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Re: Hell's Daily Arrivals
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● 1John 4:1 . . Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The koiné Greek word for "spirits" is pneuma (pnyoo'-mah) which means, among other things; a current of air; viz: winds and breezes. Probably what John is talking about are influences; which range anywhere from celebrities and astrological horoscopes to popular singers and musicians; with philosophers, poets, and pulpit pounders being somewhere in the middle.
The common Greek word translated "prophet" is prophetes (prof-ay'-tace) which essentially identifies a foreteller; i.e. someone who can predict the future. But it also applies to inspired speakers as per Eph 4:11-15.
Abraham was a prophet (Gen 20:7). Though Abraham saw the future (e.g. John 8:56) there's no record of him foretelling it; but there's evidence enough to believe that he was at least an inspired speaker. (Gen 18:19)
The problem with testing speakers is that there exists no universal standard for doing it. The testing of inches, meters, yards, centimeters, cups, and teaspoons is easy because we have universal standards for those measurements that everybody goes by. But in regards to doctrine; really all that most Christians have to go by are the standards of their own denomination. In other words: truth for a Catholic is whatever Rome says it is, while truth for a Mormon is whatever Joseph Smith and/or Brigham Young say it is; while truth for a Jehovah's Witness is whatever the Watch Tower Society says it is; and truth for a Baptist is whatever their Baptist minister says it is.
So then, truth among Christians is typically proprietary truth rather than standard truth; so good luck testing the spirits seeing as how even your own spiritual influences are suspect.
I personally believe the Bible to be an independent, non-proprietary source of truth. So then, if I were to put a Bible in your hands, could you use it as a sort of sacred Geiger counter to test the winds of religious thought? No; you couldn't; and that's because there are any number of ways to interpret the Bible; and whose to say that their way is the one that's infallible and speaking for God ex cathedra?
Jesus said that false prophets are known by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20). But there again, not everyone is qualified to be a fruit inspector, so good luck with that.
Netherworld Update: 765 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the figures in post #1 are within reason, then something like 46,169,280 new arrivals have checked into the fiery sector of hades since October 30, 2015.
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● 1John 4:1 . . Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The koiné Greek word for "spirits" is pneuma (pnyoo'-mah) which means, among other things; a current of air; viz: winds and breezes. Probably what John is talking about are influences; which range anywhere from celebrities and astrological horoscopes to popular singers and musicians; with philosophers, poets, and pulpit pounders being somewhere in the middle.
The common Greek word translated "prophet" is prophetes (prof-ay'-tace) which essentially identifies a foreteller; i.e. someone who can predict the future. But it also applies to inspired speakers as per Eph 4:11-15.
Abraham was a prophet (Gen 20:7). Though Abraham saw the future (e.g. John 8:56) there's no record of him foretelling it; but there's evidence enough to believe that he was at least an inspired speaker. (Gen 18:19)
The problem with testing speakers is that there exists no universal standard for doing it. The testing of inches, meters, yards, centimeters, cups, and teaspoons is easy because we have universal standards for those measurements that everybody goes by. But in regards to doctrine; really all that most Christians have to go by are the standards of their own denomination. In other words: truth for a Catholic is whatever Rome says it is, while truth for a Mormon is whatever Joseph Smith and/or Brigham Young say it is; while truth for a Jehovah's Witness is whatever the Watch Tower Society says it is; and truth for a Baptist is whatever their Baptist minister says it is.
So then, truth among Christians is typically proprietary truth rather than standard truth; so good luck testing the spirits seeing as how even your own spiritual influences are suspect.
I personally believe the Bible to be an independent, non-proprietary source of truth. So then, if I were to put a Bible in your hands, could you use it as a sort of sacred Geiger counter to test the winds of religious thought? No; you couldn't; and that's because there are any number of ways to interpret the Bible; and whose to say that their way is the one that's infallible and speaking for God ex cathedra?
Jesus said that false prophets are known by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20). But there again, not everyone is qualified to be a fruit inspector, so good luck with that.
Netherworld Update: 765 days have elapsed since beginning the thread. If the figures in post #1 are within reason, then something like 46,169,280 new arrivals have checked into the fiery sector of hades since October 30, 2015.
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