eptember
11, 2001 was for millions worldwide a day of sorrow, pain, and profound
sadness; a day of solemn solidarity, self-sacrifice, and prayer.
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shared by Gary Patton on 19 Feb 12
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"Eurabia" : National Review Online - 0 views
old.nationalreview.com/...comment-yeor100902.asp
islamism immigration Europe oil Islam islamization hate genocide anti-semitism persecution
shared by Gary Patton on 19 Feb 12
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For others it was a day of rejoicing, a revengeful exultation, a long-awaited triumphalism born from the death and suffering of thousands of innocent victims.
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For iniquity engulfs those who hate, who kill — and not the hated victim. It is those who hate who are sick: sick from envy; sick from the frustration of having failed to achieve an absolute, pathological domination; sick from a schizophrenic lust for power.
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Terrorism is not a consequence of poverty. Many societies are poor, yet they do not produce an organized criminality of terror.
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America should not choose European ways: the road back to Munich via appeasement, collaboration, and dhimmitude.
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After the Yom Kippur War and the Arab oil blackmail in 1973, the then-European Community (EC) created a structure of Cooperation and Dialogue with the Arab League. The Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD)
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Over the years, Euro-Arab collaboration developed at all levels: political, economic, religious and in the transfer of technologies, education, universities, radio, television, press, publishers, and writers unions. This structure became the channel for Arab immigration into Europe, of anti-Americanism, and of Judeophobia, which — linked with a general hatred of the West and its denigration — constituted a pseudo-culture imported from Arab countries.
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The interpenetration of European and Arab policies determined Europe's relentless anti-Israel policy and its anti-Americanism. This politico-economic edifice, with minute details, is rooted in a multiform European symbiosis with the Arab world.
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The EAD was the vehicle for legitimizing the propaganda of the PLO, procuring it international diplomatic recognition, and conferring on Arafat's terrorist movement honor and international stature by supporting Arafat's address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on November 13, 1974 .
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Through the labyrinth of the EAD system, a policy of Israel's delegitimization was planned at both the EC's national and international levels.
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The cultural infrastructure of the EAD allowed the traditional cultural baggage of Arab societies, with its anti-Christian and anti-Jewish prejudices and its hostility against Israel and the West, to be imported into Europe.
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Strategically, the Euro-Arab Cooperation was a political instrument for anti-Americanism in Europe, whose aim was to separate and weaken the two continents by an incitement to hostility and the permanent denigration of American policy in the Middle East .
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The EAD was the mouthpiece which diffused and popularized throughout Europe the defamation of Israel. France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were then the most active agents of the EAD.
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Europeans adopted the Arab-Islamic conception of history.
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Europe's pathological obsession with the Arab-Palestinian conflict, has obscured the criminal ongoing persecution of Christians and other minorities in Muslim lands worldwide, and the sufferings and slavery of millions from jihad wars in Africa and Asia.
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The cogs created by the EAD led the EC (later the European Union) to tolerate Palestinian terrorism on its own territory, to justify it, and finally to finance Palestinian infrastructure — later to become the Palestinian Authority — and hate-mongering educational system. The ministers and intellectuals who have created Eurabia deny the current wave of criminal attacks against European Jews, which they, themselves, have inspired.
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The EAD, which had tied Arab strategic policies for the destruction of Israel to the European economy was the Trojan horse for Europe's inclusion into the orbit of Arab-Muslim influence.
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With the support of parliaments and ministries, the EAD concealed behind the Arab-Israel conflict the global jihad being perpetrated on all continents.
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Arab-Israel conflict in international affairs. It could have been solved from the start by the integration of about 500,000 Arab-Palestinian refugees into the Arab League countries, foremost into the Emirate of Transjordan — created by Great Britain in 1922 from 78 percent of the total League of Nation mandated area of Palestine, the historical Holy Land on both sides of the Jordan river.
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the leaders of their countries looked the other way and pretended that Israel was responsible for the violent aggressions against Jews in Europe by Arab-Muslim immigrants.
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brought responsible politicians to their senses. They had been blinded by a Palestinian fantasy
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The suppression of intellectual freedom imported from undemocratic Muslim countries, attached to a culture of hate against Israel, has recently led to the exclusion and boycott of Israeli academics by some of their European colleagues.
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the desperate move to save Arafat
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Over 50 years ago the Shoah was the response to Zionism. Today, diaspora Jews and Israel would do well to foresee a possible vengeful reckoning after Saddam Hussein falls and Arafat is marginalized
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The "Shoah" (Hebrew: השואה, HaShoah, "catastrophe"; Yiddish: חורבן, Churben or Hurban, from the Hebrew for "destruction"), was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, throughout Nazi-occupied territory. Of the nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately two-thirds perished.
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anti-Jewish hysteria in Europe was an advertisement to neutralize diaspora Jews, and the Israeli self-defense mechanism against Palestinian terror,
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the European Union continues to caper to new Arab-Islamic tunes, now called "occupation," "peace and justice," and "immigrants' rights" — themes which were composed for Israel's burial. And for Europe's demise.
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the majority of Europeans, who are not antisemitic, are totally unaware of most of the EAD's policy, since its key deliberations are unrecorded.
