The Evangelical Universalist Forum

70 AD- calling you Davo

Thanks for the update about the passing of Professor C.S. Cowles, Paidion. But I still look forward to thanking him personally :exclamation:

Sad to say, his pdf article, “Scriptural Inerrancy? Behold, I Show You A More Excellent Way,” from which I’ve drawn my quotes, has recently been removed from the server at Point Loma Nazarene University.

From what I understand, the Sons of God were given the power and wisdom to execute judgment(trample the head of the serpent) on evilness. This power was not to be taken lightly or abused in any way. According to Ezekiel 3:18-19, a certain protocol had to be followed. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give them no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
This warning was the “trumpet call”, a call to repentance, in which a man was sent to preach or proclaim the word of God (the same word the Jesus preached) giving people a chance to turn and be saved (grace period), before said destruction took place.

God will send them strong delusion (2 Thess.2:11), in context:

2 Th.2:8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Compare:

1 Kings 22:22
"The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’

Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

Acts 13:9-12
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas 10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? The Lord’s hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the Proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being struck with amazement at the teaching of the Lord.’

Acts 5:1-12
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”9Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.

^^^^^^^^^^^Apart from ignoring the text I guess their only answer is… it was ‘Satan’ alone.

Hermano said:

I’m not sure if you are saying that all the people every year that die of cancer and have prayed (to God) fervently for healing are in some way not praying or living the right way, or are you saying that all the people who die and have prayed fervently to God to be cured are praying to a God that is less powerful that this satan entity? :confused:

Both these so-called examples only point out historical inaccuracieswell even Jesus made that mistake!

But YOU, NOT the bible, have made Moses, in essence, utter blasphemes by declaring in the name of God works/actions YOU SAY were, in fact, the works/actions of Satan. That actually makes one wonder WHO is blaspheming. And you STILL refuse to answer WHY God didn’t deal with Moses’ atrocious sins of misrepresentation in attributing Satan’s works/actions as His, as you advocate such to be.

Question… It would appear from the Genesis text of Moses that GOD declares death upon Adam for eating some fruit… do you agree this was the case, i.e., that GOD declares death upon Adam, and IF so, how do you justify this in terms of ‘the character of God’ as you would have it.

Well, I would agree with Hermano, that “by his stripes we are healed” and “God does not send sickness”. But if Hermano is saying… that the Devil is equal to or more powerful than God…II would have to admittedly disagree. After all, God created the devil. Even though the devil, was initially one of the good guys.

Which raises a variation, of a old philosophical puzzle:

:laughing:

Well, here are some answsers:

creation.com/if-god-can-do-anything-then-can-he-make-a-being-more-powerful-than-himself-omnipotence
carm.org/can-god-create-a-being-more-powerful-than-himself
quora.com/Can-the-Christian-God-create-something-more-powerful-than-himself-Equation-wise-how-would-this-work

It’s all really a variation, of the omnipotence paradox at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnipotence_paradox

As far as Davo’s posts go, let’s put them in a time capsule. If in a million years or so - the earth is still standing… and Christian historians dig up the time capsule - they would say: "

" :exclamation: :laughing:

And as far as prayer goes. Roman Catholic priest Father A., has the gift of healing and hearing the voice of God. He always says:

Don’t ask me about the “something better for eternity” part. I have no clue. :laughing:

HFPZ said

Well, I’ll ask you the same question, which by the way did not seem to get answered :astonished:

MM said

You quoted

So I cant ask about the eternity part. So is it God knowing what is best for you…* so you are to be sickened by satan*? Because remember, God does not send sickness (and God created satan as you said)

So, rephrase the question, Chad. Is it in regards to healing? I wish to have the question put here. Some people get healed instantly, some partially and some not at all. It’s a divine mystery, why that is so (a typical Eastern Orthodox answer). Sickness is part of a fallen world - and nature, going wild. Sickness is not necessarily from God. Not necessarily from the Devil. But nature - playing havoc. And the luck of the draw. But God allows it to happen. And doesn’t always intervene.

It says this, in the article:

Is Satan always the cause of sickness?

What do we learn, from reading the New Testament?

