Gather round ye all, for a tale of epic facepalmness… And yet also, sudden clarity! Maybe I was Gnostically enlightened? (read on to catch the reference…)
1) WITH GREEN ANONIMITY BARS
Awhile ago, I had a run-in with a certain member in the Soteriologi101 Discussion group on Facebook (whom shall not be named, unless they are headstrong enough to out themselves… which I honestly think will happen lol). They had been taking issue with some of my memes (nothing new or unusual there!), calling me ‘Diabolos’ for allegedly lying about what Calvinism teaches or logically results in (again, same old same old).
And then somehow… They got the bizarre notion that I was making the claim “Christ is unaware”. Probably as regards the future.
Now, many of you will know (and some of you chide me for it!) that I subscribe to Molinism – which has a view of God’s knowledge that is probably the highest of any system, what with Middle Knowledge and all! Less known but related, I also lean towards the ‘Declarative Know’ interpretation of “No one knows the day or the hour” as espoused by Anthony Rogers, whereby Jesus was not saying he has no awareness of when the Day of the Lord will be – rather, Jesus was saying that this is the Father’s prerogative to declare (compare what Paul says in 1 Cor 2:2).
It can’t even be with regards to something I said about Calvinism, since I do acknowledge that it teaches God knows everything future (albeit because God meticulously causes every event to happen). So it really makes no sense at all to accuse me of saying “Christ is unaware”.
But the last straw is when I repeatedly pushed for evidence of WHEN AND WHERE I ever said anything that sounds remotely like Christ doesn’t know something. The response was to accuse me of stealth-deleting the comment where I had allegedly said that.
From that time onwards, I stopped wasting my time and patience with constructing cogent and informative replies. I now respond to them only in memes and images (albeit ones that are contextual and relevant to the point).
All this went down in the first two tall screenshots with the green censorship bars.
BUT, after examining their interactions elsewhere, I am now starting to think that they might actually have a disconnect in communication and/or understanding. The data that I am imparting may be lost in translation (literally, as English is likely not their native language) – or else what is imparted is completely transmorgrified by the mind that receives the data!
2) WITH BLUE ANONIMITY BARS
For example, see the screenshot of what they think about those who affirm human free will. How is this at all related to actual Gnostic beliefs – whether its aspect of separation of good spirit from evil matter, or its claim that enlightenment to the truth is only granted to a certain few? The latter, of course, has many parallels with Calvinism’s Irresistible Grace – hence I replied to that post with lots of my memes pointing that fact out, along with Manichean Gnostic roots of Augustine (Calvin’s biggest influence). So score one point for the ‘warped data translation’ theory.
3) WITH ORANGE ANONIMITY BARS
Or the screenshot about selfless agape love. I ask you, is this merely a Non Sequitur? Or is it a complete 180-degrees inversion of what ‘selfless’ and ‘selfish’ normally mean? (Par for the course for Calvinism, where new dictionary definitions of ‘love, all, free’ are poofed out of thin air… But I digress.) So, seconded for the ‘alternate dimension where the laws of mindbrain operate differently’ hypothesis.
CONCLUSION
These examples have made me realize that perhaps in the case of apparent slander, they really DID think I had said “Christ is unaware” somewhere. I never actually ever said it, but their grasp of the English language and/or the way their brain interpreted the meaning may have resulted in “Christ is unaware” popping into their mind.
This may sound bizarre, but it’s not unheard of. Remember Kathy Newman’s infamous “So you’re saying…” interview of Jordan Peterson? Where every sentence he uttered was rephrased back to him with completely different meaning from what he just said?
Well I’ve actually read some serious analysis that says Newman WASN’T intentionally misrepresenting Peterson’s views right to his face, she HONESTLY DID THINK that was what he had just said!
Now that you’ve read my examination of the patient, those of you who’ve interacted with them before will probably already have figured out who they are. If you have, what do you think of my ‘Bizarro-world, funhouse mirror mind’ diagnosis? So be patient with the patient, it’s not intentional on their part!
But having deduced all that… Since I can’t communicate with them despite my best efforts at careful explanation anyway, I might as well continue to reply only in memes as promised! It’s actually more challenging to think of how and with what meme to respond.
THE SCOTTTCAST 