And the proper reply is…were you there?
My buddy sent this to me and I thought it was a joke but it is in fact true; it’s so ridiculous it almost had me clamoring for Common Core.
It’s bad when the vast majority of school options are from government priso-err… I mean schools and religious schools run by fundy nutjobs. My head hurts, save me Jeebus.
Remains to Be Seen
Claim: Image shows a fourth-grade science quiz about ‘Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel’ from a South Carolina school.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, April 2013]
This seems suspicious – not just because of the content. The reading/sophistication level is not 4th grade, but I’ve been seeing it on Facebook.
Origins: This image purportedly showing a “4th Grade Science Quiz” hit the Internet in April 2013, showing a classroom test entitled “Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel” and consisting of several true/false and short-answer questions about dinosaurs and the Bible, which a student had all answered correctly in accordance with religious Young Earth creationism (rather than scientific) principles.
The title of the quiz is the same as that of a DVD produced by the group Answers in Genesis and hews closely to the material presented therein, including the admonition that “If someone tells you the earth is millions of years old, what should be your reply? ‘Were you there?'” and the reference to the Bible as “The History Book of the Universe.”
The image was of the purported quiz publicized in a post to Reddit’s r/atheism forum, made by a user who maintained that it was a real quiz given at a private religious school in South Carolina, and that he was shown the quiz by the student’s parent and took a picture of it with his iPhone. He declined to identify the school for now, stating that “I am not publicizing it since it is a small school and I don’t want any publicity that might reflect badly on the kid” and “I don’t want the kid to get in trouble, so I am keeping that under my hat until June when school is over,” although he did allow that the school was “North of Greer, SC.”
A few days after the Reddit posting, a reader wrote to us and maintained that the quiz displayed above belonged to his 10-year-old daughter, saying:
I didn’t know that this was being taught to her until we heard a radio commercial together about the
Discover the Dinosaurs exhibit was coming to the TD Convention Center [in Greenville, South Carolina].
The Commercial starts out, “After 65 million years, the dinosaurs have returned …” She commented immediately that it was only four thousand years ago. When I corrected her, she snapped back, “Were you there?” I have since taught my daughter differently, but I am sure she is confused now and plan to make sure she understands that teachers are people too and can be factually wrong.
The test showed up [at] home a day later to my disgust.
It’s a great school for Reading, Writing and Math. She is ahead of most of her peers and also is taking Latin there. But I now know to be vigilant for the rest of the year about her science teachings.
She will not be attending the school next year …
He indicated that he wouldn’t disclose the name of the school until the end of the school year in June, but he did forward us an image of the second page of the quiz:
We noted that there is a school,
Blue Ridge Christian Academy, that meets all of the criteria described above: a private Christian Academy which is both in the Greenville area of South Carolina and north of Greer, which offers “science lessons [that] are creation-based,” and which includes Latin in its fourth-grade curriculum. Blue Ridge didn’t respond to our inquiry, but Ken Ham and Mark Looy of Answers in Genesis (AiG)
confirmed in the AiG blog that the quiz did indeed originate with that school:
In South Carolina recently, a fourth-grade teacher at Blue Ridge Christian Academy (a nondenominational K–12 Christian school) showed students a DVD of a children’s program, in which AiG song-writer and dinosaur sculptor Buddy Davis and I are featured. In this DVD, we teach children the history of the universe from the Bible, with a special emphasis on teaching dinosaurs from a biblical perspective (as we do inside our Creation Museum). The teacher handed out a question sheet to the children to test what they learned from the DVD.
A friend of one of the parents who has a child enrolled in the fourth grade class posted the quiz sheets on the internet. The parent, like all parents who have children enrolled at this academy, had signed a statement, which acknowledged an understanding that sending their child to this Christian school would mean they would be taught biblical Christianity. The parent expressed dismay that his daughter was taught a biblical approach to dinosaurs. The quiz’s posting to the internet resulted in a number of atheist websites reposting the questions and answers, and many of them responded in rage and vehement attacks on the school.
The Blue Ridge Christian Academy has since closed due to a lack of funding.
Original HERE.
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Author: harry p.
A Gen X mechanical engineer who values family, strength, discipline, self-reliance and freedom who is doing what he can to protect his family, belittle morons and be ready for the tough times ahead.
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Gayle ,no problem . We get that alot around here .
Nonanonymous says:
Z, “Okay. My turn. From the Yasnas:”
WTF? Seriously? It isn’t enough we have the old and new testament, and the koran, now you want to bring your fuck buddy into it.
