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  • 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.

Netflix's promotion of LGBT themes, sexual preferences in kids' shows 'pervasive': report

At least 41% of G-rated series and 41% of TV-Y7-rated series on Netflix feature LGBT content, including trans-identifying characters and same-sex couples, according to a new study.

The new report, "LGBTQ Messaging Pervasive In Netflix Children's Programming," compiles references to LGBT-related messages and storylines across 326 Netflix shows aimed at children.

The study, released by the Washington-based Christian conservative advocacy group Concerned Women for America, analyzed licensed and original shows on the streaming platform, with ratings ranging from TV-G, TV-Y or TV-Y7.

The study, released by the Washington-based Christian conservative advocacy group Concerned Women for America, analyzed licensed and original shows on the streaming platform, with ratings ranging from TV-G, TV-Y or TV-Y7.

"Netflix's anti-child, anti-family agenda has finally been exposed — its children's programming has been infiltrated by adult preoccupations with sexual preferences and gender identity," CWA President and CEO Penny Nance said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

Continued below.

DEI is 'primary vehicle' for antisemitism, watchdog group warns

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has become a “primary vehicle” for antisemitism in American academia, according to a watchdog group that released a report finding 58% of Jewish students reported experiencing antisemitism on campus, yet only 12% felt the incidents were properly investigated.

StopAntisemitism, a watchdog group dedicated to documenting violent incidents and hostile acts against Jews, evaluated 90 academic institutions as part of its “2025 Antisemitism on U.S. College & University Campuses” report.

”Even since the recent Gaza ceasefire agreement, antisemitism remains loud, bold, and unchecked, revealing that none of this is about Israel but instead it is about Jew-hatred, plain and simple," the report declared. "Coordinated protests, ideological harassment, and institutional apathy continue to endanger Jewish students."

According to a nationwide survey of Jewish students enrolled at these schools, 39% hid their Jewish identity, and 62% said they were directly blamed for Israel’s actions. Sixty-five percent of Jewish students reported that they felt unwelcome in certain spaces on campus, and 39% felt DEI initiatives included Jews.
“These findings confirm the harsh reality that Jewish students are being marginalized in institutions that claim to champion diversity and inclusion but instead amplify division and exclusion,” the report stated. “Their safety and dignity are treated as negotiable and often dismissed entirely.”

Continued below.

Is Colorado’s first “public Christian school” eligible for state funding? State education officials say no. Local officials aren't so sure

Every school where? My personal experience of public school dates back to 1948 and includes attending it, teaching in it and having children in it in five different states. I have never encountered prayer or Bible study in any public school.

In 1981, Russelville Alabama, 5th grade, College Avenue Elementary. A prayer every day over the intercom at 8:15.
This was my indoctrination to Alabama. Didn't see it in any other school before or since.
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What happens spiritually that makes us born again?

Hey bling

I'm not sure what your point of contention is here. Elaborate on it if you have one. Right now I'm only guessing. Yes, all those verses say water baptism. Do you agree that Jesus did and still does baptize with the Holy Spirit in response to a genuine faith, which "places us" in Him, a spiritual "immersion" that makes us one with Him, the Body, the true Church? You'll notice that anything that I wrote that is between "quotation marks" are used in place of the word baptism, because they mean the same thing. Example....
This takes some explanation.

I see in scripture several different “portions” of the Holy Spirit. John talks about Jesus coming

Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Baptism of fire is what?

Luke 12: 49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!

“Baptism of fire” seems to refer to the severe persecution which lots of Christians get to endure, but not every individual Christians will go through a baptism of fire, so will all Christians go through a baptism of the Holy Spirit John is referring to?

Numbers 11: 17 I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.

There are tons of scripture referring to the Holy Spirit, like in Numbers 11 the Spirit can be portioned out.

John 20: 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

John 7:39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Jesus could breathe on the disciples and they received some portion of the Spirit, but the indwelling portion which is always with them (yet can be quenched) had not yet come.

Acts 8: 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 8 seems to be saying the Samaritans were immersed water baptized, but had not received the outwardly visible miraculous powers of the Spirit until the Apostles laid hands on them, so water baptism was around separate from Holy Spirit baptism. This is also seen in Acts 19: 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Acts 19:6 is not a continuation of Acts 19:5 with some translators putting an period or a conjunction between them showing separation. Acts 19:6 is no a description of the baptism, but you might want further study on this.



Acts 10: 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 11: 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

Peter is water Baptizing and the Spirit seems to be Spiritually baptizing these gentiles first. Notice Peter has to go back to Pentecost to get a similar “Baptism of the Spirit” example so it was not regularly happening.

