volgadon

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Everything posted by volgadon

  1. I would have thanked them for their free gift to my growing collection of world classics.
  2. I used to believe that. I was roundly abused of any such naive and idealistic notions when the USA was quick to mountain a campaign in Libya, but has so far consistently declined to intervene in Syria. The USA is not for world peace, the USA is out for its own particular interests, much as any nation.
  3. Dravin has some excellent points, but really, very little research has been carried out into how American and European members considered Hitler. At the very least, as far as I know, no LDS ever served as staff in concentration camps.
  4. Saddam Hussein was also a playwright, so lets get rid of any Shakespeare and Marloweon on our shelves... Personally, I would be extremely skeptical of these lists of famous masons one finds online.
  5. What you want to do is find a different IT guy to remotely access his computer when he accesses yours.
  6. I would be freaked out too, if any of it was true... I really do suggest you read more credible sources on freemasonry and illuminati.
  7. I'll have to see what kind of comments appears in Israeli news portals...
  8. What have I learned in Gospel Doctrine class? That Christ never taught in synagogues, and that the mayor of Logan is a worse villain than Herod.
  9. In fact, it suggests the Jewish idea of remorse ending in "blood atonement," that was widespread in Christ's day.
  10. You don't mean How Firm a Foundation, do you?
  11. Because not a shred of solid evidence has been provided. I was unaware that the prevailing opinion is one of fraud. Quite the contrary, in fact.
  12. Hebrew and English are my native languages. I've since learned Russian to a high degree of fluency, so I can read books, watch tv/films, and listen to music as well as speak it. In fact, most of what I do watch is in Russian. My wife is Ukrainian, so I'm learning that as well. Studied Azeri for a couple of weeks. Mighjt pick it up again, one of the easiest Turkic languages.
  13. No, I mean that thread where you made wildly inaccurate claims about Josephus and the Essenes. My supposed "unwavering credence" to Pliny the Elder is another example of such inaccurate statements. You claimed that Josephus was the only ancient source to speak of Essenes. False. Whatever else you want to make of it, Pliny mentioned Essenes, and mentioned them in the area of Qumran. Why is judicial capitolised? Please be more specific. Which discoveries? Who is making the claims? What does this have to do with anything? Would you mind clarifying, ever or never? I would call that a pretty self-evident point. What both of you overlooked is that the Qumran society was obsessed with the right of Levitt only control and officiating in legitimate Jewish sacrifices and ritual at the inner courts of the temple – which is a direct connection to Zacharias. Because there is practically no evidence that Damascus was ever Qumran's name. Even if we accept the identification of the Damascus in the Damascus document with Qumran, there is no reason to assume that this was ever a real name and not a typological one, such as identifying Rome with Edom, or the code names used in the D&C. I'm not sure I follow. Right, we are to accept that the entire reason for many of the DSS being restricted was the mention of Damascus? Something that was known back in 1910? Of course, it couldn't have been simple power play over which professor and which university get the prestige of granting access to the documents to scholars? Who were the letters from that Paul carried? The high priest. Who was the high priest? Rome's right-hand man in Judaea and Galilee. What was Jesus crucified for? Political unrest. This might not have been strictly kosher, but why wouldn't the Roman leaders have supported the high priest in squashing percieved threats to their rule? Assuming, of course, that they were fully informed, rather than this being a private initiative carried out between the high priest and local Jewish communal leaders?
  14. I wasn't entirely serious (or not entirely joking), but 1066 is a brilliant send up of how history is taught.
  15. For math I prefer the Lobachevsky method: Plagiarise, plagiarise! Let no man's work evade your eyes!
  16. This has been discussed. http://www.lds.net/forums/lds-gospel-discussion/38198-qumran-quran.html
  17. The main one is this. Matthew 19:12. "For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." I'm talking about the circumstantial evidence people use to show that Jesus was married. Things like his being a rabbi and rabbis must be married, or that people married young, etc. And that is important, but not in the way we usually construct it. Depends on the kind of other information available.
  18. The gospels are not 100% reliable to be sure, but what is the alternative, ignoring them altogether? Good luck putting together a credible argument with absolutely no sources. I also find it amusing that you yourself appealed to scripture. Not really surprising if we consider that the gospels are narratives of incidents in Christ's life meant to reinforce certain message to the respective audiences of the day. They are not comprehensive biographies by any means. Yet we know of just such community leaders among the Essenes. Besides, throughout the Greco-Roman world of the time, males married in their mid-30s to 40s. Jews were no exception. I have no problem believing that, but we have to be honest and admit that our sources as they now stand don't support that notion.
  19. The quotes in the gospels regarding celibacy, and the lack of strong circumstantial evidence (Jesus was a rabbi, etc.) supporting his being married, are far stronger than papyri scraps.
  20. Not quite so. Rabbis as such didn't exist back then. Book, chapter, and verse, please. Whaaaat? Loudun aside, this is a ridiculous statement.