Nowhere does God cause illness. If I’m missing a reference, then point it out.
Jesus healed ill people - possessed by demons. But are the illnesses a primary cause? Or a secondary result, from being possessed by the demon/ demons?
Nowhere does Jesus call leprosy a demon. Hence, there are probably some non-demonic diseases.
Luke was a physician and specialized in natural healing methods (I’m inferring this, from historical physician practices - during Christ’s timeframe). It doesn’t say he was a “faith healer”. Although he probably did some of that.

And let me share this article today, from the Patheos evangelical newsletter:

What Should Christians Think about Satan, Demons, and Zombies?

Please. This is important! Watch the 15 minute video - by the seminary trained minister. :exclamation:

Let me quote a bit - from the accompanying article

In essence, what causes sickness…is BOTH a theological and a scientific question.

And what, Chad - do you attribute sickness to? God? Satan? Nature? Voodoo priests and priestess? Etc.?

P.S. Some folks here might not like the “Hollywood make-believe”, zombie GIF images. So if I can substitute a “cartoon” variation instead, I will do so. :laughing:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/plantsvszombies/images/c/c8/Zombiedance2.gif/revision/latest?cb=20150625181857

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17 ESV)

We might ask, "How did Moses know about the creation events of Genesis 1 and 2? They must have been stories handed down from antiquity. Or else they were mythical stories as many affirm; hence we hear people speak of “the creation myth.” I don’t KNOW which of the two is the case, of course. No one knows (in the absolute sense of “know”). However, I am naïve enough to lean toward it being a factual account handed down from Adam and Eve themselves, whom I presume to have been actual historical figures. The genealogy of man as recorded in Genesis would place creation around 4000 B.C. (perhaps not so precise as October 23, 4004 B.C. as Bishop Usher would have it). Thus, in keeping with my tendency to believe the creation story to be factual, I have the same predilection to believe in a “young” earth, and to reject the Big Bang theory and evolution, both celestial and terrestrial.

So, as I see it, God may have said those precise words of warning to Adam and Eve. But there is a distinct difference between warning and threat. It is not recorded that this warning implied that God would carry out their death. It is more likely that in creating the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil God imparted to its fruit death-causing qualities. Why did He do it? Who knows? Why are there poisonous fruits in our world today? Why are many mushrooms good to eat (I have identified and eaten more that 50 kinds), while the Aminita Virosa, the so-called “Destroying Angel” mushroom will kill within 24 hours all who eat even one bite of it. Those who have eaten it (and died) said that it tastes delicious!

So suppose God warned someone not to eat Aminita Virosa. If that person went ahead and ate it anyway, did God kill him? No. God warned him, but the mushroom killed him. Similarly, God didn’t bring the beginning of death to mankind when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. It was the fruit itself that started the death process in humanity.

Friends, failure to worship and obey God opens us up to greater Satanic attacks, but the culprit is our own neglect and not the vindictiveness of God to ever “sic” Satan on us. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?” Hebrew 2:3.

God warns about what Satan will do; He does not threaten about what He himself will do. Some, including Moses, do not properly make this distinction, because they misunderstand the true nature of God as a loving Daddy.

For example, In Deuteronomy 28, Moses attributes to God the curses for not carefully following all God’s commands and decrees. He says, * “The LORD will plague you with diseases…The LORD will strike you with wasting disease.”*

I argue that Moses was mistaken about God: He is only, exclusively, about life and blessing, not curses and death.

But even if (unlike me) you believe sickness and suffering are directly or indirectly from God, we know from the “Divine Exchange” of Isaiah 53 that Messiah would TAKE our sin and suffering, and GIVE us his righteousness and shalom (shalom being variously translated as “health,” “prosperity,” “safety,” “contentment,” “friendship,” and “peace”). Jesus has done that.

And Galatians 3:13 tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

As to why there are people who remain sick after prayer to God, we read,

“I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”…“Why couldn’t we…?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith.” Matthew 17.

So, we must rest in the faith of Jesus! Please consider this short essay from Joseph Prince:

DON’T LOOK TO YOUR FAITH, LOOK TO JESUS.”

Blessings.

AMEN!