A book could be written on Christian water baptism and the Holy Spirit baptism, which seem to be two different actions.
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Christian water baptism included the Spirit as Paul points out in Acts 19: 1-7. As shown in Acts 8 there was definitely Christian water baptism and only with the apostles laying on of their hands was Holy Spirit baptism given.
My translation: For by one Spirit we were all "placed into" into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

another....

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Not everyone receives a baptism of fire or the Holy Spirit, but all true believers do receive the much more important indwelling Holy Spirit.

Are you seeing obvious miraculous Holy Spirit miracles being performed today that can be scientifically verified (something the Baptism of the Holy Spirit produced in the first century)?
My interpretation: I indeed "immerse" you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will "immerse" you with the Holy Spirit and fire.




Sorry, it sounded to me like you're playing both sides of the fence. So many today are wrongly taught that water baptism is what initiates the Spiritual baptism. If you're being water baptized, you already have faith, and are already spiritually baptized by Jesus with the Holy Spirit before you hit that water. Agree?
I do not limit God/Spirit’s actions, so when a person obtains the power of the indwelling portion of the Holy Spirit is up to Deity and does not have to precede water baptism.
Sorry bling, I disagree. I believe that the water represents God's judgment. That's what the flood was. "In Christ", our Arc, we are protected from that Judgment just like Noah and family were. It's a perfect picture of our Spirit baptism. Not the removal of filth from the flesh is just like saying not water baptism. Just so there was no misunderstanding.
Where the Samaritans in Acts 8, Christian water baptized without being given any miraculous Holy Spirit powers?
Hey bling, the circumcision's comment was just a point of possible interest that I threw in there.

OT water baptism was simply identifying with a persons teachings publicly. That's all it is. A public testimony. That idea carried over to the NT. It pictured outwardly what had already happened inwardly as a result of faith. It identified us with Christ Jesus publicly. Some were baptized only into the name of Jesus because the Holy Spirit and the Father were already understood to be a part of them. The point of contention with the public testimony of these OT believers would have been the name Jesus. Others, found it better to publicly identify with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, since they were never believers in the OT.

OT believers were baptized into the name of the teacher they were under. Remember Paul confronting the Corinthians for arguing about being baptized by Paul or Apollos? It all came from that. The one true baptism is the one BY Jesus with the Holy Spirit. It's a spiritual baptism initiated by faith. Water baptism comes after that fact as a public testimony. Paul even finished by saying that "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel". That would be a very, very odd thing to say if water baptism had anything to do with anything beyond a public testimony.

1 Corinthians 1:12-17 Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

bling, I've seen this with Catholicism before, they are not really doing what they are doing, and not really saying what they are saying. You're language just sounded very familiar to the kind of language that they so often use, hence the "playing both sides of the fence" comment. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Dave
David, you are misunderstanding.

Paul did not want the people he converted and/or physically baptized by him, to boastfully say “I am a Paul follower.”

Paul did not want to physically baptize anyone for the same reasons Jesus did not baptize others.

Was Jesus physically water baptized as an example for us?

Jesus commands His disciples: “19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. We are to baptize them, but if the Holy Spirit is actually baptizing them, how can we follow that command?
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For those who are gamers, how do you handle Christian Ethics vs gaming?

One thing I can tell you, as a long time gamer, is that games made in the 20th century are not very creative.
The creative minds of the past, made, and still make the best games. So, if you want to find a game that's not a bundle of meaningless confusion... The only downside, is that most aren't cheap.
However, there are tons of freeware games out there... I just remembered... most people don't have Windows XP, or Windows 7, so most of those games won't play on a new Windows OS.
This is what I mean by getting left behind.
I wonder about these in terms of an older OS. I have came across these sites in the past but have not played any games off of them yet.

I believe these are all free. They even have Below the Root, an old Commodore 64 game I remember from when I was a kid.
My Abandonware: My Abandonware: because old video games were better

DOS Zone | DOS games in browser DOS Zone is free too. If you want to keep your saves in the cloud, it’s dirt cheap. Like $1 a Month.
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"The Meaning of Foreknew in Romans 8:29"

Hey Dan.

The wheat and the chafe was just an expression that I borrowed from Scripture to make a distinction. People of the OT, believers, thought that they were saved because they were physical Israel. That's who Peter is speaking to in Acts. Physical Israel has wheat and chafe. Spiritual Israel only has wheat. In Acts 2:36, 41 Peter is calling physical Israel to Spiritual Israel by faith in Jesus. Jesus is the the Body of Christ. Only those placed into Him were part of that Spiritual church. That began at Pentecost when the Agent of that placing into was given, the Holy Spirit. Saul died having not received that Promise.

