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Originally Posted by
jlisenbe
You never used the word "duped", but you have contended that they have, unwittingly I suppose, just continued the translation of a Greek word that you claim is blatantly and wildly incorrect.
I claimed ?? - "Blatantly and wildly incorrect" ???? You're doing it again - even after I asked you to stop. Putting words into my posts that were never there.
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So you place yourself against the hundreds of scholars in claiming that "eternal" actually means something else. In essence you are claiming they have been duped into simply accepting something false, and a "something" that is of critical importance. It just strikes me that they would have to be incredibly unprofessional to have done such a thing.
You're still missing the point. Maybe this will help.
The method used by scholars is flawed. As we know, if one tells something to someone who then tells someone, and so forth, by the time the telling gets very far down the line, it has been changed, either accidentally or to meet the agenda of the teller. Scholars should not take any such ‘preponderance’ of information over an earlier writing. The closer to the source, the more accurate the writing should be considered. In the oldest manuscript of Mark, the disciples do not find out that Jesus is risen. We have no written evidence that the disciples ever find out since all references to such are found in much later documents. In fact, since Mary is told and the disciples are not, some feel the later manuscripts were changed in order to give the disciples power to control the early church, a political agenda. Given the history of politics in Church history throughout its existence, such a theory is not far fetched. Especially if you agree with many who have read the earliest Mark that the disciples are portrayed as unbelieving, demanding of truth, and the true believers were Mary and Martha. Also, when asked the way to the kingdom of God in the earliest Mark, Jesus replied that one had to give up all of their worldly goods, forsake their families, and follow him. It is no wonder this was later changed to introduce faith as a means to salvation. Only a very, very few could even come close to this criteria. Certainly, the fragile early Church could not have survived with the criteria Jesus laid out.
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You still have not answered why hell is temporary, but heaven is eternal. The same word is used to describe both. You also have not found a scripture that describes a person going from hell to heaven after having paid the penalty of his sins.
I explained why. As to the purgatory reference, I gave you all you needed to know and you refused to look at it. You can lead a horse to water, but ..................................
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According to Daniel Wallace, 43% of the NT is contained in manuscripts from the second century.
The is hardly accepted by the majority of scholars. The first complete Gospel is from the 4th century. Prior to that are fragments only.
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I don't agree with your statement about the canon. The canon was likely largely settled by informal agreement some time during the second century.
Likely? Largely settled? Are you making this up? The Bible was canonized in the late 4th century (Council of Laodicea).
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By the time the church formalized it, there was very little disagreement over what to accept.
At the time, there were over 50 gospels and over 100 epistles being used in churches. The Book of Revelation was initially omitted. It is unclear to this day how it finally did get included. Even Luther thought it so wild, he relegated it to an appendix. To this day, the Orthodox Church does not accept it.
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The autographs do not exist? Name the work of antiquity for which the autographs are still in existence.
This argument is irrelevant.
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There is also no evidence that the text of the NT has been changed in any substantial way since the autographs, and certainly in no way that suggests it has "evolved" in meaning or content.
70 books, almost one million words, 40-50 different authors, composed over millenia, passed down by hand-written copies until the printing press, etc. Do you seriously maintain no changes have occurred?
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We'll see how this goes. Yes, unsurprisingly I would agree with the words of Jesus in John 8, or in many other passages including the Matt. 25 passage, Rev. 20, and John 3. "The wages of sin is death." When Jesus came at first, He came to bring the message of salvation and to pay the penalty for our sins. He will come again for the purpose of judgment. It is going to be such a terrible event that the "heavens and earth" will flee away. Those who die in their sins will be sent to hell. Those whose sins have been forgiven through faith in Christ will spend eternity in the presence of God. It is the consistent message of the New Testament. Now the punishment will be proportional in a way I don't understand, and yet recognize as being stated in several places.
My position is - I do not believe people go to hell for eternal punishment because they do not believe in Jesus. You claim that you don't understand about the punishment. I claim that I do understand, and it is not eternal. I believe that faith in Christ has nothing to do with it since babies and the mentally impaired and those who never heard of Christ cannot be liable for something they have no knowledge of. I do not believe that those who "die in their sins" go to hell since the statement is far too vague. What exactly do you mean by sin? Murder? A white lie? I do not believe sins need to be forgiven through faith in Christ. For example, a Hindu may atone for his sins by apology, recompense, or good works.
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For further reference you can look at Psalm 21:8-9, Matthew 3:12; 13:49,50; 10:28; 18:8, Hebrews 10:31, Mt. 5:22, 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9, and 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10.
Let me get this straight. You refuse to look at what I provide for further reference, yet you expect me to look at what YOU provide for further reference!