An experiment

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
He has always been fair since Eden with the first man and woman and is fair today...

If time permits, Bob, take a look at the discussion going on here and comment about anything that catches your attention:

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=815898

Originally posted by Paul Dirac II
CalJust, since you named this thread 'An Experiment,' I would like to propose an experiment...

Pray this way: "Lord, You know who the Christian blogger mentioned by Paul Dirac is. The blogger believes the original manuscripts of the Bible were inerrant. But You have told me that this is not the case. I ask You to impress upon the blogger with Your Spirit that he is wrong about this, and to have him publish a retraction at His blog."

Nice try, Paul, but I will humour you anyway.

I really have no problem with what your Christian blogger believes. If he believes the original manuscripts were inerrant, then I say good for him! I have no intention whatsoever of trying to change his mind, and I would certainly not think that his belief is causing him any problems - either in the now or the hereafter.

There could possibly be a problem if his belief results in lovelessness and broken relationships, but from what you have told me so far it does not appear to be the case.

But even if that WERE so, I would only be prepared to interact with him (or with God on his behalf) if he requested me to do so.

Originally posted by Paul Dirac II
I have linked to this before, but I don't know if you saw it:

http://funki.com.ua/ru/portfolio/lab/world-religions-tree/

If you click on the + sign to the left, the graphic zooms up such that you can read the lettering. It is a time chart of the history of schism within religion, with Christianity on the right side.

Wow!!

Sort of puts the whole thing in perspective...

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Your eternal address will be on planet earth which will be destroyed at the conclusion of the Millennium?

Aren't you a little out of date?

Wasn't the world supposed to be destroyed at the end of the LAST Millenium?

Remember Y2k?

Originally posted by CalJust
If he believes the original manuscripts were inerrant, then I say good for him! I have no intention whatsoever of trying to change his mind...

That is an altogether lovely attitude on your part. But it is jarring to me in that I have heard so many sermons preached on the "solid rock of Christ," the bedrock Truth. "All other ground is sinking sand," or as one preacher put it years ago, "a house of cards built on jelly."

"No biggie, let him believe how he wants to" is not a common motif of radio preaching in the USA!

Preach to me a bit on Matthew 7:14. "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Just like to say that this is a great thread Cal has created and
1. Could posters restrict themselves to single questions at a time?
2. Could GB and anyone else with out a question start their own thread.

Thumbs up Cal.

Originally posted by CalJust
Only if you are stuck in dualistic thinking.

That was your response to my question of whether a dispute between two believers means at least one is wrong.

Some people living near Mount Parnassos in ancient Greek times thought the Delphic Oracle was a deity (Phoebe?) speaking to them from underground. They could ask a question to the deity, and wait for her answer.

I can imagine Anastasius asking what the weather will be tomorrow, and hearing a "rainy" answer, while an hour later Euthalia asks the same question and hears, "clear and sunny."

A philosopher who wanted to believe in the deity might have told folks, "Well if you are stuck in dualistic thinking, then we would have a contradiction. So the moral is, don't get stuck in dualistic thinking."

But a more modern interpretation is that the sounds coming up to the ground were caused by volcanic gasses burbling their way up, and were not actual Greek words. Any philosopher of the day who decided, "The underground deity is a fiction," is the one we would all side with today. Problem solved. 🙂

Originally posted by CalJust
Aren't you a little out of date?

Wasn't the world supposed to be destroyed at the end of the LAST Millenium?

Remember Y2k?

Originally posted by CalJust
Aren't you a little out of date?

Wasn't the world supposed to be destroyed at the end of the LAST Millenium?

Remember Y2k?

Revelation Chapter 21: "1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” New American Standard Bible

CalJust, an evasive/frivolous segue isn't in keeping with the tone of this thread or your demonstrated capacity for objectivity.

Originally posted by Paul Dirac II
If time permits, Bob, take a look at the discussion going on here and comment about anything that catches your attention:

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=815898

Ok.

Originally posted by JS357
Your reference to prayers being answered is a little puzzling to me, because it sounds like a line of argumentation based on looking for the most plausible explanation of unlikely events.

Yet I understand faith that is based on experience(s) is more immediately attained, without going though a reasoning process and assessment of likelihoods. It is like sat ...[text shortened]... the unlikelihood convinced you, or was the direct bestowal of faith one of the answered prayers?

Cal, this post of mine seems to have been lost in the flow. Any comment?

Your reference to prayers being answered is a little puzzling to me, because it sounds like a line of argumentation based on looking for the most plausible explanation of unlikely events.

Yet I understand faith that is based on experience(s) is more immediately attained, without going though a reasoning process and assessment of likelihoods. It is like satori, enlightenment.

Such assessments [edit: assessments of likelihoods] are typically provisional and subject to revision based on new information. It seems quite indirect and mutable. Would you care to clear this up for me? Did you mean that the unlikelihood convinced you, or was the direct bestowal of faith one of the answered prayers?

Originally posted by Paul Dirac II
If time permits, Bob, take a look at the discussion going on here and comment about anything that catches your attention:

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=815898

Paul, these posters appear to be Catholic Answers Forum Members not unlike you and me here. There's no mention of any academic or other education; here's the member whose post is at the top of page one: "Aug 14, '13, 6:18 am James Urda New Member." Curiously all 6-7 texts I read contain opinion without scriptural reference or other source of authority.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Just like to say that this is a great thread Cal has created and
1. Could posters restrict themselves to single questions at a time?
2. Could GB and anyone else with out a question start their own thread.

Thumbs up Cal.

GB asked a single brief question on page one.

By the way, where are SwissGambit and FMF [MIA since April 30 and three days, respectively]?

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Paul, these posters appear to be Catholic Answers Forum Members not unlike you and me here. There's no mention of any academic or other education; here's the member whose post is at the top of page one: "Aug 14, '13, 6:18 am James Urda New Member." Curiously all 6-7 texts I read contain opinion without scriptural reference or other source of authority.

I thought it interesting that there is such a range of theology among Roman Catholics. Some accept common ancestry of humans and other organisms, while others say God literally fashioned the first two humans from clay with His hands.

Originally posted by CalJust
I once lived in a relatively small mining town (Population 12000) which had 27 (count them: twenty seven!) Christian churches, not counting the Mormons and Christian Scientists.

Livingstone, population 100,000 approx had about 150 denominations in the 90s. Not sure what it has now.
I once stayed in Hwange, a small mining town in Zimbabwe and there were 7 Churches in a row on the same street that I was staying on.

Originally posted by CalJust
All I can say is that these were not trivial occasions, they were certainly not revised later when more information was available, etc.

I don't think he was suggesting you revised the facts to fit your views, I think he was asking whether you are currently in a state whereby you would revise your views should new facts come to light.
If for example I pointed you to a course on rational thinking and it convinced you that you may have been reading more into your prayers than was warranted, would you stop believing in God? Or did your prayers being answered change you into a state of 'faith' whereby you will not stop believing in God even if it turns out that your prayers were totally ineffective?
At least that's the way I read his post - which I did find a little difficult to follow.