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Were your Bible teachers 2,000 years old? Like they're supposed to know?

Nice to know. Did they tell you when the Devil did so, who he recruited for this conspiracy, how it was pulled off, and why the conspirators went along?

I buy the first proposition, but not the second. What happened on the cross that suddenly empowered human sinlessness? Please explain.

Your answer is, in effect, "we know the takeover happened." But you can't say when, by whom specifically, how, or why -- the only four questions I asked. So your "answer" isn't really responsive. (If I were cross-examining you in court, I would be asking the judge to direct the witness to...

Tell us about the takeover. When did it occur? Who were the ones involved in this conspiracy? How did they manage to pull it off? And what was their goal, their motivation in doing so?

The soul and spirit, after leaving the body, can "know nothing?" That doesn't make much sense to me. How about knowledge of, say, being in "torment?" (Yup, the same "torment" you say some people are experiencing while awaiting judgment.)

Well, when it comes to interpreting what Paul meant in his letter to Titus, I am persuaded by Daniel Wallace's exhaustive analysis, concluding "Consequently, in Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet 1:1 we are compelled to recognize that, on a grammatical level, a heavy burden of proof rests with the one who...

This suggests that Paul did not believe Jesus Christ to be God. (Which puts a spin on Titus 2:13's theou kai soteros, I suppose.)

I know this is a bit off topic, but does anyone else find it curious that the raising of Lazarus isn't mentioned in any of the Synoptics? Pretty impressive miracle! Certainly a notorious one; John 12:11 calls it the impetus for defections to the Jesus camp (“it was on account of him that many...

Mark 6:3 reports that people in Nazareth called Jesus “the son of Mary.” that is unusual in the extreme; Jewish men were almost always referred to by their father's name -- so the people of Nazareth would have preferred “the son of Joseph” IF they believed Joseph was his biological father. See...

Point taken. Still, the Greek word ethnē translated as “nations” in Matt. 28:19 is universally interpreted to include Gentiles―making it a complete reversal of Christ’s earlier instruction to the apostles to reach out only to the Jews (Matt. 10:5-6) and of his prediction that the apostles won’t...

The interesting thing about this passage, to me at least, is the truth or falsity of Jesus' declaration "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Let's assume it's true, and look at what follows from this: If Jesus healed the daughter, he unilaterally amended his mission. If God healed...

Lying about facts -- not about one's opinions -- for perceived gain, or to profit (financially or otherwise) from a deception injurious to another, is the sin. Other forms of dishonesty (like telling your wife her dress doesn't make her look fat) that do no harm are not sinful.

Mary, I did not expect an answer from you! My question was addressed to those who think foreknowledge is causal.

To everyone out there who thinks foreknowledge is causal: Imagine you are on the top of a very tall building in midtown Manhattan, looking down on, say, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. You notice two cars speeding toward that intersection at over 100 mph, one on 34th Street and the other on...

Don't you mean Alexandria?

I am tempted to weigh in here, but the Moderators might shut it down. So I will just add this for my $0.02: One can believe in the Trinity (as I do), yet still concede (as I do) that Scriptural "proofs" are ambiguous enough that no definitive conclusion can be drawn from them. You won’t find...

I have a different view. I think many passages actually contradict. Happy to give examples later, but here is the problem: I will concede that with sufficient presumptions and mental machinations indulging the improbable, virtually all of these facial inconsistencies can be harmonized. My...

But all passages don't agree with each other, at least on the details that, thankfully, aren't very important from a theological aspect. How to square this fact with the "God-breathed" nature of Scripture is a challenge worth discussing.

I apologized in Post #224. Your response was "Oh should I have written back saying yep you're right? I don't know anything. Only you."