Spyke
lemmy.world

There are many possible points of disagreement within Christianity because, like it or not, the Bible is unclear and even contradicts itself on many subjects (and this is a Christian saying this). But prosperity theology is so clearly the opposite of everything in the Bible that any self-respecting evangelical should ostracize it. That they don't is the proof that the gospel is not what many evangelicals are interested in.

173
lemmy.world

What she cites the bible for

Though she clarified that donations wouldn’t actually go to help those infected, White used medical imagery to add urgency to her fundraising plea during a pandemic. “Every single day we are a hospital to the sick, not necessarily the physically sick,” she said. “But we are a hospital for those who are soul sick, those who are spiritually sick.” White went on to suggest that contributors offer a $91 donation, citing Psalm 91, or “maybe $9 or whatever God tells you to do.”

What I cite the bible for

Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’

77
lemmy.world

He saw what was going on, went back outside and made a whip, then brought it back in and went after all four cheeks.

14
lemmy.world

Remember, when someone asks "What would Jesus do?"

Going after all 4 cheeks is a valid response.

9
some_guyreply
lemmy.sdf.org

You might enjoy reading some of the works of Bart Ehrman. I'm an atheist who has been reading a lot about Jesus and the early church (first three centuries). I would recommend, How Jesus Became God.

Anyway, good for you for recognizing prosperity bs for what it is.

18

Ehrman is great, as are his books and his podcast (which is called "Misquoting Jesus"). He's one of the most objective mainstream New Testament scholars (in the field of textual criticism), and he doesn't try to advance any agenda. He states clearly whether his points are the consensus of non-evangelical scholars, or whether he's in the minority (which is rarely); whether other scholars disagree with him (and why); what the evangelical scholars say, etc. He doesn't encourage either atheism or religion; he's simply a textual criticism scholar.

14
Snowclonereply
lemmy.world

It's literally a sin in many sects, not to say those sects aren't entirely hypocritical on the matter, but trading priestly duties for money is explicitly a sin in a lot of Abrahamic religions.

9

Gestures broadly at the pastors with their AMG Mercedes/M BMWs, mansions, private planes, helicopters, beach/mountain vacation houses, etc.."

6
Zloubidareply
lemmy.world

I like Ehrman. I think Jesus had, before the Resurrection, no clear idea of who/what he was and that what Ehrman shows is how the early church not invented but discovered the divinity of Jesus.

0

Yes, but:

  • that doesn't mean he had an idea of the Trinity and his place in it;
  • it's probably something the Evangelist added anyway.
1

I'm convinced that he believed he was the Messiah. I don't think he considered himself divine. I think that was invented later.

1
Empricornreply
feddit.nl

To reinforce this, Jesus didn't just say it was hard for a rich person to get into heaven, he said "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich [person] to enter into the kingdom of God." --Matthew 19:23-26

Personally, I think this is specifically referring to the level of greed that it requires to hoard enough wealth to become (and stay) a billionaire while the world suffers. It's important to understand that this is our Bible, the foundation of everything Christianity is supposed to be about. These freaks have twisted it so much, it's unrecognizable...

9
Empricornreply
feddit.nl

That's how far we've come. I know many here are vehemently opposed to any faith-based belief system, and that's 100% your right. But churches and religious leadership promoting Trump and hate are shitting on everything God said in the one book he gave us. Modern Christians should read the Bible and find a church that follows it. If possible. Not the other way around...

4

I try to tell Christians to just read the words of Jesus if they don't have time to read their whole book. Some bibles have them helpfully marked with red ink.

3

It goes on though:

When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

So what I'm getting is "everyone goes to heaven, but don't say that too loud or people will be dicks to each other".

2
ramireply
ani.social

fun fact, the "eye of the needle" isn't referring to a needle. they're small gaps in the big stone walls just big enough for a person to squeeze through but intentionally designed so that a camel cannot get in. he's not even saying it's metaphorically impossible he's saying it's literally impossible, and by design.

-2

how is that a cope? doesn't it make the comment more scathing? and idfk entirely possible someone made that up, just Google it, I got pictures and shit when I checked briefly before posting

1
lemmy.world

I know most would go back in time and kill Hitler but I'd slap the ever living shit out of John Calvin.

5

Calvin was totally opposed to this kind of theology. I presume you're referencing to Weber; but if you read The Protestant Ethic closely, he didn't speak about mainstream Calvinism of his time, but German puritanism, which was opposed by mainstream Calvinism.

6
lemmy.world

I remember watching a skit where someone time travels like 50-100 years into the future to see if all the problems get solved, war, climate change, etc. the guy assures everything fine and reveals the solution. The rapture came and took all of the religious people away. Everyone left was easily able to work together to solve all the issues.

