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[Prospekt 11,018]

Just got a phone call from my mom, my grandfather is in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Any prayers would really be appreciated.

[Sunwalker 981]

Just got a phone call from my mom, my grandfather is in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Any prayers would really be appreciated.

I am really sorry to hear, I know how that feels. I will be praying.

 

Those who trust in the Lord

Are like Mount Zion,

Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

So the Lord surrounds His people

From this time forth and forever.

Psalm 125:1-2

Edited February 21, 2017 by Sunwalker

[ChB 18,550]

Just got a phone call from my mom, my grandfather is in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Any prayers would really be appreciated.

Praying for you, your Grandfather, and your family, Prospekt. May God heal him.

[Kiri 7,288]

Just got a phone call from my mom, my grandfather is in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Any prayers would really be appreciated.

I'm so sorry to hear, Prospie! May peace be with your family during this rough time. Praying that she receives the best treatment option for her situation, and that she heals quickly.

[Prospekt 11,018]

@Sunwalker, @ChB, and @Lady Kiriness: thank you so much, I really appreciate it.

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

This post has been redacted by the author.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Blue

[The_Gobo 36,257]

I'm surprised that more Christians don't know this, but most of what is translated into Bible versions such as English are actually fairly direct from original sources.

 

The Old Testament is made of what is called in Hebrew the Torah. The Torah in modern Hebrew is actually practically identical to what Jews read in a before Jesus's day because we actually have copies that date back that far that rested preserved and undisturbed since then, with which to compare: the Dead Sea scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave in the 1960s and carbon-date to around the first century. What they recorded looks practically the same as what recent printings of the Torah do.

 

To redouble this, around the same time Jesus was around, an effort was made by Jews to help conversion of people around them, so a Greek translation of the Torah was made, which is what we now call the Septuagint. While prime age copies of this have not survived since the first century, we do have archeological evidence in other books (like quotations) that evidence that it was in publication in multiple parts of the Roman Empire by the second century.

There are copies of the Septuagint which have survived since the 10th century, and their content agrees with quotations from much earlier.

Translations of the OT are usually based upon a combination of these.

 

(Fun fact: the Dead Sea Scrolls have never been opened. Doing so might ruin them. So how they record their contents is by mathematically unwrapping X-ray scans of the rolled up papyrus, and then reading from the metallic signature of the iron in the ink inside the scroll.)

 

The New Testament is usually translated from the letters which comprise it.

Back in the first century people transmitted the Gospels and Apostle letters by manually copying them. None of the primary letters have survived, but secondary and tertiary copies have. These have been scanned and put on special databases, so if you want to make a translation from the original languages, you totally can.

 Yeah but the Torah didn't include the writing of the major/minor prophets.

And the pentateuch had even less, being only the first five books in what is the christian OT.

Unless you wanna go all out, in which case you could say the different versions on Biblegateway are still incomplete because they don't include the apocrypha or the book of Enoch :V

[StarNote 231]

Just got a phone call from my mom, my grandfather is in the hospital after suffering a stroke. Any prayers would really be appreciated.

yes definitely

 i hope he feels well soon

HEY GUYS its been a while hasn't it

[Prospekt 11,018]

yes definitely

 i hope he feels well soon

Thank you so much.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

@@Prospekt,

 

What everypony else is saying. I'll send a quick prayer. I'm so sorry. 

[Prospekt 11,018]

@@Prospekt,

 

What everypony else is saying. I'll send a quick prayer. I'm so sorry.

 

Thanks So thankful to have a family of supportive brothers and sisters in Christ here.

[Brightbart 268]

I'm really sorry to hear about your grandfather @Prospekt, my grandmother suffered a stroke and it wasn't a fun time so I unfortunately can imagine what you're family is going through. I'll pray for him and your family to get through this. 

[Steel Accord 6,660]

So I have a question for you all. As some of you know, the martial arts are a passion of mine. They're also what I think brings out my sense of spirituality. I could feel God: the Holy Spirit within me through the techniques I've practiced, the teachings of my masters, and the accompanying philosophies. Whenever I go a long period without training, I feel similar to having gone a great period without church or prayer. My soul feels weak and unused. (Expect to hear something like this every so often from me. XD)

 

Here's the thing though, what is commonly thought of as the martial arts have been practiced around the world. Kung Fu, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, Penchak Silat, and others certainly have their place but Pankration, and German Langswert shouldn't be overlooked. Now I myself follow the Chinese tradition of Kung Fu but I was attracted to it precisely because I felt like I could find something in it that I couldn't find in say, kick-boxing, or MMA. That being a supplementary system of religious thought and consideration. As I'm sure most of you are at least tangentially aware, the oriental martial arts often have mystical, spiritual, and philosophical elements attached to them in both media and by their genuine practitioners. Lesser known is that such was not accidental. Many martial arts schools were attached to and promoting a specific faith tradition through their practice. Some schools were Buddhist, others Taoist, others Confucian. 

 

We Christians are not lacking for proclaimed believers with a capacity for violence, to put it diplomatically. We're also not short on organizations that arm themselves such as the various monastic knightly orders. The Knights Hospitalier, the Teutonic Knights, the Knights of Columbus etc. There also were very well thought out and systematic styles of fighting in Europe such as the aforementioned Langswert. All of these elements, one would think, would lead to the refinement of martial arts schools of thought that could be taught to the laity as another way of understanding the teachings of Christ. As history and reality tell us though, that's not the case. I know such a suggestion sounds fantastical but here me out.

