End of the Fourth Quarter, 2021
G.D.O'Bradovich III
December 14, 2021
“Experience has made me rich...” -Madonna, Material Girl
Various aspects of Natural Law are determined by thinking about man as he is found in Nature and the proper role of “man as man”. The natural man should not be confounded with man as citizen. All of the benefits of man being man proceed from his existence. Therefore, man must remain alive and “life” is the primary conclusion of pondering the role of man. To insure his continued existence, man must defend his life against the elements, predatory animals, and, if the need arise, from his fellow man. Since man’s nature and Natural Law existed before civilization, the rights of man supersede the decrees of the city. In conclusion to this part, the natural rights of man cannot be granted to another or forfeited to society or abrogated by civil decrees. Man retains his Natural Rights at all times and in all places.
Reasonable people agree on the subjects relating to the natural sciences, but they may disagree when the topics touch upon man and the city. Some people hold to the idea that man can be man without breathing and no appeal to either reason or human experience can dissuade. Newborns have the potential to become toddlers. Toddlers have the potential to become teenagers. Teenagers have the potential to become adults. There are no guarantees or assurances that any individual progression will occur, similar to the fact that fetuses are potential human beings and are not promised life.
The view that man has no purpose or goal is confirmed by the myriad of potential actions and possible occupations. Agreement with this view does not imply that individuals do not, or should not, have goals, an ultimate end.
With the possibility that certain opinions of Roe v. Wade may be reviewed, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wondered why induced abortions cannot be limited by the state to 15 weeks, as all states now have legal abandonment of newborns without prosecution, as these unwanted children can be placed in foster care or adopted. It seems that Coney Barrett accepts the modern concept of equality, where everyone is equal and equally suitable for any occupation, in this example, parenthood. Of course, we have serious reservations that Coney Barrett would honestly hold the opinion that an American could be chosen at random and be a viable Supreme Court justice. Yet, it seems that Coney Barrett believes that any couple can be parents, provided that both judicial fiat and the force of government are involved.
In previous essays, we have discussed that the majority of the alumni of foster care [“stranger care”] do not graduate high school, have ongoing issues with substance abuse, higher than typical unemployment, and diagnosed mental illnesses. Being unable to meet the minimum expectations of society, these adults require continued lifelong assistance, either from government agencies or individuals. Should induced abortions be severely restricted, so that a statistically significant number of unwanted people are added to the population, one can easily predict the increasing societal problems within twenty years. Unresolved abandonment issues, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder will be the causes of the aforementioned issues. Of course, the Supreme Court will not be held accountable for the financial, economic, emotional, and psychological costs for accidental fetuses becoming unwanted children and undesirable adults.
“People like Amy Coney Barrett make it seem like continuing the pregnancy and placing a child for adoption is a simple, no-brainer, alternative, which outright ignores... the financial and social tolls of this experience.” -Andréa Becker
Reasonable people agree on the subjects relating to the natural sciences, but they may disagree when the topics touch upon man and the city. Some people hold to the idea that man can be man without breathing and no appeal to either reason or human experience can dissuade. Newborns have the potential to become toddlers. Toddlers have the potential to become teenagers. Teenagers have the potential to become adults. There are no guarantees or assurances that any individual progression will occur, similar to the fact that fetuses are potential human beings and are not promised life.
The view that man has no purpose or goal is confirmed by the myriad of potential actions and possible occupations. Agreement with this view does not imply that individuals do not, or should not, have goals, an ultimate end.
With the possibility that certain opinions of Roe v. Wade may be reviewed, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wondered why induced abortions cannot be limited by the state to 15 weeks, as all states now have legal abandonment of newborns without prosecution, as these unwanted children can be placed in foster care or adopted. It seems that Coney Barrett accepts the modern concept of equality, where everyone is equal and equally suitable for any occupation, in this example, parenthood. Of course, we have serious reservations that Coney Barrett would honestly hold the opinion that an American could be chosen at random and be a viable Supreme Court justice. Yet, it seems that Coney Barrett believes that any couple can be parents, provided that both judicial fiat and the force of government are involved.
In previous essays, we have discussed that the majority of the alumni of foster care [“stranger care”] do not graduate high school, have ongoing issues with substance abuse, higher than typical unemployment, and diagnosed mental illnesses. Being unable to meet the minimum expectations of society, these adults require continued lifelong assistance, either from government agencies or individuals. Should induced abortions be severely restricted, so that a statistically significant number of unwanted people are added to the population, one can easily predict the increasing societal problems within twenty years. Unresolved abandonment issues, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder will be the causes of the aforementioned issues. Of course, the Supreme Court will not be held accountable for the financial, economic, emotional, and psychological costs for accidental fetuses becoming unwanted children and undesirable adults.
