Helen: You should pray for people whether they deserve it or not just saying...people need to stop being so selfish and bitter and get some Jesus in their hearts!
Sheila: Everyone is deserving of prayer. It's not our place to decide who is worthy, right? God already decided that we are all worthy.
Helen: Everyone sins, including me. My sins are no better than anyone else's and I never said I didn't sin so I don't know where you get that from. All I said is that everyone deserves prayers and everyone needs prayers.
Permelia:: Oh no you're perfect (sarcasm). Everyone has their own opinions and my opinion is "no not everybody deserves a prayer".
Helen: I'm not perfect at all. No one is. Well I read the Bible and it says everyone deserves prayer. So sorry for TRYING to be a good a person. And I want good for all people.
Lacy: John 8:7b " He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." That doesn't mean that we condone sin, but that we need to examine ourselves! When I do that, I'm humbled and beg for mercy! With contrition comes forgiveness.
Permelia: Just because you read the Bible doesn't always make you a good person. look I got my opinion you got your opinion and that's the only thing I can say.
Helen: I didn't say that I was a good person but at least I try my best to be generous, kind, caring and forgiving to others.
Lacy: Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour (others) as thyself.
Permelia: Ok people, we were taught to believe in the bible, but we were also taught the sky was blue we are a product of what we was taught.
Lacy: Permelia.. I don't know you, but we are so much more than a conglomeration of teachings, but all truth is taught as you say. We are blessed that we were taught truth in the western world. That was no accident! Christians were told to go out into the world and teach! Our early church fathers were witnesses to miracles and death defeated and as a consequence, risked their lives to spread the teachings of Jesus. Any teaching is by faith and it's simple to be joyful and at peace just by believing and accepting. Christians are happy because we don't worry about eternity! I compliment you for standing up for what you believe, but belief is best formed when a person allows knowledge to soak in. What I thought years ago was so silly. With study, it all comes together! Whatever your belief, we're all into this together and together we must be!(It is to be noted that Permelia had self-deleted name-calling and judgmental statements. That in itself shows that she learned from this conversation. She is to be commended for re-evaluating statements made rashly. That's a sign of listening and learning.)
The statement which I want to address is what Permelia said last: ...we were taught to believe in the bible, but we were also taught the sky was blue we are a product of what we was taught."
In short we are what we're taught. There is a philosophical term for this. It's called "Zeitgeist". "We are a product of our times." and since that thought is primarily education, it can be called "We are what we're taught." Georg Hegel referred to it as "we are a spirit of our times." Regardless, Permelia implied just that! She had no knowledge from whence her thought came, but she believed it anyhow! That's naive and dangerous!
Let's look at us being taught "the sky is blue" which Permelia used to support her doubt of Bible credence. She believes the sky is blue and you probably do too! Never... no, never; believe what you're taught without question!
Firstly, let's look at a simple light bulb. It gives off light which is white, does it not? No, it just appears white. It's really the full spectrum of colors when viewed at once "appears" to be white!
The sky contains air. Red, orange and yellow light is not effected by air. Darker colors are. Their frequency and wavelength are scattered. What we see is all colors of light less red, orange and yellow. Although we see many colors, what we perceive is blue. The sky only "appears" to be blue. In fact as our view gets closer to the horizon, if we look closely, the sky "appears" to be white. When the sun is setting, the reddish colors are prominent and the sky "appears" to be red.
Yes, we are taught that the sky is blue! We are taught a lie. The sky contains all colors! The sky only "appears" to be blue and in fact the sky has different colors at different times depending on the angle of the sun, the time of day, the atmospheric pressure, the temperature, the angle of view, and the relationship of the sun to the atmosphere and to the viewer. We perceive the sky to be blue because we have seen it appear that way so many times and that was crammed into our tender little brains at an early age! What we were taught as "truth" was only an illusion. We were convinced the sky is blue because of what we're taught and it seems to agree with what we see.
The "appearance" of truth appears many places. I bet most of us were taught that slavery was the reason for the Civil War and that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves! That's the perception we get from historians. We want to believe that because in our eyes, that's "good"! First off, there has never been a Civil War in the United States! "The War of Southern Independence" is not two peoples of the same country fighting. The South had formed a new country called The Confederate States of America.
