Most Protestants honor the Reformation and, in theory at least, they honor the 95 Theses that helped start the Reformation. Our modern society is in many ways in need of additional reforms. So, I decided that the best way to honor the 500th anniversary of the Reformation was to provide to leading Protestant organizations a similar "reformation experience" to what the reformers gave to the Catholic church in the 1500s.
In the fall of 2017 we printed and laminated 500 copies of the new 95 Theses (double sided on 8 1/2" x 14" parchment paper). On the October 31st anniversary we posted around 200 of them, using removable glue dots instead of nails, to the doors of almost every church in Midland Texas. We attached post-it notes saying it was in honor of the 500th anniversary and signed it to be from Andreas Karlstat, the reformation leader who trained Luther and who wanted additional reforms but was maligned and misrepresented for doing so. It took from before sun up to late at night to post them all. The GPS has a function that allowed us to download the locations and optimize the driving route. We skipped the two churches where we had attended, as well as two or three where people were congregated around the door. It was on a Tuesday so most were empty.
A week or two earlier we had mailed the other 300 to leading Protestant institutions, including the largest churches, para-church organizations, and to the chaplains at Christian schools. We estimated mail delivery times and sent the international mailings earlier to try to time the arrival around the October 31st anniversary. We attached stick up dots to the four corners and a post it note asking them to post it to their door (to provide the desired effect), though there was no expectation they would actually post it to their doors. We bought sheets of "Luther" stamps from the 1980s and we also created a custom stamp using a stamp customization service to mail the envelopes.
We used a service to translate the new 95 Theses into Spanish and Korean to send to the large Spanish speaking churches, the large churches in South Korea and the two Protestant churches in North Korea. We were going to translate into more languages but decided not to in order to reduce costs.
As a test of the various marketing channels we robocalled 95 recipients saying happy 500th anniversary of the Reformation (assuring them in the message that there would be no additional calls), we sent 95 automated FAXs, and advertised a small amount on Facebook and YouTube. We set up a web site and a Facebook Page. We priced using an electronic billboard on one of the roads, but it was too expensive.
For the fun of it we printed pictures on each of the printed 95 Theses using invisible UV ink. The pictures can only be seen using a UV light. The best UV printing was the Korean versions where on one side we used the Korean letters for "True Christianity" and the other side the Korean letters for "True Self Reliance" (Juche, the philosophy of North Korea), with the idea that true Christianity is not just social but also true empowerment of the individual.
To top it all off, we used an email marketing firm and bought two mailing lists to email the new 95 theses to 95,000 Protestant churches in USA and England. We tried to avoid sending to Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since they don't have the same relationship to the Reformation as the Protestant churches. A significant percentage didn't make it through but tens of thousands did.
We remained anonymous to allow the propositions to stand on their own and to not be seen as just another Christian group's marketing effort. While some of the theses are controversial, and some may be thought to be heretical, at very least they should open interesting discussion and debate.
So, that is how we honored the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation of the 1500s. I can only hope that some of these 95 propositions will help bring needed reform to our information-based society of today.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Sunday, April 28, 2019
95 Theses on Substitutes
DISPUTATION ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF SUBSTITUTES, OCTOBER 31, 2017
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed in West Texas. We request that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so online. In the name of Truth.
A Multitude of Substitutes take the place of Sola Sacrificium
1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Take up your cross daily'', his followers understood that he willed their entire life to be one of daily sacrifice, potential social ostracism and willingness to accept death for doing right and following truth.
2. “Sacrifice” cannot be understood as referring to just the common everyday sacrifices of a good person, living in poverty or isolation, “spiritual disciplines” or as the act of taking communion.
3. God’s ultimate desire is to maintain both free choice and a good society, which is based in the individual and communal nature of the Trinity. The willingness to die as Jesus did gives us power and freedom as individuals to make the hard choices. Jesus’ life example helps indicate what is best to choose to maintain a good society.
4. The willingness to be killed for doing what is right, true and virtuous is the true meaning of being a “follower” of Jesus. This is the true theology of the cross, “oneness” with Christ. It builds strong community, it is powerful against our evil tendencies, it allows us to maximize eternal value, it is ultimate self-control and is the true meaning symbolized in baptism and the cup of communion.
5. All die. So, while in one sense death costs everything, in another sense the willingness to die requires no extra cost.
Leaders use Substitutes in place of Truth to maintain Unity
6. When John said, “In the beginning was the Word”, he also thereby indicated that in the beginning was information. Information is in opposition to mysticism, fictional stories, distractions, unverifiable experiences and utopias, which are substitutes for living with reality.
7. The use of fallacies in marketing can be more effective than the use of logical arguments, but there is only one valid way to choose beliefs: choose the set of beliefs that are most probably true.
8. True unity is not possible by accepting the wide variety of substitutes for truth as the polytheists/pantheists have done, or by imposing uniformity as some monotheistic faiths have done. Allowing for reconciled diversity while rejecting substitutes for a focus on truth enables the true unity that Jesus prayed for.
9. “Anti-Christ” means a substitute for following both Christ’s example and the sacrifice of his life. The reference to 666 in the books of Revelation and Kings point to Solomon, the ultimate example of a seemingly wise leader who used substitutes to be successful.
10. We have traded away our birthright to our leaders in an unholy bargain that substitutes the leadership of a few individuals for the leadership of every individual, allowing most people to be passive.