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Eurabia
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Bat Yeor is an Arab, Jewis historian from Egypt. I discovered this article by her some years ago after reading one of her books. Some of the facts in this short article are now dated. Her compelling, scary and well-documented thesis is not! Here, Ms. Yoer explains her thesis regarding the stealth jihad strategy engineered by Arab Islamists which is behind the Muslim immigration that's threatening to overwhelm European culture. (I believe her thesis applies worldwide.) Here she also explains the hateful, demonic root underpinning the revival and resurgence of anti-Semitism throughout Europe. Elsewhere, Ms. Yeor also documents how the Islamists have expanded on their own dissimilitude, called a-taqiyya in Qur'anic Arabic, by using "lie-fare" & "law-fare". They learned the former from those who drove Joseph Goebels' Nazi propaganda campaign and who fled to the Middle East after WWII. They learned the latter from the brialiant but sad successes of the homosexual lobby in this field.
The Four Spiritual Laws - 0 views
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Jesus Great Commandment - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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40 (D)On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
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Religious, legalistic, so-called christians, who worship the Old Covenant, seem to miss this, Jesus' "bottom-line", plus His fulfilment of it & "the law" here, on His cross & through His resurrection ...which Jesus said He had come to do. Lord, please forgive for their Bibliolatry and show them Your "Truth", Jesus! gfp
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Matthew 22:35-40 contains Jesus' clear teaching on both the vertical and horizontal dimension of our followership of Him! gfp (2011-11-17)
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The Deity of Jesus Christ - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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John 1
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In the beginning was (B)the Word, and the Word was (C)with God, and (D)the Word was God.
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There [c]came a man sent from God, whose name was (I)John.
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He came to His [h]own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become (O)children of God, even (P)to those who believe in His name, 13 (Q)who were [i]born, not of [j]blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
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he Word (S)became flesh, and [k](T)dwelt among us, and (U)we saw His glory, glory as of [l]the only begotten from the Father, full of (V)grace and (W)truth.
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the Law was given through Moses; (AC)grace and (AD)truth [p]were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 (AE)No one has seen God at any time; (AF)the only begotten God who is (AG)in the bosom of the Father, (AH)He has explained Him.
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What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (AO)A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
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The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, (AU)the Lamb of God who (AV)takes away the sin of the world!
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He who sent me to baptize [x]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, (BA)this is the One who baptizes [y]in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is (BB)the Son of God.”
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he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, (BD)the Lamb of God!”
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“We have found the (BG)Messiah” (which translated means [ab]Christ).
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“We have found Him of whom (BS)Moses in the Law and also (BT)the Prophets wrote—Jesus of (BU)Nazareth, (BV)the son of Joseph.
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Rabbi, You are (CB)the Son of God
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You are the (CC)King of Israel.
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“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see (CD)the heavens opened and (CE)the angels of God ascending and descending on (CF)the Son of Man.”
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John 1:1-5 in the New American Standard Bible says clearly that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God and the Word (Logos) of God.
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shared by Gary Patton on 09 Mar 12
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali:The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World - The Daily Beast - 0 views
www.thedailybeast.com/...tians-in-the-muslim-world.html
Islam Islamists islamization religion christianity persecution
shared by Gary Patton on 09 Mar 12
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali:The Global War on Christians in the Muslim World
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From the mouth and pen of an internationally know author and prior Muslim comes an appeal to the world to stop Muslim murder of Christians. Ms. Ali is naturally not well-liked in Muslim circles because she turned her back on the faith of her ancestors because of it's bigotry and hatred of non-Muslims which is rooted in the Qur'an and Shariah Law along with it's misogyny. gfp (2012-03-09)
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God's Biggest Promise - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace(A) and may be guaranteed(B)
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the God who gives life(E) to the dead and calls(F) into being things that were not.(G)
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Romans 4:16-18
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not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham.
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shared by Gary Patton on 07 Apr 12
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Was Jesus' Last Supper a Seder? - Biblical Archaeology Review - 0 views
www.bib-arch.org/...jesus-last-supper.asp
bible scripture interpretation Jesus judiasm christianity archaeology history
shared by Gary Patton on 07 Apr 12
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Why would two people, Matthew and Luke, who were the more consistent eye witnesses to the accounts that they report copy Mark? It makes no sense. Mark was a boy while Jesus walked Israel and did not travel about with Him. Mark also was not an original Disciple of Jesus and reported on most the events in his Gospel based on second hand information from the Disciples who did travel with jesus, one can assume. I feel the whole Mathew and Luke copied Mark plus Mark is based on some lost document called "Q" theory of many scholars is rooted in a desire by many to deny or ignore God's supernatural involvement in the documentation of His Son's incarnation and ignores the fact that Matthew and John were eye witnesses to all of what they wrote about. They had no need to copy but had their own perspective on what they heard and saw as do modern witnesses. Likewise, modern research indicates that the reports of most eye witnesses are highly unreliable. If God was not involved, one would have to question the accounts. If that one is not a Jesus Follower and without faith in the supernatural inerancy of the Biblical accounts of both the Old and New Covenants, that's another matter entirely.
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Thus, in fact we don’t really have three independent sources here at all. What we have, rather, is one testimony (probably Mark), which was then copied twice (by Matthew and Luke).
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Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?
