Marbaniang, Domenic

To define nationality in terms of race and religion will immediately lead to confusion. For instance, if we define the term "Indian" (a nationality identifier) as "a person who belongs to the ancient races of the mainland of Hindustan and follows one of the ancient religions of the land, e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, etc", then we immediately land into the following problems: 1. A Japanese Buddhist will not be considered an "Indian" because though he follows an ancient religion of the land, Buddhism, he doesn't belong to one of the ancient races of India. 2. Suppose, the same definition is accepted by the Japanese, i.e. they define "Japanese" as "a person who belongs to the ancient races of the mainland of Japan and follows one of the ancient religions of the land, e.g. Shintoism", then because he doesn't follow the religion of Shintoism but follows Buddhism, he will be no longer considered "Japanese" anymore. 3. However, i

JESUS made a distinction between what belonged to Caesar and what belonged to God (Matt.22:21). He also spoke of His Kingdom as "not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). The New Testament clearly marks off the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man as two separate realms. Of course, even in the kingdom of man, political authority ultimately comes from God (Rom.13:1,2). But, that doesn't certainly make politics "Christian". For instance, Nebuchadnezzar's authority came from God (Dan.2:37), but that didn't make his kingdom a Christian kingdom or his way of doing politics "Christian". Similarly, Cyrus was called the "anointed" of God (Isa.45:1), but that didn't make the Medo-Persian empire Christian. It is always a threat to both politics and religion to fuse both of them together: not only do the people suffer, but they lose their freedom of religion as well. It doesn't matter which religion it may be, the loss of liberty is certain and

If you have tried to copy-paste a Microsoft document into your blogger post, you may have noticed that the footnotes of the document link to the local file on the computer drive: e.g. to file:///D:/Test.docx#_ftnref1. As a result, when someone clicks on the link, it returns an error. Solution: 1. After copy-pasting the text in Compose mode on blogger, turn to HTML mode. 2. Select all text, cut, paste it to Notepad. 3. Find the link text (e.g. file:///D:/Test.docx#_ftnref1) and copy till .docx (leave #ftnref.. as it is). 4. Hit CTRL+H to show Replace box and paste the link into the Find what box; leave the Replace with box blank. 5. Hit Replace All 6. Now, select all text again, copy it, and paste into the blogger box in the HTML mode. 7. Publish NOTE: Never revert to Compose mode or else the links will reappear as https://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID.... (But, in case you have done and the links appear so, repeat the process of select-copy-paste to notepad and deleting https://

The Good Samaritan  (Wikimedia) Citations: The Great Commandment is the essential law of the church; the Great Commission is the missional task of the church. The both cannot be confused. To love is a rule and principle that would never cease to be; to preach is an obligation that will soon cease to be. That is one reason why caring for the poor, the orphans, and the widows is considered to be pure religion (James 1:27). The liberational causes and the cause of justice and mercy are principle causes – things that the church cannot silently ignore when it has the power not to ignore. To love one’s neighbor as oneself is an essential obligation. In most cases, one may not preach but still be a Christian, and draw others through a silent conformity to the essential Christian principle of love (1Peter 3:1). Being precedes manifestation. The ethical rule must not be confused with the ecclesiastical task. To love is not a task; it is an essential principle. Jesus said that His disciples wi

Pinocchio's nose grew with every lie he spoke If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. (Pro 29:12 NKJ) Nothing is more damaging than building a leadership system upon the foundation of lies. Gossip Lies A leader who believes lies and rumors and changes the way he relates to or treats people only encourages wickedness; for, the liars get closer to him while the righteous move away. Therefore, the Bible strongly commands a leader not to receive any accusation against anyone except there were two or three witnesses (1Tim.5:19). One must remember that the case of the first always appears strong. A good leader will listen to both the sides and observes transparency and spirit of good-will (Prov.18:17). Lies of Vileness Similarly, when a leader begins to extol vice as virtue and discourages virtue as if it was vice, he unleashes wickedness and chaos (Isa.5:20; Psa.12:8; Rom.1:25,26) Lies of Pride Lies of pride are what feed the megalomaniac desires of a leader

