• 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.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

B flat B♭

I don't have instagram, nor am I likely to install it, so no explanation unless you are able to put it in your own words.

I'm guessing it is the same stuff that we've already debunked because they choose flights from before we had long range passenger jets capable of flying directly between the Southern continents as they do today, or they don't plot the great circle routes which actually line up to where they had to make emergency landings.

If it isn't then let me know, but I'm waiting specifically for you to answer how flights between Sydney and Santiago are shorter than flights between Sydney and Los Angeles. I'm willing to bet money that your instagram link didn't address that.
Upvote 0

I have a question and I’m confused

Try this more generic form of the question

Using strict rules, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no autonomous subgroups within their membership.

Here we go, the question asked using your preferred phraseology, using a fresh chatGPT 5.1 session:

You said:​

Using strict rules, identify the largest Trinitarian Christian denominations that (1) claim Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine, (2) possess a single global administrative authority, (3) maintain one unified set of binding official doctrines for all members, and (4) contain no autonomous subgroups within their membership.

ChatGPT said:​

Here are the largest Trinitarian Christian bodies that meet the strict rules and also satisfy all four conditions you listed:
  1. a global claim that Scripture is sufficient to test all doctrine,
  2. a single worldwide administrative authority,
  3. one unified set of binding doctrines for all members, and
  4. no autonomous internal subgroups.
I will simply present the denominations that meet those criteria without any reference to the content of the strict rules.

The Salvation Army​

This is the largest denomination that fits all four conditions. It has a single international headquarters, an international leader, and one globally binding doctrinal statement. All territorial structures operate under the international authority rather than as autonomous churches. Its worldwide membership is generally estimated at around 1.5–2 million adherents.

Church of the Nazarene​

This denomination is globally unified under a single Manual, interpreted and enforced by a single General Assembly and a global Board of General Superintendents. Its districts do not possess autonomous doctrinal authority. Worldwide membership is roughly 2.5–3 million.

The Wesleyan Church​

While smaller than the two above, it maintains a single General Conference as its supreme governing body over all regions worldwide, with one binding doctrinal standard. Administrative regions do not function as autonomous sub-churches. Its global membership is approximately 500,000–600,000.

If you would like, I can break down the governance structures, doctrinal unification mechanisms, or membership distributions of these bodies in more detail.

So now, we’re not getting the LCMS, WELS and ELS - which further demonstrates my point. If such a minor change in syntax can cause us to go from three Lutheran churches to three churches associated with the Methodist movement, this is a clear indication of the unreliability of AI for answering this type of question.
Upvote 0

Immigrants Approved for Citizenship ‘Plucked Out’ of Line Moments Before Pledging Allegiance: Report

Hillary was right.
She's becoming less correct every couple of months. Her initial claim of half the basket was right back then, but it sure seems like more than half is the correct approximation, and it's not getting better over time.
  • Agree
Reactions: MarcusGregor
Upvote 0

I have a question and I’m confused

So, why are you telling me this? Take it up with AI. That was its argument, not mine.

Perhaps you now see the pitfalls of using AI as an authority to appeal to. You might think it agrees with you - until it doesn’t, and you might think it’s always right, until it gives you an answer that’s demonstrably false (in the case of the three confessional Lutheran churches it enumerated, I disagree with its reasoning based on my understanding of the meaning of “denomination” and “administration”, but this is precisely the sort of question one should not pose to an AI.

There’s a reason why ChatGPT and all other reputable AIs contain a disclaimer warning that they can make mistakes. Many have provisions in their terms of use prohibiting them from being used in any safety-critical context.
Yeah when I first discovered AI Overview I thought it was so neat. Quick and easy to use. Until the answer wasn’t what I’d been hoping for, so I reworded the question….same question though, and it gave me the answer I wanted. That’s happened many times. I was playing around with it one night deliberately asking questions different ways and saw how unreliable it is.
  • Agree
Reactions: The Liturgist

I have a question and I’m confused

you did not use the same AI

So I gave you a more generic form of the question and it will give you the same results as it did me.

I used chatGPT, the same AI you said you were using.

Then I showed you the question formatted so your own Grok AI can get the same answer as other AIs

I haven’t used Grok since July; after chatGPT upgraded their image generating capabilities and gained the ability to generate photorealistic images of historical figures, there wasn’t a point to paying for two AI subscriptions.

That being said, reformatting the question to try to get the same answer on different platforms is manipulating the results. If all AIs provide the same answer, consistently, which they are not doing in this case, that would be more significant.

But on a clean chatGPT 5.1 setup, my screenshot shows that I obtained different results from you, and proves I was not using Grok.

across different AIs.

Even in the same AI; each time you run the prompt you will get, at a minimum, stylistic differences. This is because LLMs are non-deterministic in their behavior. And they hallucinate.

But with if you take care to format it so AI does not get confused, a consistent answer across AI's is the result.

that's right, even your ChatGPT could master that question giving consistent answers as other AIs for that same form of the question.

I only used chatGPT 5.1, which you had indicated you had used, with both formatting. Same results - same three churches - LCMS, WELS and ELS, in that order.

I posted a verbatim quote as to why chatGPT said it excluded your denomination (not Sola Scriptura).

