Intelligence

It is a pity that you lack the empowering of the Holy Spirit to be a proper upright human being. Or do you claim to be morally perfect?

The answer was no I did not consider myself to be morally perfect.

So why do you work hard on misunderstanding me?
If one is morally perfect instantanously at becoming a believer than I would have said I am morally perfect ever since I became a Christian.

This too, upon further inspection could use elaboration.
Being JUSTIFIED before God in Redemption DOES cause one to be positionally perfect because one is IN CHRIST.

In that sense he is positionally perfected because He is associated with the One who alone fully pleased God.

Dispositionally, he cannot avoid the process of perfection.
And I of course would not claim that dispositionally I am perfected.
We who receive Christ are on the road to dispositional perfection in His ongoing process of sanctification.

Maybe it is me, but I don't see why this should be hard to understand, if not agree with. It should be easy to understand even for an atheist.

You do not arrive at maturity the moment you are born.
Being born is the initiation of life and not the conclusion.

So to be re-born by being "born again" by receiving the Holy Spirit is not the climax of spiritual life but the beginning.

My utterance may not be perfect. By I trust that it communicates. And if someone wants to understand and not search for things call "changing of the mind" or back peddling, I see no reason why they cannot be grasped, if not agreed with.

There is no need for anyone to flip back over the pages to make sure of what was said. By reading along, the ideas presented by me are elaborated upon.

You do not need to go back again and again over previous posts to grasp if I am on the same track or changed or backpeddled or was "pushed" to say something else.

Few of us express all our concepts in just ONE post.
And additional posts do not mean one is changing.
One may be elaborating on what was only generally spoken.

Twhitehead seems to like to make people think that I cannot express myself logically and clearly. If I post an idea, and his comment calls for me to put some more explanation out there, that is the way discussion proceeds.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I did not talk about 'any sample off people'. I do think the intelligence of the worlds people approximates the bell curve. I could be wrong. However, the median and mean are almost certainly close to each other: depending on what scale you use to measure intelligence I suppose.
I remains a reasonable guess to think that about half of all people have above average intelligence.

The question is whether there is a bell curve in this sample of people on this forum.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
The question is whether there is a bell curve in this sample of people on this forum.

Who cares.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
The question is whether there is a bell curve in this sample of people on this forum.

And I wonder which end of it would you be on?

Chess ratings, intelligence quotients, money, size of your wang...none of these are much use in gauging character or happiness.

So now, I will elaborate.

The proper human faithfulness we do not have in ourselves.
But such faithfulness is found in Christ.
To receive and enjoy Christ can cause one to develop a faithfulness that is not just ok in the world's eyes but is pleasing to God.

That is faithful on a microscopic level. Sometimes a man may leave his wife because the unfaithfulness was not seen in the eyes of the world. But it grew and became finally manifested in divorce.

The minute faithfulness is needed. The outward appearance is not adequate many times. The thought life needs to be under the control of the Perfect Son of God by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The saving is needed on a very deep level and a very inward level. Jesus Christ is the Savior to save men and women on the deepest level.

Here is an example of Jesus showing the deep inner need of even the most intelligent people for a faithfulness that only God can bestow with His salvation -

" You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'. But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart." (Matt. 5:28)

The purpose of Christ speaking this was not to make all men miserable. It is to show how deeply we need saving. He spoke this not to just condemn men. And the vast majority of men are caught as being finished as failures in this regard.

Jesus impressed His listeners with how deeply and inwardly they needed salvation. They really require another life. This life is Christ Himself who can blend with us. Christ can mingle Himself with us and heal and regulate our fallen being to be what God mean by man.

Originally posted by divegeester
And I wonder which end of it would you be on?

Chess ratings, intelligence quotients, money, size of your wang...none of these are much use in gauging character or happiness.

Actually money does correlate with happiness... up to a point.

The more money you have them happier you are likely to be.

However there are ever diminishing returns for happiness gain with wealth past a certain threshold.
[~£40,000 in the UK I believe]

Originally posted by divegeester
And I wonder which end of it would you be on?

Chess ratings, intelligence quotients, money, size of your wang...none of these are much use in gauging character or happiness.

You are right, and I would hate to speculate on anyone's happiness here.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
The question is whether there is a bell curve in this sample of people on this forum.

No, that question was never asked, until just now in your post.

Originally posted by twhitehead
No, that question was never asked, until just now in your post.

I never claimed it was asked. It is, however, your assumption that on this forum there is a bell curve of intelligence (never mind that not enough people actually participate in the forum to actually generate a bell curve) and therefore the median and mean can roughly be equated. All of this is assumed in your claim that half of the people on this forum are above intelligence. I dispute this assumption. I do not think there is a bell curve, I think most here are below average intelligence, and while I do not wish to speculate on anyone's happiness, I suspect that all of the people here are of dubious moral character and integrity.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
I suspect that all of the people here are of dubious moral character and integrity.[/b]

As you are here also, does that include yourself?

You may 'suspect' that we are all of dubious character, but i am 'certain' that you are a twat.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
All of this is assumed in your claim that half of the people on this forum are above intelligence.

You misread my post. That is not what I claimed.

I think most here are below average intelligence, and while I do not wish to speculate on anyone's happiness, I suspect that all of the people here are of dubious moral character and integrity.
You may think and speculate all you like. It won't make you right. I am sure that some posters here are below average intelligence, but I highly doubt that the majority are.
And I am personally not of 'dubious moral character and integrity'. I might even be offended by the insult if I actually cared that much about your opinion. Also, given that you believe yourself to be of dubious moral character and integrity, and freely admit it, can't really expect better of you.

Originally posted by twhitehead
You misread my post. That is not what I claimed.

[b]I think most here are below average intelligence, and while I do not wish to speculate on anyone's happiness, I suspect that all of the people here are of dubious moral character and integrity.
You may think and speculate all you like. It won't make you right. I am sure that some posters here are ...[text shortened]... f dubious moral character and integrity, and freely admit it, can't really expect better of you.[/b]

You misread my post. That is not what I claimed.

Then it's a non sequitur.

Originally posted by dominuslatrunculorum
Then it's a non sequitur.

What is?

Evidence: Go away from this forum for a while and then come back, and you will see the same handful of arguments being made, by the same people, pro and con, with the same results, frequently spiraling down into ad hominem exchanges, with a newcomer coming in now and again to stir the same pot as if it has never been covered so thoroughly before.