The trick to writing on the Internet and getting heard is making a very loud, very extreme argument. The Internet does not reward nuanced takes or people who wait a week and a half to think something through, and the Internet especially does not reward people who say, You know? I'm not sure I've figured out what I think on this yet.
At several of the most formative moments in my life, I encountered three philosophers whom I greatly admire. All three of them are Christians, as it happens; all three also are colleagues and friends of one another, and they all prompted a revolution in the field of academic philosophy, which I peer into every so often from my perch way out on the edges. Those men are Nicholas Wolterstorff, Alvin Plantinga, and Richard Mouw.
In three separate settings, on three separate occasions, I heard people ask these men questions in public settings—events they won't even recall, but that made a great impression on me. Each time, the questioner asked something relatively benign (so benign, I don't remember what the question even was). Each time, the eminent philosopher, a leader in his field, an authority and well on his way to being a sort of legend, responded the same way: “You know, I haven't thought that through yet. So I'm not sure what I think.”
I was knocked flat every time. And I've never heard it elsewhere.
This is from Alissa Wilkinson's article In Praise of Slow Opinions
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CAN THE DEAD PRAY FOR THE LIVING? BY STEVE FINNELL
Can the living solicit the dead to pray on their behalf? It is possible for the Virgin Mary and other dead Christians to petition God for living Christians?
THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING OF THE LIVING!
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know they will die;but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for there memory is forgotten.
The dead are not cognizant of the wants and needs of the living. The dead are not even aware that the living exist.
Job 14:10,12,21 "But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? 12 So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. 21 "His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant,but he does not perceive it.
The dead know nothing. The dead are not aware of the activities or accomplishments of their relatives that are alive. Dead Christians cannot pray for things they are unaware.
CAN MEN CONSULT THE DEAD? YES.
Saul asked a medium from Endor to bring Samuel from the dead so he could talk to him. (Samuel 28:1-12)
Leviticus 19:31 'Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
The only way to consult the dead is through mediums. God prohibits this. (Deuteronomy 18:11-12)
1 Chronicles 10:13 So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; andalso because he asked counsel of a medium,making inquiry of it,
The only way to ask a dead person to pray for you, if that were possible, would be through a medium. Saul died because he contacted the dead through a medium.
Isaiah 8:19 When they say to you, "Consult mediums and the spirits who whisper and mutter." Should not the people consult their God?Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
When men have wants and needs they should consult God the Father. Praying to or asking dead Christians to pray for them is not an option. The dead can only be consulted by mediums.
PRAY TO GOD THE FATHER. THE VIRGIN MARY AND OTHER DEAD CHRISTIANS CANNOT HELP YOU!
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com
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