Summations Only

I did a bit of detective work. Have you ever heard of Hershel Shanks? He wrote an article on your mentor, Ze'ev Herzog. Herzog's Attack on the Bible Unjustified Herzog was portrayed as a "Biblical Minimalist" and no doubt contributed to many of your assertions that evidence was lacking. Shanks seems to have another view. I told you there were two sides to every story! I do respect your experience, however, and am in no position to question it. My only question is whether you share much of Herzog's views or whether you are open-minded enough to form your own opinions on whether the exodus happened (at least in some way, even if but a few families participated) and whether you too consider yourself a Biblical Minimalist or entertain the scholarly opinions of men like Hershel Shanks.

My only question is what on earth does "politics" have to do with any scientific evidence?

Noted.

We could use a new conservative party. I always liked conservatives such as Eisenhower .

Its one thing to say that an aberrant practice occurred at some time within a given group. Its entirely another thing to label a group as representative of the behavior of one or more members and accuse that group of repeatedly engaging, supporting, or promoting such behavior or action. And I'm guessing that much of your news comes from Fox. They often repeat innuendo and sensationalize actions.To be fair (politically) I will agree that there are similarities within human behavior between the ideology of the Left and the ideology of the Right. It seems that the media has a bias, but I will agree that we all need to examine several news sources in order to get a better picture of what the "real story" is on any given event.

Who do you define as the weak and helpless? Be more specific. Which abhorrent practices are unique to Democrats? My Bible always told me that none were righteous. Jesus died for all. Whosoever(who so chooses) to believe, receive, and remain in Communion with said Holy Spirit will be saved. Right? So how are Democrats any less human than Republicans? In my mind, we(the people) have changed. We lost a few and we gained a few. This is also not a party-specific (ideological) issue except in regard to my belief that people question and challenge authority (which authority, BTW?) more than they used to. And this is both a good and bad thing. That's great, but did your specific church get a heavenly memo that other churches didn't receive?

This is an interesting statement. I have a friend who knows his Bible up and down and is a believer. (He is dying of cancer, BTW..keep him in prayer...his name is Mike) and I will ask him about this. He knows more than a lot of Pastors,) Again, I will ask a few of the Pastors whom I know. My own Pastor, Ed Taylor teaches some fairly in-depth Bible studies. I might ask him if he has ever heard of that book and/or what he thinks about the premises. I suppose that Geneology qualifies as a science. It certainly is based on historical records, but that would be quite a chore to trace the 12 tribes! I hope that your church isn't overly political. Ed sticks to the Bible and though he does believe we are in the latter days of humanity, he never mentions Democrats or Liberals. I don't trust churches that mix politics with religion. I'm checking the varied opinions of the internet regarding this book, just like Theodoric does to my sources for stuff. (goes to do a preliminary check)...wow...originally published 1902. This is an old school author! ... I never knew that Episcopalians and Methodists had anything in common. jar attended an Episcopalian church and was educated in a Christian school that I believe may have also been Episcopalian. I'll check later, but as you know jar was more of a logic, reason, and reality critical thinker and a self-proclaimed "Creedal Cradle Christian." He never let his personal beliefs get in the way of his scientific conclusions. He and I disagreed often, but I respected his criticism to a degree.Now that jar is on sabbatical, the peanut gallery here at EvC has taken up his cause. Ringo is the chief critic assigned to me and keeps me on my toes in matters of expressing myself, always keeping facts, beliefs, evidence, and fantasy separated. He and most of the peanut gallery are non-believers. I wonder why that is?
(The E Word! ) Are you by chance a member of The Church of God(Holiness)? My ancestors are from Wales. That's as far back as I know.
Which "Tribe" might they be from? We do know that not all of Scotland or Wales was populated exclusively by the 12 tribes, right? What's with this idea that *we* (you and I) are English-speaking Israelites? According to Ray Dalio America and Britain were both pluralistic nations that represented two of the four "Empires" that he discusses in his book. Any dominant Empire "gives a degree of stability" to the world chiefly because no one wants to attack it.We are now in transition between a declining American Empire and an Ascending Chinese one. I'm sure you have some comments on that!I have another book (actually two) on China and the war that they are in with the declining "Empire". They are both audiobooks that I have on Alexa. Now that Jeff Bezos and Amazon have dropped Alexa as a future project, I hope that the device keeps working.FYI these two books are by a retired General (likely conservative) who is nonetheless quite knowledgeable about China.We can discuss them at the Book Nook. I'm in the process of elaborating on my book from Dalio, Principles for dealing with The Changing World Order but I will start a new Book Nook topic on the two books about China. I suppose you could start a topic there too...about your book from Allen.

