tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.comments2020-07-15T20:17:58.292-07:00Nailing it to the door. . .Dan Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comBlogger415125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-79209097268158776792020-07-15T20:17:58.292-07:002020-07-15T20:17:58.292-07:00God is not moved by what we call worship as it inv...God is not moved by what we call worship as it involves lips, hands, feet, even dancing. When I was in India I observed Hindu dancers who put Christians to shame as they danced before God.<br />One told me, "My God dances." I felt a little envious. But in the end he doesn't give a fig about voices, music, dancing, hand waving. He wants Hesed and not rhythmic gyrations, words and rituals. What has passed as worship for two thousand years is so easy and cheap and is man-made bad religion. Hesed is secret acts of kindness -that's worship. God (El Shaddai) does not want to hear you say "I love you." He sees your love when he sees you doing what he says to do. I will go so far as to say we only worship when we secretly show mercy, compassion, helping those in need, comforting the broken-hearted, the fatherless and destitute widows.sweetdreamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11472047785397446709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-43781761018362506042016-09-18T11:22:03.152-07:002016-09-18T11:22:03.152-07:00Hi Dan,Jesus said he was going to my God and your ...Hi Dan,Jesus said he was going to my God and your God, my father and your father. So clearly he is not God. I side with adoptionist who said he was adopted at the Jordan as the New Judge (Elohim) of Israel and Messiah to the Kosmos. As he ascended at Bethany he was begotten and transformed into the First-born spirit man. The words Pneuma and Ruach can also be translated Messenger (angel). The pneuma is not a comforter but a teacher. "It will teach you all things." So it is a persona but it cannot speak its own mind, but only what it hears, therefore it is only a messenger. Paraketos Pneuma Alethiea. An angel named Truth (Jn 16:16) .<br /><br />The first parketos was chokma the first angel of Wisdom, the logos who created all things including humans and tented in Jesus (came upon him) <br /><br />If Jesus pre-existed before the foundation of the earth then he is a visitor from anther realm (an alien) and not a real person. If he chose his mother (a married woman) how cruel to Joseph her husband. He committed incest with his mother and adultery). Denying his humanity is what 1John calls anti-Christ. <br /><br />The gospel is a perfect man telling us about a loving father who does not want sacrifices. He is adoting children who on the final day become born again spirits like angels.sweetdreamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11472047785397446709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-27282387271969386002016-08-07T16:22:44.331-07:002016-08-07T16:22:44.331-07:00Hi Dan, Yes I would go along with everything you h...Hi Dan, Yes I would go along with everything you have said, but I take it a step further. The bread is real food and the wine real drink, but the bread represents His flesh and the wine His blood. We can't literally eat His flesh and drink His blood but, since the logos became flesh, we can consume His logos. As we take the logos into ourselves by being doers of it, it becomes part of us in the same way as food taken in becomes a part of us. As for the blood we remember that the life of the flesh is in the blood and so we must all drink of the one spirit (1Cor 12.13). All this ties in beautifully with Rom 8.9-11 and John 11.25-26Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939424184840004960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-78495106269365143252016-02-02T06:27:24.634-08:002016-02-02T06:27:24.634-08:00As a Catholic I was taught that we were eating th...As a Catholic I was taught that we were eating the real flesh of Jesus. Later as an adult I realized if the bread is real human flesh than I am a cannibal. The drinking of real blood is a bit like a vampire. As a mature adult I surmise that bread is doctrine and wine equals wisdom. Blood gives action to our bodies and doing the things Jesus says is wisdom. So Dan being aware of Jesus each time we eat is fine, but doing kind secret deeds seems to be truly involved with consuming his flesh and blood.<br /><br />Sweet Dreams<br /><br />sweetdreamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11472047785397446709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-16881090257403991282016-01-06T03:48:32.388-08:002016-01-06T03:48:32.388-08:00@Irv and @Rocky2, thanks for your comments. I do ...@Irv and @Rocky2, thanks for your comments. I do think it helps to flesh out the historical narrative.<br /><br />By the way, though, this blog moved from blogspot to my own hosted site <a href="http://nailtothedoor.com" rel="nofollow">my own hosted site</a> about 3-4 years ago ... you'll find more current stuff there.