“People like Amy Coney Barrett make it seem like continuing the pregnancy and placing a child for adoption is a simple, no-brainer, alternative, which outright ignores... the financial and social tolls of this experience.” -Andréa Becker
"Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before.” -R.E.M., Stand
We stumbled upon a video titled “10 Things that all Flat Earthers Say” by “Professor Dave Explains” and watched it in toto with amusement, since we use many of these points when discussing the flat earth. Of course, we would like to think we are more thoughtful than the supposed flat earthers described therein. We intentionally omit any discussion of spherical geometry when chatting about the flat earth, for we are aware that we are woefully ignorant of this topic. As we discussed “the 8 inches per mile squared” formula with Josiah W., we corrected ourselves and said the curvature is closer to 7.92 inches and added that flat earthers are not good at math. Upon hearing this disclosure, he laughed.
We understand Professor Dave’s frustration with willful ignorance. We omit commenting on his ad homimen statements, as we strove to understand his meaning.
1:15 The first mention of gravity, the weakest of the four fundamental forces.
1:52 #1 Things fall down because of density and buoyancy.
It is not problematic for flat earthers that density and buoyancy are not “forces”, as density and buoyancy provide explanations for natural phenomena- both rocks and wood fall through the air, rocks continue falling and sink in water, while wood floats on water, and helium balloons rise in the atmosphere.
2:37 Dense objects know to fall down, just as helium filled balloons know to rise.
2:59 “More mass means a greater gravitational attraction.”
Yet, the ocean tides rise and fall due to the supposed influence of a much smaller moon, yet no tides are seen in lakes or rivers.
3:24 It follows that helium balloons generate an upward force greater than the gravitational force.
4:38 #2 I shouldn’t be able to see this thing because 8in/mile2
5:58 Correct formula for earth’s curvature: H=r-rCos(s/2r)
6:11 #3 Water does not curve, water finds its own level.
7:57 “Level means as close to the center of the earth as possible.”
By this definition, the Dead Sea is more level than the peak of Mount Everest.
8:28 #4 How can our atmosphere be next to a vacuum?
While discussing the vacuum of space, Professor Dave states the flat earthers imagine the cosmos populated by household vacuum cleaners- in the immortal words of Dave Berry, we are “not making this up.” We would like to explicitly state that no flat earther envisions such nonsense, but, though long and painful experiences, we must err on the side of caution and refrain from making this declaration.
9:35 #5 Show water sticking to a spinning ball?
“The earth is huge. It generates an enormous gravitational field. That’s why everything sticks to it.”
Everything sticks to the earth, except for things that don’t stick. Why? Reasons.
9:56 In addition to turning on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour, the earth orbits the sun at 67,000 miles per hour or 1,166 miles per minute or 18.16 miles per second. However, we do not experience either death or any discomfort from the effects of our “huge” planet moving through space at 18.16 miles per second. Why? Reasons.
10:28 One does not notice the speed of the airplane as the observer is in a closed system, such as a car on the interstate. However, rolling down the windows in the car, or the airplane, will provide physical evidence of the speed, as the closed system becomes an open system. Since there is no evidence of either the speed of the rotating earth on its axis or the orbiting earth around the sun, then the reasonable conclusions are, firstly, either that the earth does not rotate or revolve or, secondly, that the earth is a closed system.
Everything sticks to the earth, except for flying animals and helium balloons.
11:26 #6 Moonlight is cold.
No comment.
12:51 #7 Rivers can’t flow uphill.
The source of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca, is at an elevation of 1,485 feet above sea level. The curious flat earther will research standard ‘sea level’ and reflect on the accepted definition of ‘sea level’ and how it relates to Lake Itasca located 1,485 feet above sea level.
13:22 “There is no up or down in space.”
We propose that in a closed system that is similar to our atmosphere [78% nitrogen] located at any point in outer space, dense items will fall “down” while helium balloons will rise “up”.
13:37 “‘Up’ on earth is away from the surface of the earth...”
14:17 #8 How is the earth closer to the sun in winter?
14:20 “Many flat earthers are dumbfounded by the idea that the earth is slightly closer to the sun in winter than in summer.”