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This April 2012 article in BAR analyzes the similarities between the Jewish Seder and what Christians call Jesus' "Last Supper" and the timing of the event based on archaeological evidence. gfp (2012-04-07)
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the Gospels—with their hatred of the Jewish authorities
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I wonder why the author construes an historical report of what the writer considered 'truth' and 'facts' as 'hatred'. The history of Christianity may be replete with antisemitism, especially some of the protestant Reformers of the Catholic Church, like Luther particulalrly. However, I feel the charge of hatred in the Gospel accounts of the Jewish involvement in the death of Jesus is an unfair one. The Roman authorities were jst as responsible for the crucifixion of Yeshua/Jesus. In fact the Bible seems to make clear that the sin nature and sins of every person who has ever or ever will live is the real reason for Jesus' death. We are ALL responsible ...not just the Jewish and Roman authorities!
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John’s timing of events supports the Christian claim that Jesus himself was a sacrifice and that his death heralds a new redemption, just as the Passover offering recalls an old one. Even so, John’s claim that Jesus was killed just before Passover began is more plausible than the synoptics’ claim that Jesus was killed on Passover.
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the Last Supper could not in fact have been a Passover Seder.
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Christian historical tradition labels "The Last Supper" a Seder ... not Jesus. He is recorded to have simply called it the "last time He would eat this bread and drink this wine until ...". It was "the time for passover". That Jesus duplicated many Seder rituals seems to be clear from the Gospel accounts ...even if the timing was off. What's the big deal? The REALLY important thing about the Easter events is that Jesus died for humankind's sin nature and sins. Plus, the other big historical event is His resurrection from the grave as proof that God accepted Jesus' sacrifice on behalf of "all who will believe" in Him and what He did for us!
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That Christians celebrated the Eucharist on a daily or weekly basis (see Acts 2:46–47) underscores the fact that it was not viewed exclusively in a Passover context (otherwise, it would have been performed, like the Passover meal, on an annual basis).
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Jesus called us to "do this", i.e., celebrate His sacrifice by eating together as a community of Believers in and Followers of Him. He did not call us to celebrate Passover an eternal commandment for Jews only. Jesus claimed that he had come to fulfill "all the [requirements of the] law and the prophets"!
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Moreover, while the narrative in the synoptics situates the Last Supper during Passover, the fact remains that the only foods we are told the disciples ate are bread and wine—the basic elements of any formal Jewish meal.
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“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant’” (Matthew 26:26–28=Mark 14:22; see also Luke 22:19–20). Is this not a striking parallel to the ways in which Jews celebrating the Seder interpret, for example, the bitter herbs eaten with the Passover sacrifice as representing the bitter life the Israelites experienced as slaves in Egypt?
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I'd suggest it is more a replacement of, as I note above, rather than a parallel with a Seder!
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For many Jews (especially non-Orthodox Jews), the process of development continues, and many modern editions of the Haggadah contain contemporary readings of one sort or another. Even many traditional Jews have, for instance, adapted the Haggadah so that mention can be made of the Holocaust.8
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Almost everyone doing serious work on the early history of Passover traditions, including Joseph Tabory, Israel Yuval, Lawrence Hoffman, and the father-son team of Shmuel and Ze’ev Safrai, has rejected Finkelstein’s claims for the great antiquity of the bulk of the Passover Haggadah.
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It’s not that rabbinic literature cannot be trusted to tell us about history in the first century of the Common Era. It’s that rabbinic literature—in the case of the Seder—does not even claim to be telling us how the Seder was performed before the destruction of the Temple.b
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the Holy One, blessed be He
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Here may lie the roots of the similar Muslim practise regarding their reverance, not for God's holy name(s) but, for their human prophet Mohammud. Many Muslims are taught to rever their prophet at a level that approaches worship. The Judeo-Christian Bible reserves worship ONLY for Almighty God ...not the demonically inspired construct called Allah and certainly not a murderous Arab warrior from the 7th Century.
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King of Kings, the Holy One Blessed be He
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As I wonder in the e-Sticky Note immediately above, here may lie the root of the similar Muslim practise regarding their reverance, not for God's holy name(s) but, for their human prophet Mohammud. Many Muslims are taught to rever their prophet at a level that approaches worship. The Judeo-Christian Bible reserves worship ONLY for Almighty God ...not the demonically inspired construct called Allah and certainly not a murderous Arab warrior from the 7th Century.
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Might not Jesus be presenting a competing interpretation of these symbols? Possibly. But it really depends on when this Rabban Gamaliel lived. If he lived later than Jesus, then it would make no sense to view Jesus’ words as based on Rabban Gamaliel’s.
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Most Jesus Followers would work from the premise that Yeshua's/Jesus' words during his last Supper on earth, 'till His return at the end of times, were inspired by God's Holy Spirit ...like all His other recorded comments in the Scriptures.
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Virtually all scholars working today believe that the Haggadah tradition attributing the words quoted above to Gamaliel refers to the grandson, Rabban Gamaliel the Younger, who lived long after Jesus had died.14 One piece of evidence for this appears in the text quoted above, in which Rabban Gamaliel is said to have spoken of the time “when the Temple was still standing”—as if that time had already passed.
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Like many scholars, including some Christian ones, statements like this one are often rooted in a disbelief of the supernatural plus a denial of the possibility that God gave Gamaliel, the Grandfather, a prophetic "word of knowledge"! Prophesy can place the words in the elder Gamaliel's mouth who did live at the time of Jesus who also prophesied the soon-coming (about 40 years later) destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
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And presumably they would have engaged in conversation pertinent to the occasion. But we cannot know for sure.