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />DanDan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-42729501404439786452016-01-06T00:28:59.169-08:002016-01-06T00:28:59.169-08:00[Greets, Nailing it to the door. Enjoy this little...[Greets, Nailing it to the door. Enjoy this little item I just spotted on the net.]<br /><br /> THE REAL MANUEL LACUNZA<br /><br /> by Dave MacPherson<br /> <br /> John Bray's 1982 booklet "The Origin of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Teaching" claimed that 18th century Jesuit priest Manuel Lacunza originated the pretrib rapture in his 1812 work "The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty." Bray stated Lacunza saw a 45-day period between a rapture and Christ's touchdown on earth - a 45-day period Bray viewed as "tribulation" days.<br /> But Lacunza was only saying that the "day of the Lord" would be at least 45 days long - the difference between the 1290 days and the 1335 days in Dan. 12. Somehow Bray failed to note that those 45 days could not begin until the tribulation days were "concluded" (Vol. II, p. 250) - and Bray may have been influenced by those who erroneously believe that the "day of the Lord" INCLUDES the tribulation!<br /> Not only did Lacunza begin his 45 days AT the joint rapture/second coming, but he even had the raptured ones back on earth DURING those 45 days (Vol. II, pp. 262-3) to minister to "the relics [trib survivors] of all nations" [see Isa. 18:2] during the cleanup of Antichrist's rubble (similar to the cleaning up of New York's Twin Towers' rubble before new buildings could be built)!<br /> In Vol. I (p. 83) Lacunza writes that "the nineteenth chapter [of Revelation] speaks of the coming of the Lord in glory and majesty, which Christians with one consent do wait for."<br /> On pp. 99-100, after quoting I Thess. 4:13-18, Lacunza quotes Matt. 24:30 and then comments: "If you compare this text with that of St. Paul, you shall find no other difference than this, that those who are to arise on the coming of the Lord, the apostle nameth those who are dead in Christ, who sleep in Jesus; and the Lord nameth them his elect."<br /> And in Vol. I (p. 113) Lacunza again quotes I Thess. 4 and Matt. 24 like this: "...He shall descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive, &c. and it appears to me, that you will find St. Paul and the Gospel speaking one and the same thing: He shall send his angels and they shall gather his elect from the four winds; who can be no other than those very ones who are in Christ, who sleep in Jesus."<br /> Interestingly, even Tim LaHaye's 1992 book "No Fear of the Storm" admits on p. 169 that "Lacunza never taught a pre-Trib Rapture!"<br /> For more on Bray and his other groundless claims, Google "Is John Bray a PINO?," "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View," "Catholics Did NOT Invent the Rapture," "John Darby Did NOT Invent the Rapture," "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," "Edward Irving Vs. John Darby," and "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty."<br /> Finally, since the earliest pretrib rapture promoters were overwhelmingly anti-Catholic, it's not likely they would have adopted anything from a Catholic!Irvhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07634792243846422285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-34771341421076495172014-10-26T04:14:11.668-07:002014-10-26T04:14:11.668-07:00I can only say, Philip, that you clearly have a di...I can only say, Philip, that you clearly have a different definition of "context" than I've encountered before, as it's clear you're superimposing assumptions on all three texts (re: salvation, but even more re: damnation) that are not in those texts.<br /><br />If you are interested in engaging (which I welcome) may I suggest you re-post your comment at the active site of the blog, http://nailtothedoor.com/no-one-comes-to-the-father-but-by-me/. This site is archival only.Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-38553894854765743832014-10-26T02:05:41.834-07:002014-10-26T02:05:41.834-07:00I can't believe anyone who has read the entire...I can't believe anyone who has read the entire John's Gospel can fail to understand the exclusivist claims of this Gospel regarding salvation. Someone who talks about context must take the entire book into consideration. The key verse of John's Gospel is 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." <br />The purpose of the Gospel is stated clearly in 20:30. The writer wanted his readers to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and get eternal life through Jesus. John's focus on "eternal life" highlights the need to escape eternal death or hell. <br />Therefore, in the light of the whole Gospel, 14:6 is certainly an exclusivist claim. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who has seen God and He came here to reveal God to mankind (1:18) NO ONE else has seen God as He is and no one else can take us to God.philip.eapenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07617936957554795380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-75158497426357209952014-07-31T11:10:33.292-07:002014-07-31T11:10:33.292-07:00Venomas, I suggest you reread the original post. ...Venomas, I suggest you reread the original post. This is not an anti-Muslim article as you suppose, or at least as your comment seems to imply. Please leave any more comments on my new (since 2011) site ... this article is at http://nailtothedoor.com/every-christian-ought-to-be-a-muslim-but-not-the-way-you-think/.Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-6233589138051885532014-07-31T09:13:26.247-07:002014-07-31T09:13:26.247-07:00The post shows thatm this guy knows a little to ma...The post shows thatm this guy knows a little to maybe nothing about Islam, Islam simply states in most of the time Jesus is mentioned in the Qur'an that he is the Messiah(anointed one in Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic),and is usually refered to as Al-maseeh Isa Ibn Mariam(The messiah son of marry). Here is my evidence from the Qur'an: Quran[3:45 ] [And mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah ]. Quran [4:157] And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.venomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01568417261666974255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-27115340877531581112014-01-28T01:04:16.084-08:002014-01-28T01:04:16.084-08:00Rev. John Bray is mentioned above. An eye-opening ...Rev. John Bray is mentioned above. An eye-opening piece on him I saw lately on Joe Ortiz' blog on which there is an item titled "Is John Bray a PINO?" Irvhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07634792243846422285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-31107539696832365302013-04-13T18:17:32.147-07:002013-04-13T18:17:32.147-07:00[Saw this related bit on the net]
P...[Saw this related bit on the net]<br /><br /> Pretrib Rapture Pride<br /> <br /> Pretrib rapture promoters like Thomas Ice give the impression they know more than the early Church Fathers, the Reformers, the greatest Greek New Testament scholars including those who produced the KJV Bible, the founders of their favorite Bible schools, and even their own mentors!<br /> Ice's mentor, Dallas Sem. president John Walvoord, couldn't find anyone holding to pretrib before 1830 - and Walvoord called John Darby and his Brethren followers "the early pretribulationists" (RQ, pp. 160-62). Ice belittles Walvoord and claims that several pre-1830 persons, including "Pseudo-Ephraem" and a "Rev. Morgan Edwards," taught a pretrib rapture. Even though the first one viewed Antichrist's arrival as the only "imminent" event, Ice (and Grant Jeffrey) audaciously claim he expected an "imminent" pretrib rapture! And Ice (and John Bray) have covered up Edwards' historicism which made a pretrib rapture impossible! Google "Morgan Edwards' Rapture View" and journalist/historian Dave MacPherson's "Deceiving and Being Deceived" for documentation on these and similar historical distortions.<br /> The same pretrib defenders, when combing ancient books, deviously read "pretrib" into phrases like "before Armageddon," "before the final conflagration," and "escape all these things"!<br /> BTW, the KJV translators' other writings found in London's famed British Library (where MacPherson has researched) don't have even a hint of pretrib rapturism. Is it possible that Ice etc. have found pretrib "proof" in the KJV that its translators never found?<br /> Pretrib merchandisers like Ice claim that nothing is better pretrib proof than Rev. 3:10. They also cover up "Famous Rapture Watchers" (on Google) which shows how the greatest Greek NT scholars of all time interpreted it.<br /> Pretrib didn't flourish in America much before the 1909 Scofield Bible which has pretribby "explanatory notes" in its margins. Not seen in the margins was jailed forger Scofield's criminal record throughout his life that David Lutzweiler has documented in his recent book "The Praise of Folly" which is available online.<br /> Biola University's doctrinal statement says Christ's return is "premillennial" and "before the Tribulation." Although universities stand for "academic freedom," Biola has added these narrow, restrictive phrases - non-essentials the founders purposely didn't include in their original doctrinal statement when Biola was just a small Bible institute! And other Christian schools have also belittled their founders.<br /> Ice, BTW, has a "Ph.D" issued by a tiny Texas school that wasn't authorized to issue degrees! Ice now says that he's working on another "Ph.D" via the University of Wales in Britain. Rocky2https://www.blogger.com/profile/04154389992453412024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-81370640964279086322013-02-12T05:19:00.843-08:002013-02-12T05:19:00.843-08:00@Traveller, it's called a "parable."...@Traveller, it's called a "parable." That means it's got a point to tell, and not every literal detail is real life.Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-74596230927706427102013-02-11T20:09:54.976-08:002013-02-11T20:09:54.976-08:00Nailing this to your door: Matthew 24:50,51: Nailing this to your door: Matthew 24:50,51: Traveler Andrew Sheets https://www.blogger.com/profile/09058451876886098168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-74875922008154505312012-10-16T23:55:16.866-07:002012-10-16T23:55:16.866-07:00Hi all, you might enjoy Googling "Pretrib Rap...Hi all, you might enjoy Googling "Pretrib Rapture Diehards," "Pretrib Rapture Secrets," "Deceiving and Being Deceived" by D.M., and "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty." Oh, and "The Real Manuel Lacunza" and "Catholics Did NOT Invent the Rapture" also.Rocky2https://www.blogger.com/profile/04154389992453412024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-56603571730968723462012-06-27T09:30:12.425-07:002012-06-27T09:30:12.425-07:00@Nightcrawler, you landed on the old version of th...@Nightcrawler, you landed on the old version of the blog; please feel free to see us at <a href="http://nailtothedoor.com" rel="nofollow"> http://nailtothedoor.com</a> for more current comments. This post can be found <a href="http://nailtothedoor.com/?s=no+one+cometh+to+the+father&x=0&y=0" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />To your comment: I truly hope you read your Bible more carefully than you read this post. John 14:6 is not about hell...in fact the word "hell" does not occur anywhere in the entire passage from John 14-John 17. The closest one can (maybe) get is John 15:6, which states that branches who do not abide in him (that language usually referred in Jesus' usage to Jews who rejected him as Messiah) are "thrown into the fire and burned." But an honest, contextual reading of John 14:6 reveals that it wasn't about hell at all, and certainly not about Jesus establishing an exclusive religion.<br /><br />However, you also make the accusation that it is my "opinion that there are many roads to salvation." As I said before, I hope you read your Bible more carefully than you read this post. Nowhere did I say anything of the sort...in fact I said the exact opposite in my last paragraph...I encourage you to reread it:<br /><br /><i>The gospel of Jesus Christ claims things about him that are true of no one else. Nobody else is Jesus, and no other teaching holds the stunning uniqueness of the One who rose from the dead. I am not advocating for the feel-good universalist straw man so often the target of the self-righteous quoters of John 14:6. But to properly frame those places where Jesus’ words confront society, or other faiths, or the Christian church, we have got to start by representing Jesus’ own words faithfully. Using John 14:6 to club “unbelievers” and universalists over the head is categorically <b>NOT</b> faithful to Jesus’ message.</i><br /><br />Finally, you stated: "Jesus said in many accounts there is no salvation from hell except trough him." Again, go read your Bible. I have done what I believe to be a complete survey of every reference to hell or condemnation in the entire New Testament...you can find it <a href="http://nailtothedoor.com/eternal-destiny-part-1/hell_reference/" rel="nofollow">here</a> if you wish. I just went back and looked. Jesus never mentioned "salvation from hell" once in all of his words recorded by all four gospel writers. Your claim is factually incorrect...which is really my point with this post. Jesus is unique. The way of Jesus is unique. But John 14:6, usually quoted in arrogance and triumphalism by fundamentalist Christians, says nothing about salvation and damnation at all...that was not Jesus' point when he said it.Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-31133330747213697152012-06-27T00:02:09.974-07:002012-06-27T00:02:09.974-07:00I am afraid i have to disagree. Jesus said in many...I am afraid i have to disagree. Jesus said in many accounts there is no salvation from hell except trough him. Unlike your opinion that there are many roads to salvation, which is false Christ says the opposite. He says: "I am the door, no one can enter except trough me. " also "You cannot do anything without me" also "at man being saved is impossible but with God nothing is impossible" also "no one can ascend to heaven except the one that has descended from heaven, the son of man"Nightcrawlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07909464974499667392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-34846473570870301952011-05-26T04:28:58.576-07:002011-05-26T04:28:58.576-07:00John, I'll respond in greater detail when I...John, I'll respond in greater detail when I'm not on the run, but I want to address a couple things right off (first of all, I'm moving this blog to <a href="http://nailtothedoor.com/every-christian-ought-to-be-a-muslim-but-not-the-way-you-think/" rel="nofollow">http://nailtothedoor.com</a>. If you'd be so kind as to re-post your comment there, I'll re-post my answer to keep things clear).<br /><br />There are several points where I think you might reconsider your argument. The first is to talk to any Arab Christian. As I pointed out in the post, Allah is the name native Arabic speakers WHO ARE CHRISTIANS have used for God, for centuries. This is a simple linguistic fact and is not subject to theological debate.