We understand Professor Dave’s frustration with willful ignorance. We omit commenting on his ad homimen statements, as we strove to understand his meaning.
1:15 The first mention of gravity, the weakest of the four fundamental forces.
1:52 #1 Things fall down because of density and buoyancy.
It is not problematic for flat earthers that density and buoyancy are not “forces”, as density and buoyancy provide explanations for natural phenomena- both rocks and wood fall through the air, rocks continue falling and sink in water, while wood floats on water, and helium balloons rise in the atmosphere.
2:37 Dense objects know to fall down, just as helium filled balloons know to rise.
2:59 “More mass means a greater gravitational attraction.”
Yet, the ocean tides rise and fall due to the supposed influence of a much smaller moon, yet no tides are seen in lakes or rivers.
3:24 It follows that helium balloons generate an upward force greater than the gravitational force.
4:38 #2 I shouldn’t be able to see this thing because 8in/mile2
5:58 Correct formula for earth’s curvature: H=r-rCos(s/2r)
6:11 #3 Water does not curve, water finds its own level.
7:57 “Level means as close to the center of the earth as possible.”
By this definition, the Dead Sea is more level than the peak of Mount Everest.
8:28 #4 How can our atmosphere be next to a vacuum?
While discussing the vacuum of space, Professor Dave states the flat earthers imagine the cosmos populated by household vacuum cleaners- in the immortal words of Dave Berry, we are “not making this up.” We would like to explicitly state that no flat earther envisions such nonsense, but, though long and painful experiences, we must err on the side of caution and refrain from making this declaration.
9:35 #5 Show water sticking to a spinning ball?
“The earth is huge. It generates an enormous gravitational field. That’s why everything sticks to it.”
Everything sticks to the earth, except for things that don’t stick. Why? Reasons.
9:56 In addition to turning on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour, the earth orbits the sun at 67,000 miles per hour or 1,166 miles per minute or 18.16 miles per second. However, we do not experience either death or any discomfort from the effects of our “huge” planet moving through space at 18.16 miles per second. Why? Reasons.
10:28 One does not notice the speed of the airplane as the observer is in a closed system, such as a car on the interstate. However, rolling down the windows in the car, or the airplane, will provide physical evidence of the speed, as the closed system becomes an open system. Since there is no evidence of either the speed of the rotating earth on its axis or the orbiting earth around the sun, then the reasonable conclusions are, firstly, either that the earth does not rotate or revolve or, secondly, that the earth is a closed system.
Everything sticks to the earth, except for flying animals and helium balloons.
11:26 #6 Moonlight is cold.
No comment.
12:51 #7 Rivers can’t flow uphill.
The source of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca, is at an elevation of 1,485 feet above sea level. The curious flat earther will research standard ‘sea level’ and reflect on the accepted definition of ‘sea level’ and how it relates to Lake Itasca located 1,485 feet above sea level.
13:22 “There is no up or down in space.”
We propose that in a closed system that is similar to our atmosphere [78% nitrogen] located at any point in outer space, dense items will fall “down” while helium balloons will rise “up”.
13:37 “‘Up’ on earth is away from the surface of the earth...”
14:17 #8 How is the earth closer to the sun in winter?
14:20 “Many flat earthers are dumbfounded by the idea that the earth is slightly closer to the sun in winter than in summer.”
Aphelion
Perihelion |
July 5, 2021
January 2, 2021 |
94,510,886 miles
91,399,454 miles |
We learn that “slightly closer” has an approximate value of 3,111,432 miles or xxx diamaters or the “huge” earth.
15:09 #9 You believe in scientism.
No comment.
16:42 #10 You’ve all been indoctrinated. Brainwashed.
As a Great Occultist, we cannot neither confirm nor deny that the Ancient and Accepted Order of Freemasons is involved with promoting either “globetardism” or “scientism”.
Our typical line of inquires regarding the globe earth consists, firstly, of how man, as man, observes the world, and, secondly, the reasoned conclusions from these observations and experiences. From our premise, Adam, da Vinci, Newton, Yours Truly, and Apprentice Denver, if he applies himself, can reach the same conclusion.
Therefore, we only utilize a handful of observations and a few thought experiments to expose certain inherent contradictions of the globe earth concept. If the explanation of gravity is true and the spherical earth is a fact, then there will not be any contradictions between either gravity or the globe earth, as both are aspects of reality. However, any contradictions that are encountered suggest that either gravity or the globe are incorrect premises, possibly both.