Now, I should add, I don’t agree with its answer; but I also don’t agree with your question - your methodology is inherently flawed, and by trying to modify the question to get the same results across different AIs, you’re actually negating the ability for different AIs to cross check your results. But the question you posed is not the kind of question one should pose to an AI to begin with, because the question contains subjective terms the meaning of which is disputed, like ‘denomination” “administration” and ”Sola Scriptura.”
Upvote 0

Georgia Man shot at young shopper outside Lowe’s he thought was stealing. He thought he should be rewarded, witness says

“I saw a white male shooting at another person, a Black male,” said Michael Starks, who was in the parking lot when the shooting happened. “He could have hit him in the back, could have killed him, could have had a stray bullet that struck someone else.”

Police say 64-year-old Steven Douglas Wagner pulled a pistol and fired near the garden center around 3 p.m. at the store on Atlanta Highway.

A Lowe’s employee told police the young man had not stolen anything, according to Starks.

Starks called 911 and followed Wagner back into the store and snapped a photo that helped police make an arrest within minutes.

He said Wagner’s demeanor was concerning.

“He honestly thought he did nothing wrong and should have been rewarded for his actions,” Starks said.
Was he delusional nuts or just regular nuts?
Upvote 0

Man acquitted of stabbing by Portland jury — after victim said slur following the attack

AFTER the attack? So... Someone stabs you and you call them a racial slur because well.. you were stabbed... but because of that the assailant gets acquitted??! What in the world!? People are nuts...
The defense claims it was also before the attack. Although it shouldn't matter, the victim was about as unsavory as the stabber (previously convicted of child rape, but the jury would not have heard about this during the trial). According to the article, the victim continued to use the slur while telling the police his side of the story. Juries do judge the victim.
  • Like
Reactions: Delvianna
Upvote 0

Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

We have also been on a Global War on Terrorism since 2001, and these drug smugglers have been designated as terrorists. So now they are no different than ISIS and should be treated as such.
We also had this administration label car keying vandals as “terrorists” just a few months ago so forgive me if I find their designations of terrorism to be sorely lacking.
  • Agree
Reactions: FAITH-IN-HIM
Upvote 0

Why Do Christians Resist the Idea of “Social Justice”? A Theological Question

Yes but the concept of entitlement overrides basic altruism by far. It is the way of mankind. Putting self first started in the Garden and has been pointed out as the failure of both elohim and mankind ever since. A failure worth repenting of.
"A worker is worth his wages" -- Luke 10:7, 1 Timothy 5:18

If they took the job for money, they literally are entitled to be paid.

Sorry, but bringing up your annoyance at the system of low-wage workers needing tips to earn their due is not an example of people feeling entitled to what they have not earned, nor is it an example of the failure of basic altruism.

Find another example.
Upvote 0

Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

During wartime, a combatant is lawfully subject to lethal force wherever the person is found – unless and until the individual offers to surrender. Therefore, only posisitive identification of an enemy target is required to use lethal force.
So you are advocating the execution of drug dealers wherever the person is found. So in Louisiana for example. The authorities can just shoot people if those people are positively identified dealing drugs. You must agree with that. It's literally what you just said.

So do you wanna revise that position or are you going to stick with it? Do you wanna qualify it in some way? Age of the dealer? What he or she is dealing? The amount? Can they blow them up as they transport the drugs? If they shoot down a plane, can they kill any survivors? Is collateral damage acceptable? First time offender? What if it's a businessman?

C'mon, let's tie this down nice and tightly so we know exactly how you want this war on drugs to operate.
  • Agree
Reactions: FAITH-IN-HIM
Upvote 0

Asking AI to explain Sunday observance when NT has no such command

True. Acts 20 does not say it is forbidden to break bread on Tuesday or Sunday or Thursday.

But the opening post is about the popular idea that Sunday is supposed to be the weekly day , holy day, of worship as if the NT had called for it
Well you're right, it's a tradition, it's not a command found in the Bible
Upvote 0

Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

As I mentioned in another post, the power granted by Congress to the President to designate enemy combatants applies only to terrorism. This authority does not extend to narcotics or other offenses. If the President of the United States wishes to label a drug trafficker as an enemy combatant, he must first seek approval from Congress to broaden the scope of the enemy combatant parameters.
I believe that the argument goes that they are designated as terrorists because they are terrorists. They are running drugs as an act of terrorism.
They are not just a criminal cartel running drugs for money, they are terrorists smuggling poison into the country. And having made that designation, it allows Trump to do just about anything he feels like. Including, he thinks, land operations against these terrorists in Venezuela, a country whose regime he would like to topple. Just by coincidence, of course.
  • Like
Reactions: FAITH-IN-HIM
Upvote 0

Asking AI to explain Sunday observance when NT has no such command

Ha
1. Acts 20:7 does not say they met every Sunday. Rather it is an account of one meeting on one Sunday
2. Acts 20:7 calls the day "week day 1" not "the Lord's day"
3. Acts 20 does not tell the reader that week day one is a holy day, or rest day.
4. They came to break bread on week day 1 because Paul would be leaving the next day. If they were meeting every week day 1 then they would meet no matter who had travel plans for the next day. The reason they are having communion on week day one, according to the text, is that Paul would be leaving the next day.
5. The meeting is on both Sunday and Monday since at sunset on Sunday it flips over to Monday in Bible models of time reckoning, which cant be a basis for making either Monday or Sunday a weekly day of worship
Having communion on Sunday is not forbidden
Upvote 0

Filter

Forum statistics

Threads
5,879,408
Messages
65,433,572
Members
276,440
Latest member
Raising Wild Saints