tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post5609522756056731060..comments2024-01-24T04:02:06.466-05:00Comments on Why I De-Converted from Evangelical Christianity: Can one be "saved" by just reading the Bible?Ken Pulliamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12161943466797514854noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-5502453007504919212018-12-25T17:28:43.558-05:002018-12-25T17:28:43.558-05:00So I just read that Ken Pulliam died. My prior two...So I just read that Ken Pulliam died. My prior two comments nevertheless are for those who are in the same faithless life that Ken lived in prior to his untimely death.<br /><br />David Larkin<br />Chandler, ArizonaDavid Larkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11327579749826774725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-58601781868142295532018-12-25T17:20:54.997-05:002018-12-25T17:20:54.997-05:00I should add to my previous comment, that one of m...I should add to my previous comment, that one of my Yale classmates, Richard Hays, was saved, first believed, reading the New Testament. He became a New Testament scholar, and a prolific writer. He taught at Duke Divinity School for many years, and was Dean for nearly 10 years. In 2015, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a very deadly cancer. I wondered what happened to him recently, had not read of his death in the alumni magazine, and googled for an obituary, and found instead that he gave his retirement lecture at Duke in September 2018, and announced that he was now apparently cancer free. It is a good lecture, and includes a song his wife wrote 50 years ago, when Richard and his wife read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship. Richard sings and plays the guitar on the song during the lecture. Here is the YouTube link:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W-3IBxEGMs<br /><br />David Larkin<br />Chandler, ArizonaDavid Larkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11327579749826774725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-77986186754449349142018-12-25T16:35:19.209-05:002018-12-25T16:35:19.209-05:00I am sorry to read about your loss of faith, but i...I am sorry to read about your loss of faith, but it seems you did not have saving faith, or you would not have lost it. Grace is a sovereign gift of God. True faith is a permanent gift. As the Scripture tells words of Jeus: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30. You probably know this Scripture. <br />In 1971, I was an agnostic or atheist. I was studying philosophy at Yale. Surprisingly to me, I was saved reading the Bible. I was intrigued by Soren Kierkegaard’s discussion of “faith” and the “knight of faith” in his book Fear and Trembling, and his philosophical characterization of God’s instruction to Abraham to kill his only son, Isaac, as the “teleological suspension of the ethical.” I decided I should look at “faith” as expressed in world religions. I read through Buddhist writings, the Hindu Vedas, Taoism – Lao Tse’s Tao Te Ching, Confucius, all of the Alan Watts books popularizing Eastern religious thought, the drug induced fantasies of Carlos Castenada, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (before he was Baba Ram Dass), and the Koran. I read them all. I threw the I Ching. Nothing seemed to strike me as believable. Having run out of major religions to look at, I decided I should read the Bible to be fair. Starting with Genesis, I read straight through the Old Testament which was not easy. The New Testament Gospels were much easier to read, and suddenly in the midst of the third Gospel, the Gospel of Luke, I believed what I was reading was true. No decision, I just believed, a work of the Holy Spirit as I now know. Jesus found me. I believed He died for my sins and was raised from the dead, and was alive, just as the Bible said. God was a living God. I became a Christian.<br /><br />In 2005, I wrote my Spiritual Memoir. I wanted to make a record of how God worked in my life over the 34 years that I had had a relationship with Jesus Messiah, my Lord and Savior, my salvation experience and the theological and philosophical issues I thought about during those years. In particular, I wanted to record how God had shown himself to me supernaturally as a living God who answers prayers. I had arrived at Yale in 1966 to be scientist, physics and chemistry. I shifted to philosophy, but have always had a respect for science, and an objective view of material reality. I was a blessing to have God reveal Himself and the supernatural realm through circumstances and events. In the second half of my Spiritual Memoir, I distinguish between “small world” events in our lives which do not seem to have any personal spiritual significance, which is followed by an account of how God answered prayer in his supernatural way, revealing Himself to me, beginning in Section VII of my Spiritual Memoir. Here is the link:<br /><br />https://betweentwocities.com/spiritual-memoir/<br /><br />David Larkin<br />Chandler, ArizonaDavid Larkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11327579749826774725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-71434464323632350742017-03-11T19:09:46.964-05:002017-03-11T19:09:46.964-05:00Noah's Ark has been found.Noah's Ark has been found. