Bro. Hex

All hail Saint Murph! Pass the beer and pickles...ROOT beer, that is!

Well spoken! Amen, Brother Michael! And also with you, brother Peter!

Well said and very true!

A very timely reminder. Thanks, Murph

Nice posts Revs Al (and Rainbow)! I thoroughly agree that these protesters are repugnant in the extreme. Personally, I do not believe that "we can petition the Lord in prayer"... I mean, we CAN, but I don't believe that is going to "influence the outcome". But I DO believe that "What goes around comes around", and I DO believe that these hateful people are going to reap what they sow. So I think that it is "only a matter of time" before this hateful BEHAVIOR precipitates some equally hateful reaction. It may be some highly offended veteran... it may be a highly outraged relative of the deceased... it may be an enraged member of the "gay community"... It may be someone who just thinks that these people give Christianity a bad name. But somebody is bound to get hurt, and it isn't going to be pretty. And if and when something violent eventually happens to one or more of these funeral protesters, I am not at all sure that 12 jurors can be found who would "find guilty" whoever "does a mischief" to these self-appointed "guardians of American values". They are "sowing hatred"... can anyone really doubt that they are going to reap accordingly?

Yes, the ULC (Seminary) IS affiliated with the ULC HQ in Modesto. If the Seminary is listing certain courses that are not also showing up here, that "probably" just indicates that we need to update the store on this website to reflect ALL of the Seminary's current offerings.

Ditto, my friends.

Clock? What "clock"??? By the way, Welcome, Minister Beverly, to "the play pen" Hex

Thank you, Rev Al, for one of the finest sermons that we have ever shared here.

I am glad that you thought of coming here with this, Rev Irma. We may be a dysfunctional lot, and some of us don't like each other, (just like in most families), but we do "attend the same church", so to speak, and I hope that it is true that we will "be there for each other" in times of trial. Of course you are devastated by the way your cousin died... and that no one even missed him for days. How very sad. I will remember you and Becky and Paul in my prayers and meditations. Peace be with you. Hex

Yoy are in my thoughts and prayers, Salem... You too, Cthulhu. BTW Salem, what city in Ohio are you contemplating a move to? I am in Ohio, and might be able to billet an extra cat. Blessings, Hex

. You guys are hilarious!

Wouldn't "fairness" (a Christian value?) require that someone here should be striving "to turn two Christians to Wicca"? Sounds fair to me!

I didn't know that there WAS such a thing, my friend. Pray for whomever you like, but please do not forsake the least of your brethren.

Hooka is right! I, for example, am a very BIASED reprobate. This is what makes me and an individual human !

But Fawz, you ARE a "special" reprobate... much classier than the usual reprobates around here!

It is easy to turn our backs, to turn off our attention, to not even care... especially when the someone in question has been accused of a serious crime. That someone is an American soldier by the name of Bradley Manning, and whether he did, or didn't do what he is (sort of) accused of doing, he is a human being. He is a very young human being, and he is being held under conditions of such severe stimulus deprivation that he is slowly losing his mind. No person should be treated like this. Please pray for him.

What you said, Rev Al!

I actually only asked about the parts that you DIS-agree with...and "Why"? It has been many years since I read this book, and do not have a copy around for reference any more, so that is about as specific as I can make my question. Sorry if you find that to be "lame".

Sure. NOW YOU ANSWER MINE. What part of Spong's claims do YOU DIS-agree with? And what are YOUR A, B and C reasons for disagreement?

Let's turn this inquiry on its head, Coolhand. What part of Spong's claims do YOU DIS-agree with? And what are YOUR A,B and C reasons for disagreement? Pete has already invested a great deal of time and energy into answering YOUR inquiry, Now in fairness, how about YOU investing a great deal of time and effort in your criticism of Spong? Of course that's much more work than "just firing off more questions" and then letting "the other guy" do all the heavy lifting.

"Seek the truth; come whence it may, cost what it will." Amen indeed! Thank you, Pete, for this EXCELLENT overview (just the highlights, really, a difinitive list would be virtually impossible) of Liberal Christian authors.

Which means precisely what? It means that there was no evidence that they had all been altered in conformity with the Latin... That would be the "bizarre part" of the theory. That the Greek manuscripts "were actually altered" ...that much is not "theory"... that is well established fact, (and one that Dr. Ehrman has often refered to in his work. "Misquoting Jesus" and "The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture" are two prime examples).

Actually Dan, Irenaeus' work ("Against Heresies") is not historically accurate. It is a polemic of one branch of Christianity against another branch of Christianity. The Nag Hammadi scriptures have allowed us to see just how far off-base Irenaeus was vis-a-vis many of the "Gnostic" groups. (He saw Gnosticism everywhere... sometimes among "groups" that never even existed). It is difficult now to tell whether he made up some groups, just to have a new whipping-boy to rail against, or whether others were "pulling his leg" and filling him with tales that really put the wind up his sails...tales about things that never even happened. The fact that his branch of Christianity "won the war", was able to successfully persecute the Gnostics, write the only books that were allowed to survive, and was able to define for many centuries, what "true" Christianity meant, doesn't make his work "historically accurate". It is nothing more that "the story according to the victor"...told by a church that was backed by (and beholden to) a Roman Emperor. Why do you think that the canonical gospels "blame the Jews" for the crucifixion of Jesus? Do you really believe that the Catholic Church would have been dumb enough to approve of a gospel that "blamed the Romans"? (those who actually did the deed?)