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Title: It’s Time We Stopped Calling Donald Trump a Christian
Source:
Stuff That Needs To Be Said
URL Source: http://johnpavlovitz.com/2017/02/02 ... ling-donald-trump-a-christian/
Published: Feb 4, 2017
Author: John Pavlovitz
Post Date: 2017-02-04 11:49:44 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 11743
Comments: 34
Enough is enough. Even in the early days of the Presidential campaign it was a ludicrous idea: that Donald Trump was now a Christian; that he’d miraculously “found Jesus” right at the time he needed to pull in millions of Evangelical voters. Never mind that his life showed an open contempt for most of the things the Jesus of the Gospels lived and preached: humility, generosity, respect, empathy, kindness, peace. The high profile-evangelists in his corner assured their rightly alarmed flocks, that behind the scenes Donnie was changed man, a “baby Christian” who’d now seen the light and was making his way down the narrow road of faith to lead us all to the Promised Land (where curiously America was first and everyone was white.) Sure, he was on his third marriage and was heard on video boasting of his infidelity to his current wife. Yes, he said he could grab a woman by the genitalia. Yes, he advocated that protesters at his rallies be “roughed up.” Sure, he made fun of a disabled man. Certainly, he talked about walling off Mexicans and banning Muslims and taking away healthcare—but Donnie loved Jesus now, so all should be well with our souls. The opportunistic religious leaders began publicly framing the vile, profane, relentlessly offensive Trump as a flawed, imperfect tool of God‚ and American church folk raised on a faith of fear and conditioned to believe they are perpetually in danger—began buying it. Little by little, it became okay, even sensible to call Donald Trump a Christian. (Talk about a miracle.) And for someone who has served as a pastor for twenty years, the transformation was astounding and disheartening to witness. Millions of fundamentalists who’d previously spent their days parsing out Bible verses to condemn the LGBTQ community, Muslims, entertainers, Atheists, Democrats, suddenly became a people of Grace. They got really liberal with the Scriptures. They lectured those of us who questioned it all “not to judge lest we be judged”, and heaped shame upon us for bringing up example after example of the man’s hypocrisy, because “God looks at the heart” and how dare we assess another’s professed faith. (Somehow these things were never in play over the eight years they spent daily crucifying Barack Obama, but perhaps the issue there was one not of religion, but of pigmentation.) But a few weeks into Donald Trump’s tenure, Christians need to speak the truth that sets them free: Donald Trump is not a Christian. Yes, he may have shown up in a church during the campaign (looking as comfortable as a cow in a slaughterhouse), and he may have given some lip service prayer to one of his preacher pals while golfing, and he may have bamboozled scores of Christians already dying to believe it so they could make peace with their vote—but he is not a man following Jesus. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks these words: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Mt 5:15-20 Jesus says that we can judge people. We should evaluate the things we can see. We can measure devotion to God by what is manifested outwardly. We look at the “fruit”. What is the fruit of Donald Trump’s life, of his marriages, his business dealings, his campaign, of his young Presidency? What is the fruit of eliminating healthcare for tens of millions of poor people? What is the fruit of banning refugees and leaving them stranded at airports? What is the fruit of walling of Mexico and demanding they pay for the gesture? What is the fruit of driving an oil pipeline through sacred Native American land? What is the fruit of filling your Cabinet with billionaires? What is the fruit of demonizing and banning Muslims? What is the fruit of appointing a white supremacist to the highest level of government? It’s rotten fruit, that’s what it is. It’s exactly the kind of greedy, bloated, bitter, violent, self-centered, myopic existence that Jesus spent his life calling us to reject. So no, I don’t know the President’s heart or his inner confession of faith, but I have eyes and they see no love or benevolence or compassion—and that does matter to Jesus. Christians need to stop insisting that Donald Trump is a Christian if they really care at all about people coming to know Christ. If that is the greatest burden on their hearts, using this man is tantamount to spiritual treason. It is a perversion of the Gospels that provides such a dissonance to the bystander, as to make Christ all but invisible. Until he says or does anything that remotely resembling him, we need to stop using him and Jesus in the same breath because it distorts Jesus by association. Christian, you can continue to support this man, but don’t say you’re doing it because he is a man of God, a follower of Jesus, someone striving for Christlikeness. The rotted, stinking, insect-drawing fruit—says otherwise. Jesus matters to me. The words he said matter to me. The life he calls us to live matters. Incarnating this Jesus in people’s lives matters to me. This is why that word Christian still matters. I am also a person of Grace, but I also live in a reality where the stuff we do is connected to what we believe. I don’t know Donald Trump. He may actually believe he is a Christian. He may be so surrounded by sycophants and religious yes-men that no one is giving him the hard words about the kind of gentle, loving, sacrificial life Jesus called his people to live. If that’s the case I hope that he, like Saul will have a moment where his eyes are opened and he sees the goodness he might do with the power and influence at his disposal—and he is changed. But right now, using him as a symbol of the Christian faith is catastrophic for people looking on. Christian, you might be tempted to argue with me or attack my position, and you would be welcome to, but I’d first suggest you go and read the Sermon on the Mount, spend some time in reflection and prayer—and then look with fresh eyes and tell me where you see Jesus in this man’s life and why you’re okay claiming it as your own.
