Godzilla & Daniel,
So you see how this works. Being confronted with direct evidence, evidence that would draw a conviction in court, has no effect. I think it was Elsie who mentioned it way back somewhere, there is this program called Eliza. It purports to be an artificial intelligence experiment that could make you think you were in a real conversation, but really the program was just using keywords to walk you through a very small set of possible responses. Once you realized you were covering the same ground again and again and again, talking to “Eliza” became unbearable, like being forced to watch random reruns of Gilligan’s Island, always thinking you’re about to get off the island, but it never happens.
As with Eliza, the present conversation is following extraordinarily predictable behavior. This actually follows logically from Masters’ teaching re sin. In a paradox, although the stated goal of of the practice of BS (Be Still) is to detach from the trauma of being human and rise above it to the exalted state of true objectivity, the reality is, that to accomplish this, the practitioner must become supremely subjective. The normal meaning of the words becomes perfectly inverted.
This gives the practitioner of BS an extreme tactical advantage in any debate. How can you ever lose a debate where there is no arbiter, no objective, external reference point? No way to ever be proven wrong.
So you see, the inevitable victory of the BSer is built in. Evidence is irrelevant. Only the will to keep on being perfect matters. And that guard can never be let down. If Polycarp proves the early church accepted the deity of Christ, that would shake the foundations of the perfect self image. If John and Paul and any other Bible authors say things that raise doubts, those doubts disturb the self-hypnotic suggestion that the BS follower has been sealed into God’s army by their esoteric self knowledge, and therefore those doubts must be suppressed.
It chills me to think how hard it must be, internally, to get backed into a corner where you can never grow in self knowledge, lest the mask come off. But the predictable result is a self imposed reduction of thought to predictable patterns designed to avoid contact with prohibited truths. The Eliza Sindrome, if you will.
So predictable, in fact, that for any given post you write, no matter how richly adorned with wisdom and insight, no matter how honorably offered, you could write the BSer’s response post yourself. You already know, within a small set of possibilities, what will be said, what will be ignored. Almost down to the word count.
Which is why I counsel you, my fellow soldiers for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that it may be time to consider whether our pearls might be better appreciated elsewhere. Obviously, if God has burdened you with this ministry, you have to honor that. But for me, its time to stop wasting time talking to a program. Unlike me, God is all powerful, and can open a closed heart. Nothing prevents us from praying. It is in the realm of miracles that this will be resolved. IMHO.
Peace,
SR
“So you see, the inevitable victory of the BSer is built in. Evidence is irrelevant.”
Oh please...give me a break. You guys intellectually use the bible against itself and commonsense and think you have some sort of victory or some such. It is clearly obvious that God’s power is sufficient to end sin in human’s lives once salvation is accepted. Anything short of that is a belief that the devil is indeed more powerful than the work of Jesus and God. Fact. Fact it and stop rationalizing your weakness with the bible!
No actually you could not write the “bs’ers” point yourself if you tried...as you rudely put my insights. Because your arguments are constructs of your mind and excuses, using the scripture as a legitimate way to escape the simple truths discussed. But nothing in these regards are simple to your mind. They must not be least the reality of truth seep in and convict your hypocrisies. Have a good one!
Well analyzed!