Jesus never suggested that His Father brought curses and death to people. Quite the contrary:

*(Lu 6:35) But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Matt 5:43-45 You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who harass you, so that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.*

The apostle John had it right when he wrote: “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16). He didn’t write that God HAS love, but that God IS love. Love is the very essence of God,. It is not that ONE aspect of God’s character is love, and another is executing punishment. Rather because God is love EVERY act of God is performed out of love.

This same John didn’t write that God is both light and darkness. Rather, he wrote that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all! (1John 1:5)

Hi Randy,

you said

Well, my question must have intrigued you since you have edited your response :laughing: (maybe multiple times)

I was looking for an answer to the original question to Hermano that you quoted. :wink: The thread was talking about God and satan. As in who causes what.

God is not exclusively “kind” but also “severe”:

Rom.11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

Rom.2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.…

Jn.3:36 he who is believing in the Son, hath life age-during; and he who is not believing the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God doth remain upon him.’

Heb.10:28 Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

Eph.5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Even cursing & death from God, which is not “darkness” or unloving, works for His glory & ultimate good:

2 Th.2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 Kings 22:22
"The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’

Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

Acts 13:9-12
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas 10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? The Lord’s hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the Proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being struck with amazement at the teaching of the Lord.’

Acts 5:1-12
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”9Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.

Thanks qaz. That (the idea of satan) is what some here are talking about and are actually fighting to establish within the ideas of Evangelicalism :astonished: So many things within evangelical Christianity are attributed to satan TODAY, the idea that God could do such and such is unacceptable, so they have to contort a whole web of ways and persons and Spirits that ‘contend with God’ as to be more powerful and attributed to all the bad, evil, unfortunate things that happen in our life. :open_mouth:

To just pop off proof texts is not proof of anything. Many who do those things can not see the forest for the trees. :unamused:

If one believes God only has the power of “life and blessing, not curses and death” as you say, then it’s hard not to see your glaring contradiction where God actually created the death present in the fruit, or as you say… “God imparted to its fruit death-causing qualities” and so as you further affirm… “that started the death process in humanity” i.e., God knew that that which He had created or “imparted death-causing qualities” to, would kill… thus giving, as you would have it, a mere “warning”. On all accounts NOT too convincing IMO.

So you give but two options though really one just split in half, i.e., hand-me-down stories, but either fact OR fiction. I’m really surprised you can’t give space for a possible 3rd option… ‘holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Spirit of Christ in them.’ (1Pet 1:11; 2Pet 1:21) But I guess as it seems you can’t trust the veracity of Peter’s words elsewhere (2Pet 2:5) then certainly ‘consistency’ rules out this option for you.

It’s interesting and seems odd you are “naïve enough” to trust the historicity of Moses’ account but conveniently can’t trust his words about God. Again you’re keen to highlight the historical anomalies of Matthew and Jude’s accounts and so question their veracity, and YET again happily and conveniently IGNORE Jesus’ historicAbiathar / Ahimelecherror of Mk 2:26 / 1Sam 21:1-6… but we can’t have that bridge-too-far, can we?

WHY didn’t God deal with Moses’ atrocious sins of misrepresentation in attributing Satan’s works/actions as His, as you two advocate such to be.

This here betrays and portrays the shallowness of your argument… where you assume, or at least project, the notion that to question or challenge your theory, leaves one with… “the vindictiveness of God” — codswallop!

Yet more shallow and unsubstantiated emotive hyperbole… sickness like its end, death, is a natural part of nature.

You quoting THIS is truly amazing… there is freedom from that which didn’t, apparently, according to you, ever exist. I mean ‘the law’ came from God and duly EVERYTHING attached to it, dare I say… blessing and curse — your logic is on the same page as Paidion’s — convenience!

Hi Chad. Well, I don’t agree with Hermano - that Satan causes illness. But if a demon should possess someone (it’s not a frequent occurrence - mind you), And the doctors have eliminated all organic and abnormal psychosis causes. And a Catholic exorcism is preformed (or a genuine equivalent)…- then we would see illness - as a secondary cause - of demon /demons inhabiting a body… Like we do in the New Testament. Otherwise, it’s due to fallen nature. And it’s both a theological and a scientific question.