You’re a faggot, aren’t you?
_____________________________
I do not honor your primitive and perverted version of revealed truth. If you want to know God, then you must go to the source.
Even “Eternity” may not be as long as we think – with many cosmologists suggesting the effective functional lifespan of “our” Universe may be in the order of 10E100 years.
Granted this is a long time, but it s nevertheless finite (and we all know how time seems to fly when we are enjoying ourselves ! !)
Oh Gawd, can we not go into religion? Politics and sex ought to be enough to keep us at each other’s throats.
Stucky, it’s called the law of gravity because a proof exists. The THEORY of evolution is just that, a theory, because it hasn’t been proven. Please tell me you’re just fucking with me. I’ll let it go at that.
Z, ok, tell me, what is the source, if it’s not God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and all that is in them. If my God is primitive and perverted, why do you reference his word, as in, pearls before swine. There are many who would take exception to your statements. I suspect you’re looking for any excuse to attack the one true God, who needs no defense by me. You’re constantly shifting your attack, and it’s only reminiscent of the one who is primitive and perverted. This isn’t the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be your last. I will, however, make an appeal to you to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Christianity is an eastern religion. Try it, you might like it.
With that, I bid you all adieu.
Nonanon, You don’t get it and never will. Accept this Jew as your lord and savior and you abandon everything that God wants us to be.
What I don’t get, Z, is your animus toward Judeo-Christian belief. While I have poked fun of your beliefs, I’m willing to have a reasonable discourse. You called my God primitive and perverse, and I can see why one might say that, given the record of the OT. However, the idiom of permission dictates that God has only allowed something to take place, so as not to give any credit to his arch enemy.
I have not stated any hatred toward Arabs, except those who kill innocent people, as you apparently have for Israel.
Personally, I don’t care what you think of God, but since you brought it up, what is it that God wants us to be?
Nonanonymous says:
I have not stated any hatred toward Arabs, except those who kill innocent people, as you apparently have for Israel.
Personally, I don’t care what you think of God, but since you brought it up, what is it that God wants us to be?
__________________________________________
I believe that Judaism is a spinoff from Zoroastrianism and I have believed that for years. Once I discussed the subject with a Rabbi and he did not argue with me although he did disagree on which one came first. He told me his opinion was that God revealed himself to two peoples. The difference is that Zoroastrianism is not focused on a people but is solely about persuing wisdom and virtue. The Jews on the other hand made it about themselves, which simply is a reflection of their culture which continues to this day. It is the problem with Christianity as well. Jesus could not rise above his culture and made his revelations (which were nothing new) about himself as well. Christianity is about both works and holiness but it places holiness first. Zoroastrianism rejects this.
What does God want us to be? He wants us to be free and independent actors. Worship is voluntary, not demanded. He does not threaten but asks and even hell is a place where the wicked are cleansed of their sins by fire; it is temporary lodging for the evil.
As for Israel, it is a state not a people and yes, I believe it is by definition evil and should be destroyed, by one means or another.
“Even “Eternity” may not be as long as we think – with many cosmologists suggesting the effective functional lifespan of “our” Universe may be in the order of 10E100 years.” —- NIck A
You’re assuming “eternity” takes place in this 4-dimensional universe (L, W, H, and time).
They may very well be OTHER dimensions — and the Spirit-world would be one of them …. and not subject to some calculations.
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GilbertS, if you don’t like religious posts …… DON’T CLICK OR READ THEM!! That’s a pretty fuckin novel idea, isn’t it?
Lay off Stucky. I read the article, then I watched the posts roll arguing the inarguable. How many angels can dance on a pin? Do you believe in my God(s)? My God’s dick is bigger than yours. My ancient tradition is older and more valid than yours. My old book is more accurate than yours. We might as well argue whose favorite color is best.
I’m a Christian, too, but nothing is more embarrassing than my co-religionists, such as the one who yelled at me for standing in the New Age section of a Waldenbooks, looking at UFOs or ghost stories, or some damn thing. Or the twit who preached at me for drinking alcohol at a party and then explained Jesus turned water into grape juice, not wine. Or the folks who told me in a sunday class once that the great flood happened because entire oceans of water were buried underneath the crust, then flooded out, covering the entire planet earth. And the folks who really believe the planet is only 6K years old, despite all the evidence. Or Pat Robertson’s claim a hurricane was caused by gay marriage. And so on and so on and so on.
