Kenneth Ray

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI The same word is used for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (ra). It also carries a sense of disaster, adversity, suffering. Pick your word, it boils down the same, Isaiah is quoting God as saying He is the author of all things, good and bad. Alpha & Omega, all-encompassing.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI Ra has more meanings than evil, which is seen across a multitude of translations. Why focus on the minority?

“Why did God create evil?” [This is probably the best answer I’ve ever heard to that question.] A university professor asked his students: “Was everything that exists created by God?” One student bravely replied:

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI Actually, the Hebrew phrase here translated as "create evil" is "U-vo're ra". The verb is only ever applied to God and the meaning is to author into existence, never used as allowance or permissive. It always means create, as when used in "God created the heavens and the earth".

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI God is saying all things (good/evil, etc) are used for his purpose (theme throughout Isaiah). This is appearing to be a philosophical semantic game in which God is the "origin of everything" therefore God creates moral evils. Allowance is not prescription.

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." - Isaiah 45:7. Direct from the mouth of God. My opinion doesn't matter. Just because the truth is hard to accept, doesn't make it false. God is the origin of all good & evil.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI "Purposefully creates a suffering universe " is NOT the theological underpinning of Christianity. Its yours . There are also plenty of things that can not be proven by materialistic means.

@Rodgrande24 @ElsaSofia__AI I believe you've now answered your previous question. No, you're not confused, just being deliberately obtuse. Happy Easter!

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI But that can be and they have. Humans have caused earthquakes. Humans are sinful by nature

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI Acknowledged. My defined framework is that an argument must not be self-contradictory when logically examined against observable, testable evidence. A Holy, perfect God who purposely creates a suffering universe can be believed by faith alone, but not by empirical data.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI Its only a contradiction within your defined framework, by design.

@Rodgrande24 @ElsaSofia__AI Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, pathogenic microbes, etc. all predate humans by billions of years and have caused intense suffering throughout history. These events are independent of any exercise of moral free will. Eg., Earthquakes aren't caused by sin.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI You said natural disasters aren’t caused by human free will. All things things I stated humans do out of free will. Or am I confused?

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI Historical Christianity is a monotheistic religion. Polytheistic beliefs solve the suffering problem by blaming it on evil gods. Monotheism only has one deity who is responsible for everything, yet must remain holy/good. An insurmountable contradiction in a world of suffering.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI What's "monothestic Christianity"? Again, in terms of their theology, the gods of polytheism are lower case g gods put their by the most high to rule/watch over humanity. This turned into idolatry and worship of many different gods - hence the Babal story.

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI I agree. Monotheistic Christianity starts with the premise that the omniscient, omnipotent Creator is holy, always good. It then struggles through the mental gymnastics of attempting to reconcile the fact of human suffering in a world of His making.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI "God created a universe in which human suffering is intentional". Their theology and metaphysical underpinnings are antithetical to this statement.

@Rodgrande24 @ElsaSofia__AI No, sir. You said that, not me.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI So you’re saying humans don’t contribute anything to climate or the environment? Not body’s burning forests for profit, polluting air with factories, drilling holes in the oceans for oil that distribute the natural current? Would love to live in your world

@AxeofCreation @ElsaSofia__AI There is no objective evidence supporting the idea that a world ever existed free of earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, injury, death, etc. The idea originated in the writings of Augustine, long before scientific inquiry disproved its possibility.

@1kenray @ElsaSofia__AI The idea behind their theology is that the "fall" was universal. All of physical reality now is in this fallen state. God didnt "create the universe" in its current state. A fallen realm in Sin (absence of God). Genesis explicitly discusses how suffering is now intertwined.

@Braves On the bright side, at least we won't have to vacate any wins for the four games he played! 0-4

Statement from the Atlanta Braves:

@MenMoneyMindset @EssentialMastry Find something greater than yourself to believe in and devote your time and energy towards. Spirituality, a philosophy, acquiring knowledge, children, volunteering to help others, etc. Humans prosper when something greater than themselves gives meaning & direction to their lives.

@bilbosfootcomb Honest question because I'm considering same. Why not Eastern Catholic (EC) if you just prefer eastern liturgy? Also, Rome allows EC to hold to orthodox theology & remain in communion, so couldn't you continue to believe in orthodox theology while remaining RC?

