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One Love
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Date Joined Jan 2003
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| Posted 5/21/2011 5:30 PM (GMT -6) |   | | 1
Thought: Can you possibly get MORE "two-storey" than the assumptions undergirding this whole line of thinking by the Rapture people AND those deriding them?
I just don't think so.
Dressed in His trademark flowing white robe and carrying a thunderbolt, God seemed visibly irked by the predictions calling for the world to end this Saturday.
"I'll end the world when I'm good and ready, Me damn it," He snapped in response to a question from a USA Today reporter. (Alas, not me. I was resupplying at Costco, supermarket to survivalists, knowing I would be going nowhere today.)
...Elsewhere, Harold Camping, the preacher who predicted that the world would end on May 21, issued the following brief statement: ""The world doesn't end this week. Oprah does. My bad, sry."
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Post Edited (One Love) : 5/21/2011 5:35:43 PM (GMT-5) | | Back to Top | | |
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One Love
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Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/21/2011 6:26 PM (GMT -6) | | | | |
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One Love
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Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/21/2011 7:15 PM (GMT -6) | | | The End of Daze
Part of it...
Still, there's something really worth pointing out in the wake of the non-Rapture. While it was easy for most of us to handily dismiss the lunatic predictions of Pastor Harold Camping and his merry band of messianic misfits, what shouldn't be forgotten is just how unremarkable their basic belief-system is. Sure, even a lot of hardcore Evangelicals ridiculed Camping's assertion that Jesus was going to appear out of the sky today, but make no mistake: Whether they choose to say it loudly and publicly right now, as far as they're concerned the only thing Camping got wrong was the exact date. There are millions of people still going about their business today convinced that at any moment they can be beamed up to heaven while the rest of the Earth falls into a period of tribulation that ends in its ultimate destruction. And by the way, these people aren't considered crazy -- they're just called faithful, and deserving of having that faith respected and lent credence by the rest of us. It's fascinating that, really, the only thing that puts Pastor Harold Camping and his followers one step over the line into the world of the insane outlier is that they thought they had figured out the time of Jesus's return, not that they believed absolutely in the notion of a divine entity called Jesus -- or that he would magically appear to us -- in the first place.
If you need it put in more reductionist terms it can be summed up like this: Believing in Jesus Christ as the resurrected son of the creator of the universe who will eventually return to Earth equals not-crazy; believing that you know when Jesus Christ will make that triumphant return equals crazy. See how, well, crazy that is?
When you look at it in those terms it's kind of astonishing how one belief is considered legitimate in our society and worthy of respect -- and one is considered outlandish and worthy of ridicule.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. | | Back to Top | | |
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One Love
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Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/22/2011 10:03 AM (GMT -6) | | Good point, B. We don't divide the caterpillar from the butterfly, now do we?
"Living a one storey life can be described as simply living here and now. It is being present to God Who is present to us. It is recognizing the true nature of the created world as the arena of both our struggle and our serenity. Our argument with those who do not believe should not be about whether or not their is a second storey to our universe, but about the true nature of the universe in which we live. Whenever Christians allow the gospel to be shoved upstairs, we have allowed ourselves to be disregarded and the gospel to be marginalized. God did not become flesh and dwell among us in order to establish the truth of a second storey universe: he came to redeem the one we live in. Those who cannot recognize hell among us will also be blind to paradise as well. Christ reveals both. Our daily struggle is to live in the latter and to proclaim the gospel to those who live in the former, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life."
...
"Thus the Church, though in this world, is not of this world. Properly, the Church is an eschatological moment. It baptizes into the death of Christ and raises in the likeness of His resurrection, thus casting time aside and treating these historical events as present, because in the presence of Christ all moments are present. The Church eats of an eschatological meal, enjoying the food of the Messianic banquet now, because in Christ that moment is already made present to the Church."
--Fr. Stephen, Christianity in a One-Storey Universe
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Post Edited (One Love) : 5/22/2011 10:17:52 AM (GMT-5) | | Back to Top | | |
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One Love
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/22/2011 10:28 AM (GMT -6) | | | | |
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One Love
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2003
Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/22/2011 10:49 PM (GMT -6) | | | Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
...
"And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand."
...
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
How clear is this? Really. Falling into this May 21st stuff seems like a strong product of biblical illiteracy.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. | | Back to Top | | |
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One Love
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Total Posts : 13888
| Posted 5/24/2011 11:55 AM (GMT -6) | | Oddly appropriate...
When Bishops Disappoint
September 09, 2009 Length: 54:36
Throughout the history of the Church, there have been moments of scandal and disappointment with various hierarchs of the Church. How are we to respond as faithful Orthodox Christians? Fr. Tom shares his reflections.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. | | Back to Top | | |
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