Religion
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BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
bottomups
Bad Moon Risen'
The United States committed over $3.3 billion in foreign assistance to Israel in 2022, the most recent year for which data exists.[1] About $8.8 million of that went toward the country's economy, while 99.7% of the aid went to the Israeli military.
Israel received the second-largest amount of US aid in 2022 after Ukraine, where the US committed $12.4 billion. The two countries received 4.8% and 18.1%, respectively, of all foreign aid granted that year.
Since WWII, the US has provided more foreign aid to Israel than to any other country.
Total US foreign assistance by country, adjusted for inflation, 1946–2022Israel
$317.9B
Vietnam (former South)
$184.5B
Egypt
$182.3B
Afghanistan
$160.9B
South Korea
$119.9B
United Kingdom
$107.5B
India
$102.9B
Iraq
$100.6B
Turkey
$98.3B
France
$96.9B
Adjusted for inflation in 2022 dollars. Date range for aid to Israel is 1951–2022. Data for 2020–2022 is partially completed.
Fred's Myth
Nonhyphenated American
Maybe I missed something, but your list has Israel at 10th place, but you claim it has received more than any other country.
???
First you didn't cite the source. Second in actual Dollars, not adjusted for inflation, the number is significantly less. My dad built his home for $15k in the 60's. Now worth $400k. A lot depends on where his house is located.
Had a huge run up in values in the late 70's, early 80's. Had a huge run up lately. In other words the Dollar was greatly diminished over time but it looks a lot more impressive to give a bloated number than in actual Dollars spent.
BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
Pope approves blessings for same-sex couples that must not resemble marriage.
I don't understand. To bless means to make holy, to hallow, to invoke divine care, to praise....
Gay marriage certainly doesn't "resemble " marriage but this sure does "resemble" a stamp of approval.
I don't understand. To bless means to make holy, to hallow, to invoke divine care, to praise....
Gay marriage certainly doesn't "resemble " marriage but this sure does "resemble" a stamp of approval.
DriveInDriveOut
Inordinately Right
The current pope is trash.
Fred's Myth
Nonhyphenated American
Absolutely concur, and I’m a cradle Catholic.
BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
When things like this happen, (and historically there has been a slew of Papal contradictions ) doesn't it make you question the inconsistency of Catholic teaching?
The pope clearly has opposed plain Bible statements, but he holds it up as authoritative.
Fred's Myth
Nonhyphenated American
Well, doctrine states that the Holy Spirit guides the Church that Jesus established, and that the Pope is only infallible when he proclaims ex cathedra on matters of faith and morals. It is possible that the Pope can steer the Church in the wrong direction, but that the Holy Spirit will always correct course down the line.
In this case, the Pope did NOT speak ex cathedra, so his dispensation does not become doctrine. The intent: "ultimately, a blessing is about helping people increase their trust in God. “It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered,” it said. It stressed that people in “irregular” unions of extramarital sex — gay or straight — are in a state of sin."
It remains to be seen whether Pope Francis is a Good Shepherd or not.
In other words, the doctrine of the Catholic Church remains constant, in spite of fallible Popes, because any errors regarding practice under the guidance of any particular Pope, will be corrected by the Holy Spirit.
I am still strongly troubled, however.
BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
How, not if, the Holy Spirit works has been a subject of our conversations before. My position is He works through/ by His Word.
Take a look at 1 Corinthians 13. Verse 10 explains the miraculous will end when the perfect is come or the complete word is come. There has been no direct operation for 2000 years. All one knows , can know , and needs to know is in the completed work of the HS.
What has the Holy Spirit said to you, done for you, or taught you separate from the Bible ?
Fred's Myth
Nonhyphenated American
John 14:16, Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth".
I don't get the same conclusion you do over 1 Corinthians 13:10. I understand it to say that Jesus and His plan will be fully revealed through His Apostles to all Christianity. The Complete you reference means the imperfect knowledge of God by the Jews will be replaced by perfect knowledge of Him, as revealed by Jesus, and inspired in all of us who seek Him, by the Holy Spirit.
BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
"These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:25-26
Context demands that Holy Spirit baptism was a promise made by Jesus to his apostles and did not include anyone else, nor was it a command to anyone. The Holy Spirit could bring into my remembrance everything Jesus said to me in a hurry. He has never said a word to me like he is talking about here in this text.
The Holy Spirit baptism promised by Jesus had a distinct purpose. "He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance"; "He will guide you into all truth"; "He will show you things to come." The apostles needed to be able to remember the things Jesus had taught them, along with additional truths that they were not able to receive while he was among them. The great scheme of redemption that was hidden with God from the eternal ages was about to be revealed in its fullness and completeness. The apostles would be perfectly equipped when this passage was fulfilled in Acts 2.
I ask you again..
Again context is necessary for proper interpatation. This has nothing to do with imperfect knowledge of Jews. The Corinthian Church had Christians from both backgrounds, Jew and Gentile.1 Corinthians 12 talks the spiritual gifts available to early Christians. 1 Corinthians 14 regulates their use when they were in force. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 shows how long they were to exist and when they were to cease.
1 Cor. 12 "now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (verse one). This chapter is devoted to the enumeration of these gifts, three of which are mentioned in verses eight through ten of chapter thirteen. Also, showing the more perfect way of love, chapter thirteen shows the duration of the spiritual gifts. They were to be in operation until that which is "perfect" is come. Chapter fourteen concerns discusses the regulation of these gifts. NOTICE, that the context clearly reveals that the spiritual gifts were given "in part" and that it was these items that were to be done away with (1 Cor. 13:9-10). When Paul says, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part," he had reference to the revelation of God's will that was then being made known through "prophecies," "tongues," and "knowledge" (1 Cor. 13:8).
"Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?" (1 Cor. 14:6) The spiritual gifts, miraculous in their nature, was God's way of communicating His will to the early church. The early church did not have the will of God in written form as we have it, so God gave the church provisional gifts until written law was provided.
Then the provisional, spiritual' gifts were superseded, by the.; perfectly revealed will (Jas. 1:25; 2 Pet. 1:3). This becomes evident when you look at the contrasts of 1 Cor. 13:
(1) Contrast between spiritual gifts and love.
(2) Between that which fails and that which shall not cease.
(3) Between the part and the whole, the incomplete and the complete.
(4) Childhood state and the state of maturity.
(5) Knowledge in part and full knowledge.
(6) Between seeing things darkly and seeing them face to face.
The purpose of spiritual gifts was to complete Divine revelation. These gifts guided the Church during the revelation period when God's will (NT)was being placed in written form. When the church reached the "stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), the temporary gifts were done away.
The word translated "perfect" is the Greek word teleios. Vine: "having reached its end, finished, complete, perfect" When used of persons it has reference to attaining the full limits of stature (Heb. 5:14). When used of things it has reference to completion. That the word "perfect" has reference to God's completed revelation.
Jesus promised the Apostles that He would guide them into all truth(John 16) They would have been guided during their lifetime. That means that the faith once and for delivered would have been given by the time the last apostle died (Jude 3). Gifts, such as "words of wisdom," "knowledge," and "prophecy," were all necessary for conveying this truth, but now that truth has been revealed, these are no longer necessary.
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FromOffTheStreets
Well-Known Member
I agree that tongues & new revelations outside the written word have ceased. However, the catholic church locked up the word for hundreds...around 1000 years. They created their own system similar to the pharisaical religion with the Talmud.
Over that thousand year span, what guided true believers without access to the written word?
BrownFlush
Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
Welcome to the time of the "falling away" Paul predicted. "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son" (2 Jn. 9). The church was established in Acts 2 and if it had abided in the doctrine of Christ, there would have been no apostasy either from, or of the church. But, it happened.The course of the falling away which resulted in the apostate church was characterized by two phases, both of which stemmed from the same basic cause - unwillingness to "abide in the doctrine of Christ."
The first phase had to do with the organization of the church, the second phase was in the realm of doctrine. In both cases the early members of the church were trying to improve upon God's plan.
In the year 120,(John's Revelation was written around 90) the practice of using holy water was introduced into the church. This water was said to be especially blessed by the priest. In the year 157 the doctrine of penance crept into the church. Doubtless this grew out of asceticism, which was not unknown or uncommon in some religious circles before the church was established. Penance was the subjugation of the body to some self-imposed physical agony or pain, in order that one might expiate his own sins.
The next departure was the introduction of Latin Mass. According to their own definition, "mass" is "the sacrifice of the New Law in which Christ through the ministry of the priest, offers himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearance of the bread and wine" (Baltimore Catechism, p. 239). This was in 394.
The doctrine of extreme unction and last rites appeared in 588. When a soul is subject to some impending crisis, or to immediate danger, either physical or spiritual, the priest pours oil on the head, and thus prepared the endangered person for the ordeal through which he must pass.
In the year 593 the unscriptural doctrine of purgatory came on the scene. This doctrine holds that those who died unprepared and without hope, may be freed from the agonies of torment in which they are suffering, by the payment to the priest of a sufficient sum of money. This became popular because it provided much revenue with which to build cathedrals.
As the years passed new departures came. Transubstantiation appeared in the year 1000. This doctrine claimed that through the power of prayer the fruit of the vine and the bread are mystically changed into the literal body and blood of Christ. By the year 1015 it was decided that priests ought not to marry, hence the doctrine of celibacy.
One of the most damnable of doctrines was introduced in 1190. This was known as the doctrine of indulgence. if you wanted to "paint the town red" you could purchase a license to commit most any sin. By paying a stipulated fee, your sins would be forgiven before they were committed. This was very popular because you could sin to your heart's content with a good conscience. So, more fine cathedrals were built.
Auricular confession came into practice in 1215. This doctrine taught that when a Christian sinned he could confess his sin to the priest and his sin would be forgiven. The practice of sprinkling for baptism was adopted by the Council of Ravenna in 1311. It had been practiced in the event of serious illness since the year 251, but was not formally indorsed until the Council of Ravenna.
These departures in doctrine naturally corrupted the worship. By substituting the commandments and doctrines of men for the law of the Lord they corrupted the organization, the doctrine, and the worship of the church. The whole process took about1300 years. Then comes Wycliffe, Gutenberg , the Reformation and denominations galore that do not "abide in the doctrine of Christ."
The Catholic Church dominated Christendom then. True believers believed the Catholic Church was the true church and believed what they were told to believe. Before Martin Luther, and even after, any disagreement with the Church could lead to imprisonment or worse. The exceptions within Christianity at that time were the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Apostolic Church of Armenia. And I guess the Coptic Church in Eastern Africa. But essentially you were a member of the Church that everybody else was a member of in your area.
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And? Let me guess, we can't discuss the actual history that took place because historians are only men and we can't trust them.
Integrity
Binge Poster
Did I read the book you sent me? No. Is this pertaining to the Pope's recent allowing blessings on gay couples? You argue all the time that the Apostles were fallible men who were wrong about things. That apparently the Holy Spirit would have never told them to write such things. Are you now telling me you believe the Pope is infallible because he said some things you agree with? I believe that Jesus chose his Apostles to lead and grow his Church. I also believe that men have chosen the Pope, and he isn't infallible. His "blessing" is in clear violation of the New Testament.
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