To refute any idea, one must understand it [such as Roman Catholic universities and their large collections on Demonology and Heresy] which requires both time and effort and most people lack perseverance to study the flat earther’s Bible, Zetic Astronomy.
In our initial efforts understand the position of flat earth adherents, we read that astronomers insure the stability of their observatories by having the foundation secured into the bedrock to provide that their observations would not be subject to slight variations due to subsidence. At face value, we had no disagreement with this reasoning, however, after one alleged revolution around the sun, the earth is not in the same location- just as the earth circles the sun, so the solar system revolves around the galaxy. Since the observatory will never be in the same location due to the rotation of the solar system, having a solid foundation is superfluous. Once we realized the nonsense of the securing an observatory on a world eternally wobbling through space like a celestial drunkard, we began our earnest research into the premise of the globe earth.
The main difficulty of the average person questioning the spherical earth is that, firstly, most people are credulous and, secondly, cannot easily manipulate images of a spherical earth.
15:09 #9 You believe in scientism.
No comment.
16:42 #10 You’ve all been indoctrinated. Brainwashed.
As a Great Occultist, we cannot neither confirm nor deny that the Ancient and Accepted Order of Freemasons is involved with promoting either “globetardism” or “scientism”.
Our typical line of inquires regarding the globe earth consists, firstly, of how man, as man, observes the world, and, secondly, the reasoned conclusions from these observations and experiences. From our premise, Adam, da Vinci, Newton, Yours Truly, and Apprentice Denver, if he applies himself, can reach the same conclusion.
Therefore, we only utilize a handful of observations and a few thought experiments to expose certain inherent contradictions of the globe earth concept. If the explanation of gravity is true and the spherical earth is a fact, then there will not be any contradictions between either gravity or the globe earth, as both are aspects of reality. However, any contradictions that are encountered suggest that either gravity or the globe are incorrect premises, possibly both.
To refute any idea, one must understand it [such as Roman Catholic universities and their large collections on Demonology and Heresy] which requires both time and effort and most people lack perseverance to study the flat earther’s Bible, Zetic Astronomy.
In our initial efforts understand the position of flat earth adherents, we read that astronomers insure the stability of their observatories by having the foundation secured into the bedrock to provide that their observations would not be subject to slight variations due to subsidence. At face value, we had no disagreement with this reasoning, however, after one alleged revolution around the sun, the earth is not in the same location- just as the earth circles the sun, so the solar system revolves around the galaxy. Since the observatory will never be in the same location due to the rotation of the solar system, having a solid foundation is superfluous. Once we realized the nonsense of the securing an observatory on a world eternally wobbling through space like a celestial drunkard, we began our earnest research into the premise of the globe earth.
The main difficulty of the average person questioning the spherical earth is that, firstly, most people are credulous and, secondly, cannot easily manipulate images of a spherical earth.
“All the hopes I ever had fade like footprints in the sand.” -Level 42
Our method of seriously discussing the world relies exclusivity on the experiences of our open minded audience. We entice the curious by stating that the listener knows the world is flat, but cannot adequately articulate the fact.
With unopinionated or open minded individuals, we discuss:
twilight, that duration when it is neither day nor night, which should not occur if the world was a sphere- either one can see the sun or be in darkness [similar to a solar eclipse, darkness quickly overtakes the observer];
that water always flows down, yet the Mississippi River, from Minnesota to New Orleans, must flow up the globe earth;
The source of the Mississippi River is Lake Itasca is 47.2172 degrees north.
New Orleans is 29.9511 degrees north.
The difference is 17.266 degrees of latitude or 736 nautical miles.
736 nautical miles is 846.974 statue miles.
According to https://earthcurvature.com/ 846.974 statute miles is 90.2598 statute miles “below” New Orleans. Therefore, the source of the Mississippi is 90 miles below New Orleans.
Terre Haute is cold in January, when the earth is 91 million miles from the sun, yet a trip of a mere 600 miles to the Florida panhandle, 600 miles closer to the sun, results in comfortable weather;
at noon, the sun extends 430,00 miles to the east and 430,000 miles to the west of the observer, completely covering the 7,917 mile diameter of the earth, but the rays of the sun, as seen through clouds [crepuscular rays], are never vertical, but are always angled towards the sun;
at sea, ships disappear or “go over” over the horizon, but a telescope will bring the ship into view, demonstrating that the ship did not “go over” the curvature of the water.
