No, I don't think I have misrepresented what you said. You are saying, God is A destroyer. Satan then can't be THE destroyer. He also then is A destroyer, for there are more that one.

You also CANNOT demonstrate from the life of Christ where the "strange act" is defined as God being A destroyer. You cant, because it is not there. Everything we need to know and indeed can know, is demonstrated in the life of Christ. If you cannot demonstrate it in the life of Christ, it must be rejected.

Your blindness, APL, does not limit my options, nor my views.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I'm just quoting YOU.

No, you're not. Speaking truthfully is important to having a meaningful conversation.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

OK - help me out then. You say you have gone fishing but you are not a fisherman. You say God is A destroyer, but not THE destroyer. Am I misquoting you yet? You are calling me a liar, that is a serious charge. If it is not true, then who is the liar?

APL,

You said this:



before saying...



Obviously, you were putting words in my mouth beyond what I was saying. Let's try another stab at logic, which I hope you can understand this time because I'm tired of your twisting things.

I do NOT see myself as a fisherman. "A fisherman." Even less would I be "THE fisherman." But I have sometimes fished.

Do you catch that?

I do not choose to view God as "a destroyer." Even less is He "THE destroyer." But He sometimes destroys.

Does that make sense?

So, no, I never called God "a destroyer." In fact, I was using an interrogative clause (indirect question), not making a statement, when I used the phrase "a destroyer." Instead of taking the question in the sense in which it was presented, you twisted it from interrogative to declarative and thus misrepresented what I had said. Then you had the gall to say you were "just quoting" me.

I am an analytical person. I pay attention to details. I do not always choose perfect wording every time, but I do attempt to speak my thoughts with accuracy and in a way that seems to me should be clear to others. Somehow, what I say never seems clear enough to you. I feel the reason is your intentions. You do not read what I post with a desire to understand--but rather with an intent to critique and to pick apart what I say. I find no enjoyment in this "game."

I should probably put this part in red, with a "Mod Hat," but as a moderator let me tell you that I have been on the verge of closing this topic several times already due to its lack of Christian spirit. I may be, myself, partly to blame. But I want to see topics here at Maritime reflect Christian courtesy, and I wish to do better in that arena myself. If this thread does not make some advances in this area, I will, as a moderator, close it--not so much for the views expressed here as for the spirit in which they are expressed. Does this sound reasonable?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

GC,

It sounds reasonable to me.

I already spoke to the fact that you are misstating my words above. Let's look at the last two sentences that show how the follow-through from your original error lands up.

"Satan then can't be THE destroyer. He also then is A destroyer, for there are more [than] one."



How, if Satan is "a destroyer" can he also be "the destroyer?" That this question must be asked shows a lack of understanding of common English usages.

If you ask someone when he or she was born, you will likely hear a date--let's say "July 23." If you ask "what day was that?" You might hear something like "it was a Tuesday." But if the person is speaking about that special Tuesday, he or she might say THE Tuesday I was born...or even simply, THE day I was born. Was it "a" day? Of course it was! But it was more than "a day," it was "THE day."

Satan is the major destroyer. In this sense he is THE destroyer. That does not mean he is the only destroyer. He is also "a destroyer," for there are other "destroyers" besides him.

Indirectly, we can understand that God is "a destroyer." God is truth, right? Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life." But truth is "a destroyer!"



Certainly, Satan is not "the truth." But "the truth" is "a destroyer"--even of the sinner who has persistently cherished evil.

How, APL, can you reconcile this fact with your view? How can "truth" be "a destroyer" to you? Do you believe this statement?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

NO, it does not make sense to me. It may to you, but not to me. You can "choose" to view things anyway you want, but it does not change the reality. If God destroys, he IS a "A" destroyer. And what you have written describes God as "A" destroyer. And if He is "A" destroyer, my conclusion of what you have written, then Satan cannot be "THE" destroyer, because there is now not a single destroyer, but multiple, thus Satan is "A" destroyer, not "THE" destroyer.

I'm only taking what you have written and taking them to their logical conclusion. Take you fisherman example, but instead of fishing, change it to murdering someone. By your logic, murdering a person does not make you a murderer. Just because you have murdered in the past, does not make you a murderer. Does that make sense? NO. This is a logical conclusion of what you are trying to describe to my apparent non-analytical mind.

Moderation - you have a conflict of interest in this discussion. Sure, I guess you have the prerogative to close it, something I can't do. By your claims about your view, you "mature" view, your "analytical" view, the implications are that my views are not mature or analytical. Yet, somehow this is OK? Do you not see how this is true? Close the thread if you must. But I hope you leave all the comments, so anyone else reading the entire thread can see the logic.

APL,

Have you ever destroyed anything? I have. I guess that makes me "a destroyer." In that case, Satan cannot be the only one. But he is still "THE destroyer," because his is the chiefest part in this arena.

I notice you refrained from answering regarding the truth being "a destroyer." Why do you think Mrs. White called it that? Do you believe she was telling the truth?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.