Posted on 07/02/2010 6:56:08 PM PDT by Desdemona
At times, "venting" into the off-line editor represents a much-need catharsis; consequently, releasing my ire online occurs (I pray) with considerably less frequency. Frankly, a considerable amount of what I compose never gets published; last night, I "dumped" over a dozen unfinished and un-posted HTML editor texts. '-}
This morning, I was in a rush to head out for historic Jefferson, Texas, to select the exact "dig" site and lay out the archaeological grid for next week's "Summer Science Camp" "dig" for 'Gifted and Talented' 4th and 5th grade school kids.
For nearly thirty years in the 1800s, Jefferson ('way up on the frontier in the Piney Woods of northeast Texas) was Texas' second (only to Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico) largest and most important shipping port. It has changed little since then, and today is called "Bourbon Street on the Bayou" because much of its architecture and culture came from New Orleans, with which it had direct riverboat trade connections. If you are interested, there is a graphic (from my upcoming "orientation" lecture) that shows an annotated 1872 "Birds-Eye View" of Jefferson at
http://www.microlith.com/AeSDig/MiniJeffersonDigSite1872.jpg
Should you want a larger, higher resolution version, one is available at
http://www.microlith.com/AeSDig/JeffersonDigSite1872.jpg
In addition to showing the town's unique "V-shaped" two-stage development and layout, the view shows riverboat traffic on Big Cypress Bayou (including the dredge boat used for maintaining the channel and turning basin). Added are overlays highlighting the block where the dig will be, and an inset showing structures that were there in 1872 -- including the well-preserved "House of the Seasons", now serving as a museum & B&B. The green area was recently cleared of 1950s houses to be replaced by formal gardens, and the white rectangle marks the "trash dump" (with loads of "goodies") where the kids will be excavating.
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Beyond being an excuse for sharing ;-) several of my avocational passions, (archaeology. teaching, and historic cartography) this post is also an apology for allowing time pressure to spur me into publishing in-forum (in #1517) thoughts that would better have been shared privately via FReepMail.
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My prayer is that our interactions here in the FR religion forum will grow into mature fellowhip and sharing of insights through which God can open our eyes, minds and souls into a grander appreciation of Him, His creation, and our Lord's unspeakable gifts of sacrific and salvation!
Apparently, FR is being slow in returning confirmation that “Posts” have been accepted. Patience is advised for those who don’t want to be “double-posters” — as I just was... ;-}
You asked me if I could imagine and I said yes, but not sure if possible. I can design a perfect optical system that cannot be made for practical reasons.
God doesn't have those limitations. Why design a uvula? Or an appendix, or a crossed respiratory and alimentary tract?
Why not design self-healing bodies? Bodies that grow severed limbs the way we grow hair and nails, or the way a lizard grows back his tail? Why not be able to replace bad eyes with new ones, etc?
If we remove the capacity for evil, we remove the capacity for good.
I disagree. Good is absence of evil.
Still the default for humanity is compassion
Compassion is not natural to man. It is learned. What we consider a "human being" is a learned set of values, not an innate characteristic of our animal nature. In other words, it is not our default.
Leave a child in the back yard with only food and water The child will grow up without manners, without a language,with no reading ability, no mathematical skills.
That child will revert to being an animal in no time. In the case of a nuclear or asteroid catastrophe, survived only by 10-year olds or younger, practically all human knowledge will be lost, all knowledge of history, science or any academic field, or anything we consider part of human civilization, would be lost. We would revert to being practically cave men in no time at all.
There is nothing noble about us other than what we have learned. You could say we were domesticated.
The alternative is random nothingness
I don't understand what that means. What is nothingness?
Then the life everlasting is a dismal prospect of eternal stagnation.
Thank you SFA. Some on this Forum seem to have an uncontested right of passage to make acidic personal assualts to their hearts' desire. They can post personal acidic attacks (#1429, #1537) in large letters, vibrant colors and explicit personal context and the Religion Moderator will say nothing. Frankly, I don't even bother with the RM any more precisely for that reason.