With unopinionated or open minded individuals, we discuss:
twilight, that duration when it is neither day nor night, which should not occur if the world was a sphere- either one can see the sun or be in darkness [similar to a solar eclipse, darkness quickly overtakes the observer];
that water always flows down, yet the Mississippi River, from Minnesota to New Orleans, must flow up the globe earth;
The source of the Mississippi River is Lake Itasca is 47.2172 degrees north.
New Orleans is 29.9511 degrees north.
The difference is 17.266 degrees of latitude or 736 nautical miles.
736 nautical miles is 846.974 statue miles.
According to https://earthcurvature.com/ 846.974 statute miles is 90.2598 statute miles “below” New Orleans. Therefore, the source of the Mississippi is 90 miles below New Orleans.
Terre Haute is cold in January, when the earth is 91 million miles from the sun, yet a trip of a mere 600 miles to the Florida panhandle, 600 miles closer to the sun, results in comfortable weather;
at noon, the sun extends 430,00 miles to the east and 430,000 miles to the west of the observer, completely covering the 7,917 mile diameter of the earth, but the rays of the sun, as seen through clouds [crepuscular rays], are never vertical, but are always angled towards the sun;
at sea, ships disappear or “go over” over the horizon, but a telescope will bring the ship into view, demonstrating that the ship did not “go over” the curvature of the water.
“If we lose the time before us, the future will ignore us.” -Level 42
We wish to acknowledge the considerable efforts of Viced Rhino [anagram of Eric Hovind], Paulogia, and Logicked for their contribution to rational thought through YouTube. Although different in their approaches, we have enjoyed their work for several weeks.
God “knows exactly what it would take to convince every single one of us, but he does not give everyone the level of evidence that it would take to convince them. Why not? I posit that it is because he does not exist, but if he does exist then it means he does not want to because he certainly has the ability to do so. So he withholds vital information that would lead to my salvation because he doesn’t want me to be saved. That is the only possible reason, as an all powerful and all knowing God certainly has the knowledge and ability required to convince me without violating my free will. The only other option is that such a God does not exist.”
-Viced Rhino, “The Bible Is Historically Accurate Because…Reasons”, 16:53-17:27
“And even if there are gods, and they do care about us, yet we know of them only from tradition and the genealogies of the poets…” -Plato, The Republic, Book 2
God “knows exactly what it would take to convince every single one of us, but he does not give everyone the level of evidence that it would take to convince them. Why not? I posit that it is because he does not exist, but if he does exist then it means he does not want to because he certainly has the ability to do so. So he withholds vital information that would lead to my salvation because he doesn’t want me to be saved. That is the only possible reason, as an all powerful and all knowing God certainly has the knowledge and ability required to convince me without violating my free will. The only other option is that such a God does not exist.”
-Viced Rhino, “The Bible Is Historically Accurate Because…Reasons”, 16:53-17:27
“And even if there are gods, and they do care about us, yet we know of them only from tradition and the genealogies of the poets…” -Plato, The Republic, Book 2
“For God is not the author of confusion…” -1 Corinthians 14:33
The main challenge concerning modern Christianity is that it maintains various traditions, but these conventions are disconnected from their historical meaning and the result is a morass. Perhaps the most serious, if not far reaching, aspect of this is that many individuals will confound the most vocal modern Christians with all Christians and, as a consequence, view Christianity negatively.
Protestants pray for the salvation of immortal souls. Although the doctrine of the immortal soul is a Roman Catholic dogma from the sixteenth century, it is so common among modern Christians that even those who deride Papal authority accept the fact of the immortal soul. Of course, if something is immortal, then it cannot be destroyed or damaged either from by its own actions or from external influences.
The default destination of souls that disagree with Modern Christians is designated as Hell, which is believed to be a location separate from God and where the inhabitants suffer physical pain for eternity. These two beliefs are in opposition to the historical Orthodox teaching. The acceptance of this medieval belief of inflicting physical pain is all one needs know about the mindset and worldview of these Christians, so called.
Historically, faithful Christians prayed to the saints for their intersessions and never asked God to intercede on their behalf. The possible reason for this is that the will of God may not be identical to the desire of the petitioner. Nowadays, Protestants have no reservations to pray to God and there are certain unexpected conclusions for this novel behavior: either their understanding of God does not admit to omniscience or their God is unaware of their desires until notified by their prayers. Modern protestants do no entertain the possibility that their wants, desires, and wishes, may contradict God’s will, so that their petitions will remain unanswered. It is possible that Christians who ask for help from the saints may experience far fewer disappointments, especially if their prayers are directed towards eternal and not temporal purposes.