93
lemmy.world

What? I searched for it and it's not a joke? There's an actual Faith office in the USA? That's something you would expect in Iran, not the USA

83
lemmy.world

We talking Iran, the secular democracy prior to 1953? Or Iran, the US backed military dictatorship that lasted until 1979? Or Iran, the Revolutionary Socialist Government that imploded in the run up to the US instigated Iran-Iraq War?

Oh oh oh. I gotcha. We're talking about the modern theocratically controlled Kingdom of Saud uh... Hinduvista Federal government of India um... Revanchist Anti-Communist Christian Cult of the Park/Yoon government er... Apartheid State of Israel oh, here it is, Ayatollah's Iran.

Damn, can't believe America would end up like Evil Foreign Country, instead of a model liberal secular government we traditionally support.

28
lemmy.ca

I follow a guy (Matt Taylor) who studies a branch of Christianity called the New Apostolic Reformation, a branch that's like if Evangelical theology, prosperity gospel, and morals merged with traditional charismatics. Lots of prophecies. These are also the Seven Mountains Mandate people--the people who believe they should be in charge of the 7 pillars of culture, like media and education. He posted a a zoomed out version of the above picture, labeling everyone he recognizes from NAR. The NAR has been courting Trump since his first term. Trump is delivering for them.

17
lemmy.world

trump established a White House Faith Office on Friday, February 7, 2025.

she's the first one.

no one knows exactly what she plans to do....or even what she could or might do.

9

She did that for trumps last administration too I believe, without the dept name maybe. But this definitely isnt the first time I've heard her name in relation to Trump

1

Faith office in the USA? That’s something you would expect in Iran, not the USA

Iran... Or Saudi Arabia... Imperial drones always choose to attack one but not the other.

Personally I'm not at all surprised to see it here.

5
db2reply
lemmy.world

Does anyone know the correct procedure to challenge it? It's only illegal if the laws are enforced.

18

Yep, that’s p much what they’re doing with’m They’re not nearly as delicious tho

14
lemm.ee

And Trump says it is to protect Christians because they're being heavily persecuted. Those poor poor Christians.

45
Lemminaryreply
lemmy.world

I've never met a more prosecuted majority in my life. 😔

28
modelerreply
lemmy.world

Is that prosecuted or persecuted? Hmmm, actually both fit perfectly in your sentence

18
Lemminaryreply
lemmy.world

Oh, right, I forgot English makes that distinction. Thanks for reminding me!

14
modelerreply
lemmy.world

I'm interested! I thought both words derive from Latin prosequi/persequi and had essentially the same meaning as modern English. Which language do you speak?

7

They do, but in modern English it helps to break them down via the root words, here specifically the pro and per prefixes. Sequi is "follow," while pro essentially means forward, with prosecute to be follow forward. Persecute takes the same sequi but per is now *through," as in follow through. Both of which have legal origin, but the differentiation is that prosecute is to "follow forward" in a court of law, almost as an ante, while persecute being "follow through" is more of a present verb signifying current action.

Edit: this website is a great resource for breaking down words for meaning and origins.

6
slaacaareply
lemmy.world

Tough to be a rich white christian man in the richest country these days…

6

Always- no.

Since G.W. Bush? Yes.

Obama and Biden kept it going, Biden actually restored it after Trump 45 left it to languish.

7

100s of 1000s of $$

This is cursed and looks like "hundreds or thousands of dollars" at a glance. Just say "100,000s of dollars" or "$200,000+".

49
cadenreply
lemmy.sdf.org

I think "100,000s of dollars" is cursed too. If you want to use that phrasing, just spell out "hundreds of thousands".

36
lemmy.ca

The religion they are alluding to is not Christianity .... it's the holy all powerful and all consuming religion of MONEY

37
midwest.social

Ahhh fuck that movie.

The aliens permanently live in my nightmares alongside the Legion time eaters

4

I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all outta bubble gum.

3
1rrereply
discuss.tchncs.de

Nah, it was originally about making sure your population had good morals, then about controlling your population more generally, then about making money, then about banning fun for some reason, then about making money again

It's been quite the wild ride

6
lemmy.world

A lot of old testament stuff had to do with hygiene. Look at all the kosher rules regarding food. Deut. 22:9 also forbids growing mixed crops, which likely had to do with the chance of crossbreeds being infertile and the inability for Bronze/Iron Age tribes being able to replace seed stock quickly enough.

11
sh.itjust.works

Or some priest or political leader took revenge against a pig farmer who slept with his daughter.

And the mixed crops this was more likely to make sure farmers are not self sufficient.

-2
lemmy.world

No. The seed thing is explicitly so the farmers could grow the same crop from year to year. If you grow a cucumber in the same plot as squash, the seeds from both will be a hybrid and not give you anything useful. Cucurbits are notoriously easy to hybridize and create useless offspring. The genetic mechanics wouldn't have been know, but you would still see the results. People needed to live in groups then and now. No farmer would ever be able to be completely self sufficient regardless, especially then.

I was thinking more along the lines of shellfish for a primarily desert people or the Rabbi being the defacto food inspector.