 

In the Eastern past, "martial artists" covered a wide range of people, performers, clergy, soldiers, healers. In the Western past, those who could fight were either professional soldiers or prize fighters, with the more intellectual pursuits of science, theology, etc. being of an entirely different social class. Around the Renaissance and parts of the middle ages, it was considered ideal to be learned in academic disciplines AND having studied fighting arts such as fencing, to be a well rounded man. This is the closest to what I'm driving at that the West ever got but even then, the mental and physical were considered separate fields to be individually mastered rather than co-dependent parts of a whole.

 

As a practicing Catholic, I'm often puzzled at why such systems of inner wellness through combatives remained exclusive to regions outside of Christendom. Why do you guys think this is? Why didn't the disciples of the pacifistic Christ, develop a system of self-defense the way the disciples of the equally pacifistic Buddha did? Why didn't Protestants and Catholics both develop different styles that they claimed were both the way of the true followers of Jesus?

 

This doesn't really bother me on the day to day, by the way, but I'm curious to hear what some of you guys think and theorize.

[The_Gobo 36,257]

I would think it's because they were craftsmen mostly.
Fishers, tax collectors, farmers, shepherds, etc.
They wouldn't have need of hand-to-hand combat, be it defensive or otherwise.
That and the whole point of the teachings, at least with respect to christianity, was to talk out the situations they got into, not to cause harm, even if to prevent it further.

At least that's my understanding of it, though I have a bias considering i'm a pacifist ^^;

[Steel Accord 6,660]

That and the whole point of the teachings, at least with respect to christianity, was to talk out the situations they got into, not to cause harm, even if to prevent it further. At least that's my understanding of it, though I have a bias considering i'm a pacifist ^^;

 

Such was also the case with Buddhism.

 

 “One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble.”

 

"All beings tremble before violence. All love life. All fear death. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?"

 

Hell one of the Buddha's trials to attain Enlightenment when the Demon King tried to stop him was having spears and arrows lobbed at him and the Buddha put up no resistance to them. Buddhists are also expected to be mediators and mollifies of conflict.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Steel Accord

[The_Gobo 36,257]

Such was also the case with Buddhism.

 

 “One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble.”

 

"All beings tremble before violence. All love life. All fear death. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?"

 

Hell one of the Buddha's trials to attain Enlightenment when the Demon King tried to stop him was having spears and arrows lobbed at him and the Buddha put up no resistance to them. Buddhists are also expected to be mediators and mollifies of conflict.

 

Major difference, though, is that right there in the quote, it's claiming all fear death.

Whereas Christianity specifically orders fear to be directed solely on God Himself.

:V

I know that's a nit pick, but there's always a reason for action/inaction, and it's often more important than the action/inaction itself

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

This post has been redacted by the author.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Blue

[N.W. 3,619]

Late Sunday evening I received a phone call from my parents that my younger brother died in a car accident. As of this moment I'm still in denial, everything has a surreal feeling about it. At this stage even just talking a little bit about anything helps me. Thank you.

[ChB 18,550]

Late Sunday evening I received a phone call from my parents that my younger brother died in a car accident. As of this moment I'm still in denial, everything has a surreal feeling about it. At this stage even just talking a little bit about anything helps me. Thank you.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Nebula Wolf.

I can't imagine how it feels to have things like this happen all so suddenly. My condolences to you and your family.

[Prospekt 11,018]

Late Sunday evening I received a phone call from my parents that my younger brother died in a car accident. As of this moment I'm still in denial, everything has a surreal feeling about it. At this stage even just talking a little bit about anything helps me. Thank you.

@Nebula Wolf, I'm so sorry to hear that I can't imagine how that must feel... I've lost a grandmother and most of my great-grandparents and that certainly hit me hard but wow. I will be praying for you bud, and if you need anything at all I'm always around.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I feel quite embaressed that i havn't been to church in a month or tw. that and I never really quote scripture like others can.  Not that bibical talk just comes up in normal conversation 

[Regal Shadow 825]

I am a proud member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! (Mormons)

 

It makes me very happy to see fellow Christians that like MLP.

[N.W. 3,619]

I'm so sorry to hear that, Nebula Wolf.

I can't imagine how it feels to have things like this happen all so suddenly. My condolences to you and your family.

  

@Nebula Wolf, I'm so sorry to hear that I can't imagine how that must feel... I've lost a grandmother and most of my great-grandparents and that certainly hit me hard but wow. I will be praying for you bud, and if you need anything at all I'm always around.

Thank you both, thank you all. I'm struggling to be more creative than just saying thank you to friends right now. I apologize.

[Sunwalker 981]

Late Sunday evening I received a phone call from my parents that my younger brother died in a car accident. As of this moment I'm still in denial, everything has a surreal feeling about it. At this stage even just talking a little bit about anything helps me. Thank you.

I am at a loss of words... We know that everyone should die at some point, but nobody is really prepared for that. Everything of this world shall come to pass, but the reencounter also shall come at some point.

 

I can't fathom what the pain is for you, but I can sympathize. I am sure that your brother left a positive mark on you, and the best way to honor him by never forgetting him and being someone who he can be proud of. Let this to be an opportunity to learn about humility.

 

 

Thank you both, thank you all. I'm struggling to be more creative than just saying thank you to friends right now. I apologize.

I bet that people understand that it should be difficult for you right now. You don't need to say some fancy words, thanking is already the enough.

 

Take care! God bless.

[Prospekt 11,018]

Happy Ash Wednesday to all who celebrate it here