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XrxrX · 2025-07-15T03:06:13-0500

The Liturgist said:
Such heresies do not exist - what you don’t seem to understand is the moment someone starts a heresy (which literally means sect or cult), they have founded a different religion, an alien religion, and have ceased to be Church Fathers, for they have anathematized themselves by preaching another Gospel according to Galatians 1:8-9.

Thus, the moment Arius denied that Christ was God incarnate, the uncreated and only begotten Son of God, of one essence with the Father, begotten of the Father in eternity before all ages, Arius cut himself off from the church and became the heresiarch of a new counterfeit religion, like Mormonism and J/Ws of today.

And here you have the rift between Protestant and Catholic.. which makes it quite difficult for either "side" to be charitable. A tragedy indeed.

Pommer · 2025-07-15T03:04:42-0500

Valletta said:
Such an act can result in assault charges. Everyone should have respect for those who uphold the law. Delaying officers can stop someone who needs help from getting the assistance they need.

We agree that what the professor did was probably a(n) (alleged) crime…what I question was that someone instigated him to do so.

Pommer · 2025-07-15T03:02:28-0500

Valletta said:
I don't mind answering occasional questions.

::shrug:: it’s your thread, take it where you’d like it to go, I suppose.

Apple Sky · 2025-07-15T02:49:32-0500

Strong in Him said:
Believe what you like. But if your only evidence is other people's videos from YouTube and you dismiss scientific facts without, yourself, knowing any science or offering any alternative,

Most of my evidence comes from the Bible, as I've said before most of the verses in Scripture contradict a rotating globe orbiting the sun.

FireDragon76 · 2025-07-15T02:46:59-0500

RDKirk said:
Nature weeds out the genetic results of those who are not sexual males or females in the human reproductive cycle.

That's an oversimplification of the biological reality. In lots of biological systems, non-reproducing organisms contribute to life's flourishing, even to the flourishing of close kin.

I would argue modern science doesn't support a crude essentialist, static notion of nature. And the patristic, early Christian anthropology doesn't necessarily, either. In fact, the universe observed by modern science is much better reconciled with patristic categories, expressed in theologians like Gregory of Nyssa or Maximos the Confessor, than later Latin Medieval thought rooted in Aristotle.

rockytopva · 2025-07-15T02:38:02-0500

RileyG said:
(posting in fellowship)

Most of the Eastern European countries, and Orthodox countries haven't legalized same-sex marriage or bowed down to their agenda....with the exception of Greece making it legal last year (hopefully it will get overturned).

Maybe God is protecting the Orthodox countries in that right, eh?

It seems Western Europe is very, very secularized.

FWIW, I'm Roman Catholic, and many so-called "Catholic countries" have (sadly) legalized SS"M" and abortion. ugh

I used to go to a Methodist camp meeting that increasingly became more secularized. They got a seasoned leader to speak last year. He recalled a man of the area who had a very unique laugh. He said he was at a funeral home and you could here the man laughing from the other side of the building. The point of his sermon was that, Hey! We all know the Methodist church has got problems, and the solution is that we all need to laugh over them! After listening to all of that I was like... "Ugh!" I went to Pentecostal Holiness church camp meeting this year and the song leaders were in short sleeve shirts, shorts, and flip flops. This is not the camp meeting I attended decades ago and nothing I would want to share on YouTube.

I have looked into the Orthodox church, whose nearest congregation is like 50 miles away. On their web site reads... Orthodox Church dress code is what you might call your "Sunday Best." Women usually wear skirts or dresses, men wear long pants and collared shirts.

The fact that they have a dress code for me is more incentive to go.

David Lamb · 2025-07-15T02:35:59-0500

FutureAndAHope said:
The fact is God does not draw everyone to Himself in a saving sense. But He does give everyone the chance to be saved.

Rom 1:18-22 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

Yet Jesus said:

““No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Joh 6:44 NKJV)

So how can God give everybody the chance to be saved if, as you agree, He does not draw everyone in a saving sense?

Pommer · 2025-07-15T02:33:21-0500

A2SG said:
Surely you meant your "inner pedant."

-- A2SG, my inner pedant had to speak up on that one....

I conform to Skitt’s Law whenever possible.

Pommer · 2025-07-15T02:32:21-0500

Valletta said:
I think at this point I think there should be civil lawsuits against the mayor of Los Angeles and others who call for the violence.

GoldenBoy89 said:
lol. Nobody has called for violence. Please quote the mayor.

Valletta said:
It's evolving into a situation similar to the Confederacy, where states did not want to be subject to federal law or authority.

GoldenBoy89 said:
Not sure what that has to do with anything. When and how did the mayor call for violence against any LEOs? Quote her words.

