Saturday, December 07, 2013

Lead by Example, it’s called

George HW Bush was 17 when told of Pearl Harbor. defied father to join Navy, was its youngest flier, Pacific hero

24 comments:

Ciccio said...

I've just had one of those eureka moments, thinking about the difference between Christianity and Islam and I think I have found the one that encapsulates everything.

The Saudi king is not known as king in his country, his official title is guardian of the holy places. The country is the headquarters of the Sunni division of Islam just as the Vatican is headquarters of the Catholic part of Christianity. The Saudi flag is a pair of crossed swords, the Vatican flag is a pair of crossed keys and that is the essential difference, you can either fight your way or pray your way into heaven.

Epaminondas said...

Maybe, but I have key. Now if I can just find the lock ... or the door

Anonymous said...

Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

John 10:9

Pastorius said...

Great observation, Ciccio.

Thanks for that.

Epaminondas said...

Why am I sure there's more than one door, and more than one razor's edge to walk on the way there?

Anonymous said...

If you believe that, then you should believe that Islam is just as valid as any other works-based religion or secular humanism. If Jesus is not the only way, then you are calling him a liar and saying Christianity is not a way.

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is claiming to be the exclusive way to Heaven.

Epaminondas said...

As a jew, I have to tell you you are intolerant.

In fact in YEARS talking with muslims on islamic forums MANY of them when held against the figurative wall admitted there are many ways to salvation.

Where does that put you?

Tell me HOW that statement by Jesus if taken as the word of a perfect being is ANY different from the attitude of nearly all muslim scholars that jews, by the authority a perfect uncreated document, by a perfect being are damned to never be able to enter paradise?

Sorry but that's just not offensive it screams that the author of such attitudes falls somewhat less than perfect.

God is NOT exclusive. If you think so, there is a dutch church that believes ONLY THEY AND THEY ALONE of all human beings can find that grace.

Want to keep it up?

Anonymous said...

The Word of God and that statement by Jesus is different from Muslim scholars and their exegesis of the Koran because Jesus, first and foremost was God in the flesh and walked the earth as a Jew, second He never condemned anyone on the basis of ethnicity or other immutable characteristic--rather, he offers salvation to all.

That is the key is that we are all condemned me except that we come to the Messiah, the one who was prophesied by the Jewish prophets. I am not intolerant, but even if I am, who cares? I cannot and do not want to do you any harm. I want to see you find salvation, and salvation is not by works alone.

How many good deeds does it take to undo a lie you told? There is no number because once uttered a lie is forever. You have to have a covering, which was the point of the kapparah sacrifice. If your sins were not covered by the kaparah, then you would have no forgiveness. The concept of blood atonement stretches from Genesis (when God provided a sacrifice by the animal he slayed himself) to Abraham receiving a ram provided by God in place of Isaac, to the Exodus when the blood caused the Angel of Death to pass by, to Jesus--who was God taken on flesh so that God would provide for himself a ram or sacrifice that was big enough for the House of Israel to share with the nations so that salvation could be to all who would come and share in the Passover Lamb.

If you want to correspond further, I would love to email with you. I can be reached at pete (dot) rowe (dot) tx (at) gmail (dot) com.

Epaminondas said...

1) I do NOT accept the bible as the word of god, there are MANY (MINIMUM 4) authors culminating with the return of SOME of the Jews when Cyrus set them free.
2) Neither therefore can one have anything BUT FAITH that the words of Jesus are anything but the word of man.
Faith is not knowledge.
Faith is a separate hope.
You STILL maintain that salvation can only be taken thru this:
'That is the key is that we are all condemned me except that we come to the Messiah, the one who was prophesied by the Jewish prophets'

I do NOT accept your faith. I REJECT that faith n the knowledge of the FACT that the adoption of those values expounded by certain people YOU have faith as prophets are of extreme value in how one leads one life.

I believe ... that all who walk the razor's edge are welcome, and that any religion, which is something MEN need, not God, is filled with the needs,writings, and inventions of weak terrible men (i.e. MANKIND), all of whom have justified in the need of being EXCLUSIVELY CORRECT IN THEIR FAITH, done terrible things especially while proselytizing.

