THE END... MAYBE?

Blogging has been a very interesting and helpful experience for me. Before this class I was not very savvy with blogging, and my interest was growing as I heard about the blogging world growing. I will admit when I first walked into this class and heard what we would be doing all semester I thought "What the hell is going on, we learn how to blog in college english now." It only sounded like a interesting idea, not a educational one which is what I'm going to college for, but either way I didn't have a choice but to buckle down and give it my best shot.

So as we started to look at blogs that very first english class I came to the conclusion that the good blogs we read about were ones of deep interest to the author, so I knew I had to write about some thing that interested me. I picked religion because it is some thing I have spent a lot of time on and know it fairly well, I was not comfortable at first to pick an out there topic.

As I moved along during the semester I got more comfortable with blogging and decided to try some new types of blogs... my "NFL" blog and my "Answering the Questions" blogs are what I came up with to skyline myself with attempted new ideas. I believe I did a fairly good job, the best I could have with my little experience. If I did it now with my experience under my belt, I realize I could do a better job. One thing I would like to figure out is if an experienced blogger could tell we weren't "real" bloggers. I think if I changed my mindset to being a blogger on my own free will it would have been different. We knew we only had a set number of blogs we had to complete, and also for a grade, so I wonder if this altered us from the rest of the blogging world?

I learned a lot in this experience, and realized that it was not only interesting, but also educational in today's world. I am glad I was able to learn about blogging through a english class, it just goes to show me that we do learn important things in college whether I realize it at the time or not. I better keep learning things that I think are pointless at the time, because I never know what it will turn out to be.

UNIQUE:
1. existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics.
2. having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable.


Have you ever just stopped and thought about how unique some things are? Just took a minute out of the day or before you fell asleep one night an put a thought into how unique perhaps the earth is, the place you live, or even yourself... I would like to spend some time pondering how unique a book is. I am sure many of you already realize what book I am talking about, that is the Holy Bible. Let us just think how unique this book is, even if we do not believe the words written in it, I do not think anyone could deny that this book is different from others, and perhaps the most unique of any. Just read and consider it for a minute.

With out spending to much time on the subject, I think it is important to first talk about what the "Bible" exactly is. The Bible is composed of several books that work together to create the whole picture, for those who believe, it is Gods word speaking through men to display his will. The actual Bible we use today was composed by the early church in the third century using a spiritual standard to determine which books are divinely inspired. It is important to note that the church did not create or determine which books would be called scripture. Instead the church recognized, or discovered which books had been divinely inspired (McDowell, 21).

Now... how is this book unique?

1. Unique in its Continuity
It is the only book that was written over a 1500 year time span.
I think to myself "how could the authors even have enough endurance to continue over this period of time." (Harder)

2. Written by more than forty authors
Not only was it written by so many authors, but they include kings, military leaders, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, tax collectors, poets, musicians, statesmen, scholars, and shepards (Why is the Bible Unique).

3. Written on three different continents
Asia, Africa, and Europe. Not only this but written in different places to include the wilderness, dungeons, palaces, and while traveling.

4. Written in different moods and times
Written in times of war and sacrifice, peace and prosperity, suffering, persecution, and hunger. Written in moods to include joy, despair, conviction, and doubt (McDowell, 4).

5. Written in three different languages
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

6. Written in a variety of literary styles
Poetry, historical narrative, song, romance, didactic treatise, personal correspondence, memoirs, satire, biography, autobiography, law, prophecy, parable, and allegory (I'm not going to lie, I don't know what some of those mean...) (McDowell, 6).

7. Over a billion copies sold
It's not rare to hear of books on the best-sellers list when selling a few hundred thousand, the bible is the best seller of all time (McDowell, 8).

8. Unique in its survival through persecution
No book has been more persecuted than the bible. From the time it was outlawed by the Roman emperors to the present day Communist countries (Harder).

9. No ancient literature compares to the accuracy persevered by the bible.
Plato, Aristotle, and Caesar all have way less manuscripts and bigger time gaps than the bible. By the test scholars use to determine accuracy of an ancient document the bible surpasses all (Sarris).

"The Bible is not such a book a man would write if he could, or could write if he would." (McDowell, 13)



Harder, Eugene. The Bible's uniqueness is an evidence it is God's inspired infallible Word.
1995 15 Aug. 2007 <http://www.newhope.bc.ca/94-08-15.htm>

Mcdowell, Josh. The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Here's Life Publishers, 1999.

