burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

bff phonecall

I keep telling people that Baptism is this big deal commitment I'm not ready to make (and likely never will be). But Confirmation sounds like you get this great gift! (Things one learns on Wikipedia.)

Researching a friend's baptism date led to conversation about the Immaculate Conception and whether there were other people who never sinned (Job, for example, insists he has committed no sin -- and even Paul says he is "blameless under the Law").

I attempted to find out if there's a name for the heresy of believing that Jesus sinned. We were excited to discover the Christadelphians but alas, 'twas not to be.

"To have a sin nature means that Jesus had a fallen, defiled, and unholy nature. I fail to see how an unholy person can offer a holy sacrifice sufficient to please an infinitely holy God. Of course, the Christadelphians say this is possible because, even though Jesus had a sin nature, He never committed a sin and He kept the Law therefore satisfying God." (emphasis mine)

-from one of the first Google hits I found

And from Wikipedia:

Rejection of some mainstream doctrines

Christadelphians reject a number of doctrines held by many other Christians, notably the immortality of the soul (see also mortalism; conditionalism), trinitarianism,^[84][87] the personal pre-existence of Christ,^[85][87] the baptism of infants,^[101] the personhood of the Holy Spirit^{[84][85][86][87]} and the present-day possession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see cessationism).^[86][87][91] They believe that the word devil is a reference in the scriptures to sin and human nature in opposition to God, while the word satan is merely a reference to an adversary (be it good or bad). According to Christadelphians, these terms are used in reference to specific political systems or individuals in opposition or conflict. Hell (Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades, Gehenna) is understood to refer exclusively to death and the grave, rather than being a place of everlasting torment (see also annihilationism).^[93][109] Christadelphians do not believe that anyone will "go to Heaven" upon death. Instead, they believe that only Christ Jesus went to Heaven, and when he comes back to the earth the true believers will live in the Land of Israel which will be the Kingdom of God on Earth.^[97][98] Christadelphians believe the doctrines they reject were introduced into Christendom after the first century in large part through exposure to pagan Greek philosophy,^[110] and cannot be substantiated from the Biblical texts.^[84][85][87]

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We also talked about that book I'm not enjoying much.

On page 18, the author says:

The biblical term "to know" is an elegant summing up of the intimate and in-depth understanding that grows over time in a sexual relationship. It means the opposite of whatever occurs in a one-night stand. (The Bible uses words such as "come in into you," "lie with," for loveless couplings.)

Given that English renditions of the story of Sodom use the verb "to know," my best friend looked it up in her Concordance. The Hebrew word ("yada") is in fact used in both those instances ("Now Adam knew Eve and she conceived and gave birth..." Gen 4.1 & "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them." ... Gen 19.5) One supposes it's POSSIBLE the Sodomites were being ironic... but the verb is also used in rape of the concubine in Judges, where the NRSV renders 19.25 as, "They wantonly raped her."

Yeah, we are not impressed.

(I am pleased to find there are online Concordances, though.)

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( the incredibly true story of how it took me ~3.5hrs to bicycle to Walden Pond -- and ~2hrs to bicycle back )