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A Jesus Follower can know that s(he) knows by faith in the accuracy of our Scriptures. The Scriptures make clear, not 'presumably', that Jesus discussed His replacement of an Old Covenant commandment with a New Covenant. he explains clearly a NEW symbolism for the bread and wine as remembrances and tokens of His sacrificed body and blood on behalf of all who would believe ...NOT the Jews deliverance from Egypt but... all humankind's route to deliverance from the penalty of our sin nature and sins (Romans 3:23 & 6:23) through Him!
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Having determined that the Last Supper was not a Seder and that it probably did not take place on Passover, I must try to account for why the synoptic Gospels portray the Last Supper as a Passover meal.
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The Last Supper being a Seder meal on the Day of Passover is NOT the key issue for a Jesus Follower as I mentioned in my e-Sticky Note above. The key on the cotrary is Who Jesus was as the God-man and what he was about to do for us on His cross on cavalry.
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Another motive relates to a rather practical question: Within a few years after Jesus’ death, Christian communities (which at first consisted primarily of Jews) began to ask when, how and even whether they should celebrate or commemorate the Jewish Passover
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The Quartodeciman custom of celebrating Easter beginning on the evening following the 14th day apparently began relatively early in Christian history and persisted at least into the fifth century C.E.
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Early on, a number of Christians—Quartodecimans and others—felt that the appropriate way to mark the Jewish Passover was not with celebration, but with fasting.
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Interestingly, no where, that I can find in the Old or New Covenants, does God command or even suggest that His people should fast. I have not extensively researched the issue but, I suspect I'll discover that, this propably is a Jewish ritual that was carried on by early Christians, i.e., another man-made tradition. There is the reference in Matthew 6:16-18 where Jesus says: "When you fast ...." This is NOT a command but simply, in context, an observational reference to a practise that was common among religious Jews ...the group to whom Jesus was speaking. I comment further on this issue in e-Sticky Note on the Matthew 6 Scripture at http://diigo.com/0piw0 and in the article on fasting from Christianity today at http://diigo.com/0p9iv .
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Thus, until Jesus’ kingdom is fulfilled, Christians should not celebrate at all during Passove
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here again, and depsite what Karl Kuhn says, the issue is not celebrating Passover, but Jesus' command to eat together as a group of his Followers whenever we can and "remember" him.
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By calling the Last Supper a Passover meal, these Jewish-Christians were trying to limit Christian practice in three ways. Like the Passover sacrifice, the recollection of the Last Supper could only be celebrated in Jerusalem, at Passover time, and by Jews.c
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This heresy didn't last very long. Some Messianic Jews still today follow Old Covenant feast and other practises that other Christians do not.
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there are various reasons why the early church would have tried to “Passoverize” the Last Supper tradition.
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This too is a Passoverization of the Jesus tradition, but it is one that contradicts the identification of the Last Supper with the Seder or Passover meal.
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Surely the depiction of the Last Supper as a Passover observance could play a part in this larger effort of arguing that Jesus’ death echoes the Exodus from Egypt
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a widely popular Paschal sermon, which could well be called a “Christian Haggadah,” reflecting at great length on the various connections between the Exodus story and the life of Jesus
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Typology as some call it i.e., seeing Old Covenant people, practises and places as 'types' or 'shadows' pointing to or representing Jesus is common in some Christian circles and with some teachers.
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Contrary to popular belief, the Catholic custom of using unleavened wafers in the Mass is medieval in origin. The Orthodox churches preserve the earlier custom of using leavened bread.23 Is it not possible to see the switch from using leavened to unleavened bread as a “Passoverization” of sorts?
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And regardless of leavened or unleavened bread or wafers, these kinds of issue are seen by many Jesus Followers as focusing on dead and deadly religious ritual, regalia and rules rather than on relationship, revelation and romance with a living God through Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah/Christ.
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shared by Gary Patton on 28 Apr 12
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Jesus thinking on Homosexuality - 0 views
www.redletterchristians.org/esus-think-about-homosexuality
bible scripture Jesus christianity religion homosexuality
shared by Gary Patton on 28 Apr 12
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What does Jesus think about Homosexuality?
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Regardless of where we stand on the rightness or the wrongness of being gay, none of that matters much when people are dying. We can argue over what the Bible says about homosexuality, but one thing is utterly clear: Jesus clearly teaches us to love people, not to hate them, not to make them feel hated, and not to stand by while that is happening.
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Jesus was especially known for loving the very people that the religious people of his time had condemned and cast out
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Is homosexuality a sin?
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“The law commands that she should be stoned to death, what do you say?” Jesus bends down and draws with his finger in the dirt, and then says to them “Let the one who is without sin throw the first stone.”
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So again, even if we think homosexuality is wrong, we know what Jesus would do in our shoes. He has drawn a line in the sand, and we need to decide what side of that line we will be on. Will we be on the side of Jesus and the one who is being condemned and threatened? Or will we stand with the religious accusers on the other side of that line?
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Jesus never says a word about homosexuality, but there was one kind of sin that he spoke out against all the time. There was one kind of sin that got Jesus really mad. This was the sin of religious people who shut out those in need of mercy.
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What this all comes down to is we, as Christians, acting like Jesus. It’s about discerning what Jesus would want us to do right now, and the answer is clear: We need to change our priorities and focus on the critical issue of communicating love and acceptance to people–especially the very people our society so often ostracizes, condemns, and rejects. Because that is exactly what Jesus did.
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Because as long as our priority is in looking moral rather than in showing compassion and grace to those on the outside, we simply do not have the priorities of Jesus.
