I think I understand now why you wrote in your profile:
"Nevertheless I like to think constantly of my sins, of how many people and how many times I have made them feel sad and worried. I try to regret for my bad deeds."
I have read that there is very keen competition to get good grades at school in China. You mentioned some of it in your comment to Wallops. A lot of pressure is placed on children by their parents to perform well. Perhaps that poor girl was being subjected to such pressure by her parents and that is why she was crying.
On a different note, it seems that your father is back at home and is recovering quite well after his stay in the hospital, considering his vigorous behaviour that you mentioned.
"...a man that does not know, he does not know is fool; a man that does not know he knows, teach him, and the man that knows he knows nothing, is wise."
Okay Sir, please pardon me for my ignorance.
Would you kindly share some of your wisdom with us by posting some blogs of your own?
My favourite is the 7th starting from the top. It is simply amazing to capture the bird in that exercise pose. Fantastic photography! Thanks for posting!
I wish to thank all who participated in this blog. I respect all the views expressed even though I may not agree with some of them. We can all learn from each other.
I fully appreciate and respect the psychological security and sense of meaning that some persons derive from their religious faith.
A special welcome to omonoountes. I look forward to him posting his own blogs and sharing his knowledge and views with others here at CS.
I have read the entire New Testament. I am quite familiar with what it says about Judas and his betrayal of Jesus. You are asking me to read the entire Bible before you will deal with the questions I asked. That is a formidable task and I do not see the significance of that in this matter. I would be happy to view selected relevant parts that you may recommend.
However, please note, as I pointed out, the position stated in this blog is based on the actual act of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas itself in the context of God's omniscience and infallibility.
Once again, I wish to say that I respect your faith and I am happy for you, in view of the sense of security and meaning which, I believe, it has brought into your life.
I sincerely respect your Christian faith and I really appreciate your input.
You wrote:
“Yes, I am saying that Judas acted freely in his decision to betray Christ, and God who is all knowing, knew from eternity, how Judas would use his freedom. Had Judas used his freedom to "not" betray Christ (or betray Christ and freely decide to repent), that too, God would have alsoforesaw. However, since this wasn't the case, Judas instead, decided to freely betray Christ...”
If Judas had freedom in his actions, and God knew from eternity, how Judas would use that freedom, as you are saying, and God can never be wrong, is that really freedom?
What kind of freedom is that, since ultimately, God's foreknowledge would prevail anyway, despite what Judas may have thought or felt?
I see that you are posting quite a few blogs relating to your faith as a Christian. I honestly believe that your faith has provided you with a sense of security and meaning in life, and I am very happy for you.
I appreciate your comment about God loving everyone, etc. You have also painted a very negative picture of Judas as some others have done, which I suppose is based on what is stated in the gospels.
However, I would like to get your response to the same questions I put to SistaCallie:
Do you agree that God is omniscient and infallible? If you do, then God knows everything, past, present and future. He knows exactly what will happen in the future, even before it happens.
If God is infallible, then he can never be wrong or mistaken. According to the Bible, Jesus(God) knew that Judas would betray him even before it actually happened. In the context of God's omniscience and infallibility, Judas could not have avoided betraying Jesus because God knew beforehand that it would happen and God can never be wrong or mistaken so Judas could not have done otherwise.
This is despite the negative picture you have painted of Judas's past, which may be true. However, that has no relation to the situation I have pointed out above which concerns the actual act of the betrayal itself in the context of God's omniscience and infallibility.
(Yes, "beforehand" means "foreknowledge)
Do you agree or disagree with the above?
I respect your faith and I am happy for you, in view of the sense of security and meaning which, I believe, it has brought into your life.
Please allow me to reproduce a part of my response to Sista Callie's comment to which I would like to get your response:
Do you agree that God is omniscient and infallible? If you do, then God knows everything, past, present and future. He knows exactly what will happen in the future, even before it happens.