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#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
The United States is not a theocracy. Our President, Christian or not, is guided by the U.S. Constitution, not the Bible.
It is time we stop calling liberals humans.
So if somebody is now a Christian that means they "found Jesus"? This is not true. Jesus was not Christian. He was born a Hebrew Israelite of the Tribe of Juda. The original Hebrew Israelites were dark-skinned. He was not born a leper but was described in scripture as bronze-skinned. See references here: Dan 10:5-6; Ezekial 40:3; Rev 1:15-17 The name "Jesus" is not his name because the letter "J" was never used in the Hebrew bible. His holy and blessed name is Yahshua meaning "salvation". The name "Jesus" is English and according to the Latin translation means "Earth Pig" or something unclean. http://www.sabbathcovenant.com/d.../sus_is_latin_for_pig.htm This nation was never created under Christian or Jewish law. It is a secular nation created by our Forefathers who were inspired by the Christian ways but sought to keep the people free from personal persecution of their personal faiths. Our First Amendment makes that very clear when its states in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
When asked repeatedly, he denied that he prayed and specifically denied having ever asked God for forgiveness of any sins. By any historical standard, he is not a Christian. I suspect he doesn't have the fundamental understanding of Christian doctrine and practice that is well-known even to young children raised in the various churches. I'm surprised the article neglected to mention this most crucial bit of info about Teh Donald. However, he may be the most Christian-friendly president in recent decades, not merely to pander to the Christian voters but as a matter of basic fairness and of a solidarity with traditional Christian values that he is capable of recognizing over the course of his own lifetime.
More devils Satanists neocoms ... Anti ... Anti too love ps liberals universe communism vs fascism both anti anti anti anti pro pro pro pss both 180 opposites of Conservative incessantly from If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys !
just call him "MISTER PRESIDENT", he likes that
Few things damage a poster's credibility than trotting out some tendentious etymology to make a damned point. The 'j' in Jesus was pronounced as a 'y' as it is in German and that's how it was pronounced in the mother language that gave rise to both Anglo-Saxon and Old High German. The name was written often interchageably Iesus and Jesus. In fact the written J evolved from the i or iota. Up until the time of Chaucer (1300s) Jesus was pronounced ee-ay-sus, the same s in German or Dutch. This pronunciation was derived from the Corinthian Greek of the New Testament: ™·Ã¿Í or ee-ay-sous. In Spanish of course the J is a H and it's hay-sus. The name has gone through countless phonological permutations in many languages. In none of these cases does the name Jesus have anything to do with a stinkin' pig.
That's a matter of opinion and not fact. In none of these cases does the name Jesus have anything to do with a stinkin' pig. Really? Then why was our Savior's named changed from Yeshua to Jesus? Names have meanings you know. For reference here is something to chew on: www.eliyah.com/nameson.htm and here www.eliyah.com/yahushua.html
The name wasn't changed. That is, no one decided to change it. Words change in form and sound because of differences in pronunciation and different sound inventories in various languages. For instance we say 'semitic' and not 'shemitic' because we adopted the Latinate adjective for the same, and there is no 'sh' in Latin. In Latin Shem is Sem. I once listened to a left wing educator blabber on about how racist it was to refer to Jews and Arabs as Semites, because 'semi' meant half-breeds. That's a two-fer argument. It's tendentious and ignorant at the same time.
