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darth_ender

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Join date
26-Apr-2011
Last activity
11-Jun-2025
Posts
8,815

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Post
#528455
Topic
Last movie seen
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/528455/action/topic#528455
Time

TV's Frink said:

xhonzi said:



darth_ender said:

Decided to begin watching Dune (2000 miniseries).  It's strange and glosses over so much from the novel so far, but what can you do  with such a complicated novel when converting it to a visual medium anyhow?  My wife likes it so far.


I quite like the 2000 mini.  There's a "long cut" of it that I think is substantially better and also introduces some european style nudity

So...armpit hair? ;-)

 Hey!  C'mon, Frink!  How about a spoiler warning?!

Post
#527919
Topic
CANADA SWITCHES FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL TELEVISION ON AUGUST 31, 2011!!!!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/527919/action/topic#527919
Time

I know, seriously!  After all, Canada pays for your birth, diapers, formula or breast pump, clothes, education through post doctorate including books, pencil boxes, and Trapper Keepers, runs 88.6% of the economy so they probably pay your wages, pays for your retirement, health care along the way, housing, and your casket and plot of ground.  Why wouldn't they provide vouchers?  It must be a sucky place to live if they won't pay for you to change over like that.

Post
#527862
Topic
Religion
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/527862/action/topic#527862
Time

Mrebo said:

Ziggy Stardust said:

darth_ender said:

 ...Even if I were not Christian (yes, Mormons are Christian)....

I don't really know much about Mormonism. Besides the fact I went to see the jail they put Joseph Smith in a couple of weeks ago.

Wiki is somewhat cryptic on this point:

"Most Mormons self-identify as Christian, though some of their beliefs differ substantially from mainstream Christianity."

More research on Wiki says that like Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons apparently don't believe Jesus is God. While Wiki talks about early debates on the nature of Jesus as God or not, nowadays if a religion does not believe Jesus is God most people would say they're not Christian. While there is a historical link, Mormonism is very different theologically from the what is broadly recognized as Christianity. I guess another question is what does it matter whether we call Mormonism a Christian religion?

 Ahh...Wikipedia.  I refer to it often, but whenever I source it, I usually make some sarcastic disclaimer.

Won't go in depth into every aspect of this topic, but I will touch on a few points.  First, what is termed "mainstream Christianity is really the evolution of the Christians' understanding.  Prior to the Council of Nicea in AD 325, there existed a group known as the Arians (not the Nazi Aryans).  These subscribed to the idea that God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son were two separate beings, and named after their most prominent and influential teacher Arius.  That council determined much of what now is represented as Trinitarian doctrine as absolute, and all who disagreed better come around quick or else they'd be branded as heretics and excommunicated.  Several subsequent councils further refined the official nature of God and therefore led to more excommunications.  Even the various modern "mainstream" Christian groups still differ greatly on the exact nature of God.  Just because something is commonly accepted as THE way today does not make it so.  It was a huge debate in the good ol' days, and yet those ancient heretics still deserved to be called Christians.  But this basic historical synopsis should at least give some perspective.

Second, Mormons do believe that Jesus is God.  However, we do not believe he is of "one substance" with the Father.  We hold that they are distinct beings, God the Father and God the Son.

Third, the question then arises whether we are monotheists or polytheists.  Well, I guess that depends on your definition, because we do clearly believe in more than one God right there.  However, the primary person of our worship is the Father, and as we worship the Son, we continue to adore the Father above him and through him.  However, if you see it our way, we see the Father and Son united in a perfect bond of like-mindedness.  Much like how the Bible tells us that husbands and wives should be one, though clearly this was never intended literally as "one substance," a similar principle applies here.  The Father and Son are perfectly united in their goals, minds, and purpose.  So looking at it from two ways, we are monotheists, as God the Father is ultimately the one God we worship, or if you count the Son (and I'm not even touching on the Holy Spirit, though the same principle applies here), we are worshipping three beings acting as one.  Make sense?

Remember, Jesus' claims in the New Testament that he was the Son of God infuriated the religious leaders of his day who taught that there was only one God, and his claim to be the Son of God was polytheistic and blasphemous.

To answer your final question, if folks don't feel like calling me Christian, than that's their prerogative.  However, I would never hesitate to state that I am a Christian, even if my criteria of what defines a true Christian differ in some aspects from what other faiths consider valid Christianity.  I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is God incarnate, that he suffered for our sins, died on the cross, and was resurrected.  To me, that is the essence of Christianity.  I don't care what exclusive games others choose to play.  You are right, then.  What does it matter what others call us?