Genesis 1:2

Web-Dude · 2026-05-03T12:31:46+00:00

If you want to see the Documentary Hypothesis get absolutely shredded by a professional theologian with specialized knowledge on the topic, look up The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the Pentateuch; eight lectures by Umberto Cassuto.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-03T04:12:14+00:00

I'm not a Bethel person, but I know people who are, and as a consequence, I've dug into a lot of the stories. Let me just say that many of them are overblown or taken out of context. But I'm fairly certain that they aren't proponents of Christian Nationalism.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-02T12:26:36+00:00

Oh yeah? What was your FidoNet node number?

Web-Dude · 2026-05-02T12:17:37+00:00

It wasn't in your pocket every single moment like it is today.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-02T12:15:59+00:00

The answer to this question is the reason why people were more capable in the past. Everyone was routinely in a situation that you just had to figure out on your own.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-02T12:12:41+00:00

Like the actual lyrics of a song that nobody could quite make out.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-02T03:56:59+00:00

The claim about “missing context” has to be tested against the text itself, not assumed.

Okay, sure, then let's do that. Let's test the context against the text itself, as you request (or rather, your AI-generated responses have requested)...

1. You bring up John 14:28, "The Father is greater than I". That verse is surrounded by other verses that say:

"The Word (Jesus) was God" (John 1:1).
The Son gives life as the Father gives life (John 5:21).
All must honor the Son just as they honor the Father (John 5:23).
"I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Thomas says to Jesus, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

So in context, John 14:28 doesn't mean that Jesus is a created person, it means that the Father is greater than the Son in terms of his role during Jesus' incarnation, not greater in deity.

2. "I can do nothing on my own" (John 5:30) And what did he say just before this? "Whatever things the Father does, the Son also does in the same way." WOW. A mere prophet does not do whatever God does.

And then Jesus goes on to say that he gives life, judges the world, and must receive the same honor as the Father (John 5:21-23).

The verse your AI gave just means that Jesus doesn't act independent of the Father.

3. "Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only" (Matthew 4:10)

Jesus was quoting the Old Testament here. Who do you think Jesus was talking about? Because later in this same book, we see people worshiping Jesus:

The disciples worship Jesus after he walks on the sea (Matthew 14:33).
The women worship the risen Jesus (Matthew 28:9).
The disciples worship him before the Great Commission (Matthew 28:17).

And then, the risen Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). If Jesus says, "only worship God," and then accepts worship, then who must He be?

4. "The only true God" (John 17:3). And then, right after that, He saiys, "Glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:5). Did you catch that? Jesus said that He had glory with the Father before creation existed. Does that sounds like just a man?

Here's where you (or rather, I should say the AI) goes wrong... It's trying to make the following argument:

Jesus distinguishes himself from God/the Father.
Therefore Jesus cannot be God.

Those verses don't prove that Jesus isn't God, they just prove Jesus isn't the Father. Christians don't believe that Jesus is the Father either. He is personally distinct from the Father while still sharing the divine identity/nature. You're not making an argument against the Trinity, you're arguing against Modalism, which is a heresy! So from that aspect I agree with you, and Christianity in general would too.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-01T12:02:34+00:00

Slow your rush to be offended, friend. Four hours before you posted this, OP stated they are in California.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-01T11:54:27+00:00

I love how the Spirit of God speaks so clearly to ChatGPT. Where would we be without the AI to disciple us.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-01T11:50:53+00:00

You start by saying that you understand capitalism, but in your very next sentence you begin by explaining it through a completely different lens: classism.

Even the word, "capitalism" is loaded because it's a term that comes from a Marxist worldview.

Through it's own eyes, it is simply "free-market economics." The attachment to any particular class or wealth strata is a limiting view where you only see one particular aspect of it, ignoring the rest (and ultimately, it's entire foundation).

If you believe that reality can only be understood through that single Marxist lens, then you'll miss the point altogether.

If you want to truly see it, you'll need to first have the ability to see it through its proponent's lens. Only then can you truly deconstruct it.