If God is infallible, then he can never be wrong or mistaken. According to the Bible, Jesus(God) knew that Judas would betray him even before it actually happened. In the context of God's omniscience and infallibility, Judas could not have avoided betraying Jesus because God knew beforehand that it would happen and God can never be wrong or mistaken so Judas could not have done otherwise.
This is despite the negative picture you have painted of Judas's past, which may be true. However, that has no relation to the situation I have pointed out above which concerns the actual act of the betrayal itself in the context of God's omniscience and infallibility.
Do you agree or disagree with the above?
I wish to state that I respect people's faith and I certainly am not trying to destroy their way of thinking and their way of living.
Do you agree that God is omniscient and infallible? If you do, then God knows everything, past, present and future. He knows exactly what will happen in the future, even before it happens.
If God is infallible, then he can never be wrong or mistaken. According to the Bible, Jesus(God) knew that Judas would betray him even before it actually happened. In the context of God's omniscience and infallibility, Judas could not have avoided betraying Jesus because God knew beforehand that it would happen and God can never be wrong or mistaken so Judas could not have done otherwise.
This is despite the negative picture you have painted of Judas's past, which may be true. However, that has no relation to the situation I have pointed out above which concerns the actual act of the betrayal itself in the context of God's omniscience and infallibility.
Hello serendipity, my good friend! Welcome to my blog!
You wrote:
"...God knew for sure (i.e. determined) that Judas wouldfreely (i.e. with free choice) betray Christ."
Are you saying that Judas acted freely or voluntarily, that is, he could have chosen to betray or not to betray Jesus but he chose to betray him? In other words, that he acted of his own free will, even though God knew beforehand that he would betray Jesus, and what God knows can never be wrong since he is infallible.
If you say that God knows for sure that someone would act freely, does that mean that even God himself does not know what that person would do, or which choice he would make? If that is the case, then God would not be omniscient and infallible as he is supposed to be, (that is, that he knows everything that will happen even before they take place and he can never be mistaken).
How can an onniscient, infallible God not know what action a human being would take if he is supposed to know everything beforehand and he can never be mistaken?
Should Judas be held accountable for his actions since he could not do otherwise because God knew beforehand that he would act in such a manner and God is infallible and can never be mistaken?
I am still awaiting comments from those who may not agree with the position stated in this blog. Please give us your comments.
In response to your comment about The Gospel of Judas, I found an interesting article by National Geographic on it, which I am posting as the next comment.
Is there a relationship between being intelligent and getting married?
In a previous blog, someone commented:
“My one teacher friend has a lot of intellectual ways of being, but she has no intelligence when it comes to capture a man as she nags about all the time...so I say you can be intellectual on many things in life, but you do not have to be intelligent at the same time...”
Easter Greetings to you!!! Thanks for your Easter morning message.
"all the grass is freshest green, daffodils are dotting the yards, some fruit trees are blooming in white and palest pink, the birds are greeting the new day with their songs ..all nature is awake with life!"
I believe that when we die, our consciousness, soul, spirit or whatever, enters into a different dimension with a different frequency or vibration from that which we can normally feel or sense in ordinary day-to-day life. If someone is able to "experience" that frequency range, he/she may receive messages or signals from that dimension. This may be the case in which several persons have reported communication with someone who had died or was dying at the time of communication, and who had entered another frequency dimension .
It is similar to the reception of broadcasts from various radio stations or television channels, where we need to be in tune in with the operating frequency of a particular station or channel.Those signals of different frequencies or dimensions are always present around us.
Paranormal experiences probably occur when there is an interaction of the reality of some other dimension with that of our ordinary day-to-day world.
I posed the question re balancing the male/female ratio after war based on your comment re WW1 and WW2. The focus is mainly on those countries who participated in those wars and who lost some of their males in those wars. I am aware of some of the practices you mentioned in Asia and Africa but I am not sure how these relate to the countries who participated in WW1 and WW2.
Miclee I think that in cases where women outnumber men significantly such as soon after war, as mentioned, polygamy may help to provide more women with a husband. However, I am not sure if that, in itself, would help to increase the male birth rate towards balancing the male/female ratio in terms of the overall population.