There is one indispensable trait that one must look for when counting on a person for a work: the fear of the Lord. Ask yourself the question, "Does this person have the fear of the Lord?" If you see the person joking fearlessly, showing insensitivity towards God in his/her talk, interested more in things of the world than in things of God, then one must remember that such a person will have no absolute reason to stay away from evil. It is only by the fear of the Lord that one departs from evil (Prov.16:6). Joseph was a man who feared the Lord, and his master profited well when he entrusted his work to him, because the blessing of the Lord was with Joseph. On the other hand, it would be dangerous to trust anyone who doesn't have the fear of the Lord (John 2:24,25). But, there is another trait that is not negligible when getting into business with someone or when appointing a person in a leadership position: ambition, strong-will. Ambition is not to be confused with stubbo

IN an age of lightning-fast communication, sms texting, chatting, and emailing, there is the danger of losing etiquette in communication. This becomes a serious issue with regard to email communications. Following are few of the many things that must come handy when using email for communication. A - Address & Attachments Check the email id before replying or else you may either have sent the message to someone else or will be embarrassed by a Delivery Failure Response. Also, avoid sending business emails from email ids such as funnyboyz0018@....com. It creates the impression of you being unprofessional. Check the attached files before sending them. Also, if you have mentioned in the mail that you are attaching a file, check if the file has been attached before hitting the "Send" button. B - Brevity & Bandwidth Try to keep business mails as brief as possible . Emails are best when they are brief and stick to that one singular subject filled out in the box called &quo

The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isa.11:2-3). The mark of a Spirit-filled person is that he/she will be only find delight in the fear of the Lord (Isa.11:3). When the fear of God is not a terror but a joy, then that fear is from the Spirit of God. The fear of God is not a sign of weakness but of power in the Spirit; for, a man who fears God and not man, relies in God and not in self or situation. Thus, fear of God makes room for the power of faith (1Cor.2:3,4). However, He is not the spirit of timidity (2Tim.1:7), but the Spirit of courage, boldness, and power (Acts 4:31). Also, He is not the spirit of bondage that leads to fear, but the Spirit of adoption that helps us draw near to the Father as sons and not as slaves (Rom.8:15,16).

Elkanah and His Two Wives. Wikimedia It is indisputable that polygamy was allowed by the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament (Deut.21:15). However, the New Testament extols monogamy as a virtue (1Tim.3:2,12; 5:9). In the New Testament, remarriage is only allowed in the case of the death of the spouse (1Tim.5:14). However, polygamy certainly was not the original marital institution. In the Old Testament, it was allowed because of the hardness of human hearts due to sin. The Law was given for the lawless (1Tim.1:9; Matt.19:5,6,8). One must note that even in the Old Testament unrestricted polygamy was not allowed (Deut.17:17). ...the commandments of Grace are tougher and more demanding than the commandments of the Law. The Bible tells us that the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came with Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Jesus ushered in the era of Grace. Not that grace was absent in the Old Testament; but that grace could only be available even in the Old Testament because of the La

Theologies of history have, at least, two functions: 1. They provide a thematic layout of general history. 2. They provide an interpretive framework for specific events in history. We term them “theologies” because there are a number of various theological approaches to history. Examples are Augustine’s Two City Theology and Dispensationalism. Some Terminological Clarifications Vs. Historical Theology Theology of history is, of course, certainly not historical theology; that may not need to be mentioned, except for clarification of terminologies. Historical theology is the name of a discipline that studies the historical development of theology. On the contrary, theology of history theologically approaches history with theories and interpretations. For example, historical theology studies issues like how the doctrine of Trinity developed in history. Theology of history, on the other hand, addresses issues like what the Bible says about why postmodernism came to be or whether wars are g