Originally, a Christian was one who was christened, which is understood from fact that Jesus himself was anointed [Luke 7:36–50; John 12:1–8]. However, with the lowering of standards in the current age, baptism and a brief confession of beliefs is sufficient for one to self identify as a Christian. In the popular mind, the objective anointing by chrism has been replaced by a subjective belief in knowing one is saved. As always, a belief may be either correct or incorrect.
The name “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew word for “Savior”, cf. Joshua. Except for certain modern groups that teach that the unsaved will experience eternal death, Jesus was always understood as the “Savior” for all of mankind. Jesus saves all people, not only the faithful, from the second death, the eternal death. Though the passage of time, Jesus began to be understood as saving humanity not from a permanent death, but saving a select group from their “sins”. Along the way, “sins” became the defining feature of those who were to be saved by Jesus and unbelievers were condemned by their “sins”, if not their disbelief. The original belief of avoiding eternal death and not eternal physical torture, is found in the “Libera me” that is sung at “beside the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial.”
Protestants pray for the salvation of immortal souls. Although the doctrine of the immortal soul is a Roman Catholic dogma from the sixteenth century, it is so common among modern Christians that even those who deride Papal authority accept the fact of the immortal soul. Of course, if something is immortal, then it cannot be destroyed or damaged either from by its own actions or from external influences.
The default destination of souls that disagree with Modern Christians is designated as Hell, which is believed to be a location separate from God and where the inhabitants suffer physical pain for eternity. These two beliefs are in opposition to the historical Orthodox teaching. The acceptance of this medieval belief of inflicting physical pain is all one needs know about the mindset and worldview of these Christians, so called.
Historically, faithful Christians prayed to the saints for their intersessions and never asked God to intercede on their behalf. The possible reason for this is that the will of God may not be identical to the desire of the petitioner. Nowadays, Protestants have no reservations to pray to God and there are certain unexpected conclusions for this novel behavior: either their understanding of God does not admit to omniscience or their God is unaware of their desires until notified by their prayers. Modern protestants do no entertain the possibility that their wants, desires, and wishes, may contradict God’s will, so that their petitions will remain unanswered. It is possible that Christians who ask for help from the saints may experience far fewer disappointments, especially if their prayers are directed towards eternal and not temporal purposes.
Originally, a Christian was one who was christened, which is understood from fact that Jesus himself was anointed [Luke 7:36–50; John 12:1–8]. However, with the lowering of standards in the current age, baptism and a brief confession of beliefs is sufficient for one to self identify as a Christian. In the popular mind, the objective anointing by chrism has been replaced by a subjective belief in knowing one is saved. As always, a belief may be either correct or incorrect.
The name “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew word for “Savior”, cf. Joshua. Except for certain modern groups that teach that the unsaved will experience eternal death, Jesus was always understood as the “Savior” for all of mankind. Jesus saves all people, not only the faithful, from the second death, the eternal death. Though the passage of time, Jesus began to be understood as saving humanity not from a permanent death, but saving a select group from their “sins”. Along the way, “sins” became the defining feature of those who were to be saved by Jesus and unbelievers were condemned by their “sins”, if not their disbelief. The original belief of avoiding eternal death and not eternal physical torture, is found in the “Libera me” that is sung at “beside the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial.”
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna
If one with a modern mindset is asked “Was Jesus a Christian?”, it would be difficult for them to answer. If their response is “Yes, Jesus was a Christian.” then this would convey that Jesus believed what modern Christians believe: in his virgin birth, death, resurrection, his second coming, his being completely God and wholly human, his belief of an inerrant Bible, and a host of other theological beliefs. However, if one with a correct understanding of the connection among chrism, being anointed, and the Anointed Savior is asked “Was Jesus a Christian?” then the answer would be “Yes, he was anointed.” without the associated difficulties of attempting to understand Jesus’ beliefs.
Originally, Protestants denied the authority of the Roman Church, yet, today, the majority of protestants follow the Roman Church's promulgation for the date for the celebration of Easter.
The tradition of the Roman and Orthodox Churches of celebrating Easter on Saturday night conforms to the fourth Gospel. However, protestants are trending towards celebrating Easter on Sunday morning at sunrise services and the basis for this innovation is the authority of the Gospel of Matthew [28:1].