“Stucky, it’s called the law of gravity because a proof exists. The THEORY of evolution is just that, a theory, because it hasn’t been proven.” ——– Non
In science, the word “law” describes an analytic statement. So, from Wiki. Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation’
“Every point mass attracts every single point mass by a force pointing along the line intersecting both points. The force is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the point masses.”
So, the law provides a formula that allows for the calculation of the gravitational pull between the Sun and Mars …. or, the Earth and something you dropped, like your peanut butter sandwich.
Theories start a with a hypotheses … an untested idea. For example, I might hypothesize that metallic objects fall faster than non-magnetic objects due to the earth’s magnetic pull. Then I start testing. In short (leaving out several steps) my hypothesis will not gain the status of being a theory because the evidence does not support it.
Sooooo …
The LAW of gravity does not change. However, theories about it — like gravity affects metallic and non-metallic objects equally —- changes frequently. This occurs CONSTANTLY as new evidence is discovered. But, one does not discard a Law simply because new evidence affects a theory!! Theories are constantly revised due to new evidence, the Law stays the same.
Soooo …
when science talks about gravity, they can talk about the LAW that describes the attraction between two objects while SIMULTANEOUSLY talking about the THEORY that describes why the objects attract each other.
IN OTHER WORDS … GRAVITY IS BOTH A LAW AND THEORY …….. AND I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T GET IT.
BTW, evolution — the law and theory – work exactly the same way. Strange, isn’t, that only religious fundamentalists deny the law of evolution …. they just can’t get past the theory part.
Bully.
At least science has space for revision as technology makes old observations and theories obsolete.
Coyote (what happened to the “El”?)
I like it better when you post Mexican accordion music.
At least post decent Christian music. That vid you posted, like MOST Christian music, aims at an emotional response. Feel-good pop music. Entertainment, dumbed down for the masses. While it does talk about God being awesome and all that, it really lacks any substantial teaching …. which was the original purpose of singing praises to God.
Funny how “the world” came up with Rock Music. Then the Christians HAD to follow with “Christian Rock”. In the first century it was Christians who shaped the world. Today, it is the world that shapes Christians …. followers, not leaders … conformists, not trail blazers. Modern Christianity needs to recapture a “theology of music”
“Through him then let us continually offer up a SACRIFICE OF PRAISE to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” ———— Hebrews 13: 15
If you’re familiar with that verse, have you ever wondered what that phrase means?
—– Why does God want it to be a sacrifice …. instead of something more happy and fun?
—— How is praise a sacrifice? (Sacrifices are painful!!)
—– What are we sacrificing?
You figure it out. But, I’m pretty sure an acceptable sacrifice is not those a poppy shallow tunes … like Cain’s sacrifice of cheap unacceptable leftovers.
I’ve always enjoyed and supported churches that Sing the Psalms … singing God’s Word. I was even able to get a church, or two, to adopt it as the primary music selection. Like the song below from Handel’s Messiah. Agnostic, or not, I can appreciate the musical beauty and theologically pleasing aspects of this song.
GS, would you be willing to provide any specifics of anyone arguing the inarguable before using as a springboard for your personal experience?
Stuck, I still think you’re fucking with me, but Evolution is a THEORY and not a proven LAW. Gravity is a LAW, not a THEORY and it’s certainly both.
It reminds me of the Saturday cartoon about how a bill becomes a law, but the analogy applies.
“Stuck, I still think you’re fucking with me, but Evolution is a THEORY…” —-Non
Not at all, you’re not my type. You know, just because you keep saying it’s a theory, doesn’t make it so. Maybe if you click your heels three times while saying it? (Of course, the same is true for me.)
There is a dichotomy between the colloquial use of the word theory and the scientific use, and I still think you don’t get it. Stephen J Gould says that one problem is that people equate theory as “imperfect fact”, and fact (law) as “absolute certainty”. And, neither is necessarily true. You can read his fairly brief article, “Evolution as Fact and Theory”, here; ———- http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_fact-and-theory.html
When you, and most others, hear the phrase “Theory of Evolution” you equate it to “Monkeys turn into people.” Of course, your religious bent (God created Adam and Eve.) won’t allow for that theory …. no matter what the evidence. Admit it. So, let’s find a middle ground.
Evolution – the theory, if you will — is a hodgepodge of MANY facts and TESTABLE explanations. One of the primary legs of evolution rests on Natural Selection. Now, Natural Selection is a LAW, not a theory. (If you can’t agree on that, then there is no hope of ever ‘meeting in the middle’). Natural Selection has been tested, and verified under repeatable conditions, for many species of plants and animals, thousands of times. No one, not even ICR creationist Ken Ham, would call it the Theory of Natural Selection. (Newton’s laws, Maxwell’s laws, Ohm’s law — these were ALL once considered theories. Over time, with the preponderance of facts being verified countless times …. it evolves (nice pun, Stucky) into a Law.)