<br /><br />Second, you stated <i>Allah is the god of Abraham Isaac and Ishmael. The God of the Bible is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is a huge difference...</i>. This is biblically incorrect. God states in Gen. 17:20:<br /><br /><i>As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.</i><br /><br />Clearly, nowhere in our Bible does God say "Someday I'm going to send another prophet to the Arabs, and his name is Mohammed." However, to claim that YHWH is not also the God quite specifically, of Abraham and Ishmael is to deny the plain promise of God himself.<br /><br />Finally, I reiterate what I said in my post, that Arabs are rightly offended by the "Son of God" terminology in our Bible because, in the Arabic language, for God to have a son would come closer to the Greek myth of Heracles...Zeus cheated on his wife Hera with a mortal woman Alcmene, and Heracles the hero is the offspring of that sexual union. Christians would (or at least should) be as offended by such an implication as Muslims.<br /><br />We Christians who actually care about Muslims honoring Jesus, need to help them understand the biblical connotations of "Son of God" which are not sexual at all. Properly cast, this doctrine does not have to be the stumbling block that it is. But if we start out by blaspheming the same God we claim to worship (and that's what we're doing when we state "Allah is an idol"), we are needlessly driving away many who could potentially reconsider the real Jesus. I don't want to do that and neither, I suspect, do you.<br /><br />Peace!Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-14542964170154645272011-05-25T21:36:35.417-07:002011-05-25T21:36:35.417-07:00Allah is not the God of Christianity. Allah is a ...Allah is not the God of Christianity. Allah is a false god and Idol. YHWH – I am that I am - is the only true God.<br /><br />Dan Your argument fails at so many levels it is difficult to even begin. Just like Ben, you fail to use scripture to ground your arguments. Oops I forgot, you did say that Allah and Elohim sound the same, that’s solid. <br /><br />Allah is the god of Abraham Isaac and Ishmael. The God of the Bible is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is a huge difference there and that is only the beginning.<br /><br />True Judaism points directly to Jesus. Only the false practice of Judaism is false. Saul of Tarsus – false Judaism. Jesus, Paul true Judaism. <br /><br />Allah (the god of Islam) is not Trinity. The God of the Bible is Trinity. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father.<br /><br />Sura 23.91 “Never did Allah take to Himself a son, and never was there with him any other god-- in that case would each god have certainly taken away what he created, and some of them would certainly have overpowered others; glory be to Allah above what they describe!”<br />John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…v14 and The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.<br /><br />Throughout the New Testament, the message that Muhammad rejects remains consistent. Jesus Himself continues to testify in John 14:6 and Matthew 10:32-33 the following:<br />John 14:6 “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”<br />Matt 10:32-33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” <br /><br />Sura 9.30 “And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!”<br /><br />If Allah is the same as the God of the Bible, then why would Allah give a false version of the Gospel to Muhammad?<br /><br />Sura 4.157 “And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.”<br /><br />The Bible condemns Muhammad!<br />John 3:18 states: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”<br />According to John 17:3 Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, confirms that the Father is the one true God. With respect to His Father, Jesus states: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”<br /><br /> Bible teaches that God cannot be tempted by evil and neither tempts anyone with evil; evil being understood as referring to immorality and sin. James 1:13 (c.f. Psalm 5:4-5; Habakkuk 1:13) <br />Yet, the Quran teaches that Allah is the author of evil: Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salat (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little. S. 4:142 Hilali-Khan And (the unbelievers) schemed and planned, and Allah schemed also, and the best of schemers is Allah. S. 3:54 <br /><br />The term for scheme in Arabic is makara which denotes one who is a deceiver, one who is conniving, a schemer. It is always used in a negative sense. Allah is thus seen as the best of deceivers, the premiere schemer and conniving one.<br />Dan, you are treading on thin ice brother – be careful that you do not lead lost ones astray.<br /> JohnJohnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07849452703716783730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-68936427274226804322011-05-23T23:56:49.646-07:002011-05-23T23:56:49.646-07:00Thanks Dan and now Ben!Thanks Dan and now Ben!Kurt Willemshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11378647876158657549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-89224171176461151492011-05-22T18:48:31.700-07:002011-05-22T18:48:31.700-07:00@Fernando Villamar, you may be interested in two p...