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Change what you are doing
1. Change what you are doing
This page needs reorganized.
2. Change what you are doing
The etymology of the Greek and Latin and English words for repent are covered elsewhere.
This content concentrates on how the definition of "
repent" can be used by false teachers to possibly mislead others to the personal point of view of the false teacher - ignoring Biblical verses and discourses on the subject.
3. Profitable and expedient counterfactual logic
Counter-factual reasoning, or logic, is reasoning that is "
counter to fact" and is one of the basic ways in which humans reason and is part of the field called "
casual reasoning". This reasoning is often done after-the-fact in the sense of a "
Monday morning quarterback".
Famous computer scientist Judea Pearl has pointed out that God never deals in counterfactual logic. What is the first instance of counterfactual logic being used in the Bible? (provided by Judea Pearl in one of his books).
4. Will
There is a obvious difference between the following.
I pray, God, that your will be done.
I pray, God, that my will be done.
This difference seems obvious when written in this way. In reality, false teachers camouflage what they are saying in deceptive ways. Here, we look at one aspect of these ways.
The phrase "
my will be done" is expressed in the
NT (New Testament) by the idea of "
mammon".
5. Matthew 6:24 A wealth of logical ideas on mammon
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. [kjv]
ουδεις δυναται δυσιν κυριοις δουλευειν η γαρ τον ενα μισησει και τον ετερον αγαπησει η ενος ανθεξεται και του ετερου καταφρονησει ου δυνασθε θεω δουλευειν και μαμωνα [gnt]
The historical usage of
"mammon" in Hebrew is that of a confidence in one's own ability to do things (independent of God). That is a central idea of
humanism. The modern Hebrew definition is that of "
wealth".
The ancient Greek word
"καταφρόνησις" ≈ "hold in contempt, despise". Note that this can be done without the other person knowing. False leaders, false teachers, etc., will show an outward appearance that is
different from their heart on the inside.
There appear to be some logical issues in the translation of what Jesus said. Let us investigate.
6. Social change
It is not easy to find Biblical evidence from what Jesus and others say that one should be involved in social change, even if such social change is deemed to be "good". The (personally) desired end should not justify the means used.
7. Biblical references
There are many Biblical references to support the idea of working for Jesus but not working for social change, humanistic or otherwise.
Jesus: Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's.
Peter: Honor the King (why the Declaration of Independence was written.)
Paul: Honor authorities, etc. (many places)
8. Social change
Some often-cited social changes are often tied to the Bible. On close inspection, however, these changes were not in accordance with the Bible but in accordance with what people thought was good social and/or political change and the Bible was used to support that view.
Declaration of Independence.
Rosa Parks and the "back of the bus".
Martin Luther King, Jr., and his version of the "promised land".
Discussion: What other historical instances can you think of that would fit in here?
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Details are left as a future topic.
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9. Approved behavior
It appears that one should both "
love God" and "
love neighbor" (as oneself). If, as a result, social change happens, then so be it.
These two laws are in the
OT (Old Testament) and cited by Jesus as the foundation of the law and the prophets.
10. Jesus
That change as a result of doing what Jesus commands is a bottom-up change from individual people changing their behavior to do what Jesus wants.
Often, the church (or other authorities) will attempt social (and political, etc.) change in a top-down manner.
11. Sin and sinners
One is to "love God" as in "hate sin".
One is to "love neighbor" as in "love sinner".
Do you hate sin? Do you love the sinner?
This is not easy to do. The wide gates are at the extremes. The narrow gate is in the center. Jesus says that few will find the path through that narrow gate. (Matthew 7).
12. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident)
was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was executed at the end of World War II by the Nazi's for his involvement in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
He had written many influential books on Christian theology in theory and practice.
13. Romans 3:23 All have sinned
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [kjv]
παντες γαρ ημαρτον και υστερουνται της δοξης του θεου [gnt]
If sinners were not allowed in church, there would be no one allowed in church.
The Greek here for
"all" is
plural which means there may be
exceptions. Who might be an exception?
The ancient Greek word
"ἁμαρτία" ≈ "error, mistake, fault, sin" as in, literally,
"not a witness". The Greek for
"glory" is that of
"opinion". Anything that is
"not a witness" for God
"falls short" or
"lags behind" of God's
"opinion" or
"expectation".
In logical reasoning, one should not universally quantify something without specifying the domain to which it applies and how it applies. The "
for all" would appear to refer to "
men" who are not "
God" (as in "
Jesus").
Paraphrase: For all have not been a (good) witness (of God) and not approached the opinion of God
14. Romans 3:23 Glory of God
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [kjv]
παντες γαρ ημαρτον και υστερουνται της δοξης του θεου [gnt]
Do we need to come up to the
"glory" of God? Perhaps a pastor could help us with that seemingly unattainable quest.
"υστερούντα" ≈ "lag behind, be late".
"δόξα" ≈ "opinion, expectation".
Paraphrase: All (with possible exceptions) have not been a (good) witness (for God) and have lagged behind the opinion/expectation of God.
It appears we do not have to reach the level of God. God has an
expectation/opinion of where we should be and we are
lagging behind that
expectation/opinion. This appears to be in line with Eastern Orthodox thought.