With their lips, Protestants recognize the authority of Jesus as the risen Christ, the Lord of Life. However, they deny that the Roman and Orthodox Churches have the power to ordain bishops and priests for the express purpose of remitting sins [Matthew 16:19]. Protestants cannot accept the idea of Apostolic succession, as their pastors and ministers are either self appointed or appointed by churches no older than the Reformation. An acceptance of Apostolic succession would affirm that the Apostles could remit sins and grant this authority to others, down to the present day. This acceptance would result in an explicit acknowledgment that their pastors and ministers cannot either remit sins or change wine and bread into the body and blood of Christ.
Since protestant ministers and pastors cannot remit the sins of their congregants, it falls upon the individual, the self professing Christian, to find their personal salvation in their subjective belief that they are saved. Protestants continue to rely upon a single passage, demonstrating that this opinion of knowledge of their personal salvation by belief is not a primary theme throughout the New Testament [John 3:16].
The original protestant innovation is that Scripture alone is sufficient for salvation [Sola Scriptura; cf. Sola gratia, Sola fide]. While Scripture underwent a reduction with the removal of the Apocryphal books, the belief that Scripture is sufficient remained unchanged. Protestant communities, certain individuals, and the Roman Church continue to receive Divine Revelations. A recent protestant belief is that Scripture is “inerrant”. [“A formal statement in favor of biblical inerrancy was published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society in 1978.” vol. 21 no. 4 (December 1978), 289–96.] Of course, there are contradictions in the New Testament text which, unsurprisingly, create doubts about Christian claims. Many listeners do not limit the idea of inerrant Scripture to modern Christianity, but incorrectly believe that the inerrant Bible is a hallmark of all of Christian traditions. Therefore, in the popular mind, once the Bible viewed as a jumbled mass of confusing nonsense, due entirely to over zealous, but ultimately false claims, the ensuing biblical fraud taints all Christian churches, even those without a dogma on the Biblical canon.
Protestants teach that communion is symbolic of the body and blood of Christ and communion is nothing but bread and wine, although Saint Paul understands communion literally as the body and blood of Christ, since no one could be unworthy to consume bread and wine [1 Cor 11:27]. Of course, the process or procedure for changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is not found in the protestant Bible- it is an extra biblical tradition. Examples of extra biblical traditions are Christmas, the veneration of saints, Easter, and the inerrant Bible.
Similar to many flat earthers, certain protestants have difficulty with applied mathematics. The Nicene Creed and Scripture teach that Jesus rose on the third day and this was based on the understanding that the crucifixion occurred on Friday and the resurrection on Sunday. In the nineteenth century, a few enterprising Protestants realized that three days contain seventy two hours and a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a resurrection after sunset on Saturday is woefully short of the seventy two hours.
To correct this shortage of hours, but not their deficient understanding of history, the crucifixion is relegated to Wednesday so that Jesus is in the tomb for the full seventy two hours. These nineteen century protestants did not know that the ancients used inclusive counting, as there was no concept of zero, so that any event occurring at anytime during a Friday, whether from immediately after sunset on Thursday to before sunset on Friday, is understood as happening during Friday. Therefore, Friday is the first day, Saturday is the second day, and Sunday is the third day.
Being separated from historical contexts, certain protestants believe the twelve days of Christmas begins twelve days before Christmas and concludes on Christmas, that is, the twelve days of Christmas overlap the Advent season. In reality, Christmas day is the first day and continues until January 6, the day of Epiphany, or the presentation of the infant Jesus to the Magi.
When compared to the Roman and Orthodox Churches, modern protestants’ ecclesiastical calendar is mostly empty, as they celebrate Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas. We speculate that their omission of the other holy days is found in their avoidance of “man made” innovations and unbiblical additions to church services. To the present day, Roman and Orthodox Churches add saints to their respective calendars.
[Hymenaeus and Philetus] “who concerning the truth have erred, saying that
the resurrection is past already
and overthrow the faith of some.” -2 Timothy 2:18
the resurrection is past already
and overthrow the faith of some.” -2 Timothy 2:18
The unintentional irony that protestants want people to ‘remember the reason for the season’, that is, to remember what was not as they believe, is not lost on Christians who know that God became man so that men can become gods.
Evolution posits that all animals and plants are suited for their environment and there is no reason to disagree with this obvious statement. In our opinion, the best evidence for this is that the animals and plants that are not suited to their environment are extinct and good evidence is the great variety of animals, such as insects and birds, that are little more than variations on a theme.