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Now you may have noticed that I didn’t ever say what I thought about whether homosexuality was wrong or right. I didn’t say because this is not about me and what I think. It’s about us as Christians learning to care about what Jesus cares about. This is not about gay rights. It is about about human rights, and that starts with the least. It is about us having the courage to stand with those who are vulnerable. It is about us saying “no” to hate, even when it is done in the name of God–no, especially when it is done in the name of God. It’s about having the guts to draw that line in the sand like Jesus did. Even when that means facing that mob ourselves.
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Jesus may never spoke about the issue of homosexuality. He never spoke about the "man at the Gate Beautiful, either. But He died so the both he and homosexuals might be healed. Jesus didn't speak about homosexuality. But as Immanuel, He knew what the Old Covenant clearly stated. Nonetheless, this article raises some challenging issues for religious people who lean to justice rather than love. gfp (2012-04-28)
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10 Commandments List of the Bible - 0 views
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many Christians take these special ten commandments for granted
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The 10 Commandments of the Bible
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These 10 commandments are good, basic, moral laws that will help keep us out of trouble with ourselves, family, friends, and neighbors
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Jesus' "Golden Rule" - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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Matthew 7:12
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So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,(A) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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Matthew 7:12 is called by some Jesus' "Golden Rule". It is complemented, some would say inherent in what I call His "Platinum Rule" which you'll find in John 13:34-35 at .
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Congo's Chaotic Past - 0 views
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Although the Congo has vast mineral resources and tremendous agricultural potential, it is one of the poorest counties in the world.
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The Congo’s fertile fields and tropical forests cover an area larger than the combined areas of California, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. The Congo is rich in diamonds, gold, copper, uranium and other precious metals. The huge Congo River has the potential to generate enough hydroelectric power to provide all the electrical needs of the entire continent.
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Literally millions of Congolese have been massacred, often by the very soldiers and police who were meant to be protecting them.
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Immediately after independence in the 1960’s tens of thousands of Christians and hundreds of missionaries were martyred, particularly in the Communist Simba rebellion of 1964.
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Documenting the human rights abuses and persecution of Christians in the Congo can be overwhelming.
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forces from Communist
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Soon the armies of eight other nations were embroiled in the conflict in the Congo.
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corruption has continued to cripple the country,
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For the opposite perspective, see the research article, "Economic growth with endogenous corruption: an empirical study" by Mushfiq Swaleheen of Florida Gulf Coast University (http://diigo.com/0ln18). In it he postulates that a measure of corruption in deeply corrupt countries such as Congo actually enhances economic growth ...perhaps by helping companies sidestep onerous rules. But that's only at the extreme; for a country with average endemic corruption, a one-standard-deviation increase in corrupt incidences depresses per-capita GDP growth by 0.12 percentage points, he has found. gfp
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the Christian church has emerged as the only viable national structure to survive the general social, political and economic collapse of the country. The growth of the church in the Congo over the last century has been dramatic. The number of Christians in the Congo has grown from 1.4% of the total population in 1900 to over 90% professing Christianity today.
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Sicne Jesus went back to heaven, His "Body on earth", "The Church" has continued to thrive best when persecuted. The Congo is typical. So are Canada & the U.S where the Body has become flacid and is disappearing ...down to less than 3% by some estimates. gfp
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Since Jesus went back to heaven, His "Body on earth", "The Church", has continued to thrive best when persecuted. The Congo is typical. So are Canada & the U.S typical of what happens to the Body without real persecution. It has become flacid and is disappearing ...down to less than 3% by some estimates. gfp
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1 Chron. 16:24-25 is a powerful Scripture regarding God's glory & my role in proclaiming it that I have quoted in my Spiritual Mission Statement.
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1 Chronicles 16:24 – 25
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is a powerful Scripture regarding God's glory & my role in proclaiming it that I have quoted in my Spiritual Mission Statement.
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Estimates exceed a million AIDS and war orphans.
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Just about the only functioning schools are church run. The Catholics have dominated the education field, but Protestants are increasingly striving to rise to the challenge as well.
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There is a famine of Christian literature and an intense hunger for Christian books.
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Many nominal Christians have no clear grasp of repentance and faith in Christ. Animism, witchcraft and syncretism are also major problems. The vast swamp lands north east of Kinshasa include many communities which have never been effectively evangelized. The half a million Swahili speaking Muslims need to be reached with the Gospel. Despite the Muslims mounting considerable efforts to spread Islam in the Congo, very little has been done to try to reach Muslims for Christ.
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Despite the small Pygmy peoples of the Congo rain forests being despised and abused by the Congolese, there has been a tremendous turning to Christ amongst them. Nominally 30% of the Pygmies claim to be Christian.
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Much of the country needs to be re-evangelized.
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The “Democratic Republic of the Congo”, in its 46 years of independence from Belgium, has never been a democracy.
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The Congo's past may soon be duplicated by numerous new, allegedly democratic nations that are merging in the Middle East following the so-called "2011 Arab Spring" i.e. Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Yemen for starters. Democracy has never flourished, or even survived, when radical Islamists can gain control of a country & implement Islamic Sharia Law. Even the perdominately Muslim people of the previously relatively-free and secular Turkey have handed control of their country over to an Islamist dominated government in 2011. gfp
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Here's how God arranged to effect from communist chaos to Christ in the Congo. gfp (2011-10)
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William Wilberforce : Biography - 0 views
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At seventeen Wilberforce was sent to St. John's College. Following the deaths of his grandfather in 1776 and his childless uncle William in 1777, Wilberforce was an extremely wealthy man. Wilberforce was shocked by the behaviour of his fellow students at the University of Cambridge
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After leaving university he showed no interest in the family business, and while still at Cambridge he decided to pursue a political career
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"Wilberforce was little over five feet tall, a frail and elfin figure who in his later years weighed well under 100 pounds. His charm was legendary, his conversation delightful, his oratory impressive. He dressed in the colourful finery of the day and adorned any salon with his amiable manner.
