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IMHO, the word repentance may have been misunderstood by Christians for generations. In English it sounds like guilt, regret, and endless apology. But the original Hebrew word is teshuva, derived from the verb shuv, meaning to return. Not to feel sorry. To physically turn around and move in a...

Cameron143 My personal beliefs are that people can and should not only read but study the bible with the intent of finding something new in every effort. I have been a student of the New Testament for about 68 years and a student of the Hebrew Bible for the past 25 years. I have and do discuss...

Semantics is not a good way to defend a concept. God's predetermining and thus enforcing His predetermination is a significant theology of millions. Predetermining without enforcing that predetermination is the same has making no predetermination, and to many, antithetical to the nature of God...

Camerone143 Interestingly enough, this single passage in Ephesians both verse 11-12 has catalyzed Christians into at least 3 competing groups since the 16th century. It's competing interpretations form three major theological perspectives: 1. The mechanism of divine sovereignty vs. human free...

GWH: It has been my experience that few of the "converted" retain any significant motivation to JohnRH: For the sake of clarity, does your current understanding of conversion mean one can "become a Christian" by agreement with one's denominations theology and that "sanctification" is some kind...

Blessings

Love the idea. What denominational/ancient traditions lead you to this question? I am especially interested in your insights into how God chooses some people and not others.

Inquisitor: These are the events of the Great Bronze Age Collapse on which the bible is silent. My contention is that it was written centuries laters and much later redacted and edited without any awareness of the impact the GBAC on their history. Paleobotanists have determined that during the...

Well thought out apologetics. I find it interesting that you can declare that Judges is "a theological and highly regional narrative. Theology is in the eye of the beholder. One can easily read these hero stories of men and women who acquired fame worth repeating or inventing as foundational to...

In general when I hear BS as a means of defending one's position I generally dramatically lower my expectations for civil and constructive discourse. BS is just another word for I can't defend my position thus I must attempt to discredit yours with vulgarity. You claim to prefer Jesus and Paul...

Inquisitor: I appreciate your thoughtful response. I want to take up the conversation further on several issues. Historical timelines: You recognize there are biblical scholars that look at a series of facts and come to different opinions. The idea of the "Maximalists" and "Minimalists" are...

ScooterJackson, The fact on the ground before Rome took over the Church is that there was a very large and varied practice of Christianity. Not all congregations recognized the same scrolls as authoritative. Many revered as inspired books that modern Christians have never even heard of. What...

ScooterJackson I got your Radiocarbon dating is "so old." Very clever humor. Carbon-12 is a stable, non-radioactive atom that makes up about 99% of all carbon on Earth. It does not break down or change over time, providing a steady baseline for measurement.Carbon-14 is a rare, radioactive atom...

ScooterJackson As I have noted before, IMHO the idea of cessation only came about as the Roman Empire took control over the Christian church and booked no competition from those who claimed special knowledge from God or special powers from God. I also believe that by wrongly defining special...

Groovy & OMC I really enjoy the back and forth between the two of you in your hermeneutical jousting. In general, the two of you, as seen in this discussion, illuminate two broadly different ways of dealing with the Hebrew Bible in or out of context with the current theological needs. On one...

It has been my experience over the past 6+ decades that when I hear a person talk about their conversion, it essentially means one of two things. 1. They were born into a church going family and it was expected they would join the church via a "conversion experience" and the net sum of that...

Much of what you said is accurate to the degree we can expect to achieve "accuracy." However your idea the absence of counter facts is proof of the facts is not logical. The dating of many original composers of the Hebrew bible is exactly because they reflect the issues and the events of their...

Perhaps I not being clear....I hear that alot. My point is no matter what the few elite and literary knew, there is no evidence that any of that was known by the masses, pre or post exilic. Elephante was post exilic yet these Jews named their kids after all kinds gods. Yet they had a liturgy...

Inquisitor: You miss my point. I am not making any claim about when any part of the Hebrew Bible was WRITTEN. We do know it was under regular changes and merges after the original was written. Using the book of Joshua to prove anything is a big stretch. My point is not when something might have...