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17125117033882915618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-12159417927479329622017-03-05T21:53:50.501-05:002017-03-05T21:53:50.501-05:00Nobody Can get saved without a preacher preahing t...Nobody Can get saved without a preacher preahing to them romans 10 14 you cant get saved without a preacherbaseballrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03068148553239720111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-32780160068224245582017-03-05T21:53:43.313-05:002017-03-05T21:53:43.313-05:00Can you get saved without a preacherCan you get saved without a preacherbaseballrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03068148553239720111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-2131746939832393522017-03-05T21:53:27.553-05:002017-03-05T21:53:27.553-05:00Can you get saved without a preacherCan you get saved without a preacherbaseballrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03068148553239720111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-38403851626951975052017-03-05T21:52:29.956-05:002017-03-05T21:52:29.956-05:00Nobody Can get saved without a preacher preahing t...Nobody Can get saved without a preacher preahing to them romans 10 14 you cant get saved without a preacherbaseballrodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03068148553239720111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-90858660210983878432016-12-06T11:29:45.790-05:002016-12-06T11:29:45.790-05:00To PT:
Good going there!To PT:<br />Good going there!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057796638336594579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-42454294577582271412016-12-06T10:59:59.442-05:002016-12-06T10:59:59.442-05:00A caution: Don't call God a liar!
God has plac...A caution: Don't call God a liar!<br />God has placed His Word even above His Name!<br />If one doesn't obey II Tim. 2:15 and correctly understand the Word, it is HIS fault, not God's.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057796638336594579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-36397100293066336332016-12-06T10:54:16.289-05:002016-12-06T10:54:16.289-05:00Let's just face the truth of the matter---
fol...Let's just face the truth of the matter---<br />folk don't study scripture PERIOD!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057796638336594579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-20143408585498695022016-12-06T10:49:20.613-05:002016-12-06T10:49:20.613-05:00Twin's screed reminds me of what those in Hell...Twin's screed reminds me of what those in Hell must have thought many times over,and over, and...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057796638336594579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-23620389267879753482016-12-06T10:41:54.179-05:002016-12-06T10:41:54.179-05:00It seems that no denomination per se has the bible...It seems that no denomination per se has the bible truth on this.<br />To be saved requires belief in what has been revealed to the man(Deut. 29:29). To only believe "there is a God, and to dismiss the revelation of Jesus Christ, will not save!And I am becoming more convinced that believing Acts 2:38 at this late date also is not salvific seeing Paul has the gospel for today.(I Cor. 15:;;1-4)<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08057796638336594579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-65182319544103605522015-10-24T10:50:52.815-04:002015-10-24T10:50:52.815-04:00Thank you!Thank you!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13769308944421169956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-79451717930588973352015-10-24T10:49:58.937-04:002015-10-24T10:49:58.937-04:00Thank you!Thank you!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13769308944421169956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-80573962234966108102011-10-20T21:05:20.855-04:002011-10-20T21:05:20.855-04:00I think we all underestimate the human capacity to...I think we all underestimate the human capacity to rationalize, distort, misrepresent, misinterpret, etc etc. Then we blame God, blame the Bible, pidgeonn-hole and villianize others for pigeon-holing and villianizing. <br /><br />I once saw a 5th grade band attempt Mozart and it sucked. Does that mean Mozart sucked? That logic doesn't work. In the end we are all 5th graders attempting Mozart and I am thankful God gives us more grace than we give each other or him. Because if he gave us a Bible that met your standards we would STILL make a mess of it. But what do I know I don't have a bunch of letters after my name. Peace.