Showing posts with label Double Standard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Double Standard. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Why the Mother of God was Ever-Virgin
Because the following statement makes no sense coming from the lips of an already-engaged and soon-to-be-married young woman:
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
We've already been told several verses earlier, in Luke 1:27, that she was "espoused to a man whose name was Joseph ".
Thus, the usual reaction one would normally expect from her in such a situation would be: "Are you telling me that mine and Joseph's future child will be the Messiah of Israel ?"
Hence why the Church's "unbiblical" interpretation of their engagement as being one of paternal protection is more tenable than the equally-unbiblical 1 Protestant belief that their betrothal was meant for future wedding and child-bearing.
1 Unless one can show me just where exactly in the Bible the brethren of the Lord are called "children" or "sons of Mary"...
Friday, February 4, 2011
Protestantism, Pelagianism, and Eastern Orthodoxy
John 15:5 Ye can do nothing.
Pelagianism
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things.
Eastern Orthodoxy
John 15:5 For without Me ye can do nothing.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Monday, January 3, 2011
The Lvka-Myth Theory
My name is Craciun Lucian. My mother's name is Eugenia, and my father was born on January 3rd. My paternal grandparents are Stephen and Mary, and my maternal uncle and cousin are John and Basil. My favorite color is red, I love drinking milk, I enjoy giving alms, I like listening to Christmas Carols, and have had my heart broken way too many times...
Monday, December 6, 2010
A Loaded and Impertinent Question
Wherein exactly lies the essential and fundamental difference between half-naked Hindu priests worshipping golden cylinders in their pagan Temples, and so-called Orthodox Christians who don't even want to try giving up physical intimacy during Fasting? – Just asking...
And no, I'm not talking here about human weakness and failure, which I'm sadly all-too-well familiar with, but about the stubbornly obstinate, stiff-necked, and hard-hearted attitude of some Orthodox neophytes, who think that the history of Orthodoxy begins (and probably also ends) with them and their conversion, and not with a crucified celibate Jew, hanging on a rough wooden Cross outside the walls of a God-forsaken city in The Middle of Nowhere, some two thousand years ago, under the teary eyes of His virgin mother and chaste beloved disciple...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Contracepting to the Glory of God!
There is no God, other than my own Comfort, and Onan is its Prophet.
Don't you find it rather ironic how Christians, who confess to the existence of a Heavenly Father and His only-begotten Son, adopt [pun intended] a contraceptive mentality, whereas Muslims, who outright reject the concept of God as being anyone's Father, have children by the truck-load?
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Trouble With Galileo Galilei
Yes, the guys trying to burn him at the stake were Catholic as well, I get that: but, -you see-, just because Sicilian mobsters "murderize " each other doesn't make either one of them less Italian than the other...
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Protestantism as a Demonic Religion
Have you ever noticed how Protestantism demonizes (divides) between things which no sane, God-fearing person would ever dare to tear asunder? Like between God and His Saints, the Lord and His mother, Christ and His Cross, Scripture and Tradition, faith and good works, Baptism and regeneration, the Lord's body and Holy Communion, the universal and the sacerdotal Priesthood, or -as in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses- between the Heavenly Father and His Only-Begotten Son. Truly, as our Savior Himself said: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." ( Matthew 12:25; Mark 3:24-25; Luke 11:17 ). -- Actually, how can any religious faith or belief-system that confesses the Holy Trinity believe in "Sola" anything ?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A Protestant-Orthodox Dialogue
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Hmmm... now, let's see, what happened?
the sufferings of iconodules were mostly later fabrications anyways.
Just like those of the early Christian martyrs, you mean?
iconodules re-wrote the history after their victory, luridly making up stuff of what horrible nasty persecutors the iconoclasts had been.
Christians re-wrote the history after their victory, luridly making up stuff of what horrible nasty persecutors the pagans had been.
your childish apples-and-oranges comparison between the denial of iconodulic martyrdom and the martyrdom of early Christians
Yes, indeed: how childish of me to compare the persecution of Christians with... the persecution of Christians! Dumb, huh? What a totally original, completely controversial, and wholly counter-intuitive idea!... Who'd've thunk it !?
RC/EO historians have slandered the memory of iconoclast emperor Constantine V "Copronymus" - "dung-named"
Curiously enough, I don't see him saying the same about them "slandering" Arius' earthly departure...
[The former defecated in his Baptismal water, whereas the latter died of dysentery: although there was nothing super-natural or un-common and extra-ordinary about any of these things, the Orthodox interpreted them as signs of bad omen: in the first case, as a prophecy of Copronymus' future heresy; in the latter, as a divine punishment for Arius' heretical views].
Nestorian Assyrians have been famous for their detestation of images,
That's why they probably found a huge statue of the Virgin Mary in a seventh-century Nestorian Temple in China...
