ken,
thanks for your comments. diversity is always welcome here. i wasn't sure what the point was of your recent update on your site, other than to rehash the same old line (mostly verbatim - creativity waning?) as you did last time? i note that your site does not allow comments so no debate, discussion of difference can happen there. clever. i've also noted that dissenting voices (even if they only vary very slightly from the received wisdom and are very civil in tone) do not make it past the moderator of your sister/parent site at slice of laodicea. so, any discussion has to be here for now - though i'm really not that interested in an eternal cyber-battle of wills. but more of that in a second.
you're getting a bit off-topic aren't you ken? seems you've conceded my point and moved on to specific doctrine. [see ken's comments on this posting] so, you agree with me that scripture is not easily interpreted; that there are at least some parts which even luther (and you?) struggled to understand. if you actually listen to the original video post which sparked all this (instead of simply launching slurs on my character - i agree there is a wealth of material to mine there) you will notice THAT WAS MY ONLY POINT!
so now that we largely agree (hooray!!), we can move on to specifics.
you suggest that i am not willing to risk my life. this is a question which perennially troubles me too. as you may have read people have tried to murder me on one occasion for preaching to the wrong crowd (a bunch of catholic kids on the streets of belfast) as a result of that horrific experience which left me physically and mentally traumatized for many, many months, i do find myself questioning whether i would risk the same treatment again; whether i DO indeed spend too much time in my armchair, as you suggest, and not enough time on the front lines - wherever they may be. as i have said many times (most recently in my last posting) i believe these ARE the days of martyrdom in the west and all i can hope and pray is that when the time comes the lord god will grant me the strength and endurance needed for what i now know will be an horrendous, excruciating, desolate and lonely experience.
i don't agree AT ALL with your assessment of luther. he DID NOT know what was necessary for the salvation of people (not just men!) as his copious remarks on the jews show. his treatise "on the jews and their lies" is SCANDALOUS! even going so far as to advocate the murdering of jews, and actually telling his readers they "are at fault in not slaying them"! it took until 1994 before the present evangelical lutheran church in america finally publicly rejected his heinous teachings, a conclusive admission that LUTHER GOT IT WRONG! god's opinion and luther's opinion were DISTINCTLY at odds on the salvation of (at least) one major group of people.
lastly, the web is obviously not the best place for disagreement, debate and free exchange of ideas. rather than this tit-for-tat where you continue to post dissenting comments on my site and i get no right of reply on yours, i would be more than happy to attend a debate/meeting/discussion either one-on-one or with a large public group if suitable arrangements can be made.
grace and peace,
shawn mcgee