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his object in life - no less than the transformation of a corrupt society through serious religion
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In 1784 Wilberforce became converted to Evangelical Christianity. He joined the Clapham Set,
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In 1787 Thomas Clarkson, William Dillwyn and Granville Sharp formed the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade.
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nine out of the twelve members on the committee, were Quakers.
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Wilberforce's nephew, George Stephen, was surprised by this choice as he considered him a lazy man: "He worked out nothing for himself; he was destitute of system, and desultory in his habits; he depended on others for information, and he required an intellectual walking stick."
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writing, on the other hand, was to be discouraged, since it would open the way to rising above one's natural station."
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When you're starving, "half a loaf is beter than none"! And God seldom uses perfect people to advance His Kingdom!
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In May 1788, Charles Fox precipitated the first parliamentary debate on the issue.
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Charles Fox was unsure of Wilberforce's commitment to the anti-slavery campaign.
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"Following the publication of the privy council report on 25 April 1789, Wilberforce marked his own delayed formal entry into the parliamentary campaign on 12 May with a closely reasoned speech of three and a half hours,
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"Everyone thought the hearing would be brief, perhaps one sitting. Instead, the slaving interests prolonged it so skilfully that when the House adjourned on 23 June, their witnesses were still testifying."
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on 10th July 1789: "Whether the bill goes through the House or not, the discussion attending it will have a most beneficial effect.
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the visit was a failure as Clarkson could not persuade the French National Assembly to discuss the abolition of the slave trade
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the government published A Declaration of the Rights of Man asserting that all men were born and remained free and equal. However
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During this period he could only find twenty men willing to testify before the House of Commons. He later recalled: "I was disgusted... to find how little men were disposed to make sacrifices for so great a cause."
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Wilberforce initially welcomed the French Revolution as he believed that the new government would abolish the country's slave trade.
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Wilberforce believed that the support for the French Revolution by the leading members of the Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade was creating difficulties for his attempts to bring an end to the slave trade in the House of Commons.
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On 18th April 1791 Wilberforce introduced a bill to abolish the slave trade.
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"a war of the pigmies against the giants of the House".
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defeated by 163 to 88.
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In March 1796, Wilberforce's proposal to abolish the slave trade was defeated in the House of Commons by only four votes.
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a dozen abolitionist MPs were out of town or at the new comic opera in London.
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In 1804, Clarkson returned to his campaign against the slave trade and toured the country
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Note that Clarkson's 'rest' lasted about 8 years and Wilberforce is not here noted to have advanced the cause during Clarson's absence from the frey. But, who among avserage men has heard of Thomas Clarkson as winning the abolitionists cause against slavery?
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William Wilberforce introduced an abolition bill on 30th May 1804.
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In 1805 the bill was once again presented to the House of Commons. This time the pro-slave trade MPs were better organised and it was defeated by seven votes.
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advised Wilberforce to leave the vote to the following year.
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t moved to the House of Lords.
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In February, 1806 Lord Grenville was invited by the king to form a new Whig administration.
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Grenville's Foreign Secretary, Charles Fox, led the campaign in the House of Commons to ban the slave trade in captured colonies.
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was little opposition and it was passed by an overwhelming 114 to 15.
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In the House of Lords Lord Greenville made a passionate speech
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the bill was passed in the House of Lords by 41 votes to 20.
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In January 1807 Lord Grenville introduced a bill that would stop the trade to British colonies on grounds of "justice, humanity and sound policy".
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"Lord Grenville masterminded the victory which had eluded the abolitionist for so long...
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Wilberforce commented: "How popular Abolition is, just now! God can turn the hearts of men".
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However, the Bible itself does not make a strong case for the abolition of slavery and really only for the equality of men before God and in his Kingdom ...not in the world!
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The trade was abolished by a resounding 283 to 16.
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it was the largest majority recorded on any issue where the House divided.
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a generous tribute to the work of Wilberforce:
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Some people involved in the anti-slave trade campaign such as Thomas Fowell Buxton, argued that the only way to end the suffering of the slaves was to make slavery illegal. Wilberforce disagreed, he believed that at this time slaves were not ready to be granted their freedom. He pointed out in a pamphlet that he wrote in 1807 that: "It would be wrong to emancipate (the slaves). To grant freedom to them immediately, would be to insure not only their masters' ruin, but their own. They must (first) be trained and educated for freedom."
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In July, 1807, members of the Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade established the African Institution, an organization that was committed to watch over the execution of the law, seek a ban on the slave trade by foreign powers and to promote the "civilization and happiness" of Africa.
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The African Institution carried the torch for antislavery reform for twenty years and paved the way for later humanitarian efforts in Great Britain."
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Wilberforce made it clear that he considered the African Institution should do what it could to convert Africans to Christianity.
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we ought to rejoice in every opportunity of bringing them under their present sufferings, and secure for them a rich compensation of reversionary happiness."