Now, there are SEVERAL other such “theories” in evolution, which are acknowledged as law … but, not all of them.
So, therefore, I’ll acknowledge that there is no SINGLE LAW of evolution, a Grand Unified Law —- there are several individual laws. People lump all the individual laws together and some, like me, want to call that Evolution Law. But, thinking about it, that’s probably a mistake —– because if every separate aspect of evolution theory has not yet become a Law, then how is it possible to call the entire thing a Law?
Furthermore, I’m willing to call this statement – “Monkeys became people” – as The Final THEORY of evolution …. one that is not yet a law ….. and, probably never will become one, since TESTING it …. taking monkeys and turning them into humans seems to be beyond human science capabilities.
Stucky says:
“That vid you posted, like MOST Christian music, aims at an emotional response. Feel-good pop music. Entertainment, dumbed down for the masses. While it does talk about God being awesome and all that, it really lacks any substantial teaching …. which was the original purpose of singing praises to God.”
Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
It sounds to me like Paul said Jesus is the “sacrifice” we offer when we proclaim his name. Elsewhere, the bible says He is the perfect sacrifice, without mar or imperfection. So it really is a clear statement made obscure by the omission of “through him” in your quote.
As for your critique of the music. I agree. I did not attend an English speaking church and never got into the rock thing or the ‘Christian’ superstar performers. And there came a time when I stopped singing Christian songs that had more to do with: how i feel, how i hurt, how great we are to praise God… I noticed they didn’t really praise anyone but man. Those songs do nothing for me.
However, you inspired me to post the first song (in Spanish) because you quoted, the skies proclaim His Glory. And that song says: the skies proclaim your glory, the seas…I want to live eternally praising you Lord…. Now that song does make me happy.
Some asshole suggested El Coyote is something of an animal deity, taking the liberty to conflate the ‘El’ (God) in the bible with the Spanish article ‘el’.
If it stood for anything, my EL would stand for existential libertarian and coyote referencing that (never say die) Wile E[xistential]. Coyote.
gibber (third-person singular simple present gibbers, present participle gibbering, simple past and past participle gibbered)
To jabber, talk rapidly and unintelligibly or incoherently.
Coyote (what happened to the “El”?)
I skipped over the Spanish song. You wrote what it was about, so I went back to listen. Very nicely done.
It’s TV night with Ms. Freud. Tomorrow I’m taking my father to his singing group’s annual picnic. If I have time before leaving tomorrow, I’ll share my ideas on “sacrifice of praise”. If I don’t have time, you’ll have to go hungry. LOL
Ok Stucky and Coyote, I’ll bite.
Christian music. Hmm. A subject dear to me.
Childhood was spent In a conservative Baptist denomination where those fine old doctrine-soaked hymns were the only music . Emotional expression was not a part of the routine, that’s for sure.
Teen years were spent in the Episcopal church (circumstances). Same kind of songs, but now part of a rich and (what I experienced as) a deeply reverential liturgy.
Then I attended Lutheran churches. By my thirties, those old hymns just didn’t do it for me anymore. The plodding cadence of most seemed so dull to ears that had been thoroughly seduced by the rhythms of popular music. Times change, cultures change, musical tastes change and the world goes round. If there’s one area where I think Christianity can meet the culture, it’s in music. I daresay a church who remains stuck in the music of the 1800’s and 1900’s – those old hymns – will have a hard time creating a worship service attractive to anyone under 60.
The Calvary Chapel movement had a tremendous influence on worship music. The early “contemporary” worship music consisted of simple songs, many based on the Psalms. The emphasis was on praising God, not teaching tuneful doctrine. And I did find myself able to feel more of an emotional response as I sang those songs. Is that a bad thing? Actually, the Psalms as a whole are pretty emotional, don’t you think? Stucky, I suspect you might be a bit harsh towards contemporary Christian music.
It has been interesting to experience the evolution of the music in the past 20 years. Some of it is definitely a sellout, pop music at its most exploitive: right now I can turn on Christian radio and hear songs that are definitely imitating secular tunes: there’s the Taylor Swift song, the. Katy Perry song, the Lumineers song and so on. There are also beautiful songs that carry a great message in a unique way. What is becoming more mainstream is taking some of the old hymns and adding more modern ruthms and arrangements. In my view, this is the best of both worlds.
