Recent content by Pavel Mosko

Hi! Interesting things took off a long time after posting the thread. My rabbi friend gave up trying to defend his position. In honesty I don't think it is very defensible for several Biblical, Logical and Historical reasons. I think on his end, he believes the position is valid from the...

Nobody saying this, a complete Strawman. I am not Saul from Tarsus or the Sanhedrin, or even the Inquisition or the Albigensian Crusade who literally did this kind of thing!

Well, I already consider you hardened in your position. I just felt it was worth pointing out seeing you seem to be casting on shade on the pious Roman Centurions of the New Testament, creating doubt on if they were actually believers or not, when most folks would see them as something like...

It was Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius of Antioch (c. AD 107–110) explicitly distinguishes Christianity as its own distinct faith and way of life in his seven genuine epistles (the shorter recension, widely accepted as authentic by scholars). These were written while he was being taken to Rome...

@Mattias the first thing you should realize in your deck stacking comes from your concept of "Converting to Christianity". That was different from how the original believers saw it, namely Christianity was not separate from Judaism but the fulfillment of Judaism. This secondly has relevance...

Well naturally the Coptic Church agrees with saint Paul in the book of Romans about "the need to bear the sword to restrain evil" and Egyptian Christians are in good standing as being soldiers, law enforcement etc. No Christian Church has ever black balled Christians from this as a total...

I'm surprised they did not mention the Theban legion! There was an entire Roman legion staffed by Coptic Christians that was martyred for some reason like not wanting to burn incense to Cesar or not wanting to follow some unjust law or command.

That is easy, I had Grok take everything from the Coptic Synaxeron. This is just martyrs and saints, while their is a much larger subset of people that we don't know about that were not martyred for the Faith. The Coptic Synaxarion (also called Synaxarium or al-Sinaksār) is the...

A state religion of paganism is different than a secular state! In general there is inconsistency to your viewpoint. It reminds me of the example I used talking about Orthodox Jews needing other people to do the work for them during Sabbath. It should always be to societies advantage to...

There are always conflicts in applying scripture for various reasons. This kind of problem was dealt in Judaism under such terms as Halacha, and is in Christianity when it comes to "Binding and Loosening" (Jesus using a Rabbinic term).

I actually did have Grok do a study on the Secular State via having Grok follow the conversation before. " Deep Analysis: Your Claim vs. Matthias’s Claim on the “Secular State” Here’s a clear, evidence-based breakdown of the core disagreement. Matthias’s Position He accepts a legitimate...

The problem with your view is the Secular State is a modern invention. This does get at my objection to your unrealism. It is one thing at personal level to not take revenge, turn the other cheek etc. Different thing when operating as a protector, leader, or father. For instance turn...

@Matthias and @Anchorite, I don't think you quite get it. Let's skip Jesus for now, and talk about the Old Testament especially dealing with all the Canaanites and "Ite" tribes surrounding Israel. I have spoken to other extreme Christian Idealists about the possibility of "Loving the...

@Matthias , I appreciate you engaging and quoting me. “Easier said than done” was my shorthand for the real tension here. Christians should strive for the high ethic of Jesus — love of enemies, turning the other cheek, overcoming evil with good. I don’t dispute that as the ideal for disciples...

Well I'm pointing out the "Easier Said than done aspects of this issue." I'm sure you are aware of Pacifistic Christian sects like Amish, the Quakers and so forth. Do you think such sects could exist on a larger scale as an entire nation? Because typically they exist like insular bodies...