Here's more on the subject from a male doctor, John Whyte, M.D., MPH:
Lately, I've been interested in studying longevity -- partly because I'm a physician but also because I'm getting older. And who doesn't want to unlock the secrets to longer life?
The fact that women live longer than men fascinates me. On average, women live 81 years while men live an average of 76 years.
But as I've been thinking about it and observing behavior differences between men and women, I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon the REAL reason why women live longer -- women travel in packs! Think about it: Women go to spa appointments together. They meet each other at the hair salon. They never go on a diet alone, but instead do it with a girlfriend. And let's not forget the obvious --- if you're at a party or out to dinner with friends, women go to the bathroom in pairs.
Could you imagine if a guy asked another guy at a restaurant whether he wanted to accompany him to the restroom? Or if one guy "volunteered" to go with another? I'm uneasy just thinking about it. One time as I was about to head to the loo, a male friend said he would "go too." I decided I no longer needed to go. It just seemed weird --- and it must have seemed even weirder because I then went to the restroom when he came back. Of course being guys, neither of us even acknowledged the awkwardness.
Not long ago, I accidently stumbled into a women's restroom. I did not have my glasses on, and from the outside all restrooms look the same if you can't read the gender sign. That's when I realized I had finally uncovered the secret reason for those perennial long lines. To my utter surprise, there was not only a sofa (!) there was also constant chatter. These conversations took place not only at the sinks, but even between the stalls! That would never --- never--happen in a men's bathroom. There's an unwritten rule --- conversation is verboten.
Let's face it -- women talk to other women all the time about everything - - including their health. They have their own sense of community - both online in health blogs and Facebook posts, but also in real life. They discuss with their sisters, their mothers, their best friends what is happening with their bodies, what medicines they take, and how they feel. My mother knows as much about some medicines as Google does. The other day she remarked to me, "Johnny, Rita told me I should switch to the new blood thinner since I won't need blood tests anymore." Sometimes I wonder how does something like that even come up in social conversations.
Men don't do this. We are supposed to be strong. We certainly don't acknowledge any physical ailments. As a result, men don't go the doctor until symptoms reach a point where they can no longer be ignored. And even then, it's usually the wife or girlfriend who brings him in. Here's a test: ask your husband or boyfriend what the doctor said at a recent visit. It will be as if you asked what was said in the confessional!
Guys will ask other guys occasionally to go "work out" together. But there's no substantive conversation going on. And we all know that it really is a competition anyway, to size up the person seeing how much he can bench. No one would dare ask, "How's your prostate doing?"
I always tell patients who are doing well to "keep doing what they're doing." So women, keep building that sense of community, keep conversing with friends and family going, and go ahead and travel in pods. It improves your health.
So men, here's our answer: If we want to live longer, we need to actually talk to each other. Start sharing your health status. Develop your inner pack behavior and you too may be able to expand your life by an entire dog year.
Most of the sources that I have read on the subject say women are more likely to visit doctors sooner than men if they feel they have a health problem. You do not seem to be in that category. I would like to know what other women think on this matter.
Ian My audio is not too good so I could not follow all he was saying. However, the presentation of the talking gorilla was great. Maybe others can comment on it.
Ken It's true that wars were mainly fought by men. This ended some of their lives prematurely. One would expect that soon after wars, there may be more women than men as you mentioned. However, it seems that after some decades, although I have not checked any statistics, the male/female ratio becomes somewhat balanced. What is the reason for this? Is it that Nature itself seeks to create this balance by increasing the male birth rate?
Angel In general, women are able to withstand stressful situations better than men and this may contribute to their longer life span than men. This article indicates that, along with having stronger social networks, this ability is also grounded in their biology. Glad you found the information useful.
online today!socrates44 Blog Comments (1,088)
Judas Iscariot and Free Will
omonoountesI think I understand now why you wrote in your profile:
"Nevertheless I like to think constantly of my sins, of how many people and how many times I have made them feel sad and worried. I try to regret for my bad deeds."
All the best to you, Sir.
Have a nice day!
From an ATOM