Book Comment: The Born Again Skeptic's Guide to the Bible

Ruth Hurmence Green (1915 - 1981) is apparently something of a "saint" (atheists please excuse me) to the Freedom From Religion Foundation who published her books, The Born Again Skeptic's Guide to the Bible (1979) and The Book of Ruth (1981). The 1999 cover of her book looks like a brown Bible; it even has "Holy Bible" centered, in large letters, on the front. The Foundation says she "debunked the Bible as no one has done since Thomas Paine."

Ruth read her BIble cover to cover, verse by verse, and she really hated Christianity. She picks out every seeming inconsistency, every hard passage, and every major Christian doctrine and tries to grind them up into sausage.

The only thing about which I almost agree with her is one statement she makes about the Trinity. She believed that the doctrine of the Trinity was cooked up to maintain Christianity's monotheism. I don't believe that it was "cooked up." It was a hard fought controversy for many years as Christians tried to come to a consensus on what they actually thought about the three divine Persons they knew and the monotheistic God of their Jewish heritage. I believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is the only explanation which can account for all the statements made about God and by God in the BIble.

I am presently collecting materials for a book I intend to write about some of the more profound, and even shocking, implications of the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine resolves many seeming contradictions and problems in the Bible.

Mount or Plain?

Some see a major discrepancy in the fact that the Lord’s Prayer appears in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–7:29) but not in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-7:1). What’s the problem? These are probably two different events. Jesus didn’t have to (and probably didn’t) say exactly the same time every time He spoke.

"And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:" Matthew 5:1

"And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; " Luke 6:17

B.H.O. Birthday

Today is the birthday of United States President Barack Hussein Obama, born 4 August 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. We should all pray for him that he will be led in his decisions by the Holy Spirit.

Book Comment: No Applause - Just Throw Money

The title of this book is from a famous quip by the Vaudevillian jazz dancer Joe Frisco, "No applause, folks, just throw money." The same named book is a fascinating and sometimes humorous historical accounting of the birth, meteoric surge, and dwindling of Vaudeville, the precursor of the modern radio, theater, television, and film industries as well as such regional phenomena as Branson, Missouri, Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the many shows at night clubs and amusement parks around the country. At its height, some of the Vaudeville performers were making as much as $4000 per week, equal in modern dollars to about $40,000.

What does this have to do with Christianity? Actually, quite a lot. The author, Trav S.D. (Travis Stewart) believes that the early assessments of entertainers, traveling showmen, actors and actresses, etc. were accurate. Many were thieves, shysters, and prostitutes. He sides with the entertainers.

Trav S.D.'s assessment of Christianity is at best skeptical and, at times, hostile. He opposes what he understands to be prudery and close-mindedness while detailing how Vaudeville left behind its raunchy, sometimes racist, roots to become squeaky-clean and family friendly even as, behind the scenes, politics and dirty tricks raged. He shows how the organizations and networks developed for the live stage shows formed the basis of the modern entertainment industry.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Maxine A. Phillips: (d. 17 May, 2010, age 92, Alabama.) Immunohematologist (Blood Banking). She was on a team sent by the United States government to China to teach Blood banking techniques to physicians and laboratory personnel. Baptist.

Kenia Tilus: (b. 2004, Haiti – d. 2010) Victim of the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake.

George Richard Tiller: (b. 1941, Kansas – d. 2009; aka: “Tiller the Baby Killer”) Lutheran. Tiller was a provider of late-term abortions and was assassinated in church by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder.

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli: (1810, Massachusetts – d. 1850; aka: Margaret Fuller) Unitarian feminist, transcendentalist, journalist. She was the first female full-time book reviewer in journalism. She thought that social reform was more important than individual improvement.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov: (b. 1870, Russia – d. 1924; aka: Vladimir Lenin) Raised in a Russian Orthodox home, Lenin became a Communist politician and the leader of the Russian Revolution.

Quitting Christianity

On 28 July 2010, novelist Anne Rice posted this on her Facebook page, "In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen." She made her decision because she says she refuses to be opposed to homosexuality, feminism, and artificial birth control.

Rice was raised as a Roman Catholic but left the church as an adult. She is best known as a writer of gothic and vampire-themed novels, especially Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned. In 2008, she released her memoir, Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, about her return to Roman Catholicism. She apparently is not renouncing Jesus but organized religion.

Worldwide Forgiveness Day

Today is Worldwide Forgiveness Day, sponsored by the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, a 501 (c)3 non-profit tax exempt charity. Their mission is "to evoke the healing spirit of Forgiveness worldwide," and to teach and certify thousands of Forgiveness Life Skill Teachers. They quote Dr. Gerald Jampolsky, "Forgiveness is the greatest healer of them all." That's a whole lot of forgiveness.

http://www.forgivenessday.org

This is an interfaith organization and they seem to go out of their way to not mention Jesus or Christianity though they do mention other faiths. The whole thing seems to be "feel-goodism," based on the idea that if we would all just be good and forgive one another, everything would be all right. This is thin and filmy with no underlying power to sustain it, based only on good intentions.

Christians are commanded to forgive without limits (Luke 17:4). Unforgiveness is one of the most horrible of sins (Matthew 18:34-35; Luke 15:28-30). Christians are to forgive because God has forgiven us. We are to be like God who sought out the offender (us) to redeem him.