Sarris, Chris. Is the Bible Trustworthy? 2004.
2007 <http://www.onlinethoughts.com/bible_evidence/bible_evi.htm>

Why is the Bible Unique. 2007 <http://www.thewaytogod.info/e.uniqueness.bible.html>

HONEST PURPOSE

Where I come from, and why I write of this subject is important in establishing my honest purpose behind this blog. Being honest with your purpose is important because well... I don't like hidden agendas, I want the reader to think about and consider my purpose. Understanding why I am this way and how I got there might help you out in understanding meaning behind the blogs. I am going to explain what I have experienced in my life in order to come to my conclusions. To some I may come off as having "stone-wall" stances on my blog subjects, but please keep in mind I really do try and open my mind to knowledge and truth, and hope we all my do the same.

Look to your right and you will see a bar, and then down the street some you're going to see a church, and the pattern continues. In the small area of the "Silver Valley" there is probably just as many bars and churches as most cities, yet only one grocery store per a town. Graduating with 32 other students I grew up in the small town life with the very beautiful outdoors of the Silver Valley. Hunting, fishing, ATVs, and Racism are used to describe many people in my town.

I am proud of and love the outdoor activities of the Silver Valley, but the non-culturized racist rape this place of much potential beauty. Growing up as a boy, I was one of these racist people, I believed based on my so called "logical thinking" that certain facts about blacks were true, oh how ill I was to think this of people, it makes me hurt that people think like I did. I was not a Christian during this time period, and actually was a fan of the interesting evolution I learned in high school. To be honest I often thought to myself "I do not belong in this time period, I belong in the days before Lincoln when men worked for a living and our country was prosperous."

Oh man, if you are not laughing, or thinking how absurdly ignorant this mind set is then I am surprised and/or worried about you. I did learn much from this experience though, I learned how people justify themselves when it comes to racism, I think Daniel Webster puts it very well when talking about how the south justified themselves in "The Seventh of March Speech" (Midway through the second paragraph beginning with "The South, upon the other side"). I know how things work in the Good-Ol'-Boy Who-You-Know system, and have learned how to survive in it. Believe it or not small schools and towns are very vicious, and it takes a lot of thinking, manipulation, and strategy in order to be successful in them. Everyone knows everything in these places, so a person of trust is of great value (not saying they are not always of great value). It some times scares me to think that what I knew is now foolishness, how much more am I going to learn and change? Good thing I have found the one absolute faithful truth.

Here's the thing, many people call me closed minded, I think this is unfair in a way. You see... it's not that I do not truly listen to others, but it is the fact I have a understanding of some thing being absolutely true, based on what I have heard and felt through the holy ghost there is not a doubt in my mind. Now a person that does not have this same understanding it does seem like I am a little closed minded, and that can be fully understood.

Since I have come to this truth, I have been blessed with many things, to include a beautiful wife with a great marriage, peace of heart, superior wisdom, true faithful friendships, and most importantly everlasting life with the creator of man. So I guess it can be stated that my purpose is to share with you what I have been given through grace. Do I expect you to just instantly believe what I have said, no, because how many other religions claim to be the absolute truth and claim to give many benefits also? What I do hope for is for you to truly open up your heart and mind and attempt to let truth flow in without putting up any barriers. I believe when you truly examine the nature and mysteries of life you will come to the same understanding as me.

ANSWERING THE COMMENTS

Knowledge is a important thing, and based on my knowledge so far I believe that a man who thinks he is done learning is a very foolish man. How do we gain knowledge? One important way is through dialog! Conversation! It is a crappy thing when you read a comment, and have thoughts to respond, but then don't really see a way to, so then you just drive on not knowing what kind of convo you could have stared and learned from! So in this blog I suppose I will attempt to comment back, and hopefully I will strike and spark some thing that will allow us to continue on in thought and consideration!


NFL BLOG

LM Carver said...
"I don't understand too much, but I am going to assume the main point is this: being part of a unit, knowing someone is in your struggle, feeling the pride of a legacy and uniform can give you satisfaction. is that correct?

If what I assume is correct, then I have this to say; that can be very dangerous. The Nazis, Communists, the Klan, and numerous other groups places being part of the "Team" meant more then your moral values. Just something to consider. Being part of a group means you leave your identity and values in place of theirs, and sometimes theirs are not always correct. Just something to think about.

But, if I am wrong (as in your blog was not about the value of being part of a group) then ignore my last comment and replace it with this: GO REDSKINS!!!"

Many of you responded to this blog like this, and to answer her question.... she's wrong...

I must add this remark though! "What brilliant thought!" This blog was simply something informative about me, and described the feelings I get when I watch football and why I love the Dallas Cowboys. Before I go on I also must add "I HATE Julies Broncos almost as much as I HATE the rival Redskins, and when we go to "war" this year I can't wait for the Cowboys to put on a asswhoopen!"

Anyways these were great responses that I agree with, we must have self-discipline and not let these great emotions we enjoy overtake who we are and what really matters!

