University, a prominent modern textual critic, describes the role of textual criticism this way:
The necessity of applying textual criticism to the books of the New Testament arises from two circumstances: (a) none of the original documents is extant, and (b) the existing copies differ from one another. The textual critic seeks to ascertain from the divergent copies which form of the text should be regarded as most nearly conforming to the original. In some cases the evidence will be found to be so evenly divided that it is extremely difficult to decide between two variant readings. In other instances, however, the critic can arrive at a decision based on more or less compelling reasons for preferring one reading and rejecting another.
The Earliest Extant Manuscripts
ReplyDeleteFortunately, textual critics and paleographers have a large number of ancient manuscripts at their disposal, many of which have been found within the last century. Nearly the entire New Testament exists in manuscripts dated to before 300 AD. Other important manuscripts date to the fourth and fifth centuries.
The manuscripts dating from 100 to 300 AD are almost entirely papyrus fragments. These fragments are named with a "P" followed by a number. The vast majority of them were found in Egypt in the twentieth century, and are now kept in various museums and libraries throughout the world, including at Dublin, Ann Arbor, Cologny (Switzerland), the Vatican and Vienna.
The earliest manuscript of the New Testament was discovered about 50 years ago. P52 is a small papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John (18:31-33 on the front; 18:37-38 on the back), and it has been dated to about 125 AD. This makes it a very important little manuscript, because John has been almost unanimously held by scholars to be the latest of the four gospels. So if copies of John were in circulation by 125, the others must have been written considerably earlier. Moreover, the Gospel of John's greater theological development when compared with the other three gospels has led some scholars to conclude it was written as late as 120 or even 150 AD. The P52 fragment seems to make such late dates impossible.
In addition to the early papyrus fragments, a large number of parchment manuscripts have been found that date from 300 AD onward. These are usually named for the place in which they were discovered and are abbreviated by a letter or sometimes a number. The manuscripts A/02 (Codex Alexandrinus), B/03 (Codex Vaticanus), and Sin./01 (Codex Sinaiticus) contain nearly complete sets of the New Testament. By comparing these to the earlier papyrus fragments, they have been shown to be quite reliable.
Codex Vaticanus (B), the earliest of the great parchment manuscripts at about 300 AD, has resided in the Vatican since the middle ages and remains there today. It is one of the most important manuscripts for textual criticism.
Codex Sinaiticus (Sin.) dates to about 350 AD. It was discovered in 1844 in a monastery on Mount Sinai by a Russian. After some resistance, he persuaded the resident monks to allow him to take it to St. Petersburg. On Christmas Eve, 1933, the Soviet government sold it to the British Museum for 100,000 pounds. It was put on permanent display in the British Library, where it still resides, along with other early biblical manuscripts.
Codex Alexandrinus (A), dating to circa 450 AD, was transferred from the Christian library in Alexandria to the British Library in the seventeenth century, where it still resides today. The Catholic Encyclopedia details its history:
Codex A was the first of the great uncials to become known to the learned world. When Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Alexandria, was transferred in 1621 to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he is believed to have brought the codex with him. Later he sent it as a present to King James I of England; James died before the gift was presented, and Charles I, in 1627, accepted it in his stead. It is now the chief glory of the British Museum in its manuscript department and is on exhibition there.’
In general, the King James Version comes from the Byzantine newer ‘majority’ texts, the 'Textus Receptus', while the New American Standard Version for example, primarily arises from ‘minority’ older Alexandrian texts.
Cheers, Jeff.
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