Yes - punkofnice this is something that I have tried to get my brain cell around. A ransom is paid for immediate release and removal of the threat of death. Yet here we are still dying in the human arena 2000 yeras after the ransom was paid. I am sure someone will contribute a 'spiritual' explanation to this thread but from a gladiators point of view it seems that humanity still lives 'inter spem et metum.' (between hope and fear)
THE GLADIATOR
JoinedPosts by THE GLADIATOR
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Ransom paid. But still you gotta suffer!
by punkofnice inwith my recent rise to atheistic agnosticism(?
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if the death of jesus paid the ultimate price.....then why didn't it all end there and then and everyone got to heaven or walk into paradise with a panda?.
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If there is a creator, will an expanding universe ever become bigger than he?
by prologos inthe bible has expressions like: "--god walked in the garden at the breezy part of the day--" .
but more realisticly, speaking in today's lingo:.
if, as accepted by consensus, the universe was "smaller" in the past, expanding out of a zero size singularity, it was "smaller" than the "creator"* at that point in time.
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THE GLADIATOR
If I 'God' exists it would be a part of everything that exists. There would be no God versus us, just a collective universal reality that is not separate from reality. How can anything happen that is not God?
Everything in the universe, whether visible to human eyes or invisible, is energy vibrating at differing speeds. Science is just beginning to comprehend how un-solid all matter is and all that exists is the same energy. What we perceive as physical is a matter of perspective relative to the speed at which the energy that we view as ‘us’ vibrates. As God has yet to talk to me or make contact, I must for now enjoy this beautiful earth and gaze out at the immediate universe of which we are a part and wait for an electronic message from God answering the opening question.
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Believers, do you believe in evolution?
by everchangingworld inafter leaving, i still couldn't wrap my head around evolution (after the years of seing "intelligent design" in everything around me).. there's a series of videos that give a good intro to evolution and critical thinking.
they've probably been posted here before, but, for any new members, these are worth watching.. evolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdddbyilel0.
critical thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6olpl5p0fmg.
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THE GLADIATOR
NewChapter "Glad, you don't have a soul."
I does seem to be a complicated matterm made worse by the fact that I don't really know what a soul is.
tec "I think you're covered, Glad ;)
Indeed, everyone is covered, including animals..."
Thanks for the reassurance Tammy but I think I am going to have to appeal to Caesar on this one.
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Believers, do you believe in evolution?
by everchangingworld inafter leaving, i still couldn't wrap my head around evolution (after the years of seing "intelligent design" in everything around me).. there's a series of videos that give a good intro to evolution and critical thinking.
they've probably been posted here before, but, for any new members, these are worth watching.. evolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdddbyilel0.
critical thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6olpl5p0fmg.
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THE GLADIATOR
Many times on this board I have asked Christians that believe in both evolution and souls; at what point in evolution did God insert a soul into humans? I have never received an answer. This was why Darwin’s presentation of evolution in The Origin of the Species caused such a stir. It was argued by the church that if we descended from apes we could not have a soul, which amounted to heresy at the time. More importantly, do gladiators have souls?
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Is there any specific scripture(s) in the bible that say you will not survive armageddon if you are an inactive publisher?
by solomon injust wondering?.
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THE GLADIATOR
"Of course printing 8 million plus copies a month is nothing to sneeze at."
It's the no longer being allowed to sell them for profit that causes the Bethel Boppers to have sneezing fits.
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Is there any specific scripture(s) in the bible that say you will not survive armageddon if you are an inactive publisher?
by solomon injust wondering?.
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THE GLADIATOR
Why do we need a scripture? There are plenty of Watchtower publications that lovingly provide this information through the spirit appointed faithful and discreet slave.
In case you are not sure who the faithful and discreet slave is, there are plenty of Watchtower publications that also lovingly provide this information through the spirit appointed faithful and discreet slave, including the latest ‘understanding’ of who the faithful and discreet slave are/is/was/may be.
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Does God's foreknowledge take away from free will?
by Christ Alone injust by knowing what will happen, that doesn't mean that we can prevent or cause something to happen.
my knowing that does not prevent them the free will of making the choice.. it's the same with god.
if god is not restricted to existence in the present, then the future is known by god because god indwells the future as well as the present and the past.
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THE GLADIATOR
frankiespeakin Mmm...worse thing happen at sea - but then the god of the bible never went to sea.
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Jehovah's Witnesses dismayed by new magazine format from Watchtower Society.
by Balaamsass inwow.
i was surprised this week by calls from active jws complaining about the new magazine format, and more begging for money from the platform.. frankly i was surprized by this reaction since this is old news to jwn members.
i guess actually shuffling to the bookroom and grabbing the new "awake tracts" minus the inside cover forward ...awakened many sleepy, catatonic, bored jws who never read the things or go on the internet anyway.. any feedback from other areas?.
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THE GLADIATOR
life is to short "I asked what the service group thought of them and my husband said the of those that were out in service they were very excited saying that the slave had given them more room with the wider margins to take notes and that is so loving of the faith ful slave to give them so much room."
Why don't they just give them a blank pad and some crayons so they can dream-away without hindrance ?
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Does God's foreknowledge take away from free will?
by Christ Alone injust by knowing what will happen, that doesn't mean that we can prevent or cause something to happen.
my knowing that does not prevent them the free will of making the choice.. it's the same with god.
if god is not restricted to existence in the present, then the future is known by god because god indwells the future as well as the present and the past.
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THE GLADIATOR
"what he likes and doesn't like, what makes Him happy or sad, etc..."
Are we really talking about God here or a spoilt child that needs special care?
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Does God's foreknowledge take away from free will?
by Christ Alone injust by knowing what will happen, that doesn't mean that we can prevent or cause something to happen.
my knowing that does not prevent them the free will of making the choice.. it's the same with god.
if god is not restricted to existence in the present, then the future is known by god because god indwells the future as well as the present and the past.
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THE GLADIATOR
Perhaps the problem with this discussion is a lack of consensus as to what God actually is. There seems to be an acceptance that God is somewhere out there sitting on his asteroid watching us and knowing everything we are about to do, even before we are born; but he can’t be bothered to stop bad things happening.
My God would be a part of everything that exists. There would be no God versus us, just a collective universal reality that is not separated. All that happens in the universe is God. Everything in the universe, whether visible to human eyes or invisible, is energy vibrating at differing speeds. Science is just beginning to comprehend how un-solid all matter is and that all that exists is energy.
For me the word God is rather redundant because it is contaminated by being used for so many thousands of years to describe an entity with fixed ideas, rules, plans and rewards to those who are faithful to a particular creed.
Does the energy that IS the universe have foreknowledge that takes away our free will? To do that it would have to have a will of its own. In which case it would not be God but an individual entity that seeks to manipulate energy to its own advantage. That sounds more like a devil than God.