Hans Blaster said:

I got a $1 silver certificate in change a few years back. Do you think the Treasury will give me a $1 silver coin for that?

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The Treasury no longer honors the note. The American people were duped again. At one time there were redeemable gold notes in circulation. Then they started issuing non-redeemable notes side by side with the redeemable notes, creating the illusion that they were of equal value. I' don't accept wooden nickels; but the silver note still has collector value. I would sell it and buy the real deal.

Do you remember when copper pennies used to be made out of copper? Then they started copper plating zinc, to create the illusion that pennies were still made out of copper; while they quietly hoarded the copper to cover their bad corporate dept..

Now they're taking the pennies away from us altogether; because on paper it costs about $4 to make 100 zinc penny forgeries.

Robbed again!

Stopped_lurking said:

This is not necessarily true, see my earlier objection. There are many philosophers that disagree with the Mary thought experiment.

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Then give an arguement for it and don't just state your subjective opinion. This is only doubling down on not being able to explain subjective conscious experiences through the physical and naturalistic processes.

Valletta said:

You're mistaken. The mass grave story of 400 or so and the septic tank story were hoaxes. Realize that both Al Jazeera and the New York Times have an anti-Judeo/Christian bent and sadly are not above publishing fake religious tales.

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I assume you have a reason for me to believe that except genetic fallacies?

Oompa Loompa said:

Genesis 4:25 NIV
[25] Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

Genesis 4:25 Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” | New International Version (NIV) | Download The Bible App Now

Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

bible.com

I think this verse implies that Cane eventually repented. But I cannot confirm it.

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I cannot see anything in Genesis 4:25 that even suggests that Cain eventually repented. The only thing said in that verse about Cain is that he had killed Abel. I wonder which words in that verse gave you the idea that Cain repented.

another_lost_guy said:

Why do we get mad at people for dressing up as Hitler or Nazis for Halloween but we don't get mad at people for dressing up as Satan or demons? People genuinely believe Hitler is worse than Satan today and it's ridiculous.

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I don't understand how a Christian can agree with people dressing up supposedly as Satan. (Of course, the usual red creature with horns, a tail, and holding a huge toasting-fork is certainly not the way the bible describes Satan anyway.)

lismore said:

Yes. It's amazing that even highly intelligent people can be reluctant to ditch nutty but strongly held views. Just look at the number of people clinging to the fable of evolution.

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...

Wait, what?

You have a problem with fables?

9Rock9 said:

Can a genuine Christian believe Jesus died on Wednesday, as long as he still agrees that he rose again three days later?

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Yes.

In the grave before sundown on the 6th day, and rising at an unknown time before sunrise on the first day, is not 3 days and 3 nights in the grave.

There were multiple calendars being used at that time. The Pharisees had their calendar. The Sadducees had their calendar; and the sons of Zadok were using the Enoch calendar.

Here is a reference to the sons of Zadok.

(CLV) Ezk 44:15
Yet the Levitical priests, sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel strayed from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they will stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, averring is my Lord Yahweh.

(CLV) Ezk 44:23
They shall direct My people to distinguish between the holy and the profane, and they shall inform them the difference between the unclean and the clean.

(CLV) Ezk 44:24
In a controversy it is they who shall officiate in judgment; in accord with My ordinances, thus they will judge it; My laws and My statutes shall they observe at all My appointed times, and My sabbaths shall they hallow.

The sons of Zadok (The true priesthood) , were in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, in wilderness, where there had been constructed very large mikveh pools fit for baptizing the masses. John the Baptist was a rightful priest in that same area, currently renamed as Qumran by Islam.

Yahshua would not violate the authority of the sons of Zadok (thereby YHWH), by honoring the Pesach by the Pharisee calendar.


Notice which day the Pesach meal is eaten on the Enoch calendar.





The Pesach is slaughtered on the 3rd day; and it is eaten that evening, which begins the 4th day.

The last supper begins on Tuesday night by the Gregorian calendar; but sundown on Tuesday night, by the Gregorian calendar begins the 4th day by the Enoch calendar.

Yahshua hosted the Pesach meal at the beginning of the 4th day, also known as the 1st day of Hag Matzot, by the calendar of authority.

He was murdered during the day on the 4th day. He was buried during the day on the forth day.

Day one

The sun goes down on the 4th day, beginning the 5th day.

Night one.

The sun rises on the 5th day.

Day 2.

The sun sets on the 5th day

Night 2

The sun rises on the 6th day.

Day three.

The sun sets on the sixth day, beginning the 7th day shabbat.

Night 3


(CLV) Jn 20:1
Now, on one of the sabbaths, Miriam Magdalene is coming to the tomb in the morning, there being still darkness, and is observing the stone taken away from the door of the tomb.