Information concerning the historical record of civilization will always be limited and, as such, will always be subject to revision. We accept the historical agreement of the dozen or so major events that occurred before the year 1500 AD, while we consider the remainder of this narrative as mostly speculation. Therefore, when we read of certain changes in the genus Homo occurring in Africa 100, 200, and 500 thousand years ago we are skeptical of these claims as pertain to modern man. Our question:
Evolution posits that all animals and plants are suited for their environment and there is no reason to disagree with this obvious statement. In our opinion, the best evidence for this is that the animals and plants that are not suited to their environment are extinct and good evidence is the great variety of animals, such as insects and birds, that are little more than variations on a theme.
Information concerning the historical record of civilization will always be limited and, as such, will always be subject to revision. We accept the historical agreement of the dozen or so major events that occurred before the year 1500 AD, while we consider the remainder of this narrative as mostly speculation. Therefore, when we read of certain changes in the genus Homo occurring in Africa 100, 200, and 500 thousand years ago we are skeptical of these claims as pertain to modern man. Our question:
“In the last 3 millions years,
why did no species of Homo change to become perfectly suited for their environment?”
why did no species of Homo change to become perfectly suited for their environment?”
“The "out of Africa" migration took place in at least two waves, the first around 130,000 to 100,000 years ago, the second (Southern Dispersal) around 70,000 to 50,000 years ago. H. sapiens proceeded to colonize all the continents and larger islands, arriving in Eurasia 60,000 years ago…”
-Wikipedia, Human
There is no square mile on earth were man is suited to live without protection from the elements, either utilizing either clothing or shelter. The theory of evolution answers questions about all life on earth, except for man. There is no reason to deny the various branches of primates [gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and homininans], as these are based on analyzes of the genome. We condede that the non hominid primates are suited to their respective environments.
Two “humans on average will have a genetic similarity of 99.5%-99.9%. This makes them more homogeneous than other great apes, including chimpanzees. This small variation in human DNA compared to other species suggests a population bottleneck during the Late Pleistocene (around 100,000 years ago), in which the human population was reduced to a small number of breeding pairs.” -Wikipedia, Human
One can consider the three sons of Noah as an allegory of a “bottleneck” of a “small number of breeding pairs”.
-Wikipedia, Human
There is no square mile on earth were man is suited to live without protection from the elements, either utilizing either clothing or shelter. The theory of evolution answers questions about all life on earth, except for man. There is no reason to deny the various branches of primates [gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and homininans], as these are based on analyzes of the genome. We condede that the non hominid primates are suited to their respective environments.
Two “humans on average will have a genetic similarity of 99.5%-99.9%. This makes them more homogeneous than other great apes, including chimpanzees. This small variation in human DNA compared to other species suggests a population bottleneck during the Late Pleistocene (around 100,000 years ago), in which the human population was reduced to a small number of breeding pairs.” -Wikipedia, Human
One can consider the three sons of Noah as an allegory of a “bottleneck” of a “small number of breeding pairs”.
“Making Good Men Better”
The various criteria for becoming accepted into Freemasonry are generally given as:
1. Be a man
2. Decide to become a Mason of “your own free will and accord”
3. Be prompted by a favorable opinion of Freemasonry
4. Be at least 18 years of age
5. Be of good moral character
6. Be loyal to your country.
7. Have a personal belief in a Supreme Being (the definition of a Supreme Being is up to you)
After becoming a Freemason, criteria 1-3 will not change [items 2 and 3 will are limited to the time before joining], item 4 will change with passage of time, and criteria 5-7 may change.
Therefore, the only possibilities of a good man becoming a better man must be found in changes occurring among items 5 -7.
1. Be a man
2. Decide to become a Mason of “your own free will and accord”
3. Be prompted by a favorable opinion of Freemasonry
4. Be at least 18 years of age
5. Be of good moral character
6. Be loyal to your country.
7. Have a personal belief in a Supreme Being (the definition of a Supreme Being is up to you)
After becoming a Freemason, criteria 1-3 will not change [items 2 and 3 will are limited to the time before joining], item 4 will change with passage of time, and criteria 5-7 may change.
Therefore, the only possibilities of a good man becoming a better man must be found in changes occurring among items 5 -7.
“Oh, no, I've said too much. I haven't said enough.” -R.E.M., Loosing My Religion
And some there be, which have no memorial;
who are perished, as though they had never been and
are become as though they had never been born and
their children after them.
Ecclesiasticus 44:9
who are perished, as though they had never been and
are become as though they had never been born and
their children after them.
Ecclesiasticus 44:9