For many, the State Monopoly has replaced God and the Church
11. The State is the caretaker of the forceful methods of persuasion no longer wielded by the Church. The State maintains its geographic monopoly. All monopolies, lacking competition, are in as much need of reformation as the state-church monopolies of the 1500s.
12. The book of first Samuel indicates that God did not want a king over Israel. Diplomatic intermarriage (Diplomatic and Information - marketing power), horses (Military power), and gold (Economic power), were early methods of gaining central state power (DIME), each of which God said not to do in Israel. So, God wants weak centralized state power in leadership, military and the banking system, keeping power as locally distributed as possible. Some intelligence agencies and police/military seek to simulate God’s omniscience and omnipotence. Large scale suffering, starvation and death is most often caused by mistakes of central leadership and their wars.
13. We need a wall of separation between money and state, including a “first amendment” for banking, and currency creation. Most taxation allows no way to opt out and so is the taking of personal property without free consent. Many people look to the state to take the property of others to provide for their needs.
14. There is no social contract at birth with our state or society. We have at birth only two inherent contracts: one with our parents and one with the creator of our world. Five of the ten commandments discuss honoring those inherent civil contracts. Rights/responsibilities of laws should not be automatic based on age/location, but rather they should be contracts accepted/rejected by free will as adults, with “adulthood” determined by competency rather than by a specific age.
Schools often Indoctrinate instead of train for Freedom of Thought
15. Schools sometimes expose students only to one-sided propaganda because they have a conflict of interest to teach submission to the prevailing views of the supporting state or church. Rather than just transmitting the commonly held views of the Church, State and/or employers, schools are most effective when teaching critical thinking, freedom, trade and enabling self-directed learning.
16. Team and project based education is most effective, creating real value rather than just rote academic exercises, causing students to be leaders/producers and reconnecting learning to value. Leadership training is built on the foundation of virtue training.
17. Effective education crosses all boundaries, including between religious and secular, primary and higher education, academic and corporate training, and between self-directed and formal education. Education is most effective when large scale term-based education is integrated with small scale competency based education to provide both economy of scale and customization.
18. The elderly are intended to perform the role of teachers and mentors.
Scientists have become the Priesthood of our Day
19. Scientists, especially physicists, are treated as the priesthood of the information age because they tell the quantitatively illiterate masses, who are unable to interpret the formulas for themselves, what to believe about how the world works.
20. If it is impossible for something to come from nothing, then something must be eternal. That can be either “creation” or a creator.
21. There is no viable mechanism for cosmic evolution since mutation and natural selection do not apply until life exists. The creation of an imagined "multiverse" is a “philosophy of the gaps”, i.e. a theory created to support a belief that is lacking evidence.
22. Time is just our "perception of change". What we call the "past" is our memories and what we call the "future" is our current mental plans. Therefore “time” is not a reality that can speed up, slow down or go backwards. God did not create "time" itself but rather He created the regularly recurring changes we use as "clocks" to measure the passage of other changes, which is how we commonly think of "time".
23. Logical Positivism has been misapplied to say that what we perceive/measure must be actual reality. Limitations of perceiving/measuring fast speed (Relativity) and small size (Quantum Mechanics) make our perceptions and measurements diverge from reality. “Bending the ruler”, speeding or slowing clocks or our inability to consistently detect something does not change the reality we are measuring.
Many leading Philosophers are Atheist, Agnostic or Universalist
24. Monotheism is a claim of historical truth. Atheism, pantheism and polytheism, which claim the high ground of philosophical truth and inclusiveness, have no defensible claim to early history.
25. Atheism, where nothing is of ultimate value, can lead to pantheism, where everything is of ultimate value, which is related to polytheism, where only the most powerful things are assigned ultimate value.
26. Agnosticism is not a separate belief system. “Believers” are also by definition agnostics because they cannot prove their belief.
27. The “Both-And” of universalism cannot replace the “Either-Or” of Monotheism.
Celebrity Leaders with access to Broadcasts act as our Gurus
28. We treat those with access to broadcast mediums, such as speakers, authors, preachers, musicians and movie stars, as our gurus.
29. All professionals, including teachers, physicians, and pastors, have a conflict of interest. Many believe that to provide better service they need to keep people dependent on their expertise rather than helping them become self-sufficient and risking lower quality outcomes.
30. Leaders use marketing methods, which are only valid if they are educating and communicating truth in support of self-reliance.
31. Movie action heroes are the modern polytheistic pantheon, now divorced from religion, that our children follow by example.
Church Services and Auditoriums drive focus to Pastors
32. The focus of the separated day of rest is intended to be the benefits of rest, reflection and family/community rather than attending a service.
33. Church services are a crutch that enables passive participation instead of individual/small team active productivity. Goal focused small team meetings are the true church meeting, which removes the need for using marketing techniques to maintain large group unity.
34. Stages are for actors, comedians and musicians, not for Christian leaders. The sage on the stage can be more effective by taking their rightful place as guide on the side.
35. Pastor’s monologues, on-stage worship teams and other events with a spectator audience are antithetical to the priesthood of all believers.
36. If desired, record and watch monologues at home before coming together in small groups, which then discuss how the concepts in the monologue can be applied to current needs and goals.