15. Jesus at the door
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. [kjv]
ιδου εστηκα επι την θυραν και κρουω εαν τις ακουση της φωνης μου και ανοιξη την θυραν εισελευσομαι προς αυτον και δειπνησω μετ αυτου και αυτος μετ εμου [gnt]
Sadly, Jesus is often not allowed in some churches. Some churches only allow the part of Jesus they like into their church. We see this in Revelation. Jesus is at the church door knocking. The "
hear" in Greek has a connotation of hearing with understanding. The church at Laodicia appears to not want Jesus in their church. Does this happen in any churches in modern times?
The Greek for "
voice" is, literally, "
light" into the "
mind".
16. Change
The power to change is the power to grow. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. But change for change's sake can be more damaging to your efforts towards creating an engaged and inspired workforce than no change at all. John F. Kennedy (35 President of the United States)
17. Errors
Have you ever heard about "
changing" the "
error of your ways"?
An
error and a
change are both defined as a difference between the observed behavior and the expected or desired behavior.
A
warning is similar to an error except that it is not considered as important an issue as an error.
To identify an error requires a
specification and one should not use the operational code as a specification.
Inerrancy reasoning fallacy:
You cannot know that the Bible has an error unless you know what the Bible is supposed to say.
18. Specification
The only way to determine if there is an error in what you are doing is to compare what you are doing to a specification of what one is supposed to be doing.
By omitting a full specification, a false teacher can lead people in the direction desired.
That is, a false specification or false target can be created that, unless inspected closely, resembles the real specification or target.
19. Program facing aspects
Two aspects of programs that follow from specifications are the following.
What does the customer see? This is customer-facing or functional specification requirements. Provides direct value to the customer.
What does the programmer see? This is programmer-facing or nonfunctional specification requirements. Necessary but no direct value to customer.
20. Biblical view
A Biblical view of aspects of software engineering specifications are the following.
The "customer-facing" or "functional requirements" are provided by God and Jesus as bottom-up as a shallow-structured organization.
The "programmer-facing" or "nonfunctional requirements" are provided by the church as an tree-structured organization of human hierarchy
In general, a false teacher would tend to either obscure the actual functional requirements (omitting parts of the Bible, etc.) or overly emphasize nonfunctional requirements (i.e., of the church).
21. Leanings
From a Biblical perspective, the full specification would include the following.
1. Love God.
2. Love your neighbor (as yourself)
The (conservative) religious establishment of the time of Jesus (and other times) tends to loves God but not their neighbor. They tend to hate the sin but also hate the sinner.
The (liberal) religious establishment, particularly of modern times, tends to love neighbor and ignore loving God (and any of God's rules) when so desired. This is justified as not being in line with loving one's neighbor. They tend to love the sinner but also love (and/or condone) the sin.
Discussion question: How wide are the left, center and right gates or pathways?
22. Belief
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. Saint Augustine (Early Christian father)
Do people today pick and choose which parts of the Bible they will believe?
Do pastors today pick and choose which parts of the Bible they will believe? Do they then pass on those parts to their flock and not tell them about other parts?
Note that you can ignore parts of the Gospel that you do not know about or do not understand (ignorance of the law) or you can ignore parts of the Gospel in order to deceive others (and yourself).
23. Change for changes sake
Saying: "
If it aint' broken, don't fix it.".
If it ain't broke, don't fix it' is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. Colin Powell
24. Change
There is a saying that "
the only constant is change".
This is often attributed to
Heraclitus of Ephesus (Ancient Greek philosopher) (from Plato) as "
everything changes and nothing remains stil,2l; and you cannot step twice into the same stream."Saying:
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
When, exactly, are two things "
equal"?
Example paradox: ship of Theseus
What about digital copies? What about military units and soldiers, naval ships and crews, sports teams and players, etc.?
25. Change
Change is easy, except for the changed part. Alan Kay (American computer scientist)
26. Change
When you are finished changing, you are finished. Benjamin Franklin (American scientist, inventor, philosopher, statesman)
27. Constant
28. Acts 23:11
Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. [kjv]
sequenti autem nocte adsistens ei Dominus ait constans esto sicut enim testificatus es de me Hierusalem sic te oportet et Romae testificari [v]
29. Constantine
The name "
Constantine" or "
Constance" comes from this Latin word, as in the Roman Emperor Constantine who, in the fourth century A.D., moved the capital of Rome to a new city that was soon called Constantinople, or the "
City of Constantine".
30. Quotes
Here are some quotes on change.
31. Social and political change
Be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi (Indian lawyer and political activist) . This is a popular paraphrase of a longer quote by
Mahatma Gandhi. One must distinguish between social change, political change, etc., and the basis and reasoning for that change.
An Friday, August 16, 1946, the day before the World War II Victory Parade in Elizabethtown, PA, 10,000 people were killed in
Calcutta during
Direct Action Day protest. Gandhi represented the Hindu side.
32. Perspective
Alan Kay (American computer scientist) . Talk at Creative Think seminar, 20 July 1982.
A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
Point of view is worth 80 IQ points
Kay uses the example of solving problems using polar coordinates rather than Cartesian coordinates. Each works better in certain circumstances. Kay developed (invented) object-oriented and user interface ideas that changed computer science and led to the modern window interface with icons, the mouse, etc.
Principles of duality in many fields allow the same problem to be addressed from two seemingly different points of view.
33. Change
For us humans, everything is permanent - until it changes, as we are immortal until we die. Malcolm Muggeridge (British broadcaster)
34. Change of address
Some day you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God. Billy Graham (American evangelist)
35. End of page