Valletta said:
You quote her.

Odd exchange…so what did the mayor say that was interpreted by anyone to be calling for violence?

David Lamb · 2025-07-15T02:31:58-0500

DarylFawcett said:
I am one that believes that the Bible doesn't contradict itself, therefore, how should we understand the following verse?

James 2:20 "But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

I believe that Ephesians 2:8-10 makes it clearer:

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:8-10 NKJV)

That clarifies that good works don't save us, but that once we are saved by God's grace, the reality of our salvation should show itself in the good works that God has prepared for us to walk (conduct ourselves) in.

David Lamb · 2025-07-15T02:23:12-0500

RileyG said:
It does actually. Per the scripture, 1 Corinthians 15 mentions purgatory in Greek. And it mentions fire, rewards etc

Where does 1 Corinthians 15 mention purgatory in Greek? There are 58 verses in that chapter - which verse are you thinking of? Thanks.

Bob Crowley · 2025-07-15T02:17:32-0500

I used to think the "Fourth Estate" was a French revolutionary term, but it was apparently Edmond Burke who coined the term in a British parliamentary debate in 1771. The historian Thomas Carlyle picked it up and was most likely the person who started the etymological trend.

Fourth Estate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Etymology

Oxford English Dictionary attributes, ("without confirmation") the origin of the term to Edmund Burke, who may have used it in a British parliamentary debate of 19–20 February 1771, on the opening up of press reporting of the House of Commons of Great Britain. Historian Thomas Carlyle reported the phrase in his account of the night's proceedings, published in 1840, attributing it to Burke.[5][6][7]

The press

Since 1803 in the British House of Commons places in the public gallery (top left) have been reserved for journalists[8]
In modern use, the term is applied to the press,[5] with the earliest use in this sense described by Thomas Carlyle in his book On Heroes and Hero Worship (1840): "Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all."

The Wikipedia article stated there is now a "fifth estate", such that A Fifth Estate, while not recognized in the same way as the first four, includes bloggers, social media influencers, and other online platforms that can influence public discourse and politics independently of traditional media.[2][3][4]

These days the "Fifth estate" seems to have a lot of influence, for good or bad. One of the problems faced by the fourth estate, the established press and news outlets, is the fact they pay to create their news, whereas the fourth estate often uses and misuses news sources with abandon and doesn't have to pay for it.

As for a prophetic role for the fourth and fifth estates, I'm a bit of a cynic. I happened to be watching a movie the other night and there was a brief scene where the camera panned over a river in an American city. Down on the river bank a handful of anonymous anglers were fishing, just doing one of those ordinary human things that we all do every day. As I reflected briefly on the scene, I wondered what the real "news" would be in God's eyes - the hoi polloi making their plans to run everybody else's lives, or the reality of the ordinary banal lives of most of us?

Is God more interested in the politics of Trump, Putin and Zelensky or the ordinary people being killed and wounded by the war for example? I think the latter, but that is not what the media will focus on.

Larniavc · 2025-07-15T02:09:06-0500

Always in His Presence said:
Complete fabrication. The EU is embracing President Trump and openly applauding his leadership

Bwahahahahaha! Nobody ‘likes’ Trump. It’s about ‘giving the baby its bottle (to coin a phrase) until the America has another go at choosing leader.

Three years and back to normal (hopefully).

XrxrX · 2025-07-15T02:08:59-0500

Guojing said:
You can call it fulfillment instead of replacement theology if you want, but the meaning is the same.

I don't need to call it either, I can call it what it is.. The Church. It's 2+2=4, not "5". The Jews who believed on Christ WERE the Church, they didn't start a "new religion" which is the slander leveled by those that call Christians "idolaters". So, if they didn't start a new religion.. then who and what were they? Who were the unbelievers that did Not follow the Prophet unto like Moses that they were COMMANDED to? Did they remain "the Israel of God" when they abandoned their own religion? You know well they did not. "IF... you obey My Word.. you will be..". They did not, and so.. are not.

Tom8907 · 2025-07-15T02:00:58-0500

I always remember reading his 'Grace to you' devotionals online and listening to his 'word for today' as a new Christian.

Bob Crowley · 2025-07-15T01:55:23-0500

I knew that former American slaves had been part of the formation of Liberia, although they were always a small minority compared to the indigenous population.