But here's yet a bit more, from Gibbon: "In their Syriac liturgy the names of Theodore and Nestorius were piously commemorated: they united their adoration of the two persons of Christ; the title of Mother of God was offensive to their ear, and they measured with scrupulous avarice the honors of the Virgin Mary, whom the superstition of the Latins had almost exalted to the rank of a goddess. When her image was first presented to the disciples of St. Thomas, they indignantly exclaimed, "We are Christians, not idolaters!" and their simple devotion was content with the veneration of the cross."
I kindly advised him to take the word of an actual Indian Orthodox Christian over that of a man whose main purpose in his book was the "open denigration of organized religion ". -- all to no avail...
[The reason why we even arrived at this point of our discussion in the first place was because I challenged him to answer how exactly is it that the Ancient Churches of the East (that the article was about) had the same teaching concerning the veneration of icons, saints, and relics as we do, even though they broke off from the rest of Christendom whole centuries before the dreaded Seventh Ecumenical Council of Second Nicaea].
John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
Begging The Question: Big Time!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Islam's Sexual Self-Contradictions
Do you think that Islam and ancient biblical Judaism are alike? That Allah is just another way of spelling Elohim? That the Qur'an is similar to the Old Covenant? That Moses and Musa are one and the same? Well, think again:
Exodus 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. 16 ¶And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread ; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God ? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Biblical accounts of especial encounters with the divine, as well as scriptural commandments about approaching the holy things, not to mention the Judeo-Christian depictions of the afterlife, always require chastity as a necessary prerequisite and non-negotiable condition, as opposed to the more lax Muslim view of Paradise, expressed by Muhammad in the Qur'an, and described by his closest faithful followers in the Ahadith.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
A Sixth Century Roman Deacon on the Filioque
For the Father indeed begets, and begotten He is not; and from someone else He is not, as from Him others are; the Son truly is begotten, and nothing co-eternal does He beget ; and the Holy Spirit from the Father proceeds, and nothing co-eternal proceeds from or is begotten by Him. Some of the very ancient to these properties have also added, that just as the Spirit together with the Father does not eternally beget the Son, neither does the Spirit proceed from the Son as from the Father. To tell you the truth, that indeed the Spirit does not eternally beget the Son, this I confess ( for neither do we speak of two Fathers ); but whether He truly proceeds from the Son in the same manner as from the Father, this I haven't yet perfectly figured it out.
Rusticus, Disputation Against the Acephali, page 36 (1237).
Friday, October 15, 2010
Monarchy and Monotheism
The Kings of Israel, as well as Saint Constantine the Great, imposed or enforced monotheism as a tool for strengthening their own political power, and/or fortifying the unity of their empires: one God in Heaven, one King on earth; divine unity equals political and imperial unity.
Was the mighty Egyptian empire monotheistic? No. Did the great Chinese and Babylonian empires ever worship one God? No. Did Alexander the Great, who conquered the whole known world, ever bow his knee to a single deity? No. Then...? What gives?
The Fifth Commandment
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Islam's Iconographic Inconsistencies
Do you think that Islam and ancient biblical Judaism are alike? That Allah is just another way of spelling Elohim? That the Qur'an is similar to the Old Covenant? That Moses and Musa are one and the same? Well, think again:
Exodus 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 26:1 ¶Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.
Exodus 26:31 ¶And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made.
Exodus 36:8 ¶And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.
Exodus 36:35 ¶And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
Exodus 37:7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
Numbers 7:89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.
1 Kings 6:23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
1 Kings 7:29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.
1 Kings 8:6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
1 Chronicles 28:18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls. 10 ¶And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward. 14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
2 Chronicles 5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: 8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
Just out of curiosity: Do Mosques also have their walls covered in ornate iconographic depictions of Angels and Cherubim? If not, then why not?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Calvinism 101
Take, eat: this is My spirit.
Drink ye all of this: this is a mere figure of My blood.
Do this in remembrance of Me. [ emphasis in the original Greek ]
So much for Sola Scriptura...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Breaking News from Stephen Hawking!
Because there is a law such as gravity, the Christ-Child can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there was something rather than nothing in Mary's womb, why Jesus exists, why we Christians exist.
It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the conception of Christ Jesus going.
The question is: is the way the Messiah was conceived chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Priesthood of All Believers
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Revelation 1:5 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 5:9 Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Can anyone tell me what's wrong with using the above verses as proofs that the New Testament supposedly abolished the notion or idea of there being a special class of priests, the so-called sacerdotal priesthood? Anyone? Anyone?
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 23:22 (LXX) If ye will indeed hear my voice, and if thou wilt do all the things I shall charge thee with, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations, for the whole earth is mine; and ye shall be to me a royal priesthood, and a holy nation: these words shall ye speak to the children of Israel, If ye shall indeed hear my voice, and do all the things I shall tell thee, I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries.
Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
JC & JC: Jesus Christ and John Calvin
The total depravity of the children of wrath, born in sin and conceived in iniquity, inheriting the guilt of original sin, righteously imputed upon them by God's justice for Adam and Eve's disobedience:
Matthew 19:13 ¶Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
Mark 10:13 ¶And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Luke 18:15 ¶And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
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