Short Fiction: Winning
The hall is close and narrow, near the top floor of the tenant building. The young man stumbles up the stairs near the end of his goal. He is calm now. Steady. He trips over the old man’s legs and falls into him.
“What do you call yourself doin’?” The old man protests as he reaches for his bottle.
“I’m comin’ up to the roof to jump off.” The young man disengages himself from the older man and wipes his face.
“Why would you want to do something like that?” The old man tries to smile and be encouraging. Instead he looks ridiculous.
“I could tell you a lot of stories, old man. But it comes down to simply this: I got free will and I can’t never use it rightly. No matter what. I been a Catholic, a Hindu, I ate mushrooms, been a meth cooker, been to prison, I got clean and worked hard in a charity. I been a Buddhist, I been a Muslim and went to Mecca, I loved a girl, been with whores and all that. I learned a foreign language; heard, seen and said strange religious things. I’ve taken oaths ‘t make your hair curl. But in the end, ..I can’t make it work in none of ’em. And they’re all huntin’ me now.”
The old man laughs and slaps his thigh. “I hearby sentence you to another fifty years for gettin’ that one right.”
The young man tries to go by him, but the old man shoves him back. “Whatever you do during those fifty years, don’t be a Calvinist. They’ll turn you into a fatalist! But tell me. When did it hit you that you could never do it right.”
“Just after I won a debate with a Calvinist by shouting him down and proved free will existed. I proved myself into the grave to the roar of applause. And I wanted to lose that debate all along. I couldn’t even get that one right. All the things they did and said to make me want to believe weren’t good enough. Nothing works. I got free will and it don’t work. And I can’t stop believing it.”
——————–
1John 4:20 If any one say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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Christian Clarity Review 
Jesus saying “I and the Father are One.”:
Before we start on John 10:30 Verse, let us examine some of the exaggerating expressions that were said by Jesus himself in the New Testament:
An exaggerating expression in the Bible: The Bible contains many verses in it that contain irrational statements. For instance we read in Matthew 21:21 ” Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.'” I challenge any “faithful” believing Christian to move one brick, not a mountain with his sight or words. Have any Christian from the time of Jesus till now been able to do it?
Another exaggerating expression is in Mark 16:17-18 “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Again, I challenge any Christian to allow himself to get bit by a poisonous rattle snake or cobra and survive its venom.
Does this mean no “Christian” is a real Christian? Did Jesus say that no one will ever be a believer, since they can’t lift mountains with their eye sights nor survive deadly poisons?
Does the Bible contain exaggerating expressions in it? and if so, then how can you take the “Trinitarian” verses so literal then? They too are nothing but exaggerations (as I proved below in this article) that do not prove that Jesus is the Creator of this Universe.
From Sheikh Ahmed Deedat’s work; may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him:
Let us look at John 10:30 “I (Jesus) and the Father are One.” This verse is severely misunderstood and is taken out of context, because beginning at verse John 10:23 we read (in the context of 10:30) about Jesus talking to the Jews. In verse John 10:28-30, talking about his followers as his sheep, he states: “…Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.”
These verses prove only that Jesus and the Father are one in that no man can pluck the sheep out of either’s hand. It does not at all state that Jesus is God’s equal in everything. In fact the words of Jesus, ” My Father, who gave them me is Greater than ALL…,” in John 10:29 completely negates this claim, otherwise we are left with a contradiction just a sentence apart. All includes everyone even Jesus.
Also let us look at verse John 17:20-22 “That the ALL may be made ONE. Like thou Father art in me, I in thee, that they may be ONE in us. I in
them, they in me, that they may be perfect in ONE”. In this verse, the same word ONE used, the Greek, HEN is used, not only to describe Jesus and the Father but to describe Jesus, the Father and eleven of the twelve disciples of Jesus. So here if that implies equality, we have a unique case of 13 Gods.
Of the verse in question, “I and the Father are One” in (John 10:30), we also need to take note of the verses following the 30th verse in the text. In those verses, the Jews accuse Jesus falsely of claiming to be God by these words. He however replies, proving their accusation wrong by their own text: “The Jews answered him saying,’For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou being a man, makest thyself a God ‘” (John 10:33).
Jesus replies to this accusation saying: “Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, “I said ye are gods. If He can call them gods, unto whom the word of God came, say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, “Thou blasphemeth,” because I said I am the son of God?'” (John 10:34-36).
Let us look at Acts 2:22 “O you men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a MAN approved of God among you…” Peter in the Book of Acts testifies about Jesus. Jesus thus even to his disciples, as to early Christians, not poisoned by Pauline doctrine, was a man, not a God.
From http://www.jewsforjudaism.org:
Question: In John 10:30 Jesus says, “I and the Father are one [hen].” Doesn’t this show that they are one in essence?
This statement does not suggest either a dual or triune deity. What John’s Jesus meant by the word hen (“one”) becomes clear from his prayer concerning the apostles: “That they may be one [hen], just as we are one [hen]” (John 17:22), which means that they should be united in agreement with one another as he (Jesus) is always united in agreement with God, as stated: “I [Jesus] always do the things that are pleasing to Him [God]” (John 8:29).
There is thus no implication that Jesus and God, or the twelve apostles are to be considered as of one essence.
Further from Muslim-SA:
1.2.2.7 John 10:30
The third verse which Christians claim validates the doctrine of the trinity is the verse of John 10:30
“I and my father are one.”