37. The natural repetitive routines of life do not imply the validity of contrived or centrally controlled routines/rituals. Rather than repeat the same basic teachings to large groups over and over, teach in small groups building on prior learning based on current needs.
38. Any form of church governance is acceptable as long as force and manipulation are not used, so that individual church attenders/small groups can easily opt out of decisions.
39. Positive references to pastors in the books of the Bible are always plural, indicating multiple “pastors” in each church is to be the norm.
The True Nature of History
40. Historical truth about the ancient order of things is the treasure of the Church. The books of the Bible are claims to accurate histories.
41. The question of scriptural authority is not one of scripture vs. tradition, but rather how best to determine truth versus falsehood.
42. Comprehending a writing is probabilistic, not a work of full certainty. When trying to understand a text, attempt to understand what the author was attempting to communicate to their intended audience, including understanding their background, their use of shared definitions and their shared circumstances, such as what it means to be a “follower” and the imminent threat of death to the early followers of Jesus.
43. In the book of Genesis Moses and the Israelites rejected Egyptian myths, which were created from later history, in favor of core historical claims present in the mythology of Sumer, which were created from the earliest history.
44. Prophecy is possible because God has full control, but we also have full free will, enabled by our willingness to die. Which one we perceive is a matter of how much information we have. If God were not hiding his full power, we would effectively be forced to follow Him and our choice to follow/not follow would not be apparent.
45. Jesus’ life and death successfully demonstrated to God that His desire to have a good society that maintains individual free choice would eventually be satisfied by people following the example of Jesus, thereby averting the need to wipe out humanity and start over again as He had done at the flood.
The True Nature of Belief
46. Deductive logic requires inductive logic to support its premises. “Faith” is treating something that is probably true as if it is definitely true. Inductive logic is probabilistic and so requires faith.
47. To say “I Know” is denying faith, because “faith” implies the possibility that the belief may not be true.
48. As followers of truth, we must be able to say "If a different belief were shown to be true I would reject my current belief, even if my family, friends and community shun or kill me".
49. Monotheistic faith requires faith that a Creator exists, we have mostly accurate information about Him and He is trustworthy to follow.
The True Nature of Virtue and Law
50. Virtues point to high standards and the discipline needed for effective trade and strong motivation. To maintain and grow the organization, some pastors refrain from speaking against low social standards such as no-fault divorce and immoral relationships, abortion, common Christian profanities, and other worldly lifestyle choices.
51. Respecting ownership, persuasion, and trade can replace physical force, which is reserved for only when necessary for protection.
52. The Golden Rule has a corollary called the Non-Aggression Principle. Both are a summary of five of the ten commandments, and are the basis of criminal justice, which provides for freedom through ownership. Identifying individual ownership/stewardship avoids the potential for a “tragedy of the commons”.
53. Laws are not good because they are in the books of the Bible, rather they are in the books of the Bible because they are good.
55. Prisons are a form of forced slavery. Early Israel did not have prisons. It is better for inmates to be emancipated, receive appropriate corrective training/coaching, work to pay restitution and/or be exiled, or, in violent cases such as murder, be put to death.
The True Nature of Forgiveness and Bankruptcy
56. Always have an attitude of offering forgiveness, but the benefits of forgiveness are only obtained by the recipient when they repent of the hurtful practices that required forgiveness.
57. Focusing on a "free gift" is a marketing technique. God’s forgiveness is offered free, but the acceptance of His forgiveness has the high cost of being willing to die, which should be communicated up front.
58. Forgiveness and bankruptcy laws enable striving for greatness even if there is a high likelihood of failure and they re-enable relationships/trade after failure. God forgives failure and does not require any payment for the “sunk costs” of the failure.
59. Significant long-term consumer debt is a form of serfdom, caused by artificially easy long-term credit, which bids up prices. Long term debt serfdom could be eliminated, and prices of big ticket items could be reduced, by extending bankruptcy laws to not allow for loans/refinances of longer than seven years. Other than marriage, contract/treaties should last no longer than seven years.
The True Nature of Prayer and Fasting
60. Early Christians were mistaken to be atheists, indicating a lack of Christian rituals, sacred objects or “sacred spaces”.
61. Prayer was intended to be a two-way conversation with God. God does not currently speak back, but we still have a need to speak to our Creator.
62. The term “prayer” includes multiple functions: asking forgiveness, requests, thanks, praise, and a general blessing of others.
63. When Jesus said, “when you pray, go to a private place” he intended that even well intentioned Christian leaders should not pray in front of groups. Verbal prayers by leaders are often misused to tell people what should happen and/or to display oratory skills.
64. Omniscience implies that God is always on “speakerphone” and “surveillance camera”, though he can turn away in respect of privacy.
65. Fasting is symbolic of willingness to die. Living a healthy, natural lifestyle would answer most health-related prayers before the prayers were necessary and would address the leading causes of early death.
The True Nature of Giving and Tithing
66. Tithing was of food only, not money, and was in place of crops/farm animals that Levites would have received if they had been farmers.
67. Monetary support is payment for a service, not an obligation, which implies the determination of the costs/benefits of the service provided. The priesthood of all believers implies taking back control of their money, getting out of unnecessary debt obligations, giving directly to causes they are physically involved with, and banding together in small groups with others who have similar goals.
68. Short term missions give locals access to industry, money and education and shows the missionary the value of that access. Local groups are more effective in building local industry and education.
