Nathan_Jr

Not a fallacy, but a weak reason for fixating belief. See Charles S. Peirce's The Fixation of Belief http://www.sophia-project.org/uploads/1/3/9/5/13955288/peirce_belief.pdf

Right. A veneer of credibility. As it has been objectively observed and stated many times. The second time established it.

To reiterate the conclusions of objective, independent investigations: Pikes Peak "seminary" was a real... place... with a real... street address to which a "student" might mail a check. It's a residential house. Pikes Peak had a photograph of a group of "graduates" or something. This photo hung on the wall. victor purchased a doctorate of theology (ThD) in homiletics -- preaching. victor did NOT attend classes. His engagement was mail order correspondence. victor claims he wrote his dissertation on Peter. A dissertation is a book written by the doctoral candidate. It is the culmination of exhaustive research to produce a wholly original work. A dissertation will not fit on a 3x5 card. No one has read victor's alleged dissertation. victor's motive for acquiring (a more accurate word than earning) his doctorate was to erect a veneer of credibility. Ironically, victor would go on to repeatedly disparage real scholars, researchers and academia in general, all the while insisting on his own flimsy, academic title.

Thanks, I'll check it out... or else will add it to the list...

Which structure will the younger generation not enforce?

I don’t know if it was so much wack-a-mole for the preacher as it was for the seminary. There was a movement. A trend. Increasingly, the clergy was becoming credentialed by academia. (This is not a bad thing.) But within this movement, were the hucksters, like VPW, appropriating this tactic of academic credentialing. New Thought is a separate movement, but connected, probably. Jihadist Christians and New Thought practitioners were reactionaries to a status quo. I don’t know if New Thought practitioners fetishized and coveted academic credentials quite like the jihadist Christian hucksters, like victor Paul wierwille.

I brought up this point earlier on a different thread, I think. It’s an important question to ask. What is the egalitarian nuclear model? The family? The failure to reinforce this model results in a dissolution of individualistic culture and a rejection of individual responsibility? Huxley? Orwell?

Social media (the internet?) certainly was very helpful to at least one would be dictator in recent years.

Did victor ever rewrite his dissertation for a general audience? I know scholars will occasionally do this. A dissertation is a scholarly book written for a scholarly audience -- it's highly technical and won't fit on a 3x5 card. Has anyone ever read victor's dissertation? I seem to remember James Tabor talking about a book that was essentially an expansion and rewrite of his dissertation, but written for a general audience. (I can't remember which book. It may be his latest Paul's Ascent to Paradise or else The Jesus Dynasty.)

Wrong. Again. It wasn't a PhD. It was a Thd. And it wasn't earned. Not REALLY. It was purchased. The reasons for purchasing this ThD were to manufacture credibility with his tithing dupes and to maintain a competitive edge among a rising tide of newly-credentialed charlatan preacher men. It's the same reason why so many MLB SUPERSTARS took PEDs -- to compete with everyone else jacked on roids.

then, Then, THEN! js

The "ministry" victor paul wierwille built. They aren't REALLY arguments. They are the conclusions of objective investigations. They go to the heart of victor paul wierwille's integrity. If he was misleading about these two facts, what else was he misleading about? Turns out he was misleading about oodles and oodles. l've posted all I know and care on the topic. Let those who want to know find out for themselves.

The huckster knows academic degrees boost credibility. Hucksters only need to be beleeeved for their tricks to work on dupes. The hilarious, twisted irony is victor loved to hate academia... all the while insisting on being called by his academic title.

All? ALL? Is that all without exception or all without distinction?

I have been objectively investigating the movement of religious hucksters for a few years. Religious hucksters have been around for millennia, but a movement emerged out of the evangelical/fundamentalist/Pentecostal tide that was rising in early 20th century America. By mid 20th century, this movement was reaching a crescendo. Every Tom, Dick and Uncle Harry's brother was eager to catch a wave on this storm surge. Unaccredited huckster diploma mills started popping up all over the country to meet a new demand for religious credentials. Most of these "seminaries" offered only correspondent courses. The "course work" was, well, Mickey Mouse. The most important criterion for "earning" a degree was a check that cleared the bank. These huckster degree mills folded as quickly as they ascended. Most do not exist today. It was a cash grab. For everyone. Pikes Peak was one of these short lived huckster diploma mills. Don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself.

What do you think this means?

Just let it interpret itself.

Chin kwalla moo shoo porka

Let the collaterals light your path.

They are affiliated but not the same. PTSem is now revered as one of the top seminaries in the country with one of the largest theological libraries on the planet with an endowment of over $1B. It's selective. It's a serious institution for higher learning. victor said he received a Master of Theology in practical theology. This is broad and must be tailored by the student for focus. One available tract of practical theology is preaching. This may have been victor's focus, as he later went on to purchase a mail order doctorate in homiletics. (A ThM in preaching may also explain how he got off the hook of learning Greek and Hebrew.) I wonder what PTSem was like when he attended. Was it quite as rigorous as it is today? I can't seem to find the dates of his enrollment. Just vague generalities loosely sketching a timeline. Was it during the war? Was this his cop out to avoid the draft? Or were other laws in place then to allow him to skate out of service to country?

Confirmation bias has no place in objective investigation.

There’s your hint, right there where you wrote it. God APPEARS to be limited, because our limited perception will not perceive the Truth. Who is limited? God? or man? Be still. Watch. Find out for yourself.

Ask the music coordinator.

“Superstar”