Reading The Economist has made me aware of the some of the peculiar differences between American English and British English. An obvious difference is some spelling; colour, favour, aluminium, stuff like that. Another difference is verb usage. When a company is mentioned, the tense is always plural, i.e., "Ford are going to lay off some workers." It's a little confusing sometimes, but it's their language to begin with so they can do what they want, even if it sounds stupid. The wages of sin is/are whatever the market will bear.
The Methodist Church has loosened up a bit since you've last attended services, Uncle Ken. They're not locked into the King James Version of the Bible anymore; other translations are acceptable, or so I've read.
The preface to the Oxford Bible discusses the King James Version at length, and why a revised version was necessary. Many words in the KJV are archaic and no longer used; other words have a different meaning than they did in the 17th Century. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) tries to preserve the language of the KJV as much as possible, since it's considered "the noblest monument of English prose." Good enough for me.
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Genesis 1:27 adds a little confusion to the business of the first woman. It states that "...in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Maybe that's the origin of the Lilith legend; the woman is not mentioned by name but it appears that she precedes Eve.
Lilith is quite a character, and the entry in Wikipedia makes for some fascinating reading. My religious education glossed over the fact that God wasn't alone at the time of creation and there were many members of the Heavenly Host. Makes me wonder why God created man in the first place, unless he just wanted something to screw around with, which pretty much describes the God of the Old Testament. Not a nice guy, just ask Job or Noah, and Abraham had a close call with sacrificing his son.
I thought it odd that God was willing to negotiate. There was one story, I forgot which, where God was going to destroy a city but was haggling with a guy about not destroying it if there were seven righteous men, or something like that.
That's a great thing about the Bible as a literary work, it's got everything: sex, violence, drunkenness, miracles, zombies (Lazarus), space ships (chariots of fire), hallucinations (visions), love, betrayal, loyalty, tragedy, good guys, bad guys, and guys in between. Too bad none of the translations tossed in Aesop's Fables and made it a little more suitable for children.
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For an atheist Uncle Ken is really concerned about the relative goodness of Christian behavior. Let me throw a little scripture at him: "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
So, would a guy like Al Capone go to heaven? He was generous to the poor, victims of his criminal enterprise were usually other criminals, and he provided a product for many satisfied customers. Plus, he kept many law enforcement personnel employed. Faith in Jesus would guarantee heavenly admittance, but if good acts were required would he make it? I'm not judging.
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Bookmaking is legal in England and odds are dropping, with many betting that the Great Pumpkin will leave office before his term is up. See? We have something we can look forward to.
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