Friday Quotes XXI

You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian. ~ Geek Speak 101 #1 out of ten ways to know if you are a Fundamentalist, according to an athiest.

For Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force...it is necessary to make a man better not by force but by persuasion. We neither have authority granted us by law to restrain sinners, nor, if it were, should we know how to use it, since God gives the crown to those who are kept from evil, not by force, but by choice. ~ John Chrysostom, 4th century Bishop of Constantinople

Is it not excessively ridiculous to seek the good opinion of those whom you would never wish to be like? ~ John Chrysostom, 4th century Bishop of Constantinople

Ok this next quote, only exists in this one source: Quoted by C. Volney, The Ruins, p. 177 (1872).Volney supposedly was quoting a letter written from Saint Gregory to Saint Jerome, but this document apparently does not exist in the 20th century. It does not appear in any of Gregory's works and it only apparently exist in this 1872 source. Perhaps Volney had access to this letter or perhaps it never existed at all. Even if it does exist, I would like to read the context of this quote that is used by Jews and Athiests alike to criticize the Christian faith. Volney was trying to prove that the Church Fathers intentially adapted Egyptian Sun worship into Christian Son worship.

A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors have often said, not what they though, but what circumstances and necessity dictated ~ St. Gregoryof Nanianzus, 4th century Bishop of Constantinople

1 Clement and the phoenix

Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as the flesh decays a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the bones of its parent, and bearing these it passes from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. And, in open day, flying in the sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and having done this, hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect the registers of the dates, and find that it has returned exactly as the five hundredth year was completed. [1]

~ 1 Clement 25

Croc with a sail

The family trees of birds and crocodiles meet somewhere in the early Triassic and archosauriforms are the closest cousin to those archosaurs, Nesbitt said. But the new research places X. sapingensis firmly within the archosaur family tree, providing evidence that the early members of the crocodile and bird family trees evolved earlier than previously thought.

"This animal is closer to a crocodile, but it's not a crocodile. If you saw it today you wouldn't think it was a crocodile, especially not with a sail on its back," he said. [1]

Fetal Consequences - Radiolab

Fetal Consequences - Radiolab



Mother's day is nigh. Sort of. Anyway, without knowing it, you might have already given your mom a pretty lasting gift. But whether it helps or hurts her, or both, is still an open question. In this Radiolab short, Robert updates us on the science of fetal cells -- one of the first topics he covered as an NPR science correspondent.


Six years ago, wearing his NPR science-correspondent hat, Robert presented listeners with this question: what if we told you that legions of fetal cells hang out inside a mother for decades after she gives birth -- and might even help heal her when she's sick or hurt? Back then he described this as a "too dangerously beautiful idea" for the scientists researching fetal cells. They wanted to believe it, but the evidence wasn't there yet. One of those scientists was Kirby Johnson at Tufts University, who explained that the cells might also hurt the mother. He wasn't sure which. "I think that that's something that we're going to see within the next five years or less," Kirby said. So, Robert thought it was high-time to call Kirby for an update, and to ask once again about Kirby's personal stake in the work he's doing.

Friday Quotes XX

Nothing will affirm your faith like a book that challenges it. ~ unknown

We legally steal. ~ Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) On who does government money belong to.

You never ask a lawyer for permission to do something. We are going to do the needful, and the lawyers are going to tell us why it's legal ~ General Russel -on how do deal with the outbreak of Ebola Reston outside of DC in the Fall of 1989

Soldiering has one great trap. To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. That is ...a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. That is one reason why there are so few very good officers. Although there are many good men. ~ Robert E. Lee

"Is it not certain that he who does not or will not believe one article correctly (after he has been taught and admonished) does not believe any sincerely and with the right faith? And whoever is so bold that he ventures to accuse God of fraud and deception in a single word and does so willfully again and again after he has been warned and instructed once or twice will likewise certainly venture to accuse God of fraud and deception in all of His words. Therefore it is true, absolutely and without exception, that everything is believed or nothing is believed. The Holy Spirit does not suffer Himself to be separated and divided so that He should teach and cause to be believed one doctrine rightly and another falsely." ~ Martin Luther

Zimmerman's photos from the night of the shooting

George Zimmerman Images Show Wounds

Querky Things that I Believe

Querky things that I believe.

1. “I want to know God not Theology” is an oxymoron.

2. Some parts of the Bible are dependent on Systematic Theology (AKA Job).

3. Unlike USA Today the Bible was not written on a 5th grade level.

4. The Dead Sea Scrolls may not always be right.

5. Saying “I don’t believe in election (occurring about 20 plus times)” is like saying “I don’t believe in the Seraphim (occurring only 7 times) or propitiation (occurring only 4 times)”. They are all words in the Bible. Don’t cut them out. Figure out what they mean.

6. The Lord of the Rings is longer than the Bible, in my opinion you should read both. (The Harry Potter series is three times longer than the Bible.)