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13397333523428199156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-84123359685978068792009-10-22T20:41:29.561-04:002009-10-22T20:41:29.561-04:00Evangelical Christianity is kept alive by though t...Evangelical Christianity is kept alive by though the use of so-called <i>Gospel Tracts</i> which are comparable in the secular world to what legal enforcement agencies call <i>Fishing</i>. <br /><br /><i>Blacks Law Dictionary</i> defines fishing as: <b><i>An attempt, through broad discovery requests or random questions, to elicit information from another party in the hope that something relevant might be found.</i></b><br /><br />Thus, in the criminal world, the enticement (bait) is created by offering a random individual (in a news paper ads or on the internet) a large amount of money should this individual provide his or her private banking information. Once this information is given, the unsuspecting <i>fish</i> is hooked and taken for all they are worth. <br /><br />People fall for this simply because of wanting something for nothing that is <b>built on faith and trust</b>. The criminal sees them as being greedy or sinful and he uses this knowledge to <i>fish</i> with.<br /><br />Likewise, church signs, street preachers along with randomly left <i>Gospel Tracts</i> fish by asking such questions: <i>If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity? </i> This question is a <i>teaser question</i> used to get the individual to <i>.Open Up</i> and call the phone number, printed on the last page of the tract.<br /><br />In both the criminal and religious fishing expositions, the faithful and trusting individuals are taken for their money and given only a false sense of security.<br /><br />In light of the modern legal term (such found <i>Black’s Law Dictionary</i>), <b>it is truly ironic that the term fishing is use by both Jesus and the criminal element as a way to manipulate individual’s faith and trust for only illusionary gains that will cost the unsuspecting large amounts their of time and money in return for only hope.</b>Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-5485206006873622332009-10-20T16:26:31.427-04:002009-10-20T16:26:31.427-04:00Harry,
I like your idea: "In fact, it would ...Harry,<br /><br />I like your idea: "In fact, it would be a great idea for someone to create a blog entitled: What is Christianity? (A Blog to Definitively Define Christianity!) and simply sit back and watch as everyone posting comments attacked everyone else who did not agree with them as non Christian.<br />"<br /><br />I agree wholeheartedly. Christians cannot agree among themselves on even the most central of doctrines and when they argue with one another they often show anything but the "love by which all men will know you are my disciples" that Jesus spoke of.Ken Pulliamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12161943466797514854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-17476300285140429662009-10-20T01:57:43.342-04:002009-10-20T01:57:43.342-04:00Sorry Ken.
I should have posted these comments ...Sorry Ken. <br /><br />I should have posted these comments to the above topic on <i>human sacrifice</i>.<br /><br />HarryHarry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-26667750432670467172009-10-19T22:30:50.359-04:002009-10-19T22:30:50.359-04:00End Notes (to the above):
12. The most authoritat...<b>End Notes (to the above):</b><br /><br />12. The most authoritative work that supports this thesis are the two volumes in The Anchor Bible series by W. H. C. Propp on Exodus (<i>Exodus: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary</i>, New York, Doubleday (now Anchor Yale), Vol. 1, 1999; Vol. 2, 2006). See also the excellent study by William Dever: <i>Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?</i> (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2006). This view is also accept by European scholars: J.C. De Moor, <i>The Rise of Yahwism: The Roots of Israelite Monotheism</i> (Belgium, Leuven University Press, 2 ed. 1997) especially his chapter on The Crisis of Polytheism pp. 41 - 102. Also the major work by John Day: <i>Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan</i> (Sheffield Academic Press, 2000) see his conclusions as to Yahweh having a wife and acting in the same manner as the gods of the Canaanite pantheon in his <i>Conclusion: The Canaanite Gods and Goddesses and the Rise of Monotheism</i>, pp. 226 - 233. <br /><br />13. John Day, <i>God’s Conflict With the Dragon and The Sea: Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament</i> (Cambridge University Press, 1985) especially pp. 1 - 61.