Jordan Maxwell, BTW, is the king of kooky derivations. His stuff is legend and I think he's serious most of the time. (According to his resume, Maxwell was an "On-screen Expert and Research Consultant" for the CBS pseudodocumentary series "Ancient Secrets of the Bible." With "expertise" like his, no wonder that program had the real scholars howling!
... Anti Christians ... Anti Americans too Let me start by saying that in my view most of those who claim to be Christian arn't christian, but not being God, I really don't have the right to make that judgement because i can't see inside their heart or soul. If Trump has "become" a Christian then he has a long walk to sancification, but everything before that moment has passed. Man has a nature and it is difficult to overcome and we, even those who have been Christians for many years, can revert in a moment of stress. So here you have a man who may have listened to those around him and made a commitment to Christ without understanding what it really means. And now he has an important position where he must make life and death decisions. I hope he will listen to that small voice if he is still enough to hear. but please remember that scripture also tells us that God appoints rulers
you If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys !
We adopted the Latin adjective? Who is we? Latin is the language spoken and written by the scribes of Rome. I know this because my mother was raised Roman Catholic and was versed in written and in speech in Latin. To write in English was a vulgar language meant for the great unwashed and uninitiated of the mysteries of Latin to those raised in this fashion. I, on the other hand, chose to follow a road less traveled when it comes to finding out the real Savior. And I have found Him. And He is nothing as described in what I see in today's churches. All those churches out there are misleading so many people with those graven images of Him as white when it is common knowledge that the Vatican church has been seen praying to a Black Madonna and black child. Hebrew is the language the Israelites spoke and wrote and I must add to this that the original Israelites were the black Ethiopians. All one needs to do is start researching on some of this and what they may find may surprise them.
Behind every name has a meaning. And Yeshua was the real name of Jesus a Hebrew Israelite.
Is means the state of being, el is a god or deity, and rei is pronounced like ray which is a broad, flat marine or freshwater fish. Therefore Israel is a broad, flat fish god. The Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition Jesus (the name) existed before Modern English was used. Old English looks more like German than modern English. It came to Old English from Old French.
Yes in the Aramaic Yeshua is the name his disciples most likely used. However, translated to other languages? Jesus is derived from the Latin transliteration of the Greek which is Iesous.
I'm not interested in what branch of mythology he subscribes to. I'm only interested in his serious intention to fulfill the promises he made during his campaign. And if he trys to make friends with his former enemies, he's nuts. They are very self-serving and unforgiving.
English speakers, silly goose.
In English we pronounce the -ra- as -rei-, but no one else does, including Hebrew speakers. We pronounce a lot of things in strange ways because of a vowel shift in our language that happened quite a long time ago. Everyone else pronounces Israel Is-rah-el. And you cannot divorce the -r- from the is-. The sibilant and the liquid are part of the root. s-r or s-r-r or sh-r is a consonantal semitic root denoting power, authority, rule. So Isra-el: 'struggle with or alongside' God or 'God struggles' depending on your interpretation. The verb 'isra'? Theophoric names, consisting of the name of a deity and a verb, were common in the ancient Near East. (Examples still in use today include Jeremiah, "God exalts," Daniel and Jehoshaphat – both meaning "God judges", any number of names based on the Greek and Roman gods, and so on). And while "Israel" is evidently a theophoric name, the Biblical account of the name's origin is hard to accept. For one thing, its description of how the name was conferred isn't how theophoric names worked. According to the etymology based on the Biblical story, "isra" is a verb that describes Jacob's relationship with the deity El. But the verb in theophoric names in the ancient Near East, and in ancient Israel in particular, should describe an attribute of the deity, not of the person. So, based on that rule, the verb isra probably described the god El in some way (who, 3,300 years ago, was not considered a sole god, but the head of the Canaanite pantheon). The problem is that it isn’t clear what that rare verb isra means, and various scholars and translators do not agree. The King James translation of the Bible for example, took the verb to derive from the root s-r-r and thus interpreted it “as a prince hast thou power,” or in other words, “rules like a prince”. Other scholars have suggested that the verb comes from the root y-sh-r, - meaning “straight” or “fair,” thus the name would mean something like “God is just.” But the best answer is apparently that which the Bible itself gives in the Genesis verse above, that "isra" means “struggles,” or “fights.” But it isn't Jacob who is doing the struggling, it's God. By that interpretation, "Israel" means "God shall fight". read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.652699 So there's nothing "fishy" about the name of Israel
Translated in any other languages other than "Yeshua" holds a different meaning than "salvation".