Oops. I realized now that GDR couldnt reply, so I fixed it.

Now let's poke Tangle. He may be off fishing and does not want to be bothered, however. I'll see. Two "E"words come to mind.
Evolution
and Enlightenment.
In this context, evolution simply means human improvements throughout time. You guys have gone so far as to throw God away.The origin of that began with the
Age of Enlightenment

quote:

---

The Enlightenment was preceded by the Scientific Revolution and the work of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and others. Some date the beginning of the Enlightenment to the publication of René Descartes' Discourse on the Method in 1637, featuring his famous dictum, Cogito, ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am"). Others cite the publication of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687) as the culmination of the Scientific Revolution and the beginning of the Enlightenment. European historians traditionally date its beginning with the death of Louis XIV of France in 1715 and its end with the 1789 outbreak of the French Revolution. Many historians now date the end of the Enlightenment as the start of the 19th century, with the latest proposed year being the death of Immanuel Kant in 1804.

​

Philosophers and scientists of the period widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffeehouses, and in printed books, journals, and pamphlets. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Catholic Church and paved the way for the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. A variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism, communism, and neoclassicism, trace their intellectual heritage to the Enlightenment.[4]

​

The central doctrines of the Enlightenment were individual liberty and religious tolerance, in opposition to an absolute monarchy and the fixed dogmas of the Church.

---

My idea of "enlightenment, however, is that moment when one senses a connection emotionally with the Creator of all seen and unseen. As my blood sugars are dropping, i find myself able to write and express myself as I used to do.To me, the idea of a Trinity in no way implies polytheism.Christianity is and was expressed through Christ.
GOD, Creator of all seen and unseen (and the God of infinite multiverses, should they exist) is simply "the Father" to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the comforter...the eternal presence (and awareness of this presence)
When He was said to proclaim that "I and My Father are One, He was implying that as a human, He fully understood and personified God's character. Of course, other religions may disagree, but among diversity, there can be unity.

And you wonder why Division exists in religion and in politics! In politics, it got worse when Trump came along, but IIRC it started back when Bush(Dubya) and Gore were deadlocked....which had never before happened in a presidential election. In previous elections, one candidate or the other would usually decisively win (or lose) an election.The charismaniacs (Charismatics) and the rise of non-denominational churches sent the public face of Christian belief into a bizarro world. People fell out and talked in tongues back in the days of the "Great Awakenings" (but) The unholy combination of religious fervor and media exposure turned religion into a circus...a giant infomercial.And in politics, it was much the same. Except that the Conservatives run the religious circus while the Left runs the political media. It is all human nature writ large. It is a sign of the times and you are correct in that religion is declining. One side seeks authority to override the other side (think Supreme Court judges) while the other side seeks only a clear majority of the people. (made more difficult due to election fraud and uncertainty.)And I would argue that the people are willfully ignorant. Both sides!More on religion declining in your new topic.

Overusing the term "word salad" is much like the boy who cried "wolf". Why do you always criticize my posts and yet seem able to do nothing more than google written criticisms (of my authors) without having an original thought on their content? Could it be because your bias (and ego) are set in stone? One can only wonder...Don't expect me to read too much of Carrier if you don't force yourself to actually read Dalio. I see that you have taken up jars habit of attempting to demolish arguments simply by throwing out criticism and then reframing the argument. We really do need to learn to get along.

Because he attempts to discredit the whole belief of Christianity.

OK. I promise to read it if you watch the video of Ray Dalios book, or read the book itself. He talks a lot about Britain and the US as the two middle empires of the four he mentions.

ringo lives in Canada. Ask him if Canada has any issues or restrictions on immigration. I have a conservative friend (like you, though he is not religious.) His parents came to America with virtually nothing. His Dad was from Portugal originally and his Mom came from Argentina. They "believed" in America as the great hope for opportunity and progress that it used to be, as you say and claim. With no formal education, they built their lives here. Dad was a jack of all trades, but he specialized at making shoes and working with leather. He had a job at Gates Rubber here in Denver and this family grew up on the "American Dream". Like my parents, they started out with nothing and made a decent living for themselves, teaching their children to do the same. The only reference to religion that I ever heard from him in regard to his parents was that his Mom was raised Catholic and wanted to become a nun at one point early in her life. Like you, (and perhaps men such as Ray Dalio) they believed in America and what it stood for. They expected (and received) no handouts. Comments?

Remember this post? Do you have any further enlightenment?