1 Tim 1:16? Did you quote the wrong verse?

Romans 9:6-13 Not all Israel is Israel.

And when. those in Acts 2:36. and in verse 37 what will we do ??

Then in verse 38 , Peter says. , REPENT and be BAPTIZED. for. the name of JESUS CHRIST. and you will receive the gift of. the HOLY SPIRIT

But b. there were only about 3000. souls were added. IN Acts 28:25-28 n. Israel was set aside and ISA 6:1-13 !!

Which SAUL ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT ??

dan p
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KJV

Well, that is a failing in our school system, I guess.
I'm tempted to emulate US writing conventions, circa 1860, in reply, but since I'm not literally taking "pen in hand," perhaps it's best to refrain. Or we could peruse the writings of the deist Thomas Paine, or the naturalist William Bartram or Reverend Johnathan Edwards to get a feel for 18th Century English. I noticed that when our children studied Shakespeare, they and their friends had an excellent grasp of the Bard's writings, and that likely came from familiarity with the KJV.

My point? Whether it's the focus of schools to teach meanings of words and idioms of times past depends on the class. An elementary school teaching reading and writing not so much; the same for introductory history. Once you get beyond that and begin to consult primary sources, then a class would be very much amiss not to address changes in the meaning of words.

All of this is neither here nor there, to borrow from 19th Century US vernacular. This topic is basically a KJV only discussion from the POV of those who see no reason for continued use. Whatever. The stated point of modern translations is the same as those of times past: To make God's Word more accessible. Having grown up with the KJV, I don't find it makes it inaccessible, and meaning by contest is enough to gain understanding of the rather poetic "fetched a compass." That said, for personal use I prefer the NASB, 1995 version. But if someone asked me my opinion of The Message bible vs the KJV, I'd direct them to the KJV. The biggest issue is accuracy of the translation, and the more you get into paraphrase, the more you get into the realm of commentary.

I will mention that I saw the Good News for Modern Man and the first The Living Bible translations, and having scripture in the language of the time doesn't seem to have had much impact on the continued decay of Western society. It's good to be able to more easily understand God's Word, but it doesn't automatically follow that the reader will come under conviction.
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Hidden Error

It is hard to overlook the many doctrinal mis-steps of a few denominations. I will never consider joining any of them. So that is why I am doing my research ahead of time. Even if it has "Baptist" in its name, that doesn't mean it is a good church.
I know what you mean. I kept asking God to guide me to a good Church and He eventually did.
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I hold a view similar to the Open View of God.

Your response is full of logical contradictions.

You take that for axiomatic, just as, I'm guessing, you would take that "the command implies the ability to obey". (—It does not).

True, It does not; however, in that case it requires deception by God to make me believe that i am not already controlled by a fixation in time.

If your choices are decided by God, it does not imply that you do not really choose. In fact, I think it is more obvious, since God is First Cause, that your choices are only real if God "establishes" them. (See the WCF 3.1) That you are not the prime mover in your choices does not deny that you are the immediate cause in your choices.

How can you not see that you are stating every side of the argument at once and completely refuting yourself?

How does it sound to you if I were to say that "if I flicked a light switch on, it does not imply that the electrical current did not really choose to turn the light on. I think it is more obvious, since I flicked the light switch, that the electrical current's choice to turn on the light is only real if I allowed it. That the electrical current is not the prime mover in its choice does not deny that the electrical current is the immediate cause of the light turning on."

The electrical current is indeed the cause, but did it make the choice to be the cause?

False as the day is long. You continue in your notion of man as prime mover in his deeds. You indeed do WILL to do what you do, and that, by what you deem more advantageous or desirous. You choose according to your inclinations.

First you say it is false that man is the prime mover in his deeds, and then immediately afterwards you proclaim it as true in the next two sentences.

Let me try to point out something. God not only has the right and the ability to cause absolutely everything to happen just as it does. But any truth there is to our skewed views (and descriptions) of who chooses what and why the do so does not approach the level at which reality [itself] is caused to exist. Even if you are entirely right in the POV from which you try to describe how choice operates, you must admit that God caused it. That reality did not cause itself, nor did it exist before God showed up "on the scene". Nothing existed before God. He did not "show up".

I am not denying that God caused our reality, but within that reality I believe that God has the ability to give us a choice that is not pre-determined. You claim that God does not have that ability, but through a bunch of word-salad try to explain away the contradictions your position creates.

