That's what I think, too. They can't know the Bible that well and be so oblivious to not know when they are clearly in the wrong. I'll bet you they don't believe any of it, which allows them to alleviate their conscience.
Well, NJ, Phat, I may disagree.
Not that I can see into people's souls, or anything, so I can't
vouch for any of these people. However, it has always occurred to me that if a man can fool tens of thousands of people with what seem to us to be lame-ass arguments, then surely he can also fool
himself by the same arguments.
To take one specific instance. As Phat points out, these people tend to preach the "prosperity gospel". Now, if they were getting rich by banging away about what Jesus said about the rich, camels and needles eyes, and so forth, then we could believe that they were hypocrites. But they preach that God rewards faith with worldly goods, and if they can convince their vast congregations of this, is there any reason why they can't have convinced themselves, or been convinced by hearing similar preaching?
It's not listed in the Bible, but my spiritual gift, my specific calling from God, is to be a television talk-show host.
- James Bakker
As for NJ's point about "if they know the Bible that well", are we convinced that they
are real Bible scholars and deep theologians? It's like saying: "Creationists can't know science that well and be so oblivious to not know when they are clearly in the wrong". Well, the solution to
that little paradox is not that creationist are all a bunch of knowlegable liars, but that they
don't know science that well.
One should also never underestimate the power of cognitive dissonance. I have seen an avowed Christian (a Tax Protestor looney) explain that Jesus'
bon mot about "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" means that it is wrong to pay taxes ('cos everything belongs to God or something like that); and an avowed Christian with a mean streak a mile wide explain that Jesus' command to be "gentle as doves" means that he should "fight viciously" (because that's what doves do in the mating season, he claims).
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