textman
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THE ENEMY WITHIN!
[or: More on False Teachers]
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/ Ng: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic / 27Apr99 /
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And so it seems that the always amazing march of history, and the
process of cultural rationalization, have together worked many profound
changes in the world and the human race. The most obvious development
is that now there are billions of naked apes, where formerly (for about
a million years or so) they were numbered by the thousands. Thus
'fruitfulness' and the rationalization of the world have always worked
together (as manifestations of the same life force, if you will) to the
end of making living a better experience for people in general. But now
the result of all of this is that the current generations of humankind
have propagated themselves to extreme excess, such that the world can
no longer support them all. Consequently, large sections of the human
population are almost entirely lacking the basic necessities of life
(food, shelter, clothing, etc), as well as the basics of culture
(education, literacy, art, culture, history, etc).
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Thus millions suffer unnecessarily in many and various ways; as does
every other living creature that shares this world with this greedy and
arrogant species. And indeed the world in general is also violated
immensely because human beings are *still* the slaves of their most
basic animal needs and urges. They are not really rational animals at
all; although they often fancy themselves as such, and often employ
rational methods to the end of meeting their various needs and
irrational whims. And neither are they spiritual creatures; although
many like to think that they are. But because some few human beings
have tread the lofty plains of Pure Reason, or have become shining
spiritual creatures, these few unique and great individuals have
served as beacons and models for all ...
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Consequently, the number of Christians in the present evil age is
counted by the billions. Millions and millions [Insert bad Carl Sagan
impression here!] of bright rational and spiritual creatures among
billions and billions of barbarians ...
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?!?!?!? . . . [Insert extreme puzzlement and confusion here!]
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Consider the significance of this.
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Indeed, consider the extreme unlikelihood of this!
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Consider instead the plain fact that most "religious people" are
neither spiritual, nor rational, nor cultured, nor even very well
educated. Now this bizarre and paradoxical situation means that there
are many ironies and contradictions and inconsistencies and conflicts
within church history (and world history in general) and within the
People of God themselves. Accordingly, none should be surprised that in
our current Information Age (our techno-digital-computerized age) the
vast majority of Christians are almost entirely unaware of their own
history and heritage. And even if they are not completely illiterate,
they are nevertheless ignorant of the contents of their own holy books.
They do not know their saints and martyrs and prophets. They do not see
the great Christian heroes and warriors and teachers of the past and
present. They are a blind and stubborn people! Willful, arrogant, and
uncaring. Indeed, they do not even know how to be Christians. Thus they
are unable to serve the Lord because they cannot even recognize or
acknowledge their dismal condition. And even those that do seek for
guides and sages and gurus do not know how or where to find them ...
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Of course, the Bible is an enormous asset to all manner of True
Believer. Through the Word, the Spirit can ofttimes be guide, consoler,
teacher, judge, friend, or whatever the humble or righteous Reader most
requires in that moment. Alas, reading the scriptures is one thing.
Reading it with a right and Christian understanding is another thing
altogether! Oh, but there is no shortage of good guides and teachers
here, is there? Many look to long-established and well-recognized
church authorities and leaders. They are many and varied. They are
eager to assert their right to authority over each and every Believer.
They are eager to demonstrate their great knowledge of the sacred text,
and their impressive profundity in the holy scriptures.
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Others simply allow the Spirit to guide their understanding. And
listening to their heart, as it were, trust the Lord to show them the
way to read aright . [Now this is a necessary exercise, to be sure, but
it is not always sufficient; nor does it really do much real justice to
the full depths and richness of the Word of God.] Still others prefer
to seek their biblical guides in the best thinkers and writers to be
found in the world of biblical scholarship. This too is a good choice,
for there are many good and faithful teachers who are knowledgeable
in the various Biblical Sciences. But, personally, I think that biblical
commentaries are more of an art than a science. At least, it should be;
for the sundry techniques and methodologies of rationalized procedures
can never be enough to grasp and contain the energies and truth of the
divine Spirit. But many others do not even bother about any of this,
but rather rely on their local (and/or televangelical) preacher or
minister to provide all that they need to know about the Book ...
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One "benefit" of all these approaches is that your average Bible
Reader rarely, if ever, has to put any effort into the difficult
enterprise of reading all of these strange and tiresome ancient
books. LOL ... Some Christians even view the reading of Scripture
as a necessary obligation; rather than, 4X, a rich and priceless
opportunity to serve and praise the Lord ... :)
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And that's about all the options that your average Bible-reading
Christian has. Couple this basic inability to read the text with a
fundamental disinterest or apathy about whatever might be said therein,
and you end up with a strange predicament for the Lord and the People
of God. So Tyndale's prophetic vision of seeing a Bible in the hands
of every humble Christian has now been realized (more or less), but it
seems that the Reader is woefully inadequate to the text!
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the one almost adamant about it: Adamantius ;>
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