Clearly, the purpose of such acidic personal attacks is to make them about another FReeper, to inflame, provoke, bait, etc. I will not diginify such gutter material with a reply no matter what size font or color they use.
Thank you, again, for caring.
Based on what?
I hope we get to meet sometime -- now or hereafter...
I treasure folks who can laugh at themselves!!
When we Reformers make decisions we experience full freedom to make them and it is very real to us. It is the same experience for free will advocates (as I used to be one). Reformers, though, recognize the bigger picture
I read this as you have free will, you experience free will, but your religious views limit what you perceive as free will more than those who don't share them.
IMHO, the only difference is one of theology, i.e., it comes into play on, as you say, the bigger picture, but not in everyday practice.
I have my problems with the theology, but I believe you have explained that in practice it's indistinguishable from other's "free will."
As always, thanks for your courteous and well-considered reply.
Why not design self-healing bodies?
Well, our bodies do heal themselves. If we're healthy. If they didn't we'd break down as fast as cars.
But I think the question can apply on a larger scale of death. Why do we have to die?
The way the world works, death is necessary for life. The living die to make room for the new born. Much of life feeds on dead matter. The rest of life eats life to live.
It's all part of a whole. A pretty incredible whole that has to work, and it works to grow life - where conditions are favorable. Any improvement we can imagine has to avoid unintended consequences.
If we discovered a means to live forever tomorrow, imagine the consequences.
I appreciate your reply and discussion very much.
They can be described by chemical and mathematical terms, demonstrated experimentally and isolated. None of them require faith.
The saints are all who are in heaven, but not all believers because we are not saved by our beliofs only. It is true that there are far more saints in heaven that just the Holy Apostles. Among the saints are all the canonized saints of authentic Churches, as well as countless men and women who are saved but the Church did not canonize them.
The Church only canonizes those who develop substantial veneration among the faithful and manifest themselves through provable miracles.
Don-o you will only incur wrath for this. We could speculate, I suppose, but it's not worth. All they wnat is to flame, provoke and get somone banned. Since the the powers to be will do nothing it seems, it's best we just ingore it.
You make it sound like it is a minor thing.
You keep teaching astrophysics to me.
It is correct. We are judged by our works that conform to God's will. This is why "faith alone" is counterscriptural nonsense.
You still are the center of the physical universe in a certain mystical sense, but not in the geometrical sense.
And, it's a shame; because, just in the short time I have been back in here, I have re-encountered some good old FRiends and begun to make some new ones. And seen some actual civilized exchanges...
see also: Acts 9:32, 41: 26:10, Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:1-2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Phil 1:1; Col. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:10; Jude 3; Rev. 5:8, 13:7, 10; and 17:6.
ALL SAVED men are saints.
The Holy Inquisition has not been abolished, thanks be to God, but of course it is long past overdue in America, given the state of our clergy.
I assume the "relic" you're putting your faith into refers to Christ's garment that the woman had just touched in hopes of being healed. But note that even here, it is her faith which saved her.
Correct, and indeed, like any veneration of relics, that act was driven by faith in Jesus Christ. However, Jesus did not say that faith alone saved the woman, -- rather, her faith based on which she venerated His garment. Faith was what we do, not what we think. Such faith indeed saves.
Christ is not talking about intercession [...] He's telling a man how to pray, and how to live
Absolutely. The intercession is simply what happened: one man praying to Christ for another's benefit. And we should live by faith as we strive for fortitude. Mark 5:36 is a wonderful, succint, verse. All virtues start with simple faith. That is Catholic teaching. Compare Hebrews 11. "By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice ...".
Based upon may things, experience, ours or others, evidence, being human.
What is our concept of music versus just sounds based upon and how does a person explain what music is, for example.
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