That believers must and do actually choose Christ is not debated. That we do have real, valid, faith by which we are saved is also not debated. But the source of those things absolutely is at issue here.

Actually, the source of choice is not so much the issue as is whether the choice is real. If God knows our choice before it is made, then it is not really a choice either by God or by us.
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The rise of menace as a mainstream political tool

National Guard member killed in DC shooting laid to rest with honors


A West Virginia National Guard member, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, fatally shot last month in the nation’s capital, was laid to rest with full military honors in a private ceremony. Her funeral took place Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton, Governor Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.​
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Jordan Peterson Health Update: Family Remains Hopeful About Recovery

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Samaritan’s Purse plane hijacked; suspect in custody

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revelation 1-12 happened 70 ad

I pasted what I wrote into chat gpt and it gave me this

Rev 12 commentary

1. THE WOMAN = ISRAEL Revelation 12:1 uses Genesis 37:9–10. Sun = Jacob. Moon = Rachel. Twelve stars = tribes of Israel. Thus the woman = covenant Israel, the Old Covenant people who produced the Messiah, the apostles, and the first Judean Christian remnant.

2. THE MALE CHILD = JESUS Revelation 12:5: Messiah destined to rule (Psalm 2). Family flees to Egypt to escape Herod. Maybe they were gone 3.5 years. Don't know what the Jesus caught up to heaven thing is.


3. THE HERODS = all the different HEADS & HORNS OF THE DRAGON/BEAST Herod the Great — tried to kill infant Jesus (Matthew 2:13–18) Herod Archelaus — avoided by Joseph due to violence (Matthew 2:22) Herod Antipas — killed John (Mark 6), mocked Jesus (Luke 23:7–11) Herod Philip — tetrarch Herod Agrippa I — killed James, imprisoned Peter (Acts 12) Herod Agrippa II — opposed Paul (Acts 25–26), backed Rome Herodian women — Bernice, Drusilla, Salome (Acts 24:24; Josephus) All persecuted Christ and His people. They were the dragon’s earthly instrument.

4. THE WAR IN HEAVEN WAS LITERAL Jesus Himself said: Luke 10:18 — “I saw Satan FALL like lightning from heaven.” John 12:31 — “NOW is the judgment of this world; NOW shall the prince of this world be CAST OUT.” Revelation 12:7–9: Michael defeats Satan; Satan expelled; Satan descends to attack Jerusalem and the Church. Daniel 12:1: “Michael shall stand up… there shall be a time of trouble.” This time = 66–70 AD

5. 1 ENOCH 70-GENERATION PROPHECY 1 Enoch 10: angels bound “for 70 generations, until the day of judgment.” Using Septuagint genealogies: Enoch → 70 generations → Jesus. Thus Jesus arrives precisely when the countdown ends. The war in heaven, Satan’s fall, and Jerusalem’s destruction complete Enoch’s prophecy

6. THE SECOND COMING WAS LITERAL AND VISIBLE IN 70 AD Revelation 1:7 — “Every eye shall SEE Him, even those who pierced Him.” “Those who pierced Him” = the Sanhedrin still alive. Jesus predicted this exact visible event: Matthew 24:30 — “They shall SEE the Son of Man coming in the clouds…” Matthew 16:27 — “The Son of Man will come… WITH HIS ANGELS.

Matthew 26:64 — “YOU will SEE the Son of Man at the right hand of Power, coming in the clouds.” Judeans literally saw Jesus above Jerusalem: — At the right hand of the Father — In the clouds — Surrounded by all the holy angels

7. JOSEPHUS CONFIRMS some SKY SIGNS Wars 6.5.3 (Whiston): “Before sunset, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running among the clouds and surrounding cities." Tacitus said the same, and the same kind of thing was seen when God was judging Jerusalem in 1/2 Maccabees in the 100s BC


8. THE MOURNING OF JUDEA Revelation 1:7 — “All tribes of the LAND will mourn.” Two types: • Terror — those dying in Jerusalem saw Jesus and mourned in horror. • Repentance — Christian Judeans fleeing to Pella saw Jesus and mourned for rejecting Him. Fulfills Zechariah 12:10 — “They shall look upon Me whom they pierced and mourn.”
9. THE WOMAN’S FLIGHT = PELLA Revelation 12:14–16: The Judean Christians are taken out of the promise land on Eagle’s wings), just like God took their ancient ancestors out of Egypt on eagles wings (Exodus 19:4. They had to cross the Jordan to get into the promise land now they are fleeing the old covenant promise land over the Jordan to Pella. The devil tries to flood the Jordan but God swallows the water. Flight to Pella - Wikipedia

10. THE WOES OF JESUS = THE WOES OF REVELATION Matthew 23 — Seven Woes upon Pharisees: “All these things shall come upon THIS generation.” Revelation 8–12 — Three Woes upon Jerusalem, “the city where their Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8). Revelation’s woes = execution of Matthew 23.

11. REVELATION 9 — APOLLYON = TITUS OF LEGIO XV APOLLINARIS Revelation 9:11 — “Apollyon” = Apollo. Titus commanded Legion XV Apollinaris (Apollo’s legion). Locusts = armies (Joel 1–2). Roman siege machinery fits the imagery. Thus: locusts = Roman armies; king = Apollo → Titus.

12. REVELATION 11 — TRAMPLING OF THE TEMPLE Revelation 11:2 — Holy city trampled 42 months = 66–70 AD. Revelation 11:8 — “Where their Lord was crucified” = Jerusalem. Revelation 11:19 — Heavenly ark appears; earthly Temple replaced.

that is the main parts of Rev 1-12 I know. In the first few pages of Rev 1 Jesus said the time is near, soon, at hand, and he tells one church he is coming back in their generation. Rev 1-12 was just Gods judgement on Judea for killing Jesus, the apostles and for all the blood shed in history back to Abel.

Rev 13-22 is future still not until 4400-4500 AD based on 1 Enoch's 10,000 year prophecy
Jesus ben Ananias - Wikipedia sounds like one of the two witnesses but does not match. whoever they were they happened. gospel of nicodemus, history of joseph the carpenter, apocalypse of peter all internally written pre 70 ad, and i believe are inspired said it was going to be enoch and elijah
In your point 6 you claim that Jesus second coming has already happened, however, Rev. 19, which you state that is yet to come, describes the actual second coming of Christ. How do you account for the discrepancy?
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AI search says Adventists are the largest single denomination holding to Sola Scriptura

It knows your bias, it already knows you are an Adventist...that's who AI works.
I did not mention my bias. I never asked for the Adventist church to even be in the list.

The only theological POV I specified was "Sola scriptura testing of doctrine".

If your point is that such a search criteria is just another way to say "select the Adventist denomination" , then I am more than a little bit surprised that you consider this to be a clear selection for "just the Adventist denomination



I am pretty sure that if I had asked the question "which denomination would Dr. Ben Carson, or Ellen White prefer", I would get "Adventist" as the answer but I did not specify that kind of selection criteria
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The Rise and Fall of Liberal Catholicism in the Netherlands

Before Pius IX had restored the episcopal hierarchy in 1853 with the papal bull Ex Qua Die (1853), Catholics in the Netherlands were forbidden by law to publicly manifest their Faith. The Church was reduced to scattered groups, which would secretly gather for Mass celebrated by fugitive priests inside sheds, attics and warehouses.

The Netherlands was left without bishops after the last Vicar Apostolic of the Netherlands signed a notarial act in 1709, resigning from the mission entrusted to him by the Holy See. Thus, many Catholics in the Missio Hollandica were deprived of the sacrament of confirmation.1

Only after the French Revolution, did the status of the Church in the Netherlands improve slightly, whereby Catholics in the nineteenth century started to mobilize against the persecution of the Church.

This fight was initially led by the convert Joachim le Sage ten Broek. In 1818, he founded the monthly magazine De Godsdienstvriend and in 1835 the weekly magazine Catholijke Nederlandse Stemmen. The Catholic leader frequently engaged in polemics with Protestants and also inspired the founding of other Catholic magazines and newspapers in the Netherlands.2

Continued below.

The Saving results of the Death of Christ !

, but the central idea is ability, not the fact of coming itself.
I disagree, it includes the coming. Seems you still leaving room for mans will to seal the deal
I do agree with you when you say "the drawing results in discipleship and fellowship with Christ,"
Doesnt seem like it
but I do not think you can conclude that from "no one can come to me unless drawn." All that "no one can come to me unless drawn" tells us is that the drawing is necessary in order for coming to occur, not sufficient to produce coming.
I disagree, that defeats the need of drawing to Christ, you may as well say man has the freewill to come to Christ
What does entail sufficiency, however, is the final clause, "and I will raise him up on the last day." It is that statement that tells us the one drawn/enabled = the one who actually comes and is raised.
Now that's a contradiction. No disrespect but you seem doubleminded on this matter.
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