The True Nature of Intelligent Beings
69. We are not our bodies. We are the part of our brain that watches and judges our ways of thinking, our memories, how we communicate, and what we control, all of which continues after we die.
70. We can be considered both as our whole set of thought processes and as multiple groups of various thought processes. The nature of both being filled with the Holy Spirit, which motivates holiness, and demon possession, which motivates evil, is that they both can be considered groups of our thought processes, which by definition makes them part of us; but, they can also be considered as the thoughts of separate “individuals” to either be desired or cast out.
71. Emotions are information-based shortcuts that motivate us to action. Before Jesus, animal sacrifice was designed to motivate change in behavior by empathy with the sacrificed animal paying the price we should pay.
The True Nature of Families and Society
73. The “teen-age” season of life is artificially created by extending education and delaying the ability to have a career and/or marriage.
74. Gambling is a substitute for the risk/reward of trade. Gambling is win-lose whereas free trade is win-win.
75. Pornography is a substitute for the risk/reward of relationships. It involves only receiving whereas the give and take of relationships involves both giving and receiving.
76. Substance abuse is used to escape stress and/or pain and is a substitute for the Holy Spirit, true rest and willingness to accept loss.
77. Use of Expletives is an attempt to shock/force others into compliance, and indicates rebellion against the taboo of not discussing the topics of religion, sex and the results of digestive function.
78. We must be ready to live off of nature in order to sacrifice, if necessary, the ability to trade in society.
The True Nature of the Spiritual and Supernatural
79. There is no actual difference between "natural" and "supernatural", other than one is observable and repeatable on demand and the other is not. So, “miracles” by definition do occur, but individual “experiences” are unverifiable and so are of no use to others.
80. The goal of spiritual warfare is to produce strong motivation to proclaim truth against the propaganda of the powers of this world.
81. By being willing to sacrifice ourselves we are filled with the Holy Spirit which strongly motivates us.
82. While seeming to argue the opposite, Paul said he would not eat meat sacrificed to idols and he emphasized abstaining for the right reasons.
83. The true “speaking in tongues” described in Acts was information transfer. The Corinthian church thought they had the same ability but did not. Paul could not prove a negative concerning tongues since people could claim the language was of angels. So, rather than attempting to prove a negative, he affirmed their desire to follow God and instructed them to minimize the practice and focus on other gifts.
84. Omniscience and omnipotence provides the equivalent of omnipresence, but if God were actually omnipresent he would be inside all objects, including inside sewage and in Hell.
85. Mysticism is an illusion used in place of reason and faith when people want to feel emotions related to holiness, awe, peace and/or being valued. Mysticism is not necessary for transcendence.
The True Nature of Evil, Suffering and Death
87. Most of evil is not the opposite of good. It is the attempt to force the creation of a substitute Utopia which promises unobtainable benefits rather than accepting the benefits and dealing with the seeming problems of following God’s design of natural simplicity.
88. The Golden Rule implies empathy and the use of persuasion and trade rather than offensive force, which causes evil, suffering and death.
89. Only a Creator has the right to destroy his creation, so offensive war, murder, abortion and suicide are not acceptable.
90. God removed access to eternal life and thereby allowed death not as punishment but to give humans, including Jesus, the ability of ultimate self-sacrifice.
The True Nature of Heaven and Hell
91. To maintain freedom of choice and a good, truthful society, those who continue to choose to do wrong must ultimately be exiled from the society of those who choose to do right.
92. Hell is a torturous place to be not because of active torture by God. Putting people who do not follow truth together in a place without the Creator sustaining it would naturally make it a terrible place to be.
Why the Coming Reformation is Needed Now
93. The printing press in the age of the Reformation enabled a few to publish to the masses, thereby bypassing the monopoly of the priesthood. The Internet in this age of information enables anyone to publish to the masses, thereby bypassing the control of leaders, publishers and marketers, giving us the ability to highlight the use of substitutes by leaders.
94. The unbridled use of substitutes makes it difficult even for learned people to rescue the reverence which is due to Christianity from slander or from the shrewd questions of non-Christians.
95. These concepts are historical from the earliest time periods following Jesus. They are simple and practical. The only need for complexity is that needed to address complex errors. Come out of Babylon.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
The West Texas Confession
Introduction
Much of what is marketed as Christianity, while good and helpful, is actually a substitute that obscures the core power of the Bible and Jesus. Since I have recently moved to West Texas from Wheaton, Illinois I want to at this time outline my current beliefs so that I can communicate them clearly and systematically. My intellectual background includes studies in Electrical Engineering (i.e., Physics), Information Technology, Management, Theology, Liberal Arts, Economics and Education Reform. Here is what I think I have learned so far, much of which is at odds with popular Christian teachings.0. Summary
Proposed celestial evolution has no viable mechanism. Mutation & natural selection doesn't apply and a multiverse doesn't make logical sense. So, some form of an intelligent designer seems to make more sense.
The earliest written records in history are from Sumer and, though in mythological form, they do seem to include references similar to the earliest historical accounts claimed in the Bible.
A misinterpretation of "Logical Positivism", which equates what we see and what our instruments measure with actual reality, is at the root of misinterpretation of valid formulas in quantum mechanics and relativity and is the cause of some seemingly unsolvable dilemmas. Physicists/scientists have become the modern day priesthood, requiring the quantitatively illiterate mass of people (i.e., people who are unable to understand/interpret their formulas directly) to trust their interpretation of how the world works without giving people the ability to interpret the formulas for themselves.