EVOLUTION BLOG

CJ said...
"Wow, I cant find much more than wow at this moment.Yes evolution had faults but so does the bible.Evolution by natural selection wasn't even completed at Darwin's time, it was completed when his theory was put together with genetics.I've gone to church for years and I even us to volunteer at church, but that doesn't mean I'm sucked in by every little thing that the bible says. Somethings just don't make sense in the bible, what does make sense is science! Everyday scientist discover new things that go against what the bible says.I feel you should be a little more open minded!You and I can't actually be sure of anything.How do we really know whats happen.At least with science they can prove it.I'm not knocking your beliefs but I don't feel you should knock mine either.Just try to consider that maybe not everything in the bible is exactually right, I'm not saying science is. "
April 10, 2007 3:35 PM

jessie said...
"This is definitely a controversial topic. I'm not sure I know which side I stand on at this point, since I am a christian and a science major. Science has made some strong advances towards the theory of evolution, but my faith tells me not to believe it. I don't know if we can have it both ways, but would it be possible that God put people on the earth, and also put animals- and some of those animals evolved over time? Eh, that might be a little far-fetched. I guess we'll never know! "
April 11, 2007 1:46 PM

Julie P. said...
"Hm...this is pretty heavy stuff, and it sounds just as propagandizing without any specific facts to make it up. I don't see racism in Darwin, but of course anybody can distort a message from somebody long dead and then everybody things that the original message is just as tainted. That's poor research. Hovind is a good start for you, but there are others out there talking about this issue. You cannot ignore those who support evolution if you are to learn more about the issue and prove to us you're on the right track.You know, there are many scientists that have faith. Both can coexist. Did you know that Darwin was a very religious man for most of his life? Have you read the "Voyage of the Beagle," in which he spent years studying organisms around the world? Knowing his actual work, reading it for understanding, will make your point for or against evolution stronger. But you really must study it instead of just promoting somebody else's position.For example, look more deeply into quantum physics, especially since many scientists believe that the big bang was just part of the sceme fo the universe, and that something certainly happened before that. Specifically look into string theory and m-theory.As for the final quote from Darwin, it's a significant argument against violence, but he speaks from experience, pointing out what we have done as humans and showing that trends in violence happen throughout the animal kingdom. Think about how the New World colonists wiped out Native Americans with plague, smallpox, murder, and displacement. ..."

I was going to try not to put every comment for every blog on here, but I wouldn't be doing justice if I picked one comment to sum what bloggers had to say about this blog. So let me try to respond one comment at a time...

CJ-

I am a big fan of science! I took four years of physics in high school, and three years of chemistry. I really do enjoy science, but you need to define science CJ. I would rephrase what you said to "proven" science makes sense, there is no proven science that goes against what the bible says, if so then I would love to hear it, especially if its being discovered every day! Giving thought on each others beliefs is a important thing, whether it be "knocking" them or not, it's good to see how others think no matter what purpose you use it for.

Jessie-

I would encourage you to look into both theories deeply and see what you come up with, evolution has many faults, and IF it were to be true then you would be right, because it would take the power of God to complete. I have heard that theory before so it's not far out there, it's called the Gap Theory by most Christians, I would take a look at a pastor John Hagee, he is a big fan of it. I also once heard a pastor say "If God mad Adam mature, could he not have made the Earth with time?" I thought this was a good point.

So the thing is that I have no problem if evolution is true because it would not hurt my beliefs (although the way it is taught, and to those who don't believe this to be possible it is a very dangerous theory). Anyways... the reasons I do not believe in it is because of the lack of shear evidence, and the evidence against it!

Also it is based on beneficial mutations, which scientist say happen about every 1 out of 10,000, so rarely that we have yet to observe one! Mutations are harmful and make things suffer, would god really have had animals suffer for millions of years even before sin? It would put death before sin which is contrary to the bible and wouldnt fufill his purpose for creating us. Anyways Jessie this is a blog and not a paper so I better not continue to deeply into evidence I believe in, great thoughts though, and I hope you discover Truth!

Julie-

I do have to agree with sounding propagandizing without any specific facts as far as proof against evolution. Since I was blogging my main point was to bring the idea of evolution being a dangerous ideology, if I were to write a blog about the flawed theory it would be very long almost like a academic paper, so I decided to stay away from it (maybe I'm lazy, I don't know). I do see the need of the reader to have some information of the subject though, most of us get it taught in high school though, so I suppose it's ok for the majority of readers. I am aware of the fact that Darwin's only formal education was seminary, he then turned from religion and thought of evolution, and developed it on the voyage of the Beagle, could this have been his alternative to religion? The things the Devil can turn in our minds...

In my fourth year of physics we studied the string theory/theories the whole second semester, I realize some scientist believe there is more than the big bang, but at the end of the theory my point still stands, they believe some thing was just there in the beginning with no explanation. I know I have a lot to learn, and I plan to keep doing just that!