Based on Hegel's Preface to his Phenomenology of the Mind Key Definers 1. Nothing is False or True. Reality is Negativity. The dialectical view anticipates this principle. Reality is grasped in the (dialectical) process. The more the ordinary mind takes the opposition between true and false to be fixed, the more is it accustomed to expect either agreement or contradiction with a given philosophical system, and only to see reason for the one or the other in any explanatory statement concerning such a system. It does not conceive the diversity of philosophical systems as the progressive evolution of truth; rather, it sees only contradiction in that variety. The bud disappears when the blossom breaks through, and we might say that the former is refuted by the latter; in the same way when the fruit comes, the blossom may be explained to be a false form of the plant's existence, for the fruit appears as its true nature in place of the blossom. These stages are not merely differenti

The only time Jesus used the word "proselyte", it had a negative connotation. He boldly pointed out that the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites as they were, traveled land and sea to win one convert, and when they had done that, they made him twice as much a son of hell as themselves (Matt.23:15). It was a pointer towards the fact that religious conversion doesn't change a person; perhaps, it may worsen his condition. The New Testament speaks of discipleship, but never speaks of religious conversion. In fact, there were secret disciples as well, who were never condemned for being secret disciples; and, when the open disciples like Peter and James went into hiding during the crucifixion of the Lord, it was these secret disciples like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who came forward to fulfill the prophetic word (Jn.19:38,39). The New Testament speaks of faith and obedience to faith (Rom.1:5) and of the Gospel of Salvation (Rom.1:16). Real conversion is not about change of

"Your fear rules over my thoughts night and day, And my love is incomplete till fear leads the way..." Love involves the element of fear. But, it is not the fear of being hurt; it is the fear of offending the one we love. When the Bible commands us to fear God, it does have the two aspects of fear in mind: 1. Fear that is attached to the love of God (Deut.10:12; cf. 2Cor.7:11,15). This is what is usually referred to as filial fear . It is also reverential. 2. Fear that is attached to the justice of God, especially with regard to punishment (Deut 4:23,24; Heb.12:28,29). This may be referred to as servile fear The Bible never encourages servile fear , which involves servitude in order to avoid displeasure of God. (Rom.8:15; 2Tim.1:7; 1Jn.4:18). A man who loves God has filial and reverential fear for God and keeps away from evil because evil offends God (Prov.8:13). A man who only keeps away from evil to avoid punishment will resort to evil when he begins to believe that the dan

Excerpt from Stranger (2014) , pp.63-64 “You seem to be in grave consternation!” I turned to my right and saw a lean middle-aged man sitting on a chair closeby, smiling at me. He wore a simple and neat white shirt tucked into his brown trousers and had a certain curly waves of hair on his head that evidently couldn’t be groomed. His face looked casual and carefree. He wore a gold ring on his left finger, and a brown thread on his right. “I saw you arrive with Clever. He has a particular dislike for me, you know… Well, these businessmen, they look at me as some kind of an omen. But, I do surprise them with my unwits sometimes.” “Who are you, Sir?” I asked. “Shouldn’t I have asked you the same? But, it doesn’t matter what or who you are to me or to anyone, isn’t it so? Of course or perhaps or may be not; whatever…” he drew his chair close to me and spoke in whispers with a crystal spark in his eyes, “The truth is that truth is a catchword; reality is a myth; existence is a game of accomm

From "20th Century Christian Contribution to Philosophy" (ACTS, 2004; Basileia, 2008) As one of the foremost Christian apologists of this century, Ravi Zacharias ’ specialization in Western, Eastern, and Middle-Eastern philosophy takes him to numerous academic circles all over the world. Through his rich literature, broadcast, and record ministry, he has addressed millions of people all over the world. Most of his books and lectures address the present condition of the Western man which he diagnoses as caused by the invasion of rationalistic atheism and secularism in the once Christian societies. Ravi has shown that the invasion of secularism, existentialism, and Eastern philosophy has led to the relativizing of truth in present day society. His apologetic is against the agnostic and skeptic stance one takes with respect to truth. He says, ‘truth by definition is exclusive. If truth were all-inclusive, nothing would be false. And if nothing were false, what would be the meani