There is no actual difference between "natural" and "supernatural", other than one type of event is observable/repeatable and the other is not. The goal is to separate truth from fiction/mythology, whether a particular event is repeatable or not.
The main conflict and goal of life, as implied by Genesis and Revelation, seems to be maintaining full individual freedom of choice (required for value, love, motivation, etc.. to exist) while at the same time creating a good society (Garden of Eden, healthy families, good nations, Heaven). The answer to the dilemma of how to have both seems to be to freely choose to sacrifice ourselves daily to do what is right. To be "born again" one has to first be willing to die. To be a "follower of Jesus" is to be willing to "sacrifice" ourselves as Jesus did. Both baptism and communion were intended to symbolize the willingness of followers of Jesus to die just as Jesus was willing to sacrifice himself. Willingness to give up everything, coupled with a commitment to do what is right, eliminates daily stresses and worries and gives a person the motivation to do great things, to become a hero and make a difference in the culture and world.
Many Christian teachers have replaced this meaning in favor of the more marketable "Jesus sacrificed himself and we just accept his payment to God for us", without also including an up front discussion of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. That is similar to how some vendors market their product as being "free" without discussing up front the actual future cost. To understand the specific differences at issue, see the Penal Substitutionary Atonement debate and compare to Communal Substitutionary Atonement. So some have emptied the meaning of baptism and communion to be only "remembering/accepting how Jesus paid our debt to God" and have re-purposed the symbolism to focus on group membership rather than a shared commitment to self-sacrifice. Then, some infuse a form of Christian mysticism and ritual in order to substitute for the meaning and power that they perceive is now missing from the center of Christian teaching. By necessity they replace discussion, debate and active learning with monologue and use various forms of social control to maintain the unity of their organization.
1. Evidence (What)
Before we can use reason to determine how the world works or communicate information, first we must observe raw information about the world we live in.1.1 The Natural Record
Observational Science is using our senses and various tools to observe the current state of nature. From those observation and by using some assumptions, through theoretical science we may be able to extrapolate what likely happened in the past and therefore what is likely to happen in the future.1.2 The Historical Record
People have recorded their perspectives of what has happened in their lifetimes. By trying to determine what the authors were trying to communicate to their intended audiences, if the authors were truthful and accurate and their writings were not altered over time, then we can determine what likely happened in history. From that history then through philosophy/theology we can determine what we should do in the future to avoid past problems and to build upon past lessons learned.2. Reason and Belief
2.1 In the Beginning was Information
When John said "In the beginning was the Word" he was also indicating that in the beginning was information. Mysticism is a substitute for searching out information.
2.2 Inductive and Deductive Logic
By observing the world we inductively derive knowledge and rules that are likely, but not guaranteed, to be true to help determine what is likely to happen in the future. Inductively derived information gives us the assumptions/premises that, if true, we can use with deductive logic to determine additional information that is also true.Fallacies are reasoning shortcuts we all use when we don't have enough time to reason through a question fully. So using fallacies is the most effective marketing method, but we should take the time to use logical think through for the most important decisions rather than relying on fallacious shortcuts.
Similarly, emotions are learned responses based on perceived information that are designed to motivate us to action, and as such are effectively used in marketing as well.
2.3 The Role of Faith
Faith is just another name for how we use inductive logic in our everyday lives. Faith is what is needed to treat something we inductively derive to be probably true as if it is definitely true. For example, when we step in an elevator there is a small probability that it will fall, but because we have faith it will work we treat it as if it will definitely work and don't give it a second thought.Faith to follow a creator consists of two different parts. First, we must believe a creator exists and, secondly, we must believe the creator is good and worth following.
2.4 How to Choose your Beliefs
There is only one valid way to choose your beliefs: Determine the set of beliefs that are most likely to be true. The Bible is a claim to an accurate history of the world.2.5 Atheism, Agnosticism and Universalism
Since faith by definition means less than 100% certainty, all believers are in some sense agnostics. All agnostics by necessity must act as if a particular set of beliefs is true and many choose to act as if Atheism is true.Atheism (God does not exist) many times leads to Pantheism (God is everything), which many times leads to Polytheism (gods are whatever is most honorable/powerful). Note that these are each philosophical beliefs and have in common no actual claim of a written historical record. Most world empires were polytheistic, allowing and integrating various belief systems.
3. Communication
3.1 Prayer
Private Prayer:Prayer was originally intended to be a two way discussion between God and Man. Unlike animals, Man is geared to have communication with his creator. Since God seems to be hiding somewhat and typically does not speak back currently, at this time the main practical value of prayer is in thinking through/articulating issues and in helping people give up worrying by reminding them that God values them and He is in control of their situation even in situations of failure or death. While there may be value in repeatedly begging for things that we desperately need, in the rich West most prayers are for convenience rather than for desperate necessity.
Public Prayer:
Many times public prayer is used for the practical purposes of maintaining a sense of group unity, making people feel they are in touch with God and/or demonstrating the oratory skills of the leader. The Biblical command to pray in secret rather than in public is meant to apply to good leaders with good intentions, not just those actually intending to use their public prayers just for marketing purposes. Distinctions should be made between various types of "prayer", including making requests, giving thanks to God, worshiping, and giving a blessing to someone.
