Sunspots 785

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else:

Christianity:The head of the Southern Baptist Convention made a speech praising diversity in his denomination, but pointed out that there was a lot of room for improvement, according to Christianity Today.

Relevant reports on a poll, which says that about one-fourth of Americans see President Trump as a man of faith.

Christianity Today goes back to the topic of Christians and conspiracy theories.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that Twitter recently deleted 170,000 accounts, because they were pumping out propaganda for the Chinