Now Check the Actual Bible For the Actual Meaning Memes

Plus the few Gordon Ramsey memes which were the forerunners to this series.

A very small subset of my 1000+ memes at My Soteriological (and Other) Memes.

RHETORICAL QUESTION IN EXODUS 6:3 & DEUTERONOMY 29:4

The usual translation of Exodus 6:3 is as follows (except I am keeping the Hebrew names for God):

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai, but by my name YHWH I did not make myself known to them. – Exo 6:3 (ESV)

But check back Genesis 14:22, 26:22, 28:21 where each of those Patriarchs clearly referenced the name YHWH.

With that in view, the late Dr Michael Heiser argued that Exo 6:3 goes more along the lines of “Didn’t I make myself known to them by my name YHWH?” on which I concur. Screenshot attached from https://drmsh.com/zibbc-exodus/

Now reading Deuteronomy 29:4, I find that a similar case likely applies:

But to this day YHWH has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. – Deut 29:4

Look at the immediate context of the surrounding passages, where Moses is recounting all the proof that YHWH is with them – in the verses both before and after v4. It makes for a more natural flow if v4 is actually a rhetorical question:

vv2-3: You witnessed all these amazing things YHWH did!
v4: Didn’t YHWH give you heart to understand, eyes to see, ears to hear?
vv5-8: More amazing things YHWH did which you witnessed.
v9: Therefore because of all you witnessed, keep the covenant.

It is also contradictory if v4 says they can’t comprehend, then v9 asks them to THEREFORE be loyal to YHWH.

CALVINISM PUTS TOO MUCH ADDED MEANING INTO BIBLICAL TERMS

And we would do well not to fall into the trap of agreeing to use those definitions which come loaded with theological & philosophical baggage. For example:

Sovereignty – In the Bible this just means kingship, rulership in the sense how human kings function. Think of King David, King Herod. It denotes authority and power, but which can be delegated. It does not mean meticulous, exhaustive control of every single action – imagine telling King David that he has to personally oversee every cleaning of toilets in the entire kingdom instead of putting a servant in charge of it!

Decree – This just means a command, and does not entail that the command is impossible to disobey as in the Calvinist idea of God’s eternal decrees. In fact this definition I give actually HELPS the Calvinist, because Jeremiah 7:31 & 19:5 are simply God stating that He never asked for, nor Torah-legalized, the sacrifice of children.

Foreknew – IMHO this just means knew, past tense. It is not about having future-sight – I don’t deny that God knows the future (ask me about Open Molinism), but foreknew is not the word for it. In the very few instances of proginosko in the Bible, it is also done by regular humans with no special time-traversing powers (Acts 26:5, 2 Peter 3:17). This meaning also fits better with Romans 8:29-30 and 11:1-2, where God knew, past tense, the Old Testament believers while they were still alive.

Predestination – The destination has been set beforehand, it was pre-destined. As Dr Flowers has illustrated, there is a plane with the destination already decided – every passenger on board will arrive there, but it is up to each person whether to get on board. Again, the very few times that proorizo appears in the Bible support this simple meaning. God does have everything planned out, but the word for that is not predestined. It should be stripped of the modern fantasy epic adventure conceptual baggage of a mystical unchangeable destiny/fate. And in the Bible, it is always the process and end that are predetermined to happen – not WHO joins the process or HOW.

Election – Like the two videos on Beyond the Fundamentals make clear, this just means choosing or appointing. It is not narrowly limited to choosing for individual salvation to damnation. It is always to service or roles – conditional, corporate, and can be changed. Read Jeremiah 18 and 2 Timothy 2:20-21 on what they say about the Potter and clay vessels, and then read Romans 9 again followed by Romans 11:11,23.

“MUH STICK TO ONLY ROMANS 9!!!”

James White and some other Calvinists like to demand that nonCalvinists stick to exegeting ONLY Romans 9, verse by verse, no straying out of the chapter or bringing in other parts of the Bible.