3.2 Teaching, Preaching and Evangelism
Teaching, preaching and evangelism are all forms of education, which includes both providing information and, perhaps more importantly, providing motivation to the learner. As with all learning we should enable self-directed learning, offer "bite sized chunks" of information and in some way to validate to others the knowledge they have gained. We should get away from pastor/teacher-focused (sage on the stage) education and move to self-directed (guide on the side) project-based, non-repetitive, learner-focused education with a purpose.In many cases short term mission trips benefit the short term missionary more than the places they visit. Foreign countries benefit from temporary access to Western money, industry and education, whereas the missionary benefits from seeing first hand the value of that access. To truly benefit the country requires indigenous missionaries who over time build up community, trade and education locally rather than just giving temporary access to those resources in the West.
4. Philosophy/Theology and Theoretical Science
4.1 The Books of the Bible
The books collated into the Bible, in addition to containing history, also include the philosophical/theological concepts to use to interpret how history can be applied to make future decisions. Most of the concepts are qualitative rather than quantitative.4.2 Observational Science
Most information determined from Observational Science is quantitative, so most of theoretical science is determining quantitative formulas to predict what will happen in the future. Scientists are good at determining what formulas fit historical numerical patterns, but they are sometimes not as good at providing a well-reasoned qualitative interpretation of, at a foundational level, what their valid formulas mean.4.3 Church Practices
4.3.1 Baptism
4.3.2 Communion
Communion is intended to be a reminder of our commitment, as followers of Jesus, to sacrifice our lives as needed to do what is right. As we remember Jesus we also remember that to be a "follower of Jesus" means we are willing to die, as Jesus did, for what is right.4.3.3 Music and Motivational Speech
Music and motivational speaking is used to build emotion/motivation. The Holy Spirit functions to train emotions to motivate gaining value. Virtues are those habits that typically maximize value, trade and community. Music and motivational speech can either build motivation toward virtue or they can be an emotional substitute for focusing on virtue.4.3.4 Interpreting Paul - Tongues and Meat Sacrificed to Idols
Peter says that what Paul writes is sometimes hard to understand. This is because Paul is nuanced in his thinking and tries to agree as much as possible with the opposing argument before arguing the opposite. So, for example, Paul seems to be arguing for eating meat sacrificed to idols before he says he would never do that and we shouldn't either.Paul was asked if "Speaking in Tongues" that no one understood was valid or a false practice that should be banned, though some claimed that this might be languages of angels. Knowing that no one can prove a negative, instead of banning the practice Paul wisely said to focus on the original intent of transferring information to people who don't speak your language and to focus on other gifts. Paul identifies with the people who want to speak in tongues since they are motivated to do something good, but then argues to focus their desire elsewhere. Today, Charismatic churches miss Paul's point in this chapter, and many anti-Charismatic churches miss Paul's attempt to address the issue without having to prove a negative.
4.3.5 Tithing and Giving
Tithing was the giving of a crop harvest, not giving coinage/money. This tithe was to replace the harvest that Levites would have received if they had spent the year farming instead of working in Jewish service in the temple. Part of the tithe was to be used for a feast and to purchase strong drink.Today referencing the tithe is an easy way to help fund Christian projects. Instead, Christians should pay only their fair share of projects they have freely committed to help support. As members of a church, they should cheerfully support their portion of what is needed to support the workers, though many organizations may be overstaffed and overbuilt.
4.4 Mysticism
Mysticism is used in place of reason when people want to deal with certainties rather than probabilities where they don't have enough information. Mysticism should be rejected in favor of reason.5. Intelligence (Who)
5.1 Humans
We are not our bodies, but our ways of thinking. Cut off any part of the body other than our brain and we can still be ourselves. We can be thought of as one individual, but we can also be defined by the "sets of ways of thinking" that we hold to. Conversely, the different "sets of ways of thinking" can be considered different "individuals" in our mind. This is the way that people can be "filled with the Holy Spirit" or "possessed by demons". We can be thought of in two ways at the same time: We are both whole individuals that persist over time, but we are also subsets of ideas that can change over time.5.1.1 Races
The characteristics that separate races are superficial. Genetically, to reduce genetic defects it is healthiest to intermarry with people who are the furthest genetically from us. Different cultures can have better or worse social standards, so we should take the best traits of each culture.5.1.2 Gender Roles
Both genders are equally valuable but each gender is in general designed to be better at different tasks. Just as we should be caring of people with physical struggles, we should be caring for people with gender identity struggles. We should work to maximize freedom even when we believe others are in error. But, freedom also means not trying to force people to believe that gender identity or gender attractions that don't match genetics are normative.5.2 God
God is eternal and the designer of the Universe, which is not eternal. If "something" cannot come from "nothing", then the only other alternative would be for the creation to be eternal. In either case, something has to be eternal.5.3 Holy Spirit
The result of having the Holy Spirit being in our minds is a strong motivation because we are convinced we are trying to do the right thing. As we change our minds and habits to become more holy, doing what is right can become strongly motivational. So, it is valid to look at the Holy Spirit in two ways: as the person of the Holy Spirit inhabiting a subset of our mind, while at the same time saying that sets of ideas are changing our minds to motivate us to be more holy, whatever the cost.5.4 Jesus
Jesus is the example of sacrifice, to the point of being willing to die, that we as followers of Jesus are committed to following. His ways of thinking fully matched God's ways of thinking as well as the Holy Spirit's ways of thinking.5.5 Angels and Demons
Angel means "messenger". These messengers can apparently be given bodies but they don't necessarily need physical bodies. On the other hand, there is no example of Demons existing anywhere other than inside minds, either human or animal. Demon possession can be thought of in two ways: either as a set of bad ideas that should be rejected as not one's own, or, as another individual inhabiting a subset of a mind.5.6 Animals
Animal's minds apparently cannot conceive of symbolic language or ideas, but never the less God does make a covenant with the animals as well. Animal sacrifices were designed to bring out the emotion of sadness and to motivate a changed life. In the future when God puts an end to war, he will also cause animals to become herbivores.Before the Flood people only ate plants, and, in the future animals will no longer be killed/eaten. So while we are currently allowed to eat meat, especially in areas/times that don't support farming or gathering, meat eating apparently wasn't intended to be normative. Also, a whole foods plant based diet seems to, in most cases, prevent vascular diseases, the leading cause of death in western diets.