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(Perronet Thompson) single-handedly abolished apprenticeship and freed the slaves. He filed scandalised reports to the colonial office. Wilberforce told him he was being rash and hasty, and he and his colleagues voted unanimously for his dismissal. Wilberforce advised him to go quietly for the sake of his career."
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the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery. Buxton eventually persuaded Wilberforce to join his campaign but as he had retired from the House of Commons in 1825, he did not play an important part in persuading Parliament to bring an end to slavery.
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William Wilberforce died on 29th July, 1833. One month later, Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act that gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom.
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How far the memoir was Christian, I must leave to others to decide. That it was unfair to Clarkson is not disputed. Where possible, the authors ignored Clarkson; where they could not they disparaged him. In the whole rambling work, using the thousands of documents available to them, they found no space for anything illustrating the mutual affection and regard between the two great men, or between Wilberforce and Clarkson's brother."
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Wilson goes on to argue that the book has completely distorted the history of the campaign against the slave-trade: "The Life has been treated as an authoritative source for 150 years of histories and biographies
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its treatment of Clarkson, in particular, a deservedly towering figure in the abolition struggle, is invalidated by untruths, omissions and misrepresentations of his motives and his achievements is not understood by later generations, unfamiliar with the jealousy that motivated the holy authors. When all the contemporary shouting had died away, the Life survived to take from Clarkson both his fame and his good name.
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left us with the simplistic myth of Wilberforce and his evangelical warriors in a holy crusade.
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Some key bibliographical background on the famous Englishman who, allegedly, was single-handedly responsible for the freeing of slaves in the British Empire after many years of fighting in thr English Parliament.
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So you thought William Wilberforce was responsible for getting England to abolish slavery, eh? Not so! gfp
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Putting "Burning Coals" on Another's Head - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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If [p]your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For you will [q]heap burning coals on his head, And (AA)the LORD will reward you.
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Placing Burning Coals on Another's Head This Proverb confuses some people because its Jewish cultural context is not clear from its words. A "burning coal" was essential in Biblical Palestine each morning so Jewish families could re-light their cooking fire for the day after it died out during the night. In each Jewish village, one man carried a pot of coals from home to home to assist the homemaker who needed one. "Burning coals" are blessings not torture instruments in this Proverb as some think. "The head", in Jewish culture was the place on another's body where one anointed them with precious perfumes and oils as a extension of an oral blessing on them. Jesus' Disciple/Apostle (Learner/Sent-Out-One), Paul, quoted this Proverb from the pre-Jesus (Yeshua/Isa), Old Covenant in Romans 12:20 at http://diigo.com/0kmml to demonstrate that our heavenly Father does not overlook fairness and justice although he substituted New Covenant 'grace' for Old Covenant 'law' when He sent Jesus to die for us as outlined in His New Covenant. (gfp 2011-10-24)
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Proverbs 25
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This ancient, pre-Yeshua (Jesus), Old Covenant and Hebrew Proverb, contains and interesting cultural reference that you'll discover in the e-Sticky Note on verses 21-23 below. gfp (2011-10-24)
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This ancient, pre-Yeshua (Jesus), Old Covenant Hebrew Proverb, contains and interesting cultural reference that you'll discover in the e-Sticky Note on Verse 21-23 below. gfp (2011-10-24)
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Jesus Public Ministry And Gospel - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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“(G)THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 (H)TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
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The Gospel of Yeshua/Jesus is "Good News". But, it's not a book or a passage of Scripture. It's the person of God incarnate Himself! And salvation is a trusting relationship in & with Him by simply believing in Yeshua's payment on His cross of the full penalty God demands for our sin & sins and, then, deferring to Yeshua's lordship of every aspect of our lives by living in the power of His resurrection!" ~ gfp The word 'gospel' means 'good news' and Yeshua/Jesus, the Messiah, is the personification of "good news". Simply put, He is the gospel! For anyone who hears them, Yeshua/Jesus and His words are heart-piercing as you can discover in His 'Beatitudes' at . They are totally convicting because they demonstrate every hearers' total inability to behave as He commands. And, Jesus doesn't leave us hanging! Right now, He's making available to you His power. It's freely available to every man, woman and child ...despite what they may have done. He gives anyone who asks for it a "new life". Plus, He also gives us the power to live it, using His strength, when we believe His 'Gospel' ("Good News"/'Injeel'). This glorious News is that Yeshua/Jesus died to pay the full penalty that God's holiness and justice requires because of both our "sin nature" and our many 'sins'. As Deity incarnate, Yeshua/Jesus died so that His human creation could be forgiven by God and be reconciled to His heavenly Father and have peace with Him through Yeshua/Jesus's sacrifice and His subsequent resurrection from the grave. Yeshua/Jesus's death and resurrection guarantee real, eternal salvation instead by working for ones own salvation by trying to obey the law. Folks, Jesus is alive! He's living right now and praying for you at the right hand of our heavenly Father. When you respond to his pleading, He'll send his Holy Spirit to live inside you as a new, born-again Believer. "The Gospel" is the power in Jesus' words! "Stop trying ...and start tr
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Yeshua/Jesus clarified His Gospel first to the Jews and, then later, to all non-Jews through the ones who that became His Followers. He first did so using words of The Jewish Prophet, Isaiah, that Yeshua quoted from the Old Covenant (Muslim: Taurat) in this passage: 18 "(G)THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 (H)TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."
