am i isreal or judah?

[Guest]

I have been traveling for the past nine days, and unable to visit this forum regularly in that time. I see that things have gotten quite out of hand. The site exists for asking and answering Bible questions. This thread has turned into a personal quibbling match.

Damon asked my opinion about the tone of things here. My opinion is this:

Damon has very thin skin. Thin enough to think that mere disagreement with him equals disrespect and failure to appreciate that he is "very well-studied." He has no problem "blowing-off" other people's arguments, but is offended if people disagree with his. In citing scripture, he assumes that the impression he has of the text is correct, but does not seem interested or able to show from the writings of the New Testament that anyone else should agree with his impressions.

Rather than defending his points with scripture, he appeals to Jewish traditions. When asked how he knows he should trust the traditions, he claims that he discerns their validity by personal divine inspiration. When challenged with scriptural arguments, he seems unwilling to answer with an exegetical approach. He scorns others quite readily, and then whines when others scorn him. His behavior is extremely juvenile, and unfitting for one who is so desirous to be respected for his sophistication. I would recommend that he become a listener, and hold off on being a teacher until he has acquired some maturity of character.

Veritas, it seems, has answered with scripture. I may be biased in his favor, since I agree with his positions, but I don't think so. I see in his comments a responsible effort to let Jesus and the apostles interpret the Old Testament, which seems like the right approach, and is the approach I advocate.

Veritas may have taken a cheap shot or two at Damon, but I am not sure of this. The things Damon has been offended by, in the writings of Veritas, Sean, myself, and others, have consistently seemed to be innocuous statements when I have read them. Damon has definitely taken offense to numerous comments by various contributors, who apparently had no intention of being offensive.

Damon and Veritas seem to be equally sure of themselves, but I see more arrogance and dogmatism in Damon, and less tolerance for disagreement with his views. He talks as if his being "well-studied" should be given more credit, and that people whom he assumes to be less well-studied should simply accept his statements, and not be so rude as to disagree.

Some of the others who have interacted with Damon have succumbed to the temptation to mock him, which I think is inappropriate. His prior arrogant mocking of them, simply because they were not agreeing with him, has generally precipitated their responses, and I do not see where he finds grounds to object.

I agree with one thing Damon has said, and that is that this thread has exhibited an abysmal lack of Christian charity in some of the posts, and I am considering deleting some of the most offensive ones. I think it wise to end this thread right here. As for my opinions, those expressed by Veritas coincide completely with my own. However, my problems with Damon are not owing merely to disagreement with him, but with his attitude, and his hermeneutics.

Blessings!

[Guest]

I agree with one thing Damon has said, and that is that this thread has exhibited an abysmal lack of Christian charity in some of the posts, and I am considering deleting some of the most offensive ones. I think it wise to end this thread right here. As for my opinions, those expressed by Veritas coincide completely with my own. However, my problems with Damon are not owing merely to disagreement with him, but with his attitude, and his hermeneutics.

Blessings!

Steve, I'm glad to see that you stood up for what was right, ethically speaking. However, I'm disappointed to see you not stand up for what I'd asked you about in the first place. I specifically asked you if it was wise to respect another's beliefs, even if one disagreed with them. I now see that even though you've written "Revelation - Four Views" in an effort to do just that, it doesn't always happen in practice with you.

As a case in point, here's something you recently said about me:

There is no mention of any "throne" that the man of sin usurps (you made that part up)...

(emphasis mine)

There's nothing wrong with the way I interpret Scripture. It happens to be different from how you interpret it, but there's no mediator between us to arbitrate who's right and who's wrong. For you to take the moral high ground and claim that I have a problem with my hermeneutics is disingenuous if you're going to make comments like the one above - and then not apologize about it to boot.

As far as my attitude regarding being well-studied, you yourself are well-studied as well. Shouldn't people respect the amount of time and effort you've put into formulating your own beliefs and conclusions, even if they disagree with you? Of course they should! The same is true of me and my beliefs.

If you aren't able to do that and can't see that that's the right way to be treated, then that's ultimately where we disagree.

Damon