Some old music is timeless and shouldn’t ever be cast aside or lost. It represents a heritage of. Christianity that stands as a jewel among the treasures of Western. Civilization, and as such it should still be included in church services on some sort of regular basis. The oldest song in a typical hymnal is probably Be Thou My Vision (8th century I believe), a strangely comfortable tune for modern ears. And what person of faith will live life without needing to know Be Still My Soul?
For a few years I was privileged to sing Handel’s Messiah with a choir. I think this work is the ultimate expression of Christian music. I swear it made the dopamine in my brain go crazy, because I always felt high for about two days after a performance. I’d have to say that is very emotional music, and every Word is scripture.
As for the sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice is for cleansing, so perhaps Paul is referring to the spiritual cleansing that occurs when we allow ourselves to enter into sincere praise.
This is probably way more than you wanted to read on this matter, but I enjoyed putting my thoughts together, so thanks.
Gayle, thanks! I’m not familiar with Handel’s Messiah, but I’m certainly going to look it up.
Stucky, you don’t get to change the meaning of words, but I’ll grant you the distinction between Law and Theory, for the purpose of discussion. You’re wrong that I don’t think evolution populated the earth biologically. I’ll skip to the chase, if God chose to use evolution to make all living things, then why should you or I have a problem with it?
You’re last defense is laughable, but I get it that you don’t take yourself or anyone seriously, even if you don’t.
“Stucky, you don’t get to change the meaning of words,” ———– Non
Dirty old trick — when losing an argument, accuse the other of changing or not understanding the meaning of words. The renowned biologist Stephan Gould calls evolution both theory and law, as do thousands of others. I tried to explain it to you in simpler terms. Yet, you come up with an utterly ridicules retort “don’t change the meaning of words”. You’re just not very bright, and I deeply regret the time wasted. Lesson learned.
.
“You’re last defense is laughable, but I get it that you don’t take yourself or anyone seriously, even if you don’t.” ———– Non
I was just trying to lighten things up. Inject a little levity. Not surprising you didn’t even get that. Truly, you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.
.
“I’m not familiar with Handel’s Messiah” ———– Non
WTF!! Your moron status is confirmed!! Is there even one other person here who hasn’t heard of Handel’s Messiah?? We’ve dad Major Dummies here before, but you take the cake.
Please, don’t EVER address me again.
“Stucky, I suspect you might be a bit harsh towards contemporary Christian music.” —–Gayle
First, very nice post.
I was stationed in Southern California in 1975-1975 … George AFB, Victorville and Edwards AFB for TDY (temporary duty). I was born-again at the time. On Sundays we would sometimes go to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa …. heard Chuck Smith preach in person.
More often we would go to the closer Calvary Chapel in San Bernadino …. which Chuck Girard often visited. By then he had had broken off from his band “Love Song” , and I got to hear in person, front row seats, in a small church, his beautiful song “Sometimes Alleluia”. I was also a huge fan of Phil Keaggy, Larry Norman, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and many other “Jesus Movement” era rock groups. Truth be told, I still like some of that music …. I have Girard’s CD “Written on the Wind”, and still play it from time to time
So, no, I don’t have a problem with contemporary Christian music,
I also don’t have any problems with how Christians want to worship. It’s no longer part of what I do. But, I can make observations. While I enjoyed Christian Rock greatly the question for me was … is it appropriate to play in a worship service? For me the answer eventually became ‘no’ because it’s entertainment, and entertainment has no business with worship.
And many churches today are just like CNN … lots of fluff, very little news, errr, theology — and that’s what the first Christians singing consisted of — theology in song. But, that’s too “heavy” and boring in today’s world. I get it, trust me.
If I were a Church Music Director ……..
Singing, praising, and sacrifice – I would approach it with first century Christian eyes — how did they do it ? I believe the Original Way is the best way. I’m not talking about whether electronic guitars and drums are good or “of the devil”. That’s so damn shallow. I’m more interested in Original Intent Of The Heart, not the trivial accoutrements.