(CLV) Mt 12:8
for the Son of Mankind is Lord of the sabbath."

The Master of the Shabbat was risen on the Shabbat.

I have more evidence that John the Baptist and Yahshua followed the Enoch calendar; but this is a good start.

Oompa Loompa said:

Test question. Is this a cat or a human?

View attachment 373894

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Is this a pass/fail test, or are we graded on a curve?

-- A2SG, worried about my grade point average....

Oompa Loompa said:

Yes. People who get plastic surgery to remove perfectly functional body parts to change their appearance have mental health issues.

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Sure, same as everyone else. We all have issues. Not all involve surgery, of course, but everyone is different.

Oompa Loompa said:

But not nearly as extreme as cutting off your genitalia. That is just plain insane.

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I'll grant you, it's not recommended for everyone.

-- A2SG, though, neither is cutting off a baby boy's foreskin, but some still do it without even asking the kid first....

Um, no, I cannot oblige.

CNNOT

Oompa Loompa said:

Again, gender is a made up term to obfuscate reality.

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Nope. It's a term that's come to mean how a person expresses an aspect of their identity.

Oompa Loompa said:

What is going on in your brain has nothing to do with the fact that men cannot be women, and women cannot be men, no matter how hare you believe otherwise.

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

-- A2SG, don't be another Horatio....

A2SG said:

Not a problem at all, in fact.


And what medical school did you graduate from, I wonder?


Nope. You've made a claim, based on four individuals who may simply share a common issue, nothing more.


So you assume. I know a couple who would fool you.

-- A2SG, and not all of them are actually trans....

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Test question. Is this a cat or a human?

Nutritious food

Stop the useless platitudes.

PLLT

This screenshot is gold.

A2SG said:

Or wants a perfectly functional nose altered. Or wishes to have implants.

Seems to me there are a lot of ways any number of mental health issues can be expressed.

-- A2SG, lot of conflating issues and illnesses here.....

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Yes. People who get plastic surgery to remove perfectly functional body parts to change their appearance have mental health issues. But not nearly as extreme as cutting off your genitalia. That is just plain insane.

Oompa Loompa said:

Sounds like a personal problem.

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Not a problem at all, in fact.

Oompa Loompa said:

I already gave it to you.

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And what medical school did you graduate from, I wonder?

Oompa Loompa said:

Yes it has.

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Nope. You've made a claim, based on four individuals who may simply share a common issue, nothing more.

Oompa Loompa said:

But at least I know what a woman is.

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So you assume. I know a couple who would fool you.

-- A2SG, and not all of them are actually trans....

RainySunflower said:

Again , fair point , you raise a valid point in your post. Hmmmm .... I don't have a proper 100% correct answer on that one. But I believe in this whole ... spiritual warfare stuff , so I think you-know-who uses some tactics to like , keep us distracted from keeping our eyes on God .... So I think it is all about spiritual warfare and who wins most souls in the end .... So it's like dirty tactics in football.

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Thankfully, our salvation doesn't depend at all on what we believe about the shape of the earth. "What must I do to be saved?" asked the jailer at Philippi. The apostles replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." They didn't say, "Make sure you believe the right thing about the earth's shape." What one believes about the shape of the earth makes absolutely no difference to one's spiritual state.

Is there something in the text here that references Daniel 2? I'm more interested in how John merges bits of the other beasts into one uber-beast. It's saying Rome is more powerful than all the previous empires. But it's also very universal in appeal - as in - this is Rome - but it could be any government that threatens God's people.

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The ten horns are the ten toes. The connection between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 is explicit. Revelation 13 references it directly. Daniel 7 shows that the ten horns would come after the fourth beast. The fourth beast was the Roman Republic (W). It became the Roman Empire when it conquered Egypt (S), Anatolia (N), and Syria (E). In this way, the ten horns are an empire stretching over the entire world.

You sound like a reasonable person committed to reading God's word in context, and with reference to sensible theology. (And not just playing subjective "pin-the-tail-on-the-anti-Christ" like others here.)

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I appreciate that! I'd rather not look outside the context of the original audience. Unfortunately, silence is rare in my life. If I can read it instead of watching it, it would be easier to flex to those rare moments.

Absolutely. Wasn't there a new tribune installed at some point, and people required to turn up and swear allegiance?