I. परमेश्‍वर का अस्तित्‍व सृष्टि-मूलक तर्क: यदि जगत है, तो जगत एक सृष्टि है। यदि वह सृष्टि नही तो अनंतता के लक्षण होते, जो नही है। अर्थात जगत की सृष्टि एक अनंत परमेश्‍वर ने ही किया। II. परमेश्‍वर का स्‍वभाव परमेश्‍वर अपने अस्तित्‍व, बुद्धि, सामर्थ, पवित्रता, न्‍याय, भलाई, एवं सत्‍य में आत्‍मा है, अपरिमित है, अनंत है, अपरिवर्तनीय है III. परमेश्‍वर के गुण a. परमेश्‍वर के आंतरिक गुण (Unrelated Attributes) (i) आत्‍मा (John 4:24) (ii) अपरिमित – विराट (1 Kgs. 8:27), अनंत (Exo. 15:18; Deu. 33:27) (iii) अद्वैत (Exo. 20:3; Deu. 4:35,39. 1 Sam. 2:2; 1 Ti. 1:17) b. परमेश्‍वर के सांबंधिक गुण – संसार के संबंध में (i) सर्वसामर्थी (Gen. 1:1; Gen. 17:1; Job. 40:2; Amo. 4:13; Mat. 19:26) (ii) सर्वोपस्थित (Gen. 28:15-16; Psa. 139:7-10) (iii) सर्वज्ञानी (Gen. 18:18-19); 2 Kgs. 8:10-13; Jer. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:27-29. 1 Pet. 1:2) (iv) बुद्धिमान (Psa. 104:24; Pro. 3:19; Jer. 10:12; Dan. 2:20-21; Col. 2:2-3) (v) सार्वभौम (Dan. 4:35; Mat. 20:15; Rom. 9:21) c. नैतिक प्राणियों के संबंद्ध में (i) पवित्र (Exo. 15:11;

1. प्रकाशन प्रकाशन का अर्थ है पर्दा हटाना , सत्य को प्रगट करना , एवं रहस्योद्धाटन। सामान्य प्रकाशनः Psa. 19:1-3 ; Act. 14:15-17 ; Rom. 1:18-20. विशेष प्रकाशनः परमेश्वर की उद्धार योजना से संबंधित। यह व्यक्तिगत एवं  वाचिक दोनों ही हैं। बाइबिलः लिखित वचन। सम्पूर्ण ऐतिहासिक जानकारी ; वंशावली , वाचाएं , व्यवस्था , घटनाएं) , साहित्य ( गद्य एवं काव्य ), भविष्यद्वाणी , व्याख्या ( उदाहरणः पत्रियाएं) , जो परमेश्वर का उद्धार संबंधित योजना की समझ हेतु हमारे लिए आवश्यक है। स्वप्न , दर्शन , भविष्यकथनों को लिखित वचन से तालमेल बनाए रखना चाहिए ( Gal. 1:8-9 ). प्रभु यीशु मसीहः परमेश्वर के प्रकाशन की परिपूर्णता ( Heb. 1:2-3 ) प्रबोधन या प्रदीप्तिः मनुष्य के आत्मा में पवित्रात्मा के द्वारा रेमा (rhema) का प्रकाशन , जिसके द्वारा मनुष्य सत्य की समझ प्राप्त कर पवित्रात्मा के विश्वास के वरदान के द्वारा उसका प्रतियुत्तर देता है। यह प्रकाशन का आत्मगत पहलु है। यह प्रबोधन सम्पूर्ण लिखित वचन एवं मसीह में प्रकाशन की परिपूर्णता से तालमेल रखता है ( Joh. 14:26 ; Joh. 16:15 ). अनिवार्य ( 1Co. 2:11 ). 2. लेखन क