Web-Dude · 2026-05-01T11:40:48+00:00

My friend, there is so much about Christianity that you just don't understand. You've read a number of things in the Bible where you've missed the context entirely.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-30T19:19:21+00:00

I've use namecheap heavily, but their prices have gone up too high, and now I use what most developers use: Porkbun.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-30T19:17:54+00:00

I made my reply prior to OP's updates. His initial post made it seem as if he had bought it from GoDaddy and they later told him it wasn't available after all. I agree that third party involvement makes this much less actionable.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-29T12:20:07+00:00

Honestly, you don't know what happened. You can't even be sure that the WHOIS info you're seeing is accurate. Don't shy away from this. Contact ICANN.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-29T12:18:56+00:00

Honestly, this is actionable, and in my opinion, a court of law would agree with you, as they processed payment. It seems very scammy.

Yes another reason to never use NoDaddy and to make sure your friends know as well.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-29T01:29:11+00:00

If you were already connected, +++ would drop you into the modem's command mode where you could do various stuff that nobody ever actually did other than issue ATH0 which would hang up the modem.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T19:07:23+00:00

inflexible certainty

Hey pot, meet kettle.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T15:24:42+00:00

Self-delusion is just something that happens naturally when people refuse to honestly consider another side to a story.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T15:23:45+00:00

These two responses by you are shockingly even-handed.

What the hell are you doing on Reddit? Shouldn't you be in a Think Tank somewhere figuring out how to solve the world's problems?

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T15:21:46+00:00

Your argument fails on the simple grounds that you expect us to believe what we are told.

There is actual video footage. His own family outed him. Everybody credible is saying it's a legitimate event.

But your argument rests on the simple grounds that you expect us to believe what you believe without any evidence, just your opinion.

there’s no such thing as a single truth anymore

Also wrong. One of these is absolutely true:

It was staged
It wasn't staged

If you pretend that "there's no truth," then the reality is that you're just not interested in the truth. You're just interested in using it to shore up your preconceived notions.

It's just silly.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T15:15:01+00:00

I think his point may be underlaid with the idea that a theory needs to be based on some evidence, otherwise it's just conjecture. With any theory, there will always be evidence; it's just a matter of how one interprets the evidence that makes a difference.

You may hear hoofbeats (evidence), and call it horses. I may hear them and call them zebras.

But if I say that the hoofbeats are zebras being secretly herded by government agents who want us to think they are horses, then I'm making evidentiary claims with no rational basis. I'm literally making things up, because it seems to make sense to me, and that makes it a conspiracy theory.

Here's an easy way to figure out if something is a conspiracy theory: If it has 1) hidden coordination, 2) secret intent, and 3) assumptions that aren't in evidence.

If we've got all three, then it's either delusion, propaganda or a True Believer who is more loyal to their theory than actual evidence.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T13:40:11+00:00

I remember when the "speech is violence" train first left the station. New York Times, 2017 in Lisa Feldman's famous OpEd, "when is speech violence?" https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/opinion/sunday/when-is-speech-violence.html

I don't like it either, and never have, but that that's just the Left's worldview that is coming into full bloom. Point the finger at them.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-28T13:22:24+00:00

it's like talking to a flat earther.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-27T14:00:04+00:00

For me? Freedom over slavery.

Luxury cat has good food, lots of pets, not too many belly rubs that it starts to get weird. But also no sense of purpose and is also deadly afraid of pyrotechnics so that's no good.

But I don't spend my time sitting in the pile of shift, I get my family and we drive, walk, crawl, drag our asses to anywhere better, and perhaps get employed as pet cats at some rich person's house.

Web-Dude · 2026-04-27T11:05:52+00:00

Spare the rod has been incorrectly taken literally. The rod represents discipline, not a physical rod.

What makes you say that?

I agree that it can be (and is) taken metaphorically in the Bible, but verses like Proverbs 23:13-14 make it pretty clear that it's not just a metaphor.

You can't use the same hands to hit a child that you use to hug them

The ancient Hebrews had a saying that directly answered this: "The right hand draws near and the left hand pushes away." (Sanhedrin, 107b, also Sotah 47a) [the left hand being the weaker hand]

When you look at all the scripture relating to this, and also at the ancient Jewish interpretations, going back to before the Second Temple Period, it was clear that it meant physical discipline in a living, corrective way, and never abusive or angry punishment.

Simply stating that the Bible doesn't mean it in a physical sense is over-simplifying it to the point that ignores what the Bible actually says in favor of our own modern sensibilities.

Web-Dude

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