I don't usually respond to these conspiracy "the name" theories. Here's centuries of scholarship on the Name Jesus: 2424 Isoús – Jesus, the transliteration of the Hebrew term, 3091 /Lṓt ("Yehoshua"/Jehoshua, contracted to "Joshua") which means "Yahweh saves" (or "Yahweh is salvation"). "Jesus Christ" is properly "Jesus the Christ." "Jesus" (2424 /Isoús) is His human name, as the incarnate, eternal Son of God (Mt 1:21,25, see also Lk 1:31) – the Christ, the divine Messiah (the second Person of the holy Trinity). [Christ (His title) means "the Anointed One" (the eternal pre-incarnate, Logos, Jn 1:1-18).]
You are reading poppycock from www.sabbathc ovenant.com/c...ception/ IesousinGreek.htm. There is no verb -ei- in Corinthian (biblical) Greek for "hail." To hail or acclaim is "chairitzeto." It is better known that all masculine names in Greek end in -s or -n. In English we say "Plato" but in Greek "Platon." "Alexander" > "Alexandros," and so forth. Check it out: www.behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient- When the Greeks imported names, for example Semitic ones, they added the masculine nominative endings. So Jacob or Ya'aqov in Hebrew is Iakobos. John or Yochanan is Ioannes. steubenvilleconferences.com/12-apostles" Do yourself a favor and quit reading crap. There are hundreds of years of careful scholarship (by scholars that actually read and write and speak these languages) based on the DOCUMENTS that are left us. That includes the Gospels.
A: "I'm afraid we don't know, but make my stipend tax-free, give my advisor a $30,000 grant of the taxpayer's money, (Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.) Damn GRADUATE student TRASH...MUD "Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, It ain't about graduate school, which is often a hotbed of ignorance. It's about swallowing wholesale stuff you see on websites written by people with an ax to grind who claim to have knowledge of languages and history and religion but plainly show no evidence of it. It does great damage to the common understanding.
The only damage done to oneself is to remain ignorant of the truth. And to some of us who choose to remain ignorant rather than search for the truth, ignorance is bliss. But to others who seek higher learning truth know that knowledge is power. Lack of it is what not only destroys a people but damages futures generations.
I can see that.
Absolutely agree, my friend...Mis-information and rampant GroupThink flourish within the "Intellectual Community" and a significant portion of this is due to "Willful Ignorance" and primarily the responsibility of the News Consumer, imho. Damn straight...MUD "Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, Yes, and I don't want to be a pain in the ass, but it bugs the crap out of me when intelligent people are attracted to impostors who construct histories and mythologies out of thin air. It certainly didn't start with the internet, but there are lot of characters out there who attract readers friendly to one tendency or another and fabricate fancy tales that won't hold water to get them a following and make a shekel. Sometimes I think it might be fun and profitable to find some golden tablets with all the mysteries of the universe inscribed on them. With some zeal and attention I could perhaps scrape together an interested crowd and get them to fork over five bucks each to listen to me lecture about it. But that would be wrong.
There R no "golden tablets", imho...MUD
"Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, Sum folks think they is. ; 0
Kudos...MUD "Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, Capiche YET?!! MUD "Devolve Power Outta the Federal Leviathan and Back to the States, Great.. I am always around Thursday afternoons. Beer's in the fridge. (Warning: I am armed.)
#2. To: Willie Green (#0)
(Edited)
#3. To: Willie Green (#0)
(Edited)
Even in the early days of the Presidential campaign it was a ludicrous idea: that Donald Trump was now a Christian; that he’d miraculously “found Jesus” right at the time he needed to pull in millions of Evangelical voters. Never mind that his life showed an open contempt for most of the things the Jesus of the Gospels lived and preached: humility, generosity, respect, empathy, kindness, peace.
#4. To: Willie Green (#0)
I don’t know Donald Trump. He may actually believe he is a Christian.
