RE: It is a bit frustrating reading through Ecclesiastes
August 19, 2025 at 5:07 pm
(This post was last modified: August 19, 2025 at 5:13 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Ehrman for the nt, finkelstein for the ot. They're good summarizers and communicators, and if you want to know more starting with the sources and authors they reference isn't the worst.
Thing is, it doesn't really matter to christianity how or whether the story is true as told. A person could believe it all happened exactly as every jot and tittle describes and this does not make them a christian. Credulous, superstitious, borderline braindead...sure..but not christian. To be a christian a person has to hear the pitch and agree with it. Not just that it happened. That it's right and good and proper and they want a piece. Hallelujah!
People who think maybe there might be a god, and maybe some of the stuff happened in some way you could call accurate if you glimpsed at it in the right light on the right day of the lunar cycle, and so they call themselves christians. So they go through the motions - but aren't filled with the spirit? Matthew 7:21 tells us how that ends in the christian cinematic universe...and there, without any doubt, magic book got something right.
Thing is, it doesn't really matter to christianity how or whether the story is true as told. A person could believe it all happened exactly as every jot and tittle describes and this does not make them a christian. Credulous, superstitious, borderline braindead...sure..but not christian. To be a christian a person has to hear the pitch and agree with it. Not just that it happened. That it's right and good and proper and they want a piece. Hallelujah!
People who think maybe there might be a god, and maybe some of the stuff happened in some way you could call accurate if you glimpsed at it in the right light on the right day of the lunar cycle, and so they call themselves christians. So they go through the motions - but aren't filled with the spirit? Matthew 7:21 tells us how that ends in the christian cinematic universe...and there, without any doubt, magic book got something right.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