NEW ENGLAND PRIMER

Leslie and Julie-

First off thank you for the complements, they kinda made me feel more comfortable with blogging being that was one of my first ones and all, but you guys went way overboard, I'm just a beginner but I do appreciate the confidence. I feel this could be some people's problems with blogging, they hold back on what they feel. I just kind of go crazy with it and try to make it make sense at the end.

I am going to hold off on your question about advocating a official religion and how chaos is caused by different standards because I might blog similar to that later.

Thanks!

ABSOLUTE TRUTH

Julie and Kelzie-

I do enjoy talking about philosophy, maybe I will take some classes in it... My plan is to go to law school after my enlistment is up, I guess there is a connection between law and philosophy, probably an important one actually. Thank you for the encouragement!

"This is an interesting post--so do you think believing in absolute knowledge is tied to Christianity? What about Plato, who lived BCE? Can one believe in a higher power and Truth? Keep digging!"

To be honest Julie I haven't since the blog I haven't had time to do much of anything because I have been busy moving and stuff (hence my one blog last week, figured I would take my excused absence). I will look into Plato though, it has been on my list and it seems to me that your a big fan of him so I am interested to see what he has to say, what could it be that he is feeding the liberals :)!

THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS!

N.F.L.

"Touchdown Dallas!"
Jumping out of my chair while slamming my sweating fist into the table looking around at my fellow brothers as waves of glory rush throughout the room!
Dallas has won the game... and I find myself exhaling the anticipation that had overwhelmed my lungs in a matter of seconds.

This is the type of feeling that I get excited about when I am thinking about the upcoming season. Born and raised in Idaho I didn't really have a team to choose from, so I picked Dallas Cowboys when they won the Superbowl in the 90's and have stuck with them ever since.

See... football in a way that might be a little out there... gives temporary satisfaction that we as men have desire even when we were little boys... "The Battle." When you stick with a team for a while you become a part of that team and have common ground with the other warriors of that team throughout the country. I pass by a man in the mall wearing a jersey with the great star on it, and I tell myself that he is part of a legacy I share in, and that is with me in the minimum 16 battles we struggle and rejoice through during the year.

As the NFL Draft crawls up my excitement rises because this is the stage we put on our armor to prepare for another seasons of battles in this very long war.

Is there Absolute Truth?
Are you Absolutely sure?

"There is or there is not a god." ok... tell me something I don't know...

"And both possibilities are frightening." This caught my attention.

"Because if there is then we better find out who he is and what his intentions of us are, and if there isn't then we are swirling around the sun at 1110 miles/hr while spinning 1040 miles/hr and no one is in charge!"

The first thing when talking of Absolute Truth is defining what is meant when we say truth, and it is as follows:

Conformity to fact or reality

What is real! That is what truth is, right now I am not talking about what is real and what's not, but the logic or in my view the self-evident fact that something is real. Some times when I think about how people might think that nothing is absolute it hurts because I come to the conclusion that people actually have a want to convince themselves of such foolish ideas... maybe to justify themselves or some thing... I couldn't be sure (but I know there is a sure answer).

Problem One-

It is contradictory! By stating that there is no absolute truth you are stating a fact that you presume to be absolutely true. So the question is are you absolutely sure?

Problem Two-

We have limited knowledge! You can only say a statement with limited knowledge, so one cannot just say "There are no wolfs in Africa." They would have say "With what I know about Africa there are no wolfs." Now if someone actually seen a wolf in Africa could they say there were wolves in Africa? To be fair there is always some idea that some one could come up with to bring in a small possibility that what you said wasn't true. What we do know though, is that there is or there is not wolves in Africa, so some one is right and someone is wrong. It is our job to gather the evidence and look to see what we believe is the truth, let us not forget we will be judged by what we believe because we are either right or wrong.

Problem Three-

No standard! The same idea of previous blogs comes up in this one too, which is dangerous to our country. If there is no Absolute Truth then we have no standard of right and wrong. No one can say that something is wrong because there is no absolute standard to judge them by, they could be right and you could be wrong. As I have said before this idea brings chaos and is a grave danger to our country, because a kingdom divided against itself falls.

Last Word-

Nothing new! "You will not surely die, for God knows when you eat of it, you will be like god, knowing good and evil."

This was said in the Garden of Eden by the Devil when this war had just began.

Truth and Reality VS. Lies and Illusion

Truth is a very important thing, Jesus said he came to "Testify the truth." Do not let the ways of the enemy fool you, think about things very logically and honest with yourself.

The bible says in the last days scoffers will come and will be "willingly ignorant." Stupid on purpose.

I am not saying this is an atheist's worst nightmare, but I found it to be interesting and thought provoking.