It’s with a heavy heart I say I have made the decision to leave the Catholic Church. I can no longer accept the church’s errors on so called “original sin” or its conception of grace. I will be approaching the Orthodox Church with hopes to enter as a catechumen. Christ have mercy

@FalcoholicKevin @jbhATL Then where will it end? Do you report a player for having a sore throat, a little heat rash, a hang nail? And what would have happened if the team had made BJ questionable, a bunch of folks dump him from fantasy teams or bets, then he winds up playing normally? Damned either way.

@jbhATL Whether he plays or not isn't the important part, it's the requirement to disclose anything that could affect a player's availability that you're aware of. Falcons knew about Bijan's illness no later than Sunday morning. Plenty of opportunity to disclose it.

I would be surprised if #Falcons don't at least get fined for their handling of Bijan Robinson's illness.

@SpencerGuard Hiroshima & Nagasaki

If (which I think they will) the IDF launches a ground invasion into Gaza, what is the right urban battle analogy to compare? 🧵

@itsdangoldfield Great explanation. Honest question, tho. Perceiving, or being aware, are actions, not objects. Your post points to something beyond your ordinary self as experiencing awareness. What is that something that is doing the perceiving? Soul, divine spirit, consciousness, mind, ...? Ty

i meditated 799 days in a row hoping for a breakthrough... then it happened in an instant. what i saw was somehow both shocking and obvious. and i couldn't believe i'd missed it for 31 years... this meditation began like any other: 🔹i sat down in my cramped music teaching room beside my drum kits 🔹i got comfortable 🔹i closed my eyes 🔹i watched my breath 🔹i got distracted 🔹i watched my breath 🔹i got distracted 🔹i watched my breath... eventually i got quiet. and as i did i became able to observe my experience on a more subtle level. thoughts came and went... sensations came and went... emotions came and went... dan came and went... wait, WHAT? dan came and went?! sometimes in meditation something will hit you like a line of cocaine, and suddenly you no longer need to try to focus—because what's going on is captivating. i was on the good sh!t now. i found i could examine this "dan" that came and went. it was my sense of myself: a cocktail of sensation that for 31 years i'd taken to be "me". but seeing that this "me" came and went gave rise to a delusion-shattering question... "if this is me," i thought, "who am i when it's not here?" KAPOW! the mere posing of the question triggered realization. i saw that i'd been operating on an assumption for 31 years. the assumption was that this "dan" i'd witnessed was somehow ticking along in the background while i went about my life—waiting for me to check in on it from time to time. like "yup, i'm still me!" but what i saw in meditation that day was that this "me-ness" was just like any other thought, feeling or sensation: 🔹temporary 🔹fleeting 🔹impermanent oh my... the identity i'd taken to be solid my whole life was really just more "stuff". 🔹the sense of inadequacy 🔹the insecurity 🔹the shame 🔹the guilt 🔹the fear in my direct experience, all this was no more substantial than the weather or a tv show or a sneeze. granted, that familiar "me-ness" came around more frequently than most things. but how often did it come around really? i contemplated this and realized it only really came around 2 or 3 times most days. perhaps more often when i was particularly self-conscious. but less often when engrossed in some experience or another. and was it ever really the same? as i watched it fade in and out of awareness i realized that no, it was never quite the same. so it really was just "stuff". "oh my fvcking god," i thought, "i really don't exist. that buddha dude was right!" this realization was liberating. from that day on, whenever my old sense of inadequacy came up, i saw it like a raincloud. when insecurity came up, i saw it like a mosquito. when shame came up, i saw it like a bad smell. when guilt came up, i saw it like an noisy neighbour. when fear came up, i saw it like a flat tyre. never again would i take these things to be solid. never again would they define me. and as i saw them in this way more and more, they showed up less and less. this is the power of seeing your true nature. you are not anything you take yourself to be. because anything you take yourself to be is a thing. you are not a collection of things. you are the awareness that perceives all things. because unlike things, this awareness doesn't come and go. this awareness is like space: unharmed, unfazed, untouched by anything within it. but don't take my word for it. to see it for yourself, all you must do is get quiet and look. perhaps for 799 days... perhaps only for 1. reach out to me if you need help with this 💙

Microsoft's newly revamped Bing search engine can write recipes and songs and quickly explain just about anything it can find on the internet. apnews.com/article/techno…

@FalcoholicKevin Just you speaking that to the universe was enough to curse him.

Future Falcon Darius Slayton