5.7 Plants
While plants can react to their environment they do not have central minds that process, store or communicate information.6. History (When)
6.1 Time
Time is just our "perception of change". What we call the "past" is our current memories and what we call the "future" is our current mental plans. So God did not create "time" itself but rather He created the regularly recurring changes we use as "clocks" to measure the passage of other changes, which is how we commonly think of "time". So, the Relativity Theory formulas describe human/device perceptions rather than what is actually happening in space independent of the observing person/device.6.2 Our Origin
6.2.1 Freedom of Choice
God didn't have to give Adam and Eve freedom to choose from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. By giving them that choice it shows that God believes that maintaining freedom of choice is more important than maintaining an ideal society, though he is working to provide both.Evil is not the opposite of good. Rather, Evil is striving to obtain a supposedly better, but actually non-existent, utopia by means of force. In other words, Evil is when we are prideful enough to think we know better than the designer.
6.2.2 Good Society
The Garden of Eden was the initially intended society, at least for individual families. We should each be able to rely on nature for our necessities rather than solely relying on others in society. Even if we live in cities we should be able to, if necessary, move to a location and become self-sufficient in the necessities. Otherwise we effectively become slaves to our society.6.2.3 Origin of Death and Suffering
Death and suffering motivates us to want a world where there is no death or suffering. Death is not the end but it symbolizes ultimate sacrifice. If Adam and Eve were perfectly willing to die rather than eat the fruit then they would never have eaten, regardless of the amount of time.6.3 History
6.3.1 Freedom of Choice
The wide variety of societies over history are needed to allow different societies to make varying choices to, in the end, demonstrate that God's way of setting up society is the best.6.3.2 Good Society
The goal of history is to show how to set up the best society.6.3.3 History of Death and Suffering
Societies that try to use force to set up the ideal Utopian society typically end up causing the most death and suffering. Societies that work to maximize freedom end up creating the best societies.6.3.4 Historical Governments
6.3.4.1 Before the Flood
Violence was so bad before the Flood that society needed to be ended and started over.6.3.4.2 Sumer
All the key events in the book of Genesis are found in some form in Sumerian mythology/history. Abraham left the corruption of Sumer to found a new society.6.3.4.3 Egypt
Moses rejected the mythology of Egypt in favor of the history that Sumerian myths were based on. The Israelites left the corruption of Egypt to recreate a society more similar to the Garden of Eden, as Abraham had done before them.6.3.4.4 Israel
Israel was intended as an example of a group of people following God, but the intent was to maintain freedom. High value was placed on not becoming a slave to work. Moses says he never took anyone's donkey, so government infrastructure was minimal. Samuel said God wasn't pleased that Israel asked for a King who would build an army, amass wealth and go to war. Much of Genesis is written to show the problems of society without a law to guide the people and to justify submitting to the laws in the Torah. The temple and the sacrifices were initially needed as physical symbols, but were not ultimately what God wanted.6.3.4.5 Roman Empire
Today the West is a descendant of the Roman Empire rather than being a descendant of Israel. We follow the example intended by Israel and their laws but we were not intended to be under the same laws as Israel.6.4 The Future
6.4.1 Freedom of Choice
Heaven and Hell is the separation of people who are willing to sacrifice themselves to follow God from those who are not willing to do that. People who make good choices will create a good society (Heaven) and those who make bad choices will create a very bad society (Hell). Also, God is not required to make the world work just as well for those who do not follow Him. So Hell is a very bad place even without the need for God to eternally torture people in Hell.6.4.2 Good Society
Heaven is a place where freedom of choice is maintained but those in Heaven have shown that they naturally will choose to do what is right. Good relationships and good societies are both forms of good "trade". "Virtues" are just heuristics that generally promote good "trade", good relationships and good societies.6.4.3 Future of Death and Suffering
Death and suffering were not originally intended but are useful to motivate us to want a future world without death and suffering. Even though death is not the end, it is symbolic of making the ultimate sacrifice as followers of Jesus. Since death is not the end then at some point it will no longer be an issue.7. The Universe (Where)
7.1 Supernatural, Simplicity/Complexity and Substitutes
There is no actual difference between "natural" and "supernatural". If something is re-creatable we call it natural and if we can't re-create something we call it supernatural. Natural objects hide complexity and interact with simplicity. Since the designer has a broader view of how things should work, in general, doing things naturally is the best method. There are two kinds of substitutes for nature. One kind of substitute is a good substitute for areas where we cannot do something naturally (such as exercise when we can't do hard labor). A bad kind of substitute is where we think we are improving on nature, trying to maximize superficial traits at the cost of more important traits.7.2 Miracles
We call something a miracle if it isn't repeatable and we don't understand the mechanism. Once we understand the mechanism or can repeat the event we call it natural rather than a miracle. Since we can't repeat or understand everything, by definition some miracles are possible.8. Goals (Why)