It's had a painful history and one of the ironies is that the former slaves set up their own cultural elite and suppressed the indigenous people. They took the same attitudes to Liberia that had oppressed them in the USA

History of Liberia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Americo-Liberian rule (1847–1980)

Between 1847 and 1980, the state of Liberia was dominated by the small minority of African-American colonists and their descendants, known collectively as Americo-Liberians. The Americo-Liberian minority, many of whom were mixed-race African Americans, viewed the native majority as "racially" inferior to themselves and treated them much the same as white Americans had treated them. To avoid "racial" contamination, the Americo-Liberians practiced endogamous marriage.[citation needed] For over a century the indigenous population of the country was denied the right to vote or participate significantly in the running of the country. The Americo-Liberians consolidated power amongst themselves. They, but not the natives, received financial support from supporters in the United States. They established plantations and businesses, and were generally richer than the indigenous people of Liberia, exercising overwhelming political power.[29]

David Lamb · 2025-07-15T01:52:56-0500

boughtwithaprice said:
If you think about it. All the reasons given for not including the deuterocanonical books are excuses of human reason. In Jesus day, the scriptures were the Septuagint which included the deuterocanonical books.

Yet Jesus and the New Testament (human) writers quoted most if not all the 39 books of the Old Testament, not the Apocryphal books. The Septuagint was a translation, not the original Old Testament, and it cannot have originally have included the Apocrypha because it was translated between 250-132 BC, but the Apocrypha dates from 180 to 100 BC. Why some later edition of the Septuagint included apocryphal books, I don't know. The original Hebrew Old Testament didn't have them.

boughtwithaprice said:
The Jews removed them because they would be hard pressed to deny Jesus if they were included. It is not fitting for a believing Christian to allow a non believing Jew what is and what is not scripture.

Yet there is plenty in the 39 Old Testament books that teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ. They tell where He would be born, that He would be exiled to Egypt, grow up in Nazareth, be crucified with robbers, be buried in a rich man's tomb, bear the sins of His people, and much more. Jesus said to Nicodemus:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” (Joh 3:10 NKJV)

boughtwithaprice said:
Consider a first century Jew reading the second chapter of Wisdom right after they had condemned Jesus to death by the Romans. You can see why they had it removed

The Church included the deuterocanonical books for over 1000 years before Luther. By whose authority did he remove them? It was not a revelation or command from God, but Luther’s own thoughts on his theology. He needed to break from the Church, so he broke scripture to do it. The issue needs more investigation

Here is Wisdom 2

For, not thinking rightly, they said among themselves:*

“Brief and troubled is our lifetime;a

there is no remedy for our dying,

nor is anyone known to have come back from Hades.

2For by mere chance were we born,

and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been;

Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,

and reason a spark from the beating of our hearts,

3And when this is quenched, our body will be ashes

and our spirit will be poured abroad like empty air.b

4Even our name will be forgotten in time,

and no one will recall our deeds.

So our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,

and will be dispersed like a mist

Pursued by the sun’s rays

and overpowered by its heat.

5For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow;

and our dying cannot be deferred

because it is fixed with a seal; and no one returns.c

6Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are here,

and make use of creation with youthful zest.d

7Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes,

and let no springtime blossom pass us by;

8let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.

9Let no meadow be free from our wantonness;

everywhere let us leave tokens of our merriment,

for this is our portion, and this our lot.e

10Let us oppress the righteous poor;

let us neither spare the widow

nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time.f

11But let our strength be our norm of righteousness;

for weakness proves itself useless.

12* Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us;

he opposes our actions,

Reproaches us for transgressions of the law*

and charges us with violations of our training.g

13He professes to have knowledge of God

and styles himself a child of the LORD.h

14To us he is the censure of our thoughts;

merely to see him is a hardship for us,i

15Because his life is not like that of others,

and different are his ways.

16He judges us debased;

he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.

He calls blest the destiny of the righteous

and boasts that God is his Father.j

17Let us see whether his words be true;

let us find out what will happen to him in the end.k

18For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him

and deliver him from the hand of his foes.l

19With violence and torture let us put him to the test

that we may have proof of his gentleness

and try his patience.

20Let us condemn him to a shameful death;

for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”m

21These were their thoughts, but they erred;

for their wickedness blinded them,n

22* And they did not know the hidden counsels of God;

neither did they count on a recompense for holiness

nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.o

23For God formed us to be imperishable;

the image of his own nature he made us.p

24But by the envy* of the devil, death entered the world,

and they who are allied with him experience it.q

Then read the account of Our Lord’s passion in the Gospels. See what the people the scribes and Pharisees and elders said about Jesus.
“So you are the one that was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself why don’t you.” “He saved others, but he cannot save himself.” “If you are the Son of God, come down from that cross, and we will believe you.”

