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Rather than dumb down Jesus' promise, we must acknowledge our church's comparative spiritual ineptness and humbly ask why. "But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and find out not the God talk of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on God talk...

When I was a young Harvard doctoral student in the 70'S (in New Testament, Judaism, and Greco-Roman Backgrounds), an elderly Christian Armenian couple took me under their wings by inviting me for dinner once a month. One day I asked them if they had previously done this favor for any other...

When I was a young boy a wise old Christian took me aside and said, "You don't have to be stupid to be a Christian. But sometimes I think it sure helps!" The truly sad thing is that so many thoughtful young people have been driven away from Christ because of the insipid anti-science...

A doctor advised a relative of mine (Robert) to encourage his wife to receive chemo and radiation for her curable cancer. But Robert knew that chemo and radiation sometimes have bad side effects and people at times die from this treatment. So he proudly proclaimed, "We're just going to trust...

Marty fox: "If you are a Christian, like me, who is confused about whether or not to take the vaccine, where can you go to find the answer? The Bible seems to be oddly silent about it." "My child, when you are ill, ...pray to the Lord and He will heal you...T;hen give the doctor his...

To rephrase little Billy's question: How is it reasonable to suppose that the suffering and death of any man, even God's sinless Son, erase my sin? Does it not make God sadistic to believe that He need innocent blood to be persuaded not to damn me for my guilt? How can the whole OT system of...

Ah, so you're actually claiming that the apostles who provided Paul with their series of resurrection appearances were probably lying to him!?

You miss the point: First, there is nothing 2nd-hand about Paul's own testimony to seeing the risen Jesus, a testimony that converted him from persecutor to passionate apostle (1 Cor. 15:8)o Second, Paul's source is the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. Such so-called 2nd-hand witness of...

OT Truth, before I get to the questions you ducked, consider this way of linking Jesus' resurrection to eyewitness testimony: Paul introduces the sequence or resurrection appearances with tradition transmission phrases traceable to the eyewitnesses: "I handed on to you as of first importance...

As I expected, I.O.U. and Truth's evasion of my 4 questions imply that both are so closed-minded that even if they could be convinced that Jesus rose from the dead and that Gospel miracle stories were true, and even if they or someone close to them experienced a miracle performed in Jesus' name...

I.O.U and Truth OT, Let me try a different tact to determine whether and how I might want to engage you. What kind of commitment would you be willing to make if: (1) You could be convinced that the Gospel miracle stories were true. (2) You could be convinced that Jesus rose from the dead and...

Notice how both I.O.U. and Truth OT freeze like Bambi in the headlights when confronted with my detailed challenge. They need to season their penchant for irrational bluster with at least a modicum of intellectual rigor. I await their detailed response, which they will evade with irrelevant...

I.O.U. is evidently unaware of (1) how the Gospel testimony to Jesus' miracles can be linked to eyewitness testimony (2) how Jesus' resurrection can be confidently connected to eyewitness testimony quite apart from the NT Gospels (3) how Jesus' miracles are attested by first and second century...

Truth OT: Sort of. I was convinced that I had received the gift of the Holy Spirit after believing the gospel, repenting, and being baptized into Christ per Acts 2:38. Do you object to what the texts declares about the receipt of the HG? No, I object to your apparent ignorance of what the NT...

Monasticism began after Constantine established Christianity as the state religion and politically correct piety replaced "the power and demonstration of the Spirit" that radiated from much of prior Catholicism. Many were hungry for more of God and fled to the desert to escape secular...

TruthOT, You seem to be another sad victim of the insipid Domino theory of biblical truth, the theory that one proven biblical error warrants dismissal of the entire biblical revelation. How is your epistemology unfalsifiable, even in principle. In other words, if your whole fundamentalist...

(8) I had just performed a wedding in Buffalo, NY and was now attending the reception at a country club. I was sitting next to a guest, Phyllis, who was a doctor with a PhD in medical research. She was an attractive but "icy" blond who was obviously very bright. Phyllis shared these 2 NDEs...

You miss the point: Paul is simply saying, "Look around you and notice that not everyone fulfills their spiritual potential: "But strive for the greater gifts (e. g. prophecy and tongues---12:31) because (by implication) they are for every believer. Thus, Paul continues: "Strive for the...

The gifts of prophesy and tongues ARE indeed for every believer. In 1 Cor. Paul teaches, "you can ALL prophesy one by one (14:31)" and reinforces this point with his wish, "I want you ALL to...prophesy (14:5)." His wish echoes Moses' wish in Num. 1:29: "I wish ALL the Lotd's people were...