And I edit multiple times, because that’s what a writer does. And I’m trained to be a writer… by courses taken at Aurora University and the College of Dupage. And my work in technology marketing and copywriting. Of which I am “officially” retired now.

So let me rephrase the question to you. Do you agree with Hermano, regarding Satan and Illness? And if not, then what is YOUR viewpoint?

True. I get the impression that you think this fact somehow contradicts my position. God’s severity does not arise from hate or vengeance or a desire to kill or hurt people. It arises from LOVE Himself! God’s love may be compared to that of a loving parent. Such a parent is not exclusively “kind” to his children, but sometimes “severe.” But such a parent’s motive in being severe is not to harm his children (he doesn’t beat them to a pulp or kill them), but his motive is to help them develop into good people rather than remaining self-serving “rats.” The writer to the Hebrews makes this clear:

So we need to understand that ALL of God’s acts are done out of LOVE, and not out of some evil motive. For God IS love. The very essence of God is LOVE. Jesus said, as recorded in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus is Another who is the exact imprint of God’s essence (Heb 1:3). Jesus did not come to kill and destroy like a thief, but to give abundant life. That is exactly the character of the Father. He doesn’t kill and destroy either. ALL of God’s judgments are remedial.

I will comment on most of the verses you quoted, that you seem to think contradicts my position that God is entirely loving and has no “dark side” at all. I don’t wish to take the time to comment on the others as they require a fuller treatment. However, if there is a specific one on which I haven’t commented that you are certain contradicts my position, just point it out and I’ll make the attempt to comment on that one also.

Rom.11:22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

In Romans 11, Paul speaks of the True Israel, comparing it to an olive tree. Some Israelites who did not really belong were cut off. And now in Paul’s day, some non-Israelites who were disciples of the Anointed One were grafted in. In other words, God was purifying Israel, and “in this way all Israel shall be saved.” (Verse 26). So Paul is saying that if you Gentiles don’t continue in the kindness of God, even though you were grafted in to the “Olive Tree” (True Israel) you can be cut off from the tree again. God is determined to have a pure Israel. Also I don’t doubt that even if they are cut off and repent, God will graft them in once again.

Rom.2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.…

Yes, there is no doubt that God is angry about sin, about the way people hurt one another. So He will judge righteously and provide severe correction to all who need it.

Jn.3:36 he who is believing in the Son, hath life age-during; and he who is not believing the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God doth remain upon him.’

Yes, he who believed in (entrusts himself to) the Son had lasting life. He who doesn’t shall not see life (immediately in the resurrection) But God’s wrath will remain on him until he repents. God is interested in reforming people, not destroying them.

Heb.10:28 Anyone who rejected the Law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

The word translated here as “vengeance” would be better translated as “judgment.” Indeed, the very next sentence is, "The Lord will judge His people. Again the Lord will provide whatever it takes to correct His people (as well as His enemies).

*Eph.5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
*

Yes, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient. It “cursing & death”; it is loving correction.

If God executed cursing and death, it WOULD BE darkness. But instead He provided loving correction. God is not selfish. He doesn’t curse and kill people for His own glory, but corrects people for their own good.

Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

Sometimes a loving earthly father allows his older children to continue in their wicked ways, in order that they may learn from experience.

Acts 13:9-12
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas 10 and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord? The Lord’s hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the Proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being struck with amazement at the teaching of the Lord.’

Notice that the Lord didn’t strike Elymas blind out of vengeance. If He had, He would have blinded him permanently, and not merely “for a time.” His temporary blindness was meant to bring correction to Elymas.

*Acts 5:1-12
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”9Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.*

It is only presumption that God killed Ananias and Sapphira. I think each of them was so shocked with the supernatural ability of Peter to have KNOWN what they did (for they had hidden it so well that no one in the Church could have found it out), that each of them died from fear.

What’s so interesting and odd about that? Could you not trust the historicity of Columbus’ account of his journeys without trusting his theology?

Would you please spell this out this “‘Abiathar / Ahimelech’ error”? What is the error? And if there is one, why do you call it “Jesus’ error” instead of “Mark’s error”?