Aside from the fact that Paul did not write his letters with artificial chapter and verse divisions in mind, but intended his whole letter to convey a whole message… The demand to restrict interpretation to ONLY one portion of the Bible is not carried out by the Calvinist when it comes to other aspects of theology! Attached meme shows James White’s particular hypocrisies on this point.

We see this all the time with groups that Calvinists disagree with on theology. Unitarianism will use John 17 ‘the only true God’, never mind other passages which equate Jesus with God. Modern Judaism will use Numbers ‘God is not a man’, never mind other passages where God takes human form. Islam will use Matthew 15 ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’, never mind post-Crucifixion where He draws all to Himself and sends the disciples into all nations.

Restricting oneself to ONLY Romans 9 in interpreting Paul’s theology is intentionally artificial and dishonest. Read on to Romans 11 and vv11,23 demolish the idea of Unconditional Reprobation Unto Damnation.

The Old Testament passages which Paul references – not just in chapter 9, but other places like chapter 3’s citing of Psalm 14 which mentions righteous people – give the context for what he is conveying to the audience who is familiar with those texts.

Jeremiah 18 and 2 Timothy 2:20-21 demonstrate that using potter and vessels as analogy does not intend to imply that we have no agency like literal inanimate objects.

The Bible as a whole provides the overarching themes – God as sovereign has sovereignly decided that we have agency, ability and responsibility to repent and turn to Him. Election is conditional, corporate, to service, and can be changed. God desires ALL to be saved, and Jesus died to enable this even for those who choose to reject this genuine offer. And therefore Paul cannot and does not contradict these truths in Romans 9.

“I also believe in Tota Scriptura.”

Hardening is Judicial Memes

Excerpted from the massive 1000+ memes I made mostly regarding soteriology.

Calvinists often use various prooftexts to argue that God hardens some people – in effect, proving their doctrine of Unconditional Reprobation.

However, simply reading back a little quickly shows the context of the passages – it is ALWAYS a result of prolonged, wilful, freely-chosen sin & rebellion which has finally resulted in God’s judgment and punishment (hence, judicial). In effect, giving them what they want.

Hardening is never arbitrary or unfair. It can even be reversed in God’s mercy.

However, it DOES raise the question for the Calvinist of why God has to harden people who are allegedly born already stone-hearted due to Total Depravity!

ONE PIECE LIVE ACTION ON NETFLIX

Pleasantly surprised by the Netflix live action adaptation of One Piece – and with Netflix’s meme-level reputation for horrific anime adaptations, that’s really saying something!

It’s not an easy anime to portray with the original’s outlandish action, slapstick comedy and sometimes bizarre character designs (compared to something much more grounded like Rurouni Kenshin’s five historical setting films), but I feel they landed on a palatable selection & blend of realism and fantastic.

They went for a more ‘Caribbean’ pirates feel with a mix of different races (makes sense e.g. with Yasopp & Usopp having curly hair) and shanty-ish background music, something which the anime doesn’t go for. The sets and locations feel real while still looking very reminiscent of the source material – Baratie feels like a classy restaurant inside and a Club Med hotel outside, Arlong Park feels like a pool party. The plot changes and rearranging are sensible without straying too far.

Plenty of easter eggs or foreshadowing for the fans, like young Mihawk witnessing Roger’s execution, the News Coo’s gear, or wanted posters of Bellamy and Foxy.

The casting is spot on too, with a grounded take on the exaggerated personalities of the manga/anime that still falls within the orbit of the originals – Luffy is much less hyperactive and childish than the original, while Zoro is suitably serious and stoic (all while his look keeps reminding me of Great Teacher Onizuka lol). Especially the side characters they could easily have done a slapdash interpretation of – like Coby, Helmeppo, Morgan, and Garp (with a gruff Scottish accent that somehow fits lol).

Overall worth a watch, just that fans shouldn’t expect a 100% direct conversion of the anime and it’ll be enjoyable enough – including for normies, who might find this a much more comprehensible introduction to the franchise than the anime.

Knock Knock, WINGED HUSSARS

We remember, in September

That’s the night Vienna was freed

We made the enemy bleed