6
sh.itjust.works

I would think that farmers were experienced and smart enough to know which crops would hybridize and which don't. They would not need the clergy to tell them that.

We don't see farmers today getting farming advice from the church. They get it from other farmers. I don't see any reason for it to be different back then.

I do see however that the church wanted to sound important and wise. So they wrote things down, but without having a full understanding, so a lot of the advice they wrote down is too simplistic.

1

We don’t see farmers today getting farming advice from the church. They get it from other farmers.

uh, they get it from the ag departments from their state/local universities. They didn't have universities back then.

Also, while most farmers probably knew not to do hybrids back then, the consequences of loosing an entire year's harvest of a stable crop would mean famine for the tribe. You can't just ask for half of a neighboring village's seed stock. It was important enough to make it a sin.

1

By good morals I mean it came up about the time that people were moving from tribes where they knew everyone personally to settlements where it was impossible to... it sounds weird now but "don't steal from strangers", "don't kill strangers", "share your harvest with strangers in need" etc. were actually pretty novel ideas which needed to be taught and helped a bunch with ensuring people could co-exist with more people than they had relationships with

1
lemmy.dbzer0.com

This ladies name is Paula White since it doesn’t say anywhere in the post.

36
lemmy.world

married a member of the rock band Journey

Is that why she didn't stop believing? (I'm guessing she never started, but...)

33

Yeah no shit... Jesus would be fashioning a whip to drive these fuckers out of his temple.

If he were real.

11
pharreply

There's only one point in the bible where someone actually asks Jesus how to receive eternal life. Jesus says to keep the commandments and also:

"Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.”

8

Do a little research into Medellín Colombia. One of the more religious places I have visited and at the same time the people are content, generous and overall happy. This despite years of chaos under Pablo E

1

The Founding Fathers were VERY CLEAR when it came to Protecting Mass Child Murderers but VERY MURKY when it came to Separation of Church and State!

25

It's cause you gotta take it on faith that she's qualified to be within 1000 feet of the Whitehouse.

24

Something, something, separation of church and state, would be my guess.

22

Likely whatever she wants to be given the current politics in the US. It's blatantly unconstitutional but it will probably not be stopped. If we don't change course, sooner or later it will be like the religious police in Iran.

3

Its the precursor to Y'all Quaida's version of the hijab police. They'll be murdering people in the streets before the year is out.

1
jdeathreply
lemm.ee

either way, some actual fucking information would be chill. guess none of us will know for sure what the fuck this is talking about lol

12

True! Some actual info would be nice since this could plausibly be several people it seems.

Drunk brain just lit up last night and was like "The time has come to dispense Real Housewives of DC lore upon the public".

(And sober brain is like: "Hey Self, Salahi didn't run a ponzi scheme from the WH numbnuts, she just crashed a dinner". So the other person is likely correct, and I posted out of turn)

1

Why does her wiki picture make her eyes look pure black? Guess it matches her soul.

4

At this point Americas are nothing but a Ponzi scheme coated in red white and blue, with a penchant for insider trading and conflicts of interest for oligarchs that can legally steal anything they want with no legal repercussions.

16
lemmy.world

Hopefully rapture comes and removes her from this planet for being Anti-Christ.

15
midwest.social

Rapture already happened as predicted. The problem is, literally no one except like, one dude named Rick in Michigan and the Yang family in a small fishing village in China.

Everyone else got left behind in a spiraling purgatory chaos world.

25

US has long been missing a counterpart to the Ministry of Sound.

9

incurring more material wealth is the tenet of her faith.

more wealth === more blessed

for sure her greedy god and the jealous god are two different things.

13

She married Steve Perry!?

Also she fucked Benny Hinn, which is just WILD.

Also she looks like a more feminine Bill Maher.

12
prolereply
lemmy.blahaj.zone

I wonder if Benny Hinn can use his secret Jesus telepathy powers to make women orgasm

2
lemmy.world

She's holding his hand while leaving (a MOTEL, to boot). The guy is clearly doing something right.

2

Didn't he go to prison? Or did get just take a bunch of his money away?

What a fucking scumbag.

2
lemmy.sdf.org

Her faith in Christ enabled her to get away with all that bs. I don't see why this isn't taken into account.

I'm gonna convert to christianity and become a big-time crook. I can't lose.

11

As long as your faith makes rich people feel good about themselves I guess.

3
lemmy.world

It's true there are religious nutjobs in the white house currently, but there were also nutjobs running and ruining the country in the previous government. Let's see who's actually fighting for the Americans, instead of licking the boots of foreign bad actors.

-18
lemmy.world

I bet you're one of those ILLEGAL immigrants or iran backing islamists who Trump want to deport. Serves you right. Or if you're a citizen, shame on you for not protecting your own country from those invaders.

-5

I would honestly rather not see how bad the foreign bad actors gets, especially with the current administration. The "find out" phase has so much more to go.

1