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John 3:16-18 NASB - For God so loved the world that He gave - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of (H)the [b]only begotten Son of God.
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"Not judged" here is used in the judicial, judgement by a court of law sence of set free from any penalty. "Judged already" is used in the same judicial way and means "separation from God in Hell, forever and without escape". This is clarified in numerous other Scriptures throughout the Bible in words used by Yeshua (Jesus) and His Apostles.
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He (B)gave His [a](C)only begotten Son
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The King James Version (KJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB) here and also some other modern translations of the Bible use the older English word "begotten" in this verse. The past tense of the verb "begat" in all these translations is best defined as "one and only". It does NOT mean in this context procreation by sexual intercourse as it does when referring to humans and animals.
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Humankind's Creation - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [b]sky and over every living thing that [c]moves on the earth.”
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Humankinds orignial and basic life purpose which has never been rescinded and is suplemeted for each Jesus Follower as outlined in Ephesians 2: 10 at http://diigo.com/0n20e in context.
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I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the [d]surface of all the earth, and every tree [e]which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
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In 1968, Karen, my wife, and I became changed our diet and our lifestyle from what most people follow. We gave up the SAD (Standard American Diet) after different diseases almost killed me and threatened Karen's life. In Karen's case, colon cancer could have killed her. The results of a gangrenous bladder almost put me in a grave. In less than four (4) months following our shift in diet Karen and I were both completely healed. We have remained vibrantly healthy ever since. In November of that year, we became what are called "Live Food Vegans", i.e., we started to eat only fruits, vegetables, seeds nuts and and gluten-free grains. In addition, less than 20% of what we eat most days is cooked in any way. Karen and I have learned a lot about how to be and stay healthy. At 70+, we both are told we look like we're in our 50s. Our lifestyle, which involves more than than just a diet change, we call our S-M-A-R-TLifestyle™. You can read more about what happened to us and our lifestyle at this link (http://is.gd/l0mZPv). We agree that a Jesus Follower is free to eat what s(he) wishes, within reason. That's part of being free In Jesus! Nonetheless, we simply believe that the diet outlined in the Christian Bible in Genesis 1:29 was God's "best" one for his perfect creation. He has never rescinded that diet. By following it, you too can reap the substantial rewards of natural law which anyone can take advantage of ...like we did in 1998.
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Genesis 1:26-31
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Genesis 1: 26-31 describe the first humans' creation as the original ancestors of every man and woman who has ever lived as confirmed by modern DNA and gnome science. They also confirm God's original life mandate and ideal diet for every human ...neither of which He has EVER rescinded. gfp (2012-01-31)
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The R-E-A-L Gospel ...God's Saving Power Source - Bible Gateway - 0 views
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the gospel
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The Gospel of Yeshua/Jesus is "Good News". One clear description of Jesus' Gospel (NOT the Muslim Isa's Injeel) is in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-7 at http://diigo.com/0kb4u . The Greek word translated into English as 'gospel' means "good news" and Yeshua/Jesus, the Messiah, is the personification of "good news". Simply put, He is the gospel! For anyone who hears them, Yeshua/Jesus and His words are heart-piercing as you can discover in His 'Beatitudes' at http://diigo.com/0kmjn . They are totally convicting because they demonstrate every hearers' total inability to behave as He commands. And, Jesus doesn't leave us hanging! Right now, He's making available to you His power. It's freely available to every man, woman and child ...despite what they may have done. He gives anyone who asks for it a "new life". Plus, He also gives us the power to live it, using His strength, when we believe His 'Gospel' ("Good News"/'Injeel'). This glorious News is that Yeshua/Jesus died to pay the full penalty that God's holiness and justice requires because of both our "sin nature" and our many 'sins'. As Deity incarnate (God with us), Yeshua/Jesus died so that His human creation could be forgiven by God and be reconciled to His heavenly Father and have peace with Him through Yeshua/Jesus's sacrifice and His subsequent resurrection from the grave. Yeshua/Jesus's death and resurrection guarantee real, eternal salvation instead by working for ones own salvation by trying to obey the law. Folks, Jesus is alive! He's living right now and praying for you at the right hand of our heavenly Father. When you respond to his pleading, He'll send his Holy Spirit to live inside you as a new, born-again Believer. "The Gospel" is the power in Jesus' words! "Stop trying ...and start trusting God! It's not what you do. But what Jesus has already fully done for you and Who is empowering you by living inside you!" ~ gfp '42™
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the Greek
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it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
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Romans 1:16
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"The R-E-A-L Gospel ...God's Saving Power Source" Romans 1:16 is only one of the many places where God confirms the power of the Gospel of Yeshua/Jesus. And in this passage, Holy Spirit clarifies the Gospel's R-E-A-L power. gfp (2011-10-11)
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Romans 1:16 in the New American Standard Bible is only one of the many places where God confirms the power of the Gospel of Yeshua/Jesus (not the Muslim gospel (book that's disappeared) of Isa). Here He clarifies it's power save all of humankind from our sin (Our otherwise unchangeable, foul and separating human nature.) & sins (What we've done contrary to God's will.) ...REGARDLESS of what we have done or how bad we have been because salvation is a gift of God's grace through our faith in His Son's sacrifice on our behalf. One clear description of what Yeshua/Jesus has already done on our behalf is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 at (http://diigo.com/0kb4u). Good works can give us an enhanced outward demeanor. Only Yeshua/Jesul can set us free from our bondage to sin. gfp (2011-10-11)
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