<br /><br />14. N. Wyatt, <i>Myths of Power: A Study of Royal Myth and Ideology in Ugaritic and Biblical Tradition</i> (Munster, Ugarit-Verlag, 1996) as the history scholarship for the creation myth is fully discussed in his chapter on <i>The Chaoskampf Myth</i>, pp. 117 - 218.<br /> <br />15. F.M. Cross, <i>The Epic Traditions of Early Israel: Epic Narrative and the Reconstruction of Early Israelite institutions</i> in R.E. Friedman, ed. <i>The Poet and the Historian: Essays in Literary and historical Biblical Criticism</i> (Harvard Semitic Studies 26, Scholars Press, Chico California, 1983) pp. 13-39.<br /><br />16. Susan Ackerman, <i>Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah</i> (Atlanta, Scholars Press, Harvard Semitic Monographs 46, 1992) pp.122 - 123.<br /><br />17. Again see the discussion by Ackerman, <i>Under Every Green Tree</i>, pp.<br />126 - 143. Secondly, Molech is not even discussed in N. Wyatt’s chapter <i>The Religion of Ugarit: An Overview</i> in W.G.E. Watson and N. Wyatt eds., <i>Handbook of Ugaritic Studies</i> (Leiden, EJ Brill, 199) pp.529 - 585. <b>In fact, the Index of Divine Names (843 - 844) has no reference to Molech at all in this massive text of 892 pages.</b> <br /><br />18. As a case in point here, one can see how a revision of the life of King David is refined in the work of the Chronicler. One reason David is such a wonderful king in Israelite history is the strong PR editing readers are fed in the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles, such as in who really killed Goliath (Elhanan 2 Samuel 21:19 or David 1 Chronicles 20: 5 9 (here Elhanan only kills Goliath’s brother Lahmi) or who cause David to number Israel (God 2 Samuel 24:1 or Satan 1 Chronicles 21:1).Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-88466327778539552402009-10-19T22:29:16.426-04:002009-10-19T22:29:16.426-04:00Ken great work!
[Below is my conclusion to a chap...Ken great work!<br /><br />[<i>Below is my conclusion to a chapter I had originally written for John Loftus’ forthcoming book (Unfortunately it will not be included)</i>. <br /><br /><b>Human Sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible</b><br /><br />Conclusion:<br />It is now almost universally accepted among objective scholars of the Hebrew Bible that the so-called Exodus from Egypt never happened based on both archaeology and textual <br />evidence.(12) The fact that the language of the Israelites is a direct descendent of Canaanite Ugaritic in the family of Northwest Semitic along with the Hebrew Bible’s ancient pagan motif of Chaoskampf (<i>the conflict with chaos and creation</i>) has been noted by both Oxford University’s John Day(13) and the University of Edinburgh’s N. Wyatt (14) as the same literary style is also noted by Harvard University’s Frank Cross (15).<br /><br />Although the religious rhetoric from the Deuteronomistic Historians to such prophets as Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel denounce human sacrifice and places it in the context of Israelite apostasy to the Canaanite god Molech, there is little if any textual evidence that the Canaanites ever practiced human sacrifice as noted by Susan Ackerman: “At Ugarit evidence for child sacrifice is surprisingly sparse.” and, after surveying current scholarship of the subject in 1992, she states about the Canaanites: “And even if the correct reading is <i>bkr</i>, the ‘first-born’ referred to could just as easily be animal as human. Again, we must conclude that no certain interpretation is possible.”(16) <br /><br />Plus, the fact that of the 8 verses in the Hebrew Bible which relates a god of human sacrifice to Israel (blamed for its fall 2 Kings 17:17)and Judah (where a sacrificial practice was restricted to areas near Jerusalem) by worshipping a Canaanite god, there is no evidence that <i>mlk</i> is to be vocalized in Ugaritic as <i>Molech</i>.