7. “I am reading Tom Sawyer” connotes that you will finish the book. Why does “I am reading the Bible” not connote the same thing?

8. If you wrote music or a book, would you expect your spouse to read/listen to them?

9. “I believe in a God I have never seen, because of a book I have never read,” gets old.

10. What Would Jesus Do? Jesus learned Greek and Hebrew.

11. If not believing in inerrancy means you are no longer a Baptist, then what about not believing in religious liberty?

12. You always find time to do what is most important to you.

13. It is ok to ask what ever question you want, just make sure you come up with the right answers.

14. Parts of the Bible are more racy than Desperate Housewives.

15. In the Bible, there is no prohibition against drinking alcohol or gambling. There is also no prohibition against abortion. Refer back to #2.

16. Sometimes the solution is worse than the problem.

17. You do not measure a man's greatness by his wealth or power but by what it takes to discourage him.

18. It is dangerous to tell someone to read the Bible when you have not read it youself.

19. I am starting to think that we need to have Catechisms before we baptize people. People should know what they are signing up for.

Zimmerman's medical records

ABC News Exclusive: Zimmerman Medical Report Shows Broken Nose, Lacerations After Trayvon Martin Shooting

A medical report compiled by the family physician of accused Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman and obtained exclusively by ABC News found that Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Martin during an alleged altercation.

My timeline is being updated accordingly: Zimmerman/Martin Timeline [a work in progress]

Pastor sues blogger and those who gave bad online reviews for $500,000 dollars

Picture of the lawsuit from her blog [2]

She said in another interview,

"If Chuck O'Neil wins, I think all the bloggers and people who have sites on the Internet better be shaking in their boots."[1]

Quite honestly, I agree.   90% of Americans cannot produce half a million dollars.


BEAVERTON, Ore. - A church pastor is suing a mother and daughter for $500,000 because they gave the church bad reviews online.

The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn't understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.

"I thought, I'm just going to post a review," Smith said. "We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?"

Never did she think Beaverton Grace Bible Church and Pastor Charles O'Neal would slap her with the lawsuit.

"I'm a stay-at-home mom. I teach my kids at home, and this is just not the amount of money that normal moms have."

When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.

"If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way," she said. "All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There's no sin in that."

Dissatisfied, she went online to write reviews. Other church members counteracted them with church praise. So Smith started a blog called "Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors."

But the pastor claims in the lawsuit he filed that her words, "creepy," "cult," "control tactics," and "spiritual abuse," are defamation.

"What somebody does in the church is one thing, but when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right," Smith said.

The lawsuit didn’t just target Smith. Her daughter and three other commenters are also being sued.

"He can say what he wants in the church and say, don't talk about this or don't talk about that, or don't talk to this person, but when you're out in the civil world, you don't do that anymore," Smith said. "And he's not my pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking."

The Smiths filed a special free speech motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It goes before a judge later this month.

KATU News called the church, went there, went to the pastor's home and spoke to his wife. KATU News also called the pastor's attorney. All of them declined to give their side of the story. [3]

Woe in Isaiah 5

Many have been quoting Isaiah 5:20 lately in reference to the Obama Administration's new stance on gay marriage.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 

The NET translates it this way.

5:20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead,

who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,

who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. 

The NET translation rightly points out that this is a temporal "woe".  Isaiah continues.

5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead,

those who think they possess understanding.

5:22 Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead,

who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.

5:23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,

they ignore the just cause of the innocent.

5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire devours straw,

and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,

so their root will rot,

and their flower will blow away like dust.

For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,

they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel.

5:25 So the Lord is furious with his people;

Isaiah promises un-buried corpses.
This picture is from the Hatian Earthquake where 230,000 died. [1]

he lifts his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again.

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation,

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they come quickly and swiftly.

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest.

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared.

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint,

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.

5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

5:30 At that time they will growl over their prey,

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks.

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness.


When people quote Isaiah in context, people are forecasting a temporal "woe" that involves lots and lots of bodies.  However, I realize that most people quote this verse out of context, because it is chilling and trendy.  

world population

Modern Israel size comparison.[3]

Here are a couple of quick notes.  

• When this warning was made to Judah, there were less than a 100 million people globally. 
• Sennacherib claims to have deported 200,150 people in the 8th century.  While this may have been an exaggeration, Judah was left with only an estimated 110,000 people.[2]  
• Israel today is bigger than 8th century Judah, but this predicted "woe" was directed at a smaller surface area.  

The United States is a nation of about 300 million people.  This is more than three times the world population when Isaiah was written.  Not only were there less possible people to turn into corpses, there was less surface area.  

I am not saying that God could not fill the US streets with corpses like manure, but the disaster would be beyond the scale that Isaiah prophesied to Judah.  (More than 230,000 died in the Haitian earthquake of 2010.)