#5. To: A K A Stone, willie gangrene, poopoocherooero, hondolt, fredfreeko, et al (#2)
(Edited)
It is time we stop calling liberals humans.
accurate
Christians
Americans
boris
live
in
a
false
dichotomy
are
west
God
Christianity
reality
atheism
evolution
communism
are
the
polar
twin
degree
Christians
attacking
them
all
directions
#6. To: Willie Green (#0)
We Stopped Calling Donald Trump a Christian
#7. To: goldilucky (#3)
The name "Jesus" is English and according to the Latin translation means "Earth Pig" or something unclean. http://www.sabbathcovenant.com/d.../sus_is_latin_for_pig.htm
#8. To: randge (#7)
Few things damage a poster's credibility than trotting out some tendentious etymology to make a damned point.
#9. To: goldilucky (#8)
Then why was our Savior's named changed from Yeshua to Jesus?
#10. To: goldilucky (#8)
Dubious etymology is a specialty of Maxwell's. For example, the Christian worship of God's "son," who is risen, is clearly derived from Roman worship of the "sun," which rises each morning. Son-sun, he repeats, it's obvious. (Can his audience truly be so simplistic to believe that these words would sound the same to speakers of Latin, Greek, or Hebrew?) "Christ" is really "cristo" or "crisco," which means "oil," not anointed. The "Lord," originally spelled "Lard," is simply congealed "crisco." Passover is when the sun "passes over" the equator which marks the beginning of spring.
#11. To: BorisY, New York Wiccan values (#5)
#12. To: Willie Green (#0)
Christian, you might be tempted to argue with me or attack my position, and you would be welcome to, but I’d first suggest you go and read the Sermon on the Mount, spend some time in reflection and prayer—and then look with fresh eyes and tell me where you see Jesus in this man’s life and why you’re okay claiming it as your own.
#13. To: hondo68 (#11)
(Edited)
have
play
dough
gremlins
lsd
for
brains
#14. To: randge (#9)
For instance we say 'semitic' and not 'shemitic' because we adopted the Latinate adjective for the same, and there is no 'sh' in Latin. In Latin Shem is Sem.
#15. To: randge (#9)
The name wasn't changed. That is, no one decided to change it.
#16. To: goldilucky, Willie Green, randge (#3)
The name "Jesus" is English and according to the Latin translation means "Earth Pig" or something unclean.
http://www.sabbathcovenant.com/doctrine/sus_is_latin_for_pig.htmJesu. archaic form of Jesus. Middle English: from Old French. Jesus became the usual spelling in the 16th cent., but Jesu was often retained in translations of the Bible, reflecting Latic vocative use.
Old English. the language of the Anglo-Saxons (up to about 1150), a highly inflected language with a largely Germanic vocabulary, very different from modern English. Also called Anglo-Saxon.
#17. To: goldilucky (#3)
#18. To: Willie Green (#0)
It’s Time We Stopped Calling Donald Trump a Christian
#19. To: goldilucky (#14)
We adopted the Latin adjective? Who is we?
#20. To: nolu chan (#16)
Is means the state of being, el is a god or deity, and rei is pronounced like ray which is a broad, flat marine or freshwater fish. Therefore Israel is a broad, flat fish god.
Thus Jacob was renamed Israel after he battled with God and won - but what does the name literally mean?
#21. To: redleghunter (#17)
#22. To: goldilucky (#21)
#23. To: goldilucky (#21)
“Iesous” literally translated means “Hail Zeus”
“It is known that the Greek name endings with sus, seus, and sous were attached by the Greeks to names and geographical areas as means to give honor to their supreme deity, Zeus."
#24. To: randge (#23)
does it take to screw in a light bulb?
and I'm sure he can tell me how to do the gruntwork for him so he can take the credit for answering this incredibly vital question."
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#25. To: Mudboy Slim (#24)
(Edited)
#26. To: randge (#25)
It does great damage to the common understanding.
#27. To: goldilucky (#26)
And to some of us who choose to remain ignorant rather than search for the truth, ignorance is bliss.
#28. To: randge (#25)
"It does great damage to the common understanding."
(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#29. To: Mudboy Slim (#28)
#30. To: randge (#29)
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#31. To: Mudboy Slim (#30)
#32. To: randge (#31)
(Compliments of the Linux Fortune program.)
/B^D>
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#33. To: All (#32)
(Edited)
Localities, and Individuals as Prescribed in the US Constitution."
#34. To: Mudboy Slim (#32)
"You're a card which will have to be dealt with."
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