(17) <br /><br />In the final analysis, the Hebrew Bible is the result of an editorial process whereby history is rewritten to reflect perceived Israelite monotheistic orthodoxy and to keep her god (Yahweh) relative to changes in religious traditions. (18)<br /><br />It is my personal view that Yahweh was originally a fringe god of the poor hill country Israelites who was associated with and worshiped by the Canaanites along with the other gods of the Ugaritic pantheon. This entire pantheon of gods (along with the god Yahweh) was originally worshiped by the rich and educated Canaanites of the low country coastal areas. <br /><br />Though not the only god the Israelites worshiped, Yahweh was the Divine Warrior king god who is depicted as leading the Israelites into victorious battles. It was Yahweh who protected the early Israelites in Holy War and, like the Canaanite gods El and Baal, Yahweh could both create and control the weather and fertility for those who served him. <br /><br />But like the pre-Columbian Mayan god in Mel Gibson’s movie Apocalypto, in return Yahweh demanded and received human sacrifice. Though the earliest traditions of this epic are now obscured under layers of redacted material of orthodox religious tradition of the Hebrew Bible, they nevertheless were to remerge once again in the demand for human blood and death in the atonement that Christianity gave to their God (Yahweh) in the theology of the sacrificial slaughter of Jesus.Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-57947121979119499472009-10-19T17:56:28.670-04:002009-10-19T17:56:28.670-04:00Objectively:
If ANYONE who accepts Jesus atoning d...Objectively:<br />If ANYONE who accepts Jesus atoning death is a Christian, then Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Orthodox, along with all Baptist and Protestants, are ALL Christians - all are brothers in Christ. <br /><br />But, based on my own personal conversations with the above (and many more), they not only reject each other, but attack each other and even label other Christian sects / groups as under Satan and, even contorlled by the anti-Christ (as Martian Luther did just this with the Pope). All except the Moonies (The Unification Church) who claim Jesus was given over to be crucified by God because Satan had taken over his body (See the Moonies’ holy book: <i>The Divine Principle</i>).<br /><br />So here now is the problem: Christianity is subjectively defined. Now couple this with freedom of religion, and <b>any personal belief where by a person which has some new doctrine / truth (in a day where heresy can not be enforced), facts now prove that there are now <i>millions of Christianities</i>.</b><br /><br />If you want to have some fun, simple go up to people and ask: Can you tell me what Christianity is? And notice that you will get some vague “It’s a believe in God.” or “It’s a belief in Jesus.” Then follow their answer up with: <i>Well, why did Catholics and Protestants kill each other as heretics?</i><br /><br /><b>Now you’ll find that life long church going Christians don’t real know what Christianity is either!</b><br /><br />Put another way, my point is that if you placed literate non-religious people each one on 500 different islands with only a Bible, <b>you would come up with 500 different Christianities.</b><br /><br />In fact, it would be a great idea for someone to create a blog entitled: <i>What is Christianity? (A Blog to Definitively Define Christianity!)</i> and simply sit back and watch as everyone posting comments attacked everyone else who did not agree with them as non Christian.Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-3668030926987676392009-10-19T17:47:26.463-04:002009-10-19T17:47:26.463-04:00The Bible is like an elderly senile citizen who is...The Bible is like an elderly senile citizen who is usually incoherent and out of touch with reality. <br /><br />However, because of the love of her children (the believers) who are driven on by the denial of reality along with some creative ingenuity (theology), she (the Bible) is lovingly taken by the arm and apologetically helped to shuffle along.Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-7912358639207163892009-10-19T17:43:46.604-04:002009-10-19T17:43:46.604-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Harry H. McCallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08974655354593831851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-882699495059104312.post-79013110907251979662009-10-16T20:43:49.970-04:002009-10-16T20:43:49.970-04:00This is right on the money. Most people seem to re...This is right on the money. Most people seem to receive their basic views about salvation from their family, their teachers, or their friends. Then they learn which parts of the Bible clearly support their view (let's call them proof texts). If they dig a bit deeper, they learn how to explain away the parts of the Bible which seem to contradict their view (let's call them sticky points). Thus, they feel that the Bible clearly supports their view.<br /><br />The problem is that every side of the debate does the same thing. The Calvinists do it. The Arminians do it. The Protestants do it. The Catholics do it. And so on, and so on. All that changes is this: One side's proof text is the other side's sticky point.Brett Bavarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08688763074705482724noreply@blogger.com