Doogieduff – I agree and I noticed the same thing. But don't forget that although Jeremy rested a more specific and in depth case from James, he also used numerous other scriptures in a well balanced fashion, including teachings from Noah, Moses, Abram/Abraham, Jesus, John, Paul, etc.
responsiveness
I would not worry about trying to make Jerry be more responsive, if an opponent becomes unresponsive, that non-verbal message usually spells out aversion and sometimes implies an unwillingness or inability to deal with the counterpoints and challenges presented. In short, it typically is the closest thing to an admission of defeat without it actually being said.
And this is to be expected if your views are wrong in the first place. So perhaps this is simply an early indicator of things to come and about who is in the right and who is in the wrong.
a very long post
Also, to be fair, Jeremy’s first post was pretty extensive, so we owe Jerry some slack to respond to it all. But on that note, it seems to me that Jerry is on the defensive and Jeremy has handled Jerry’s points quite well.
I hope that Jerry will become more responsive. To be sure, if he doesn’t, it will be good for more observations. :thumb:
Jerry in a hurry
BTW, did you notice how quickly Jerry responded? I think that this is only a 5 round battle, and Jerry responded to Jeremy’s huge post within just 3 hours(!!!) even though he had two days to make a full and “sufficient” response. Concerning Jerry’s number of posts, this now comprises almost half of the entire debate! He only have three more posts to make, two more main debate posts and one final summery post.
Maybe Jerry is just too impatient? Maybe he’s just holding the wrong position. If he does not respond more directly, that will likely prove damaging to his position seeing how everyone will be able to look back and see how evasive he was. Only time will tell if he will improve.
practicality concerns from the nay sayers
BTW, I find it funny that folks don’t have an appreciation for how important this issue is. It helps us to understand several different and crucial things.
- The nature of our salvation, is it conditional or eternally secure, is OSAS true or not (Once Saved Always Saved)
- The nature of our Savior, in what ways did God change things and may again change things after this dispensation is over
- The clarity between law verses grace, they are not synonyms as many Christians effectively treat them
- The problem of legalism and false or dead works, this problem literally destroys the vitality of so many believers and helps to keep unbelievers from entering into salvation
All of which in my book, are very important and foundational issues that unfortunately the Christian church is anything but unified over.
Two different styles at work
Jerry tends to skip around a lot, while he covers a lot of ground, he doesn’t always land each point very securely. Jeremy is more methodical and presents his case solidly before moving on.
