• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Search results

  1. ViaCrucis

    Wes Huff unpacks mark of the beast, claims number might not be 666

    The variant reading of 616 vs 666 is incredibly ancient, St. Irenaeus actually talks about this in his writings only ~100 years after the Revelation was written. Irenaeus argues that the 616 variant is wrong. I think that the fact that both are ancient (I'm not about to claim dogmatically...
  2. ViaCrucis

    What do all Christian denominations agree with?

    Jesus died for our sins, and by the grace of God we are saved because of what Jesus has done for us. -CryptoLutheran
  3. ViaCrucis

    What is your opinion? - The intended readership of Hebrews.

    I think the most immediate and right-in-our-face answer is Jewish Christians. A more nuances answer is that it probably is addressed to Jewish Christians who are dealing with persecution for being Christians (Rome, generally, at least before 70 AD, tolerated Judaism; but when Christianity began...
  4. ViaCrucis

    New belief among teenagers. What do you think?

    This. I'm friends with plenty of people with dyed hair and piercings--while I've never really dyed my hair other than dying it black a couple times when I was younger (in HS I tried to bleach my hair, which in the late 90s was super in fashion, the result was bright orange deep fried hair, so I...
  5. ViaCrucis

    What did Jesus mean by "night is coming"?

    People don't work during the night, one has to wait until it is daylight to work. When Jesus ascended to the Father His earthly ministry was finished, and so He no longer worked personally/incarnately as He did while He was here on earth. TL;DR version: Night = after Jesus' earthly ministry is...
  6. ViaCrucis

    What did Jesus mean by "night is coming"?

    It does appear to be speaking about the brief window of time of His earthly ministry. The context--the healing of the blind man--suggests to me that the window of what Jesus is doing in His earthly ministry is short. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus will identify His Church (a la His disciples)...
  7. ViaCrucis

    Child sacrifice, a transgression/ God sacrifices his only begotten

    I am reminded of Dr. Luther's sermon wherein he says, "He who sees God as angry, does not see God rightly; but is as a dark storm cloud has covered His face" We need to be very careful when talking about God's wrath. Wrath is what I behold when I see God hidden behind the dark storm cloud of His...
  8. ViaCrucis

    Child sacrifice, a transgression/ God sacrifices his only begotten

    You're right, Penal Substitution Theory is a form of Satisfaction Theory. I distinguish them in my post because while Penal Substitution is a form of Satisfaction Theory, Satisfaction Theory is not Penal Substitution Theory. Penal Substitution is sufficiently different than classical...
  9. ViaCrucis

    AI thinks aliens have occupied Earth

    AI can't believe, because AI can't think or reason, AI isn't alive. -CryptoLutheran
  10. ViaCrucis

    AI thinks aliens have occupied Earth

    No. No it does not. -CryptoLutheran
  11. ViaCrucis

    New belief among teenagers. What do you think?

    Incredibly serious. The Smurfs were a major target of Satanic Panic profiteers, and I was banned from watching it by my parents (I usually ended up watching Saturday morning cartoons at my grandparents, and they were far less strict about it). Later on as an adult I had a conversation about my...
  12. ViaCrucis

    New belief among teenagers. What do you think?

    That's just good old fashioned scare-mongering. In the 80s when I was a kid, it was all the stories about poison in candy and razor blades in cans of Pepsi, and all the teenagers becoming involved in Satanic cults by playing D&D or watching the Smurfs. When I was in high school and the Harry...
  13. ViaCrucis

    New belief among teenagers. What do you think?

    This. I've been hearing about this "widespread trend" since at least the mid-late 2000s. And the fear/angst/anger in response to it always seems incredibly disproportionate to the reality on the ground. Are there people who engage in what I'd view as weird subcultures? Sure. I saw a couple...
  14. ViaCrucis

    Anyone have good arguments against Calvinism.

    In my own experience, that also tends to be how I view Amillennialism. Amillennialism is hardly monolithic; it is a recognition or belief that the Millennium isn't literal (given the nature of St. John's Revelation in its own context), and thus the Millennium can't be hermeneutical framework...
  15. ViaCrucis

    Can ChatGPT interpret speaking in tongues?

    My experience is somewhat opposite. The majority of my youth was spent while my family was part of the local Foursquare Church. As such Pentecostalism was a defining feature of my Christian experience. When I was twelve years old, I wasn't being Confirmed, instead a traveling evangelist came...
  16. ViaCrucis

    Anyone have good arguments against Calvinism.

    I'll freely admit that my knowledge of Post-Millennialism is lacking. Most of my experiences have tended to be with Dominionist sorts, which I know does not define Post-Millennialism; but that is the form of Post-Millennialism with which I have encountered most frequently; and as such while I...
  17. ViaCrucis

    Anyone have good arguments against Calvinism.

    In the years since, this has become a criticism of mine toward Calvinism. While I didn't grow up Calvinist/Reformed, my early years were shaped by the sort of quasi-Calvinism or the Calvinist-Arminian blend that defines much of the American Evangelical landscape. As such I grew up believing...
  18. ViaCrucis

    Anyone have good arguments against Calvinism.

    You'd be mistaken in your understanding then. Amillennialists and Partial Preterists alike would, on the whole, understand that the world does not get better until the Eschaton; but that things get progressively worse. Only the Post-millennial view provides a possible framework of cosmic...
  19. ViaCrucis

    Can ChatGPT interpret speaking in tongues?

    Across cultures, religions, and spiritual traditions there are several examples of what can be broadly called "ecstatic speech". For example in Kundalini Yoga, or in various shamanistic traditions where an individual is believed to be possessed by a powerful spirit or spiritual force. Far from...
  20. ViaCrucis

    Anyone have good arguments against Calvinism.

    I've often shared my story of having been raised in a tradition that focused on an individual, personal, sincere effort to get saved that led me to a very dark place spiritually. My struggle was whether I had "meant it" when I "asked Jesus into my heart"; and so found myself in a state of...
Top Bottom