ESPECIALLY, as a historical fact, to the Jews. We can have a REAL GOOD discussion about the facts as to the number of jews in this world killed by those who accept Jesus vs those who accept Allah.

We CAN NOT have a discussion about faith because you will hit the wall of I REJECT those things you hold dear as faith.

I do NOT accept as factual the bible, old testament or new. It's the word of man, ABOUT god, and not one thing more. I do NOT accept the gospels as anything but the outline of a few ideas about HOW things went, filtered by an official organization before and especially at Nicaea, which enforced the way things became.

So quoting the bible to me as an authority WEAKENS your arguments, and the more you try to use it to justify heaven as the exclusive domain of those who accept a PARTICULAR ARITHMETIC NUMBER of prophets points out the inner compulsions of those who insist that must be so.

I reject Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. I ACCEPT every bit of the value of what he had to say, IF some of what we have seen come down to us is what he actually said.

And that, my friend, is why we are stiff necked jews.

"That is the key is that we are all condemned me except that we come to the Messiah, the one who was prophesied by the Jewish prophets." A HORROR, a TRUE HORROR.

But you can visit and remain in my heaven ALL YOU LIKE.

CAPISCE?

Epaminondas said...

QUALIFICATION:

I reject Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. I ACCEPT every bit of the value of what he had to say ..ABOUT HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELF AMONG THE LIVING, IF some of what we have seen come down to us is what he actually said.

Epaminondas said...

'I want to see you find salvation, and salvation is not by works alone.'

SAYS WHO?
I can claim that MY learning, MY rabbis, the TALMUD all say that works are THE ONLY way, and words, and professed beliefs are a crock.

In fact Maimonedes reduced the path to God to one sentence and it had NOTHING to do with god.

Jesus later quotes it.

Anonymous said...

Maimonides also changed the Shema from "Shema Israel Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" to "Shema Israel Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Yachid." That is a real problem for those who profess belief in rabbinical judaism.


There is no way that Jesus can later quote Maimonides. Jesus walked the earth 1000 years prior to the Rambam.

Anonymous said...

Interesting conversation. I have a feeling Epa meant Hillel, not maimonades, whom jesus really did quote.

Nicoenarg

Anonymous said...

He quoted Hillel, but that was not as a path to God. That was Jesus response to the question, what is the greatest commandment.

Jesus was unequivocal and unwaivering that He was the only path to God. In fact, none of us can keep even the two commands that Jesus said were the Greatest Commandments without failing at some point in our lives.

The two commands Jesus identified as the greatest were:

You shall love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart, Strength, and Soul. and

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

We have failed on both at some point in our lives. So, we require a covering, an atonement or a kapparah, for those times when we fall short of God's instructions.

Pastorius said...

Anonymous would propose that his words form a perfect bridge by which Epa - and any other person - can find his way to the God of the Universe.

And yet the Bible says, "If (you) speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, you are a clanking cymbal."

This means love is part of the mix that goes to build the bridge.

Love is also part of the totality of human relations and relations between humanity and God and God and human.

As most human relations are not built on love so most "witnessing" is a clanging cymbal.

As most witnessing is a clanging cymbal, so most attempts to witness are failures and perhaps even serve to make matters worse.

Pastorius said...

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the [h]rich root of the olive tree, 18DO NOT BE ARROGANT TOWARDS THE BRANCHES; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
27 “This is [i]My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

Pastorius said...

If I were you, I'd take that as a warning, lest you be cut off.

The hardening is for a purpose. It's so rough men, assholes like me and you, can be allowed to take hold of the Kingdom of Heaven. But, if you act like a jerk towards the branches, well, then you're in some deep crap.

Pastorius said...

From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but [k]from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.

Epaminondas said...

Thanks for the correction Nico. Indeed. and as for this ..