@Fernando Villamar, you may be interested in two posts I wrote last fall regarding the ugliness the church has presented to the world:<br /><br /><a href="http://nailtothedoor.blogspot.com/2010/10/gospel-according-to-heinlein-or-why.html" rel="nofollow">The Gospel According to Heinlein</a> and<br /><br /><a href="http://nailtothedoor.blogspot.com/2010/10/open-letter-to-christopher-hitchens.html" rel="nofollow">An Open Letter to Christopher Hitchens</a>Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-64328351330546214422011-05-22T18:37:13.583-07:002011-05-22T18:37:13.583-07:00Fernando, hows it going. Come have a beer at my h...Fernando, hows it going. Come have a beer at my house soon. <br /><br />Needless to say I am certain I completely agree with all of your critiques of institutional religion. I am assuming you believe the world would be a better place without religious fanatics. <br /><br />I'd have to say I certainly agree that there are many, like the ones who started this whole end of the world fiasco, who are so out of touch with this world that they are irrelevant to it. I agree the world is better off without them and I wish they had been raptured. <br /><br />The bottom line however is mystic or not there are a lot of people who because of their faith, namely in Jesus, who have dedicated their lives to the things Jesus was about. Like brining water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, fighting for those on the underside of power, standing up to those who abuse power, fighting poverty and systemic oppression and lots more. <br /><br />These are the kinds of things God cares about and the types of things true faith in God would manifest. <br /><br />I agree with Dan that the church owes the world an apology. We have given the world an incorrect picture of God because of our actions, ultimately the church in this time period may be held accountable for that. <br /><br />But I am optimistic that things could change, that Jesus followers can be inspired to make this world better and not worse. Solely based on the idea that Jesus stood for sacrificial love. <br /><br />When you see sacrificial love in action it is very difficult to argue that a belief that brings about that kind of action is even remotely a bad thing. <br /><br />Every idea, philosophy, system, religion etc has its flaws. Those flaws are called people. It's not the idea its how people, because of pride, desire of power, greed etc distort that idea that screws it up.Ben Bajarinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07628098127142896725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-44170811843019430262011-05-22T12:57:21.096-07:002011-05-22T12:57:21.096-07:00If it wasn't for Plato and Kant, religion and ...<i>If it wasn't for Plato and Kant, religion and any epistemology based on faith in mystical nonsense would have died a long time ago.</i><br /><br />I don't know about that, Fernando. People were looking to gods of various sorts long before Plato (and certainly before & since Kant). Although you may find it all nonsense, the reality is that a whole lot of people have seen otherwise over the millenia.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I won't try to defend our "mystical" thoughts against your objections; a large part of my hope is that some day we can actually get enough fellow "mystics" to live out the concrete realities of the life Jesus modeled and commanded. If we ever do that, you'll have plenty of tangible evidence to weigh. Frankly, the burden of proof rests with those of us who claim the faith...and we've done a pretty lousy job of representing it so far. For this truth I give you (and God) my sincere regrets.Dan Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01635080266346679464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-25240922031122813112011-05-22T10:56:11.556-07:002011-05-22T10:56:11.556-07:00"So the flaw in Darby’s theology and the one ..."So the flaw in Darby’s theology and the one this absurd end of the world talk is wrapped up in, is rooted in a non-biblical belief that all of reality is about somewhere else and not about this place, this earth, and this humanity. The idea that we will all go off to a distant spiritual reality is an idea we get from Plato not from the bible."<br /><br />If it wasn't for Plato and Kant, religion and any epistemology based on faith in mystical nonsense would have died a long time ago. It's quite entertaining to see a mystic call out another mystic for being unconcerned with reality.Fernando Villamarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105648745860476855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5111802929460493692.post-9605302269145067272011-05-22T09:55:06.993-07:002011-05-22T09:55:06.993-07:00Now to give credit where its due...
Ben, this pos...Now to give credit where its due...<br /><br />Ben, this post kicks @$$!Kurt Willemshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11378647876158657549noreply@blogger.com