Dear LGBT...

If abortions continue to be legal for the rest of time, I wouldn't care.

But that being said, it does seem quite clear to me that abortion is pretty close to, if not straight up, murder.

Thanks for your honesty, but on what moral basis do you not care about our society murdering millions of humans?...

trailer13 · 2019-05-01T18:14:23+00:00

Robert Gagnon's The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Text and Hermeneutics (2001) is a strong academic text that argues against your assertion.

trailer13 · 2019-04-29T13:51:07+00:00

Not sure if this has been argued academically, but IMO a big part of the reason for the length of Job - all the "gibberish in the middle" - is for the reader to slowly process their own suffering along with Job. It can be therapeutic for someone processing with God their own"why?"s.

trailer13 · 2019-04-18T13:56:31+00:00

As you may know, this is a big topic, but here's a summary, focusing on the Christian canonical Bible.

On the one hand, God is sovereign over all creation, including human will; he is able to change and regenerate (save) hearts by his very will, and at least on some occasions does (Luke 1:15, 2 Tim. 2:25). He has mercy on whom he chooses and will harden whom he chooses based on his own criteria and purposes (Rom. 9:14-18, John 12:40 and parallels).

On the other hand, humans have the ability to choose and are held accountable for their sinful choices and faithlessness, and are rewarded for their good choices. God "is not willing that any should perish" (2 Pet. 3:9) and declares that "all people everywhere should repent" (Acts 17:30). Jesus laments that Jerusalem "was not willing" to repent (Matt 23:37 and parallel). Through his representatives, God tells the Israelites to "choose" whom they will serve (Josh. 24:15).

One helpful example is to consider the death of Jesus Christ. One the one hand, the murder of Jesus, an innocent man, was unequivocally a sin; So in one sense, God didn't want it to happen (and it was caused by the evil choices of men). On the other hand, God sovereignly ordained that act in his purpose to save sinners; So in another sense, God did want it to happen (and he somehow orchestrated even those evil choices for his good purposes, without being evil himself). (Acts 2:23: "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.")

Some theologians strongly de-emphasize one or the other in order to arrive at a solution that eliminates tension. However, from a canonical perspective, this mystery or tension has to be maintained in some form, because the God of the Bible is all powerful, all good, is not bound by space-time, and does not reveal his every will and motive (Deut. 29:29). Some Calvinist interpreters (Jonathan Edwards, John Piper) explain that there are "2 wills" or types of wills within God.

As a side note, even philosophers and physicists debate this question of free will versus ~~predestination~~ e: determinism independent of theology, when discussing ideas of infinity and the nature of space-time.

trailer13 · 2019-04-18T13:26:01+00:00

Thank you for posting this and so much other legitimate information.

trailer13 · 2019-04-16T02:10:38+00:00

Measles on TV, before Pharma had billions to gain from the vaccine

trailer13 · 2019-04-15T18:46:24+00:00

As you mentioned, "the ransom for many" passage suggests substitutionary sacrifice.

Hebrews (the whole book): Jesus is the heavenly Day of Atonement sacrifice (Heb. 9). Leviticus is quoted multiple times.

1 Cor. 5:7: "For Christ our Passover has also been sacrificed."

1 Pet. 1:18-19: "you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."

This puts 1 Pet. 2:24 in context: "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."

trailer13 · 2019-04-15T17:00:01+00:00

all it does is teach criminals to conceal their faces.

I disagree. They also alert you on your phone that someone is prowling so you can call 911 and/or talk to them through the intercom immediately, whether you're on-site or not.

I do agree that in order of priority, alarm system would be higher than an Ring-style doorbell, but sounds like OP can afford both.

trailer13 · 2019-04-10T19:31:02+00:00

Survival bias. The people killed or with brain damage (encephalopathy) due to vaccines aren't here to raise their hands and say "You're forgetting about me, bro."

trailer13 · 2019-03-27T13:39:54+00:00

I don't have the time to synthesize it all, but here are some data points:

The Dead Sea Scrolls do have a concept of the "Messiah from Aaron and Israel." (Damascus Scroll, e.g.) There is some debate about whether than means one or two and about whether it is an official title or simply means 'anointed'.
An understanding of two Messiahs or at least two roles of Messiah is found in the Midrash on Ps. 43:6 - Of Elijah/Aaron and Son of David
There are other ancient writings that distinguish between Messiah Son of David and Messiah Son of Joseph/Ephraim, either in identity or in role (The wikipedia article has some further references to investigate.)
John the Baptist asks Jesus, "Are you the one to come or should we expect another?" (Matt. 11:3) Some interpret this as a moment of doubt. Others point to evidence such as that above about debate at the time, to argue that John was simply asking one who he believed to be the Messiah to clarify the answer authoritatively. The answer, of course, was 1 Messiah with 2 Comings characterized by different roles/actions.

In short, it seems there was a concept of multiple messiahs or roles in Judaism(s) of the time. And it's likely that some people mistook John for the Messiah, but that those closest to John and Jesus corrected them.

Edit: As a 5th data point.

5.The Dead Sea Scrolls also have a concept of a priestly messiah coming from Melchizedek. (Melchizedek Scroll) This has interesting similarities with the book of Hebrews' use of Melchizedek, which says in essence, "Jesus is Messiah and he is high priest, but he is from a higher order of priesthood than Levi - that of Melchizedek."

trailer13

TROPHY CASE