8.1 Value, Motivation
8.1.1 Honor/Worship
To worship is to ascribe value to something, not just singing or adoring as the term "worship" is commonly understood. Worship is important because when we increase the value we ascribe to God we are also therefore increasing the value ascribed to His creation and to human life. Value is a perception which is only partly based on usefulness. We many times derive our value from the perception of others around us, so it is important to surround ourselves with people who value us and to remind ourselves that God values us and others highly.8.1.2 Happiness/Enjoyment
True happiness comes from knowing we are doing the right thing, even if that causes short term pain. Short term pleasure can at the same time be causing unhappiness.8.1.3 Faith, Hope and Love
Faith, Hope and Love all have in common embracing risk. Faith allows us to live in a world of current risks. Hope motivates us to act as if the future will be better even when there is risk of failure, pain and death. Love gives to others even when there is a risk that giving will not be reciprocated.8.2 Freedom (How)
8.2.1 Providence and Free Will
God has full control but we also have full free will. Which one we perceive is just a matter of how much information we have. If God controls all the forces on dice being rolled then he also controls the outcome of the roll. But, if we don't see how he is controlling those forces then the outcome looks random to us.8.2.2 Virtues, Repentance, Justification, and Sanctification
Something isn't virtuous because God commands it but rather, by nature, he commands what He knows, as the designer, is virtuous. Repentance is a decision rather than a "work". Once we repent we are justified but it may take time to train the habits of the various virtues. That learning/growth process is called sanctification.8.2.3 Forgiveness
We are forgiven when we try to turn away from doing wrong and we decide to follow the example of Jesus. Forgiveness should be continually offered (for one reason, harboring un-forgiveness hurts the person who was wronged), but the actual benefit of forgiveness isn't actually received by the wrongdoer until they turn from doing the wrong.8.2.4 Excommunication
We should have freedom of association and of disassociation. We need to make it clear what groups believe and disassociate in a friendly way from those who believe differently in key areas so that outsiders can see clear distinctions between groups. But we should always be open to trade with others who have opposing beliefs in order to maximize value.8.2.5 Work and Rest
A day of rest is important so that we don't become slaves to our work. Rest is more enjoyable when we feel we have accomplished something valuable from our work. Many times we can do better thinking and planning during times of rest such that, even with a time of rest, we are more productive than if we worked constantly.8.3 Good Society (How)
8.3.1 Liberty
Value is determined by the free determination of others around us. So, freedom of choice is required for worship and love to be of any value.Use of force should be limited to defending oneself and one's property. Instead of force, persuasion and trade should be used to get others to do what you want them to do. The striking of children or the extremely elderly for training or deterrence is a form of force that should be replaced with education, persuasion and trade.
8.3.2 Education
To make truly free choices we must have correct and accurate information. So, freedom of education is foundational to freedom of choice. Therefore, in a perfect world education should not be provided/regulated by the state through forced taxation.8.3.3 Leaders and Councils
Following the collective wisdom of leaders and councils is very helpful, but we must not follow leaders/councils blindly and we must retain our freedom of choice without coercion. Leaders have conflicts of interest in that they need to maintain control, promote unity and restrain dissent. Also, all professionals have a conflict of interest in that they get more value from people continuing to be dependent on them than from training people to be self-sufficient without their ongoing services.8.3.4 Laws
Laws, rules, standards, best practices, virtues, ethics, suggestions, etc.. are in essence all the same. Each are ways of educating/motivating people concerning practices that maximize the likelihood of good trade, relationships and society. Laws differ only in that they have law enforcement attached to coerce people to follow the practices deemed by the state to be laws. If we have a focus on trying to have good trade, relationships and societies then we will naturally do what is in the laws.8.3.5 Contracts
Trade increases the value to both parties in the trade. Trade over time requires trust in the commitment to deliver the value at a later time. So, to maximize value we must honor our contracts.8.3.6 Marriage
Marriage is a freely entered into contract to deliver value over time. Therefore, marriage should not be regulated by the state but rather it should be affirmed/dis-affirmed by families, churches and/or other social organizations.8.3.7 Church
Church was intended to be individuals getting together for a shared purpose, much like home education groups function today. But, to maintain unity and to maximize the likelihood of success of the group, churches and denominations over time have naturally put into place organizationalleadership, structures, rituals and mysticism that focuses on maintaining the unity and success of the group. Rather than being centrally lecture-focused and leader-focused, churches should be decentralized, with a project and team focus.
8.3.8 Belief Systems
All belief systems have some form of wisdom, but we still need to decide what is true and what is not true in each belief system.
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