According to Baptist of all stripes, are names added to the Book of Life anywhere in the Bible (after Creation)? I see only examples of names remaining in or being wiped out. I don’t see names being added. >“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬ In order to never be blotted out it’s implied you were already written in. When was it written in? What is the Baptist view?

Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Can parents still claim “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” if they have a child who doesn’t serve the Lord living in the house?

What does the afterlife look like for an aborted baby? What happens to their consciousness (if any)? What happens to their spirit/soul? Since these are presumably controversial questions, I'm interested in an **overview of Christian viewpoints**. ____ **Related questions** - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/81207/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/89518/50422 - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/89140/50422

I was approached yesterday by a lady with a very beautiful western accent who gave me a booklet about the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. In the booklet I was introduced to a prophet named Joseph Smith who claims that he saw the Father and Jesus Christ in the year 1829. Joseph Smith received the lesser priesthood(Aaronic priesthood) from them and later received the greater priesthood(Melchizedek) from the inner circle apostles. Now they are also trinitarians like me but Paul taught me that no man has ever or can see God. *1 Timothy 6:16* >***who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen***. but then Joseph Smith saw the Father and Jesus Christ in a vision, how do hey reconcile what Joseph Smith said and this verse?

Revelation 14:12 (KJV) > 12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they **that keep the commandments of God**, and the faith of Jesus. I've seen [Sabbatarians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatarianism) bring up this verse of Revelation as evidence that true Christians should keep the commandments of God, including the Sabbath commandment ([Exodus 20:8-11](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+20%3A8-11&version=KJV)) . In fact, in a [related question](https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q/40100/38524) posted on Hermeneutics.SE, the most upvoted answers tend to agree that Revelation 14:12 **at least** includes the 10 commandments (but possibly more). If that's true, then the Sabbatarian has a solid point here. How do non-Sabbatarians interpret Revelation 14:12?

In 2 Chronicles 2:17 we are told "Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600." Why was God not angry about this Census, yet furious with David for taking a Census?

In Chronicles, David took a census on the people of Israel. However, God became angry at this, and he proceeded to destroy about 70,000 people in result. >1 Chronicles 21:1-16 : 1Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel. 2So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the people of Israel—from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north—and bring me a report so I may know how many there are.” 3But Joab replied, “May the Lord increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?” > 4But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab traveled throughout all Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem 5and reported the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 warriors in all Israel who could handle a sword, and 470,000 in Judah. 6But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do. > **Judgment for David’s Sin**
> 7 God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it. 8Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.” 9Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message: 10“Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’” > 11So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the Lord has given you. 12You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.” > 13“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” > 14So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and 70,000 people died as a result. 15And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. > 16David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. But this passage does not state the reason for God doing this. What was so wrong about taking census of people of Israel?

Wikipedia claims that ~8 million Jehovah's Witnesses are engaged in evangelism, and their annual memorial of Christ's death has ~20 million attendees. But it doesn't exactly answer the question of how many members that Church has. My uninformed guess is that if there are 20 million attendees to the celebration, there could be up to 40-60 million witnesses (under the assumption that many of them not really actively practicing their faith). So, how many Jehovah's Witnesses are there? Is there any official statistic? Who counts as a "member"?

On September 1, 1910, Pope St. Pius X required *The Oath Against Modernism* to be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries. QUESTION: Have there been any other *Professions of Faith* in the Catholic Church since 1910? If so, what are they and to whom do they apply? Thank you.

Throughout the modern church world there exists ***Schools of the Prophets***, many of which teach believers how to "prophesy" over individuals and congregations. For example: - Christian International School of Prophets (Bill Hamon, Florida) - Bethel School of Prophets (Redding, CA.) - Blue Ridge School of Prophets (Rocky Mount, VA) - Morningstar School of Prophets (Fort Mill, SC) - Portland Bible College (Church Life classes, Portland, OR) Are these "schools" in the same tradition---and practice---as the Schools of the Prophets described in the Old Testament? [There were six cities that were seen as having these schools there: Ramah, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, Carmel, Samaria; see 1 Samuel 10, 19 and 2 Kings 2, 4, 6, 9, etc.] Note the research by Ira M. Price as to the existence of these bands or schools: >In the treatment of this subject the Old Testament will be used as the authority. Tradition and legend will not be considered. The endeavor shall be to examine and classify the information given concerning the sons of the prophets (1) as collected in bands or schools; (2) in particular localities; (3) under different teachers; (4) with specific instruction; (5) with an occupation; (6) as to their means of subsistence". (Ira Price, "The Schools of the Sons of the Prophets," **The Old Testament Student**, Mar, 1889. Vol. 8, No. 7 pp. 244-249) >In conclusion, we have found in this brief discussion that the sons of the prophets (1) were collected together in bands or schools; (2) in six different localities, viz. (a) Ramah, (b) Bethel, (c) Gilgal, (d) Jericho, (e) Carmel, (f) Samaria; (3) under the tuition of (a) Samuel, (b) Elijah, (c) Elisha; (4) with instruction in (a) prophesying-worship, (b) sacred music, (c) practical matters of their day; (5) with their time wholly occupied in (a)study and worship, (b) doing errands for their masters and God, (c) performing the regular duties of a prophet; (6) largely dependent for their support upon the charity of the people. [Ibid] Usually the modern "prophets" rest their justification for their supernatural ministries on the verses of Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:14-18, and 1 Corinthians 12-14. >You men of Judea, and all that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass in the latter days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young en shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:14-18) Have the modern prophets (graduates of the schools) exhibited legitimate prophetic ministry in their local churches equal to the ministries demonstrated in the Old Testament? Are there "factual testimonies" to support their claims? Are there incidents beyond a reasonable doubt / coincidence that are irrefutable evidence of valid prophetic occurrences?

