“But history’s also depressing as heck”

It is also uplifting, full of nobility. The Indian wars in America show both the debasement of man and the nobility, on both sides…I’ve read of BIA agents who should rot in hell, and others who put their careers on the line to help the Indians in their care. It depends on where you dwell and how wide your perspective. Don’t let the evil obscure the good. Too many of the revisionists let their vision thus be obscured.

Soiled pants, ruined keyboard.

SADIE. . . . . . .

Jewish canonicity does, indeed, exist. http://www.aishdas.org/toratemet/en_canon.html says as much, at any rate. How accurate this website is, I won’t claim. But the fact remains that TaNaKh = Old Testament. The Jews did have a fairly similar idea as to what constituted canon and what did not. And of course, having two great honking stone tablets engraved with the Decalogue would tend towards Divine authorship.

Speaking of, though, the term ‘convert or die’ is a peculiarly Islamic phrase, and one would be hard-pressed indeed to find instances of this before AD 600. Just another instance where the barbarians infect our culture, what to do?

It really had nothing to do with the Great Commission, though. The command was to the *disciples* to go and make other disciples. Now, here’s a secret; Jesus had three years worth of the Twelve and many many others following Him around. They knew exactly how He made disciples (hint: it was NOT by the sword).

By saying “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you”, Jesus is as much saying that His followers (i.e. it’s our turn now) are to go and make disciples of all nations. He even specifies how they are to do so; baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Again, no sword. The problem with the church was Emperor Constantine turning it into a state organ. Christ’s church was never meant to become Caesar. Bad, bad Constantine! It’s pretty obvious that when the church tries to do the state’s work, and the state tries to do the church’s work, neither church nor state get their work done.

You should be able to appreciate this: King Saul got into a lifetime of trouble due to his trying to perform Samuel’s office. Well, obviously you’re gonna have problems when you have people with police powers trying to enforce religious laws.

Bookworn: History is incredibly interesting, as long as you teach it right. It’s when you have revisionists trying to muddy the waters, argh, that’s when you feel like taking a belt and strapping the whole lot of ‘em.

But history’s also depressing as heck. Man killing man, man sieging towns, man overruns town and rapes, pillages, plunders, man setting up empires, man dying without clear succession (or even with), rinse, repeat. We’re not all that different, today, except our choices of weapons.

After writing that, I shall join the Order of the Flagellants. Before Book requests it.

I don’t know what happened to Tiresias– I think still looking for Queen Maud land or some such, but Y and Ariel are in the other room arm wrestling.

You can claim your prize at TA DA Central Headquarters. A lovely gift basket filled with, of course, your official TA DA Button, hand crafted by artisans, who have been funded by the goodwill and under the tutelage of the UN. Some lovely idol carvings of indeterminate tree dwellers and huggers. Yes, there’s much more, Charles. Hold on, you are being sent as an Ambassador to …. yes, Charles to… (wait a moment the phone is ringing, I am getting additional information and facts for you).
Grab your passport, keep it handy and current and just as soon as you write that check and deposit it to my Nigerian account, I can offer you riches beyond your wildest dreams.

But seriously, I’m just a little disappointed, because what I really wanted to hear (read?) from you was the “You like me! You really like me” speech, with some appropriate tears dripping across the bottom of the computer screen. Anything less leaves me feeling . . . I don’t know . . . a little emotionally cheated.