This verse, however is quoted out of context. The complete passage, starting with John 10:23, reads as follows:
“And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”
John 10:23-30
In divinity? In a holy “Trinity”? No! They are one in PURPOSE. Just as no one shall pluck them out of Jesus’ hand, so too shall no one pluck them out of God’s hand.
Need more proof? Then read:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.”
John 17:20-22
Is all of mankind also part of the “Trinity”?
Such terminology can be found in many other places, read for example:
“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit,”
1 Corinthians 6:15-17
And also
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:6
And
“For as the (human) body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Once we read the above verses and understand what the message was that Paul was trying to get across, then we can begin to understand his words in such places as
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:4
“St. Paul” was speaking about Christian unity, not about a plurality of gods merged into one body. As we shall soon see, he was completely ignorant of where his teachings would later lead, and how decades later, they would be the foundations which would spawn the “Trinity” doctrin
Ahmed,
I have lived all of my life around people who lie with the truth of God. It is a small thing to see through those who lie with more lies.
I plainly see you are used to attacking people who are deceived they have free will and that their particular religion mandates a certain ideal model of behavior. When you read the Holy Scriptures, they are not holy to you, they are supposedly only non-creating words you want to interpret in favor of your particular religion and you do interpret them as attacking those you falsely perceive to follow just another name under the same basic premise of your own demonic religion and common sense. The Christianity you refer to is always the favorite Christianity of liars and those who receive no discipline from God. In Islam, your false god is there to serve you, you don’t exist to serve him. He is there to empower you and give you a certain amount of control over others and your environment. The demons through you do all they can to stop a fear of God from existing in anyone and in its stead to instill of a fear of themselves in the guise of a fear of you as some kind of feared warrior priest type thing. That is evident in all of Islam, as well in the Islam that attacked Christ through Ahmed Deedat, who God made it his life’s work to be sure and attack false Christianity with various tricks of interpretation already ancient deceits that are well-known heresies and then to die and go to the lake of fire, blinking his last communications in demonic code with his eyes because God took away his tongue and speech because he was always lying. If you were really interested in those tricks and how they have been used, and where Deedat got his moves as if he were the first to come up with them so he could ‘be somebody’ to others more ignorant than himself, then you should read
Theopneustia: The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. In that book is contained all the various tricks those of Romanism and Judaism and the like have employed. You will notice that the book was written in the 1800’s and traces the lineage of such arguments back even further.
One can sympathize with many Arab people and their lands after falling into the hands of the Romanists, the Eastern Orthodox and the Gnostics, all of whom preach a false Christ. They are just as evil as Islam and Islam is nothing more than a reaction against the tyranny of false Christians. Unfortunately for you, Christ is real, He is the Word of God and Son of God, the Trinity is real, though there be many who seek to counterfeit him. Having been wounded and lied to by the counterfeits, it is no surprise you think to have found truth as at least finding a rest from the liars by rejecting their lies.
Because Jesus Christ lives in us and does as He pleases through us in any given instant, there is no ideal model of behavior we follow. We do not have free will. There is no free will. Your whole attack is centered in the supposition that of course I have free will, all Christians do and that on that basis, you can imply we have used it incorrectly and must explain ourselves.
God may move mountains through me, He may not. That’s His business. What you should note is the absence of many religions that made themselves the enemies of Christ or tried to be friends with him but maintain their own lies as well as ‘inter-religious dialogue’: ruined temples are all over the world, remnants of dead religions, no longer extant. See this clearly in your mind: someone in the near future standing in front of the black rock in Mecca saying “I heard people used to come here and worship this stone. Do you know why?” and someone standing nearby says “I have no idea. Who would do such a thing?” All your anger and all your passion and all your reasoning will have ended and you will know when it is too late they have all been in vain.
Hebrews 11:3-40 And what more do I say? For the time would fail me telling of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David and Samuel, and of the prophets: who by faith overcame kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped lions’ mouths, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, became strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, made the armies of strangers give way. Women received their dead again by resurrection; and others were tortured, not having accepted deliverance, that they might get a better resurrection; and others underwent trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, and of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, died by the death of the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, evil treated, (of whom the world was not worthy,) wandering in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caverns of the earth. And these all, having obtained witness through faith, did not receive the promise, God having foreseen some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.
Look among your own ruins for proof. Islam did none of these things. God in Jesus Christ did.
You apparently have read the Bible, and you feel comfortable to mock Christ. The Christians you have met so far have no fear of God and so are frightened of everything else. They get together in groups only to pretend to be powerful by being many as if they had free will and could collect it to be a weapon against all their fears. They are just like you.
I know something about you that you apparently don’t know: You don’t have free will. You’re faking it. That demon in you is faking it. When you really understand what that means, you will pray to your demon you never meet anyone who has a real fear of God and in whom Christ dwells in anger.
Yet God will rebuild the ruins of His people and destroy all other so-called sacred sites.
Isaiah 44:23-26 Sing, ye heavens; for Jehovah hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, the forest, and every tree therein! For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, the maker of all things; who alone stretched out the heavens, who did spread forth the earth by myself; –he that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built up, and I will raise up their ruins;
But if God has given you a fear of Him above all else, then perhaps you could be my Arabic language learning buddy, unless you are just a black guy from Philly named Jones or some4 such who doesn’t speak a word of Arabic, but who now calls himself Ahmed and wears a funny hat to get ‘free’ sex from gullible women. Perhaps God could write His true Gospel in Arabic through me and you could correct my Arabic? He would of course have to give you a LOT of patience…
Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For in the power of this the elders have obtained testimony. By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen