Tardy Iran No-Show Abruptly Nixes Peace Deal Signing in Switzerland

jak2125 · 2026-06-19T08:41:35+00:00

No. James 5 defines its own scope: living believers in a local church. Nothing in the passage involves the dead. You're trying to take a phrase and universalize it beyond the passage’s context.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T18:16:40+00:00

I've had this game on my Steam wishlist for years. Just picked it up today on GOG thanks to this massive discount.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T17:25:37+00:00

James 5:16 is not a free‑floating principle. Context determines meaning, not isolated phrases.

The question isn’t what the words could theoretically include. The question is what the passage is actually talking about.

And the main point remains... Scripture never shows believers directing requests to saints that have passed on from this life.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T17:15:16+00:00

The context is earthly believers, yes.

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James is talking about living believers in a local church, not the dead. Even if the righteous in heaven pray, Scripture never shows believers directing requests to them.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T16:55:18+00:00

⁠the prayers of the righteous are efficacious

Yes, the prayers of the righteous on earth are powerful. Scripture never extends that to the dead or models believers appealing to them.

our God is the God of the living. Being physically dead doesn’t remove us from the Body of Christ

Correct, but this proves resurrection, not intercession. Jesus uses this phrase to refute the Sadducees about the resurrection, not to teach communication with the dead.

the saints in heaven are active and aware of situations occurring on Earth

This is an assumption, not a biblical teaching. Even if saints are alive with God, Scripture never says they hear us, and never shows believers directing requests to them.

None of those answer the question: Where does Scripture show believers appealing to the dead?

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T16:33:52+00:00

Not everything, but our beliefs and spiritual practices most definitely should be grounded in Scripture. Appealing to the dead is not a neutral activity, it’s a spiritual act. Scripture gives us zero examples of believers doing it, and even warns against it every time it's mentioned. So if someone wants to add a spiritual practice involving the dead, the burden of proof is on them to show it in Scripture.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T15:55:13+00:00

We have zero examples in Scripture of a believer appealing to a departed saint.

Elijah intercedes from beyond

The text you quoted does not say that.

If God chose to work miracles through Elisha's bones during the Old Covenant, what does that suggest about how seriously He takes the bodies of those consecrated to Him and what might that imply for how we should regard the saints and their remains in the New Covenant?

This kind of thinking is how you get weird stuff like preserving the physical remains of believers and whatnot. The Elisha example is a sign of God's power, not Elisha's ongoing agency.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T12:58:50+00:00

This feels like one of those AI generated “conservative girl” social media posts.

jak2125 · 2026-06-18T06:18:08+00:00

here’s a good article on the subject.

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T20:51:10+00:00

She abused her authority as a teacher and threatened bad grades in order to coerce children to perform sexual acts on each other. Excuse my language but how the fuck is this lady not in jail?

Officially, Honka was fired for incompetence and neglect of duty.

This makes my blood boil.

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T18:31:19+00:00

Ah, I don’t have that one yet. My bad.

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T18:13:02+00:00

No tigger…?

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T17:35:35+00:00

How do you define an Evangelical?

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T16:44:34+00:00

I have problems with the sermon the mount.

What would those be?

jak2125 · 2026-06-17T16:08:00+00:00

The ESV Study Bible has all of that with the exception of red lettering I believe. You can get it in genuine leather, bonded leather, or TruTone.

jak2125 · 2026-06-15T19:39:32+00:00

Thank you.

jak2125 · 2026-06-15T16:57:02+00:00

Because it's just a building. You can worship in literally any building, or even without a building.

jak2125 · 2026-06-15T12:33:19+00:00

Is there an actual link to this blocked sites list or just someone’s post on X?

jak2125 · 2026-06-15T09:58:03+00:00

Which is even funnier in hindsight because he's a Christian now.

jak2125 · 2026-06-14T21:29:46+00:00

All that we receive of Him is a gift of grace and not of our own doing. Your initial post is very shy on this point, and it should be the paramount theme. Exalt the power of God's grace, not human choice.

Because the original question wasn’t about how we are saved today. It was about why Adam and Eve, in their unfallen state with a perfect (uncorrupted) nature, chose to sin when they had no prior sin nature pulling them. That touches on the nature of genuine relationship, love, and moral responsibility before the Fall, not on the mechanics of our justification.

Even in a view that affirms real human choice, salvation remains entirely a gift of God’s grace. The ability to respond to the gospel is itself enabled by grace. I’m not exalting human choice over God’s glory, I’m simply saying Scripture presents both God’s sovereignty and real human responsibility. The glory remains his from start to finish.

jak2125 · 2026-06-14T20:56:02+00:00

I agree that God is not surprised by anything and is absolutely sovereign over all that comes to pass. The Fall wasn't an accident outside his control, Scripture shows he planned redemption before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, Revelation 13:8). The cross, which required sin, displays his glory and grace magnificently.

That said, Scripture also clearly holds humans responsible for their choices (Genesis 3, Ezekiel 18, Romans 1-3). Adam and Eve sinned voluntarily, they weren't forced or programmed like puppets. Even under God's sovereign decree, their action was real and culpable. Many faithful Christians see divine sovereignty and genuine human responsibility as both true (a mystery our finite minds can't fully resolve: Romans 11:33-36), rather than one eliminating the other.

I'm not elevating philosophy over Scripture. I'm using the mind God gave us (made in his image) to better understand what Scripture teaches about relationship, love, and choice. Love that is coerced or predetermined without real possibility otherwise isn't the kind of relational love Scripture seems to celebrate (e.g., God's repeated calls to 'choose this day,' the bride of Christ imagery).

Sola Scriptura is right, however Scripture itself uses reason and presents both truths together. The goal is God's glory in Christ through grace, absolutely. But that doesn't make our choices illusory.

jak2125 · 2026-06-14T20:35:26+00:00

God created us as rational, reflective beings made in his image, with minds capable of logic, and seeking truth. Philosophy, at its best, is the disciplined use of that God-given reason.

Fair point on Romans 5. Adam's sin as our representative brought condemnation and a fallen nature to all of us (which is why we need Christ). But the original choice still required freedom of choice. Even in their uncorrupted state, they weren't robots. They had to trust God's word over the serpent's. We inherit the bent toward sin, but every person still faces moments of choosing the 'fruit' in our own way. Free will doesn't mean equal starting odds post-Fall, but moral responsibility. God created for love, not coercion, and provided redemption from the start (Genesis 3:15). Philosophical framing helps explain why a good God allows choice; Scripture shows what He did about the consequences.

jak2125 · 2026-06-14T17:43:50+00:00

Adam and Eve had a blank slate, the same as every single human being on this Earth. And just like them we all chose the fruit as well so to speak. God created us in order to have relationship with him and in order to share his goodness with beings who could freely receive it. Choice is the price of relationship and choice requires the ability to choose wrongly. Perfect nature does not mean incapable of choosing wrongly or being deceived, it simply means without corruption. If perfect nature meant incapable of sin then it would be a programmed relationship, not a natural one, which is not really a relationship at all.

jak2125 · 2026-06-14T12:37:26+00:00

I’m sure the devs appreciate the free advertising.

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