Non-Christian exploring Christianity out of fear of Jesus’s threat of eternal punishment and empathy for immediate family.

Minnesota, USA
Joined August 2021
My inability to read Hebrew, Greek, or latin is going to significantly slow my study, but I'll do the best I can with available resources in English.
So Tyndale is apparently the origin of sometimes translating "Sheol" as "grave" instead of "hell".
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What you trust is the foundation for what you believe. What you believe is the foundation for what you "know". The only possible exception is the immediate awareness (possibly describable as a "belief") that you exist. Do you trust your intuitions? Your reasoning? Your senses?
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This is why for a complete system of epistemology, one needs to start prior with a system of trust. One can start with a descriptive theory, merely observing and describing how people trust. But more interesting is the prescriptive side. What *should* one trust?
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I have developed such a theory myself, a prescriptive one, starting with the very first epistemic question - the question of solipsism - and starting the entire process not with an "is", but an "ought". That one "ought" to reject solipsism is the foundation of my theory.
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Stories of the bodhisattvas made David Bentley Heart "anxious that Christians were in danger of being outdone in the love and mercy department". Full quote from That All Shall Be Saved below. Might need to click to see the full screenshot
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So Tyndale is apparently the origin of sometimes translating "Sheol" as "grave" instead of "hell".
I've decided to officially commit myself to a deep dive critical analysis on the topic of "Hell". Here's another one of the spreadsheets I'm making for the research phase. It's going to be a major theme of my posts for the next few months. xitter.cf/BaxterWilliams_/status…
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The reasoning for his translation choices here is not super clear. It might have something to do with his theory of "soul sleep", but it also could be correcting the English laity's improper understanding resulting from the "doom paintings". Still looking into it.
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Either way, Tyndale set the precedent for the Matthew's Bible and in turn the Bishop's Bible and KJV.
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In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.
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I've had this theory since grad school, but I believe that much of our brain is, in modern terms, an "aritificial intelligence" (an unconscious neural net) that the conscious part trains through childhood so that it can take care of tasks without us paying full attention. 1/
Is there a word for this cause it sucks
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One of my first jobs was as a factory line worker. It took a lot of conscious attention to train the movements for the first few weeks. But after enough training, I found I was basically able to relax and day dream most of the day. Leaving my "trained" brain to handle it. 6/
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All these experiences and more inform my position here, but I think it's a reasonable one. 7/7
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Maybe Christians could bring back the "God-fearer" archetype for those who can't bring themselves to fully join but who still would like to attend.
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I've decided to officially commit myself to a deep dive critical analysis on the topic of "Hell". Here's another one of the spreadsheets I'm making for the research phase. It's going to be a major theme of my posts for the next few months. xitter.cf/BaxterWilliams_/status…
If you make a parallel reading of all the times Jesus says "Hades" or "Gehenna", you will see that he says Hades in 3 traditions, and he says Gehenna in 5 traditions, but interestingly none of them are triple tradition.
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There is a great peace to be had for any who are willing to accept this.
Replying to @OrthodoxOrigen
There are no word police. There is no official dictionary of the heavens. There are only different groups that use words differently.
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Wow. Genuinely happy to hear this update. But I found it to be kind of funny how they couldn't resist the urge to drop their latest numbers in the press release.
this is actually HUGE
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All that's needed is one last update to remove the shunning.
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