Coincidence or Symbolism?

[Fether]

So someone pointed out the other day in institute that at the garden of Gethsemane, before Christ's Atonement, 8 apostles were to wait beyond the river and 3 were to walk with him to the garden. A total of 12 (Including Christ). Similarly, there were 8 witnesses to the Book of Mormon as well as a separate 3. A total of 12 (including Joseph Smith) that were present.

Nothing beyond this was said, but it did spark my interest. Was that just coincidence or is there some sort of symbolism here???

[zil]

FWIW, check out this devotional, particularly the section titled "Principle Number 4: During Scripture Study, Search for Types of Christ".

ETA: personally, I prefer the video version, which is unusual for me.

Edited April 19, 2018 by zil

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Fether said:

So someone pointed out the other day in institute that at the garden of Gethsemane, before Christ's Atonement, 8 apostles were to wait beyond the river and 3 were to walk with him to the garden. A total of 12 (Including Christ). Similarly, there were 8 witnesses to the Book of Mormon as well as a separate 3. A total of 12 (including Joseph Smith) that were present.

Nothing beyond this was said, but it did spark my interest. Was that just coincidence or is there some sort of symbolism here???

My opinion?  I'm not going to say it couldn't be symbolism.  But I'm just cynical enough to say,"Probably coincidence."

Edited April 20, 2018 by Guest

[person0]

I once had 8 boneless buffalo wings at a restaurant and took 3 home and ate them there.

Edited April 20, 2018 by person0

[Guest]

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/advent/customs-and-traditions/the-history-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas

Debunked.

We can do all sorts of things with numbers.  It's a bit like gematriot.  If you do it right, you can make just about anything mean anything else.  And it makes so much sense.  But, who knows?  

My friend got a hold of this theory and told me the following story.

Quote

I was helping my child with our pet mouse.  It bit me and drew some blood.  I washed it off with some soap and water, then bandaged it.  I took a sip of some spirits for the pain.  It was about 9:40.

True story.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Guest

[Lost Boy]

My wife is into Angel numbers.  She tries to find meaning in random numbers.

[Vort]

6 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

My wife is into Angel numbers.

Like this?

[Lost Boy]

ya never know.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

ya never know.

What?  That numbers have wings?  Vort just proved they can.

[Vort]

The Lord deals extensively in symbolism; his ways are not our ways, and our language alone is insufficient to describe celestial things. Because of this extensive reliance on symbolism, and because the human brain is a pattern-matching machine par excellence, religious folks are especially prone to finding mystical patterns in things. This is a large part of the reason that numerology and similar superstitious practices are common among so many people of faith.

God doesn't seem too bothered by it, so I shouldn't be, either; but I admit it sort of annoys me. I tire of the self-serving hypocrisy of those who mock and target religious people for their supposed superstition, but by the same token, I find it irritating to see such charges essentially confirmed (or at least strengthened) by such dabblings in gematria, numerology, "angel numbers", and other such nonsense.

(No offense intended to Lost Boy's wife or anyone else who might participate in such superstitions.)

Edited April 20, 2018 by Vort

[Lost Boy]

6 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

What?  That numbers have wings?  Vort just proved they can.

quite right.  I am just not in tune enough to divine the meaning.  Should I have steak for lunch or tuna salad?  I know that it answers this question, but I just can't figure it out.

[zil]

3 minutes ago, Lost Boy said:

divine the meaning

I see what you did there.

[Guest]

Just now, Lost Boy said:

quite right.  I am just not in tune enough to divine the meaning.  Should I have steak for lunch or tuna salad?  I know that it answers this question, but I just can't figure it out.

Depends on the steak or the tuna salad.

1) If it is a New York Strip steak cooked to just barely above medium rare with the right seasonings?  DANG!!

2) No tuna salad is complete without miracle whip, diced celery, and ground fennel seeds

[Vort]

3 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

1) If it is a New York Strip steak cooked to just barely above medium rare with the right seasonings?  DANG!!

A rare steak, like a virtuous woman, is to be prized above rubies. The closer a steak approaches to "well done", the less well it is done.

[Guest]

Just now, Vort said:

A rare steak, like a virtuous woman, is to be prized above rubies. The closer a steak approaches to "well done", the less well it is done.

Sorry to have questioned such virtue.  But I have a religious aversion to eating/drinking blood that barely allows me to go below medium.

[Colirio]

6 minutes ago, Vort said:

A rare steak, like a virtuous woman, is to be prized above rubies. The closer a steak approaches to "well done", the less well it is done.

Depending on how rare of a steak you go, this post gives new meaning to desiring an 8 cow woman... 

[Vort]

The word "virtue" originates with the Latin word vir (pronounced "weer"), meaning "man" -- that is, man as opposed to woman. (The Latin word for man as opposed to animal is homo -- hence the designation Homo sapiens, "knowledgeable man", for a human being.)*  An admirable manly trait such as courage, strength, or endurance was called a virtus, which of course is where we derive our word "virtue". So the expression "virtuous woman" is actually sort of a contradiction in terms. Obviously, that's not how we use the word, but still pretty entertaining.

*Interesting, then, that in all Latin languages I know of, the word for a "man" as opposed to a "woman" is derived from homo, not from vir:

• Spanish hombre
• Portuguese homem
• French homme
• Italian uomo
• Romanian om (I had to look that one up)

In contrast, the Latin word for "woman", femina, survives in the French femme and in the Romanian femeie, but not in Spanish (mujer), Portuguese (mulher), or Italian (donna)**. Obviously it survives in related terms such as "feminine" (in the Latin languages as well as in English).

**For the record, the Spanish and Portuguese terms come from the Latin word mulier, meaning "soft" and also a common term for "woman". The Italian term is the word for "lady", as in an upper-class woman, the consort of a lord, and was generalized (as in English) to mean a well-mannered and exemplary woman, hence madonna "my lady", often applied to the Virgin Mary. Italian actually does have the word femmina, an adjective meaning "feminine" and also an older noun meaning "woman". So I guess it survives there, too.

(I sound like a dictionary. But hey, you have to admit the information is interesting, even if the presentation lacks.)

Edited April 20, 2018 by Vort
Almost forgot to add the whole point of the post.

[omegaseamaster75]

I'm going to go with symbolism, The number 8 is a recurring theme in the scriptures. 

[omegaseamaster75]

20 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Sorry to have questioned such virtue.  But I have a religious aversion to eating/drinking blood that barely allows me to go below medium.

Anything more cooked than this and you have ruined your meal.

[Vort]

1 minute ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

Anything more cooked than this and you have ruined your meal.

omegamaster75 and I do occasionally agree.

[person0]

1 minute ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

Anything more cooked than this and you have ruined your meal.

I will eat it like that, but I prefer it cooked just slightly less than this:

[omegaseamaster75]

2 minutes ago, person0 said:

I will eat it like that, but I prefer it cooked just slightly less than this:

May as well be eating one of these

[zil]

It's unfortunate my husband isn't alive to make us all steaks on a charcoal grill (no gas, or lighter fluid, or any of that icky-tasting nonsense; wood is acceptable too).  He could have changed your opinions on how to properly cook a steak.

[Vort]

2 minutes ago, zil said:

It's unfortunate my husband isn't alive to make us all steaks on a charcoal grill (no gas, or lighter fluid, or any of that icky-tasting nonsense; wood is acceptable too).  He could have changed your opinions on how to properly cook a steak.

Across the veil, I expect an invitation to your charcoal barbecue (or whatever passes for barbecue in the spirit world). Barring that, post-resurrection.

[person0]

5 minutes ago, omegaseamaster75 said:

May as well be eating one of these