'That is a real problem for those who profess belief in rabbinical judaism.' NO, only those ignorant of the shema AS A HISTORICAL DECLARATION would think this

I was taught this:

QUESTION AUTHORITY

The Talmud in tractate Shabbos 31a relates the following well-known story of Hillel:
"On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot."[1] Thereupon he chased him away with the builder's cubit that was in his hand.[2] When he came before Hillel, (he also asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot) Hillel replied, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary; go and learn it."

Probably 80bc or so.
A neat story, and unknown how accurate. But it is the IDEA, outline of the path.. not the veracity of the incident, which counts.

The Torah itself as almost every historical biblical jewish scholar agrees was a written document which came into existence some time post 1200 BC thru about 540 BC.

As to Maimonedes - Not that it matters, since the historical FACTS are that after the sacrifices were forbidden by rome, prayers were substituted in various separated dialects of Hebrew from the diaspora (post 130 AD), thru medieval times, and a bit later for the siddur, even when you consider Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur whose prayers changed thru the 20th century and even now, Haggadahs (which are encouraged to be changed even now TODAY)


BTW, I know of NO jew who says or has said anything but echod at the termination of the shema, since this usage was a medieval colloquialism.

Maimonedes used the WORD UNITY instead of the word ONE.

Of course, this PISSED OFF catholics at the time who saw a trinity. And he certainly did it on PURPOSE, and for that reason.

In fact among 100% of jews, the difference between the two words in a prayer BY MEN, FOR MEN is a distinction with no difference.

Imperfect men telling me they KNOW for a fact what HE wants, based on FAITH, ARE ALL THE SAME but for their methods of compulsion.
Some threaten lives in the here and now, some do so for what comes after.

I accept that you may enter Heaven, but question what it means that you forbid others from doing so based on their faith, and despite their works.

And it MATTERS that that is intolerant. The intolerant have little to teach.

Anonymous said...

Who is being rude to Epa? Certainly not me. It may make some uncomfortable, but I am not being rude.

Pastorius said...

Alright, well we have to take your WORD for it.

;-)

Anonymous said...

"Jesus was unequivocal and unwaivering that He was the only path to God. In fact, none of us can keep even the two commands that Jesus said were the Greatest Commandments without failing at some point in our lives."

The Gospels also say that Jesus is the word of God. Now seeing that the Tanakh is the word of God, that would mean that that is Jesus. And if that is Jesus then those who follow the Tanakh are just as much going to the Father through Jesus as you are with your faith.

I know what I just said is probably SUPER offensive to Jews but the point I'm making is that you DON'T KNOW WHAT JESUS UNEQUIVOCALLY meant.

Its the Church that has enforced ideas on people. For example, Jesus said that whoever teaches anyone to not follow the least of the commandments will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. Yet the churches have decided Jesus didn't know how to speak and have twisted his words around to basically come to a stage where they make it a point to tell people "no don't you follow commandments BECAUSE WORKS!!!"

Also the Church has decided to turn into a man full of sarcasm since "every time he says something that doesn't agree with the doctrine we are shoving down your windpipes, HE WAS BEING SARCASTIC!!"

Here's the thing, Jesus forgave the sins of the adulterous woman without asking for her to put all her faith in him. Not so unequivocal I would say. Jesus told his followers to DO what the pharisees tell them but not do what they do. Gee, I wonder what the pharisee were teaching people!

God never said people are unable to follow commandments:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

"11 “For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it."

The NOT BEING ABLE TO FOLLOW COMMANDMENTS is a made up problem. As for forgiveness of sins, read Leviticus. Plenty provided in there for both willful and not willful sins (I've forgotten the terminology).

Nicoenarg

Anonymous said...

Oh and BTW who the heck gave pastors and priests the authority to go bassackwards and interpret the Tanakh in light of the New Testament?

Its supposed to be the other way around. Jesus himself did it that way.

Nicoenarg

Anonymous said...

PS: Who knew George H W Bush joining the airforce would get people arguing about HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN!

Oh yeah, I see it! AIRFORCE......HEAVEN!!!!!

Nicoenarg