waysider

To hear him speak, one would think education is already gone.

es·o·ter·ic    [es-uh-ter-ik] adjective 1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions. 2. belonging to the select few. 3. private; secret; confidential. 4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras. ============================================ Whatever happened to "God is no respecter of persons."?

I'd rather be .

Oh, goody! A pin! I could display it in the trophy case where I keep all my various nametags.

My mom? No, not that I know of. I suppose it's possible, though, after I moved away.

I guess I just don't get it. The man did some seriously evil things in his life, damaged marriages, damaged people psychologically, aided and abetted criminal activity and now that he's fallen on hard times, we're supposed to feel sorry for him? Well, call me a 6th grader, then, because I just don't see it.

So, you need to either be a Christian or apply advanced academic techniques, or both, to extract wisdom from Proverbs? (That's the book I used in my example.) Sorry, I just don't see that to be the case.

Feelin' Alright Free Post

There's that esoteric twist. I never said you should read it without an understanding of the nuances or that you should ignore the symbolism of the parables. If the Bible is all that it's touted to be, it should be able to withstand the same sort of scrutiny as a secular work. It should be readable by Christian and Non-Christian alike. A Hindu or Buddhist should be able to read Proverbs and come away with no less enlightenment than a Christian. To think otherwise, borders on elitism.

Sounds like a rationalization to me. If this were a secular work we are discussing, it would be clearly obvious that those two passages contradict each other. The only way to resolve that is to give it an esoteric twist and dismiss the obvious logic. I think that's what we used to call "private interpretation". Ironic, no? Use private interpretation to disparage private interpretation.

All scripture is "God-breathed" (Theopneustos). Paul said so. What do we really know about Paul, aside from what he, himself, declared about himself?

Apollonius of Tyana, a 1st century CE philosopher, is recorded as having said about Aesop: ... like those who dine well off the plainest dishes, he made use of humble incidents to teach great truths, and after serving up a story he adds to it the advice to do a thing or not to do it. Then, too, he was really more attached to truth than the poets are; for the latter do violence to their own stories in order to make them probable; but he by announcing a story which everyone knows not to be true, told the truth by the very fact that he did not claim to be relating real events. (Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Book V:14) There is wisdom in the story of the tortoise and the hare. And, yet, any reasonable person surely realizes that such an actual race never occurred.

Never forget this one, little, simple thing....it's all about the money. When you start to look more like an albatross and less like a cash cow, their interest will fade.

The man has damaged countless lives through the years....... and you wonder why people are having a hard time mustering sympathy? :wacko:

You're always welcome at The Way....Until we kick you out

Why must pointing out a contradiction necessarily be equated with "justification for downgrading the Bible as a guide for guidance, wisdom, etc."? Consider this: Aesop's Fables have contradictions but, that doesn't negate the wisdom they convey.

Seems I've got to have a change of scene, 'cause every night I have the strangest dream.

The presence of dissolved oxygen in water can be beneficial in aiding with the removal of undesirable substances such as iron. Beyond that, there are no health benefits derived from oxygenating water. In other words, it's just another example of "bad science". If you truly have water that contains harmful substances that are often found in private well systems, such as arsenic, barium, chromium, microcysts, etc., a highly preferred, scientifically proven method of purifying such water would be reverse osmosis. There is tons and tons of empirical data relating to reverse osmosis. You might want to field your questions at THIS link.

The Pusher

Nate, I don't think it's quite as complicated as you may think. This is understandable, though, because you are probably unaware of some of the nuances an "outsider" would not recognize. You see, Wierwille's big "schtick" was that the Bible (not life) can't have any contradictions. He then proceeded to instruct us in a system of rationalization that can be used to explain away any/all apparent contradictions. One of the key components of this system involves assigning all scriptures to a specific administration and then saying something like, "Oh, it's not addressed to us today because that was the Christ Administration and we are living in the Grace Administration.". One such example, involving Jesus and the rich man, has already been cited. I hope that makes sense.

Not long after the "ministry" began to grow at exponential rates, Wierwille unveiled his Christian Family and Sex class. It was another deliberately crafted tool of indoctrination, designed to desensitize the conscience of its participants.. (IMO)