First thing you’ll notice is that there is very little singing in the NT. Jesus mentions is just once. ————“After singing psalms, they [Jesus and his disciples] went out to the Mount of Olives.” — Mt 26:30
That’s it. But, it does tell us something. The word “hymn” is an unfortunate King James translation. Jews didn’t sing hymns … certainly not as we know them The actual word is correctly translated in other versions as either “praise” or “psalms”. These “hymns” were known as “Hallel Psalms”, meaning “praise”. There is every reason to believe Jesus and the disciples were singing (chanting in that Jewish way, really) the Hallel, or Psalms 113 – 118 —- which were sung during evening prayers on the first night of Passover …. not only in Jesus’ day, but to his very day in some Jewish synagogues.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. (Ps. 116:15–16)”
That’s what Jews (the first Christians) primarily sang — the Psalms. Yes, sometimes they would “sing” about other God-given instructions, or articles of their faith. My point – which I am beating into the ground – is that singing was always about theology, God, etc., not entertainment and feel good warm and fuzzies. Even today, most Sephardi and many Ashkenazi synagogues end with the singing of Yigdal, a poetic adaptation of Maimonides’ 13 principles of Jewish faith.
I would concentrate on singing Psalms – drums and electric guitars and contemporary beats are OK — and theology. But, I’m an old fuddy duddy. The popular feeling of the day is “theology is boring”. A greater indictment against modern day Christianity may be difficult to find.
For me to understand the meaning of “sacrifice of praise”, it is necessary to look at the entire verse, for context;
“By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His Name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
The above verse actually spells out EXACTLY the meaning of “sacrifice of praise” with those two little connector words above … “that is” … and then the conditions follow, which are;
— 1) “giving thanks to his name”
— 2) “do good”
— 3) “communicate” —- another unfortunate translation, the word is correctly translated in other versions as “sharing” or “giving”
There you have it; giving thanks, doing good, giving and sharing, These words, this “sacrifice of praise” is one of DOING something. In other words, worship isn’t just about feeling good and happy and thinking you’ve done God a favor by going to church for an hour on Sunday. If worship doesn’t leads to action then it is nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
I guess today’s Christian has all that covered. Go to church, sing a few thank-you-Jesus songs, drop a couple bucks in the offering plate, then go out and stuff their faces at Golden Corral and “do good” by tipping the waitress an extra five percent. Mission Accomplished. It’s a shame, really. Or, sham.
God told Isaiah that he has “had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.”. And in Hebrews God explains exactly what sacrifices of praise he expects;
“And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with SUCH SACRIFICES God is pleased”
Thus endeth Stucky’s Sabbath Sermon.
My favorite Neegrow Spirituals
— He’s got de free shit in his hands
— Swing low sweet Caddy Escalade
— O Momma don’t you weep I be outta jail soon
— All god’s chillun’ got chicken wings
— So glad I got stoned
My favorite Neegrow Spirituals
–who needs a fucking job when I gots EBT and SNAP
–I’s wiped my ass with a baconator, and gave shigella to a giant Austrian
–Who the fuck needs school? I’s be a baby daddy bitches
–We’s gonna burn it all down, you creepy ass crackas
Stuck
The Israelites and the early church both centered their Sabbath meetings on the reading of the Old Testament. Pure theology – doctrine, prophecy, exhortation. Today’s sermons, of course, remain the place where theology is expounded. It’s not as though music has to fill a teaching void. It makes sense to me that the worship part of service, if approached properly, is to prepare oneself to be able to focus on the Word that is about to be studied.
One type of music I love and hasn’t been discussed is that which accompanies the Daily Office, or set prayer times that regulate the life of a monastery. The a Capella chants,mostly Psalms, have a haunting beauty that literally pierces the soul. The music department of a local university produces a Compline (evening) service of this music three or four times a year, and I can only equate it to a spiritual massage. I’m quite certain other Christians find it boring, however, and are more satisfied by other types of sacred music. The variety of musical expression in Christianity is reflective of the many shades of this religion.
I completely agree with the analysis of the sacrifice of praise in your little sermon. You are the most spiritual agnostic I have ever encountered. I enjoyed your Calvary Chapel story.
Gayle
says:
“The variety of musical expression in Christianity is reflective of the many [tones] of this religion.”
There, I fixed it for you.
Gayle says:
“Stuck…You are the most spiritual agnostic I have ever encountered.”
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Old Stuck has partaken of the flesh of the sacrificial lamb. His argument is not with God but with man. (As no one has seen God, it is a bit absurd to think anybody can argue with Him anymore than he can argue with the wind. Abraham negotiated with God, he didn’t argue, Job complained about God’s treatment of him but didn’t argue.) I put more weight on Stuck’s theological discourses than I do on anyone else’s here.
Coyote
Yup. Tones is better. Who knew an editor lurked?
Everybody’s a comedian. And at TBP, everybody is an editor: ‘fixed it for you’ has been used by Billy before.