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There was. It began in 250 with the Decian Persecution, but it wasn't specifically targeted at Christians like the Diocletian Persecution was in 303. Speaking of the Diocletian Persecution, it should have been called the Galerian Persecution because Galerius was the main antagonist. Diocletian set up a tetrarchy in attempt to stabilize the Roman Empire after the Crises of the Third Century. The Roman Empire was split into East and West, with each having its own Augustus and its own Caesar. The Eastern Empire, with its capital in the Pontic city of Nicomedia, leaned heavily into the imperial cult as a means to restore Roman esprit de corps. Like the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11, the Christians were blamed for the prior crises and were persecuted. The Oracle of Apollo at Didyma told Diocletian that she could not give oracles from Apollo because "the just upon the earth" hindered his prophecies. Galerius insisted persecuting the Christians would enable the oracle to hear Apollos prophecies again. Since imperial cult was so strong in Anatolia, the Eastern Empire was ground zero for Roman Tribune. The Eastern Empire was, as Revelation 13 called it, the beast from the earth. To your original question, the tribune was the image of the beast having a statue of Diocletian presented before the herald.

Across 2000 years? I'm not sure causation is demonstrated - but history certainly rhymes now and then.

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This lends itself to the pattern.

Hmmm - I'm not sure I've seen that as a pattern. The people I read seem to see Revelation as covering a multitude of themes, not necessarily linked in that way? Could you just add the chapters where you see this pattern emerging?

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This is probably the best conversation I have had on this topic. Thanks!

All themes are encompassed in Revelation 1 and 22. These are the inclusio, a parenthetical bracket around all the text within. Revelation 1:6 shows us who the Two Witnesses are. Like Joshua the High Priest and Zerubabbel the governor in Zechariah 4, Christ's blood has made us to be priests and a kingdom. They were called out of Babylon (Zech 2:6, Rev 18:4), the worldly attempt to serve two masters. By keeping the testimony of Jesus and obeying His commands (Rev 1:2, Rev 12:17), they build the Church under constant peril by the enemy, just like when the Edomites assaulted the Jews when they rebuilt Jerusalem's wall in the days of Nehemiah. The lamp stands, fueled by God's Spirit (Rev 1:10, 4:5), continue that mission until Christ returns and every eye sees Him (Rev 1:7, Rev 19:11-18). You can find these themes repeated multiple times throughout Revelation. I think they get missed often because of the mysteries presented in the book that are intended to get the believers to look introspectively and ask themselves who they most identify with. That revelation shows us which message to seven churches in Asia Minor we as a universal church must adhere to. I would definitely like to discuss this further.

Cheers, good chatting with you

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Likewise!

A2SG said:

When you look at someone, the way they dress, style their hair, etc., you're observing how they express their gender. You can assume you know their sex from these things, but you won't really know unless you take a blood test and examine it in a lab.

-- A2SG, sometimes, even genitalia can fool you....

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Again, gender is a made up term to obfuscate reality. What is going on in your brain has nothing to do with the fact that men cannot be women, and women cannot be men, no matter how hare you believe otherwise.

Oompa Loompa said:

Nope. But it is an obvious indicator. No different than if someone identified as an amputee and had a perfectly functional leg cut off.

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Or wants a perfectly functional nose altered. Or wishes to have implants.

Seems to me there are a lot of ways any number of mental health issues can be expressed.

-- A2SG, lot of conflating issues and illnesses here.....

RainySunflower said:

NASA sax at photoshop.

View attachment 373861

View attachment 373862

NASA is also lazy to hire proper people for photoshop.

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So what about all the photos taken by NASA and all the other space agencies before Photoshop came on the market?

Oompa Loompa said:

Yes. It is also found in their DNA. No surgery or self mutilation can change that no matter how delusional a person is.

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No one has said otherwise.

-- A2SG, amazing the variety of strawmen running around this subject....

RainySunflower said:

I don't buy that. That is argument for 3rd grade of elementary school. ^^



Average Joe can't go to Antarctica cause truth would be revealed.

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If he can afford the ticket, the "average Joe" can indeed book a flight over Antarctica:

"30 Years of Antarctica Flights
We have been exploring Antarctica by air since 1994 - that's over 150 flights and 30 years pioneering a land that remains almost entirely undiscovered. Aboard a cruise ship you would only touch the edge of the coast. Aboard our privately chartered plane you will soar over a continent that escapes the boundaries of perception."

That is from the Qantas website: Antarctica Flights from Australia - Antarctica Flights

A2SG said:

Nope. I've used pronouns all my life, and I've yet to worry about biology when I do it.

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Sounds like a personal problem.

A2SG said:

Is that your professional opinion, doctor?

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I already gave it to you.

A2SG said:

Your claim has not been proven in any way whatsoever, least of all through anything I've said.

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Yes it has.

A2SG said:

-- A2SG, four individuals do not a scientific certainty make.....

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But at least I know what a woman is.