## Background: Christian Trinitarians believe "that there is one eternal being of God – indivisible, infinite. This one being of God is shared by three co-equal, co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit". Trinitarians generally believe that this doctrine is taught in the New Testament. They also generally believe the trinity is (minimally) compatible with the Hebrew bible, or (maximally) also taught in the Hebrew bible. This is in contrast with traditional Jewish belief in a unitary deity. The authors of the Hebrew bible make several statements about the oneness of G-d: > **Deuteronomy 6:4** - "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G-d, the Lord is one." > **Isaiah 44:6** - "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.'" > **Deuteronomy 4:35** - "To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is G-d; there is no other besides Him." ## Unfalsifiable belief? Under trinitarian hermeneutical approaches, the above verses are not contrary to the trinity because they could be interpreted to refer to *the single being of G-d*, and not to the trinitarian *multiplicity of persons*. This is a curious interpretation since concepts of distinction between “person” and “being” only appear in literature which post-date the completion of the Hebrew bible. ## Question If seemingly clear verses attesting to ontological oneness can be used in support of trinitarian doctrine, what could a biblical author have written in the Hebrew bible that would falsify the trinity? Is the trinity only falsifiable with a verse such as *"There is only one person of G-d"*, *"G-d is only one being and one person"*, or even *"The trinity as defined by Christian patristic fathers and ecumenical councils in the 4th Century CE is false"*?

Marriages and baptisms certainly generate certificates that the church needs to store somewhere. Catholic schools such as the Marist Brothers and La Salle Brothers, with hundreds of thousands of students worldwide, also most probably report information back to the Catholic Church. I was wondering how the church handles all this information. Are they stored locally, regionally, nationally or does the Vatican receive everything back? Can someone in the Vatican in higher positions inside the church easily look up if a certain someone born in another continent was baptised or got married? Or maybe if someone studied in a Catholic school? And how much of the church's bureaucracy is digital nowadays?

These verses were used to teach conditionalism/ human souls are mortal. What is the “traditionalist” response to these verses. (1 Timothy 6:16): “who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (Ezekiel 18:20 ): “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”

I'd like to know if there's evidence that Paul presented his letters (e.g., Corinthians, Philippians, etc.) in the manner of spoken sermons to people of various churches, or if his letters were written and only quietly read. I'm asking because I think it would alter my experience of reading the text, as so far I have simply read it as a thoughtfully written letter, not while imagining a crowd before this one guy speaking.

I believe that Christians in general would say that knowledge of God comes from the Spirit. (There is Scripture to back this up, though I don't have the exact verses handy; if someone wants to edit them in, please feel free.) Scripture also teaches that knowledge of the Father comes via the Son. (Some sects are adamant that knowledge of the Father can *only* come via the Son.) The (Western version of the) Nicene Creed states that the Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son". The Spirit comes from the Father and the Son; therefore, what comes from the Spirit also comes from the Father and the Son. However, Eastern Orthodoxy rejects [the "filioque"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filioque) , insisting that the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. Does this mean that knowledge of God can come *apart* from the Son? (I am looking specifically for **Eastern Orthodox** responses.)

