nowlin@ihu1e.UUCP (Jerry Nowlin) (08/07/84)
> Re: Absurdity Revisited: A Perfect Example > Of course reading the Bible 52 times in a year would be worthless to you. > Your mind is not going to understand it, because you are spiritually blind. > God does not reveal the truths of the Bible to unbelievers, that would be > throwing "Pearls before the Swine" as it says in Mathew. Only the > Holy Spirit given at salvation will cause you to understand the Bible. With > this understanding you could read it 522,000,000 times and still find > something you've never seen before. > > Trying finding out a little about the author before you read His book. > > Ken Nichols > ...!ucbvac!dual!qantel!ken Ken, I can't figure out from your message whether you're really serious or not. The inability to understand the "word of god" before you believe in god seems to be a kind of catch 22. You can't understand till you believe. You can't believe till you understand. You expect people to figure out god without reading the bible? How are they supposed to reach this salvation and get their holy spirit? You can't be serious. I love that "pearls before the swine" stuff. Anyone who doesn't believe as you do is a pig? Is it any wonder there are religious wars. Not all christians are like you but most have a real blind spot. There are lots of reasons I'm no longer a christian but the "holier than thou" attitude most *professed* christians have is one of the biggies. If I were still a christian I wouldn't want a spiritual bigot like you defending my belief. Jerry
nowlin@ihu1e.UUCP (Jerry Nowlin) (08/13/84)
Ken,
You're right about the scripture. The New testament Matthew 7:6, in the
last chapter of the sermon on the mount, quotes Jesus as saying "Give not that
which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." I understand
analogy. I don't think you were calling anyone a pig.
The interesting part of this quote is that the beginning 5 verses of
Matthew chapter 7 are all about not judging others. Right afterwards Jesus
apparently expects us to make some kind of judgement on who is worthy to
receive "that which is holy" and who isn't. I hear lots of complaints about
taking sections of the bible out of context and making points with them. I
know people who could make it sound like Jesus advocated prostitution with
just the right verses. You were the one that pointed out this passage of
scripture. I pointed out the contradiction.
As for offending me, I don't care what you think I am. At one time I
considered myself a christian. I even spent a lot of time and energy trying
to convert others to christianity. I didn't gloat over the fact that they
weren't saved like me. I no longer consider myself a christian, but I don't
hold christianity against others. I don't understand why some people have to
smoke to stay calm, some feel they have to drink to be relaxed, and others
have to be christian to be content. Whatever floats your boat. I just get a
little bent when someone says there's not enough room on the water for both
our craft. (See I do understand analogy.) If half the people I know who think
they're going to heaven make it, I would be lots happier in hell.
Jerrypmd@cbscc.UUCP (Paul Dubuc) (08/13/84)
[from Jerry Nowlin:] >Ken, > You're right about the scripture. The New testament Matthew 7:6, in the >last chapter of the sermon on the mount, quotes Jesus as saying "Give not that >which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest >they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." I understand >analogy. I don't think you were calling anyone a pig. > > The interesting part of this quote is that the beginning 5 verses of >Matthew chapter 7 are all about not judging others. Right afterwards Jesus >apparently expects us to make some kind of judgement on who is worthy to >receive "that which is holy" and who isn't. I hear lots of complaints about >taking sections of the bible out of context and making points with them. I >know people who could make it sound like Jesus advocated prostitution with >just the right verses. You were the one that pointed out this passage of >scripture. I pointed out the contradiction. Do you really think Jesus was teaching abstainance from all value judgements in Matt. 7.1-5? Rather, those verses seem to be a proscription against hypocritical judgements of the actions or moral tenor of one's "brother". Besides that I really wonder whether obedience to verse 6 really requires "judging someone unworthy", rather than just an observation. Swine make it plain that they don't value pearls. Some people make it plain that they don't value Christian truth. (On an aesthetic basis, of course. Give a pig what satisfies his belly and he'll probably love you. In the same way, some people only want what satisfies their own desires and don't want to be convinced of the value of other things). Ken seemed to think that the man he originally responded to fell into this category. I disagree. I think that man was asking an honest question, one that deserved a better answer than Ken gave. >I just get a >little bent when someone says there's not enough room on the water for both >our craft. (See I do understand analogy.) I think we can all agree that there's plenty of room on the water. The only question in some people's minds is where are we going to go when somebody pulls the plug. :-) >If half the people I know who think >they're going to heaven make it, I would be lots happier in hell. I think it's save to say that not all who think they're going to heaven, will... and not all who think they'll be happier in hell, will. We won't *really* know until we get there. -- Paul Dubuc {cbosgd,ihnp4}!cbscc!pmd The true light that enlightens every one was coming into the world... (John 1:9)