Doesn’t seem like a Jew would be able to tolerate the Book of Wisdom

I have never said that the Apocrypha is entirely evil. There is much in it which is good, but that doesn't make it God's inspired word. An example is Wisdom 3.1-3:

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

Fervent · 2025-07-15T01:45:01-0500

ozso said:
58 thousand out of an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants, means 0.53% of them have been detained. As for the usual anonymous informants, that's 12 out of 8,500 assigned to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Which is 0.14%.

So in summary, 0.53% of unauthorized immigrants have been detained. And 0.14% of ICE enforcement officers say they're worn out.

Kind of shows how useless that approach to enforcement really is, don't it? But it makes for good red meat for the base.

The Barbarian · 2025-07-15T01:30:49-0500

Ignatius the Kiwi said:
The Romans were not sovereign over Jerusalem?

Were the Italians not sovereign over the Vatican prior to the 1930s?

honey badger · 2025-07-15T01:30:47-0500

CoreyD said:
Sounds poetic.

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding (he that heareth the word, and understandeth it not) And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

There must be a present forsakening of the two sons, even down to the one son, or forever be as one who has caught a dog by its ears, a door/bed/rest that turns upon his hinges.… which is a truth relatable to all … bar none … … and in one form, as being one who has not agreed with his adversary … therefore remaining in the wilderness of the/your mind; whose anecdote opens the door; the truth that the cross becomes (in relationship to a soul found) … which becomes the truth of what angel’s become to you …

Their speech betrays those who have been caught up to the third heaven …

those that are not slothful as in slackers or sluggards' as in spiritually lazy ( which is likened to being in a deep sleep ) will see no emotional expression in the above but plain speech without metric ...

FaithT · 2025-07-14T23:42:43-0500

RileyG said:
Can you please pray for my friend Connie who is very ill? Thank you

God bless

I just prayed for her.

Earthbear · 2025-07-14T23:25:42-0500

Leviticus 19:9-10 talks about landowners leaving grapes or grain for the foreigners, the system has some leeway or grace for the poor or disenfranchised.

Some people don't speak well or understand the papers but they will work hard, tirelessly picking crops all day.

Some of the things that ICE are doing are not only very cruel and inhumane but they waste a lot of money, rounding these people up at random Home Depots or farms costs a lot in building detention centers, contracts which can be used for-profit prisons and it is expensive to deal with the legal liabilities of all the people (although some would argue they don't bother) and feeding them while they sit in small cages unproductive human capital.

For me personally I find the problem has to do with class, for the rich (and this is independant of race) we have rich Chinese landowners buying up apartments causing gentrification who don't even live in the US, we somehow believe that if we give the rich huge tax cuts and de-regulation that they would somehow have a proclivity towards extending mercy to the general public but this mindset is the opposite when it comes to poor migrants.

James 2:2-4 says we would discriminate among ourselves and have evil thoughts if we showed favoritism to the rich.

ICE has not only been affecting poor brown people though, rich attractive white Canadian women for example have reported being detained by ICE for trying to establish business, they took her phone, shuffled through her possessions, I think it is creepy and a violation of women as well.

I feel that we are not going down a good path as a country simply because most of the primary fuel for ICE is due to hatred or resentment without realizing it is in fact the rich that are dragging us to court, exploiting us and causing problems (James 2:6)

If the US government had implemented these things fairly and also cared for citizen's rights then I would be more inclined to agree but as it stands now, I see many human rights being eroded by the current administration. Donald Trump in the past has bankrupted casinos at the expense of his shareholders while tacking on his personal debt on top of failing business endeavors. Casinos in theory should be extremely easy to manage, the house always wins.

What I am saying is I really think the country needs a lot of prayer and support, there are a lot of problems in America right now but none of them are too big for God to solve.

FaithT · 2025-07-14T23:25:16-0500

Gnarwhal said:
Yesterday at Mass my priest added a 15-year-old altar server named Sean to our prayers, apparently he was in a bad ATV accident and had to be taken a Level I trauma care center. I don't know the details of his injuries, but father said at Mass it didn't look like he was going to make it. I've been trying to get an update to find out whether he's still with us or not.

Either way, I ask you guys to pray for Sean. If he's passed please pray for the repose of his soul and for peace to be upon his family; if he's still with us we pray for a miraculous recovery.

Thanks everyone.

I just prayed for him.

GodDoesListen55 · 2025-07-14T23:00:04-0500

RileyG said:
Thank you. I appreciate it.

You're very welcome.

Yarddog · 2025-07-14T22:58:14-0500

HARK! said:
What was that?

Leading the perfect life. Dying for those deserving death. Rising from death and sitting down next to the Father.

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Leviticus 19:9-10 talks about landowners leaving grapes or grain for the foreigners, the system has some leeway or grace for the poor or disenfranchised.