Just gone through the sacrament of marriage in the US and one thing that I learned here is that they expect the parishes where my wife and I were baptized at to have record of all our sacraments; and that if we had done communion and confirmation in different parishes they would have let our baptismal parishes known. Even every Google search that I make regarding this (mostly from US and Europe) mention the same thing, and for a marriage or confirmation to go under the radar of the parish of baptism is an exceptional event. For example... this stackexchange post: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/77701/how-does-the-catholic-church-handle-documents-worldwide-nowadays Well, my wife and I were both baptized and confirmed in the Philippines. With the pretext presented by the parish here in the US (as well as my Google searches), I had my aunt help us get annotated baptismal certificates from our parishes in our home country. As it turns out, the baptismal parishes do NOT have any record of our confirmation because they were not done in the same parish -- and my aunt had to go to the parishes where we had our confirmation just go get certificates for those. So my question is... if record keeping of sacraments between parishes is supposedly part of canon law (as per my Google searches as well), why doesn't it seem to be a universal thing? It was a roller coaster ride finding these out during marriage prep, and had we not allotted enough time for it then it would've caused significant delays. We even had to explain this to the parishes here in the US that we got married in and where we did our prep (our home parish where we needed permission from) and both priests were quite surprised. This also brings up the question: will the parish here in the US be able to notify our baptismal parishes back in the Philippines that we are married? Will they care if they haven't been recording our communion and confirmation anyway?

After the fall of Adam & Eve from pride & disobedience, all mankind inherit original sin. The Catholic Church teaches that the original sin can be removed by the Sacraments of Baptism but the stain of original sin or the concupiscence of the flesh still remains. **St. Paul describes this in Romans 7:15-24 as;** >"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. > >"So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? In light of this dilemna, is there a way to remove concupiscence or wash-away the stain of sins in our bodies. Does Christ leave the Church with any teaching how to remove or wash away the stain of sins after we are cleansed by baptism? Unfortunately, this is a tough challenge for many striving Christians as we can see from Scriptures, Christ has elevated the definition of adultery: >"You shall not commit adultery," Christ spoke of adultery in the heart. "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" **(Mt 5:28).** Now, I'm looking for Church teachings on how to remove concupiscence, as clearly based on Saint Paul himself as he overcame concupiscence when he exclaimed; >"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20) So, its not hopeless for us. **My question is how did Saint Paul overcame concupiscence, and what does it mean when Saint Paul overcame concupiscence his body is sinless like Adam and Eve?**

Related: Why does the author of Hebrews render their quotation of Jeremiah 31:33 differently in two places? ### Background The book of Hebrews uses the Hebrew Bible as support for its arguments many times. The author cites Jeremiah 31:33 in two different places and chooses to render the verse curiously differently each time. The first citation occurs in Hebrews 8:10: > ὅτι αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι **τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ** μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος, διδοὺς νόμους μου εἰς τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι εἰς λαόν. (NA27) > > For this is the covenant that I will make with the **house of Israel** after that time, declares the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. The second citation is in Hebrews 10:16: > Αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἣν διαθήσομαι **πρὸς αὐτοὺς** μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας, λέγει Κύριος· διδοὺς νόμους μου ἐπὶ καρδίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτῶν ἐπιγράψω αὐτούς (NA27) > > This is the covenant I will make **with them** after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds For reference, Jeremiah 31:33 reads > כִּי זֹאת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אֶכְרֹת **אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל** אַחֲרֵי > הַיָּמִים הָהֵם נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה נָתַתִּי אֶת־תּוֹרָתִי בְּקִרְבָּם > וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתְּבֶנָּה וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים וְהֵמָּה > יִהְיוּ־לִי לְעָם׃ (MT) > > But such is the covenant I will make with the **House of Israel** after these days—declares Hashem: I will put My Torah into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their G-d, and they shall be My people. ### Definitions The definition of misquoting is to repeat something someone has said in a way that is not accurate . ### Question Which of the two citations is the accurate one? Is this an example of misquoting the Hebrew bible? Why does the author of Hebrews use "**house of Israel**" the first time and "**them**" the second time?

I'm going thru Numbers and maybe I missed something. Numbers 32:33-39 mentions Moses giving land to the Gadites, Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Later in Numbers 34:17-29 , it names one leader from each tribe to help assign land to the "remaining" tribes. The tribes of Reuben and Gad aren't in the list understandably because they got their share in Numbers 32 but Manasseh is in the list. (v 23) . Why is Manasseh listed twice to receive land? Did I miss something important in an earlier passage or did I misunderstand something that happened in the history of the Israelites exodus? Am I misunderstanding what "half-tribe" means?

So I'm recently trying to reconnect with my faith and I stumbled across the doctrine of the Trinity, and so a question came across my mind especially after I got into a debate with a muslim friend They say that if the Persons of God are independent of each other than we would have Jesus who is God, The Father who is God and the Holy Spirit who is God, thus 3 Gods in their opinion. If they are dependent, then they aren't God because God doesn't need anything outside of him. Sorry for any mistake and may God bless us all.