Unjust tariffs were the cause of the war, whatever we call it. The southern states were being treated as inferior states and they didn't like that! Lincoln made the was about slavery by issuing the Proclamation. Many in the north refused to fight against slavery although they had fought valiantly for the Union.
Furthermore, The Emancipation Proclamation never freed any slave under the jurisdiction of the U.S. and was invalid in another country; the Confederate States. That's right; Lincoln never freed one slave with that document. It was a ruse for English support for the Union which had been dwindling and to change the definition of the war.
Not only is the sky not blue, but historians have lied to us about the past! That's because the victor writes history. Rather than being truthful, they write of perceived truth, the war as they wanted it to be! History has the "appearance" of truth, but is not fully truth. It's tainted by those who taught us and by our preconceived notions; it's what we want it to be!
From science and history we move to religion. The Bible teaches timeless truths. Some fail to appreciate what the Bible teaches, so understanding is tainted by bias and false teaching. What's left is the "appearance" of truth. However, scripture defines itself as "god-breathed". Accepting that requires faith. According to the Word of God, religion is all about faith. We believe that what we read is truth and is straight from God. For that reason, if we desire truth, we read scripture, not what others write about scripture!
I write a blog most days including this instant one. Should you accept this as truth? I'm honest about what I write. From day one my blog has as a sidebar and still does, the following confession:
"WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TRUTH
Tired of spin? Want something other than "Multiple Choice Christianity? Try biblical Truth, at least the way God leads me to see it. "My attempt is not to fool nor deceive. It's to lead others to seek truth themselves. I might be wrong at times, but false information is not my intent. My strategy is to have people study what I say and consider it under the watchful eye of scripture. Whenever, I'm wrong the reader comes out ahead. By proving me wrong, that person has found truth. The Bible is truth. What I write is perceived truth and has the appearance of truth. However, I'm smart enough to know that God is infinitely smarter than I am!
Permelia says in the conversation above that she has her opinion and others have theirs. That's true! However, we need to look at knowledgeable opinions vs. emotional opinions. Truth cannot be "felt". Truth is not an emotion, but many treat it as such. Truth is when "whatever" agrees with reality. Believing the sky is blue is not truth because it's not. It's a partial truth since blue is only one of the thousands of colors we see in the sky. Intelligent people should never accept that the sky is blue because the truth is, it's not!
Opinion then is an expression of ignorance unless it's supported by truth. Ignorant people always have an opinion, but it's usually based on falsehoods perceived as truth. I accept scripture (and Jesus) by faith because it has never been proven to err. Likewise, prophets of old foretold the events of what's now history and never erred. The writers of scripture had no hidden agenda. The writers were inspired to write fact regardless of whether it made a favorable light or not! Truth was not concealed. All of our human traits are openly displayed in the Bible, even among the righteous in times of old.
I accept scripture as truth, not only because I was taught it, but because I've studied it myself. I've questioned scripture and it's internally consistent, unbiased toward it's teachings and favors the redemption of all people, even tyrants as Paul was! Scripture teaches organization, regulation, history, poetry, love stories, prophecy, law and prophecy. In all these areas the concept of love is embedded everywhere! How can I NOT believe a book that teaches love and understanding?
Then along comes man (and woman) and reasons out of truth with emotion. Fact is replaced by opinion! Those who are emotionally enslaved to deception fail to accept truth. Humbly admitting that on a global scale, I'm (or you are) really stupid if we don't at least look at what God says. It's likely that if one reads scripture (New Testament first) from cover to cover, change will occur! Either they'll reject God and be atheists because pride stands in the way, or accept scripture and become New Persons. They'll see how silly their opinions really are if those opinions are without spiritual enlightenment!
Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..."Yes, we Christians believe what we've been taught! That's a good thing. It wasn't an accident, but was commanded of God. What we believe right now is Zeitgeist. We are a product of our times... what we've been taught. And blessed we are! Our eternal salvation has been made readily available if we only believe! What if we'd been as the eunuch who failed to understand what he was read:
Acts 8:30 "And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.The eunuch was then taught what he should believe. He learned from Philip who told him truth... the truth about Jesus and salvation! Yes, we do believe what we've been taught. That's why Jesus told us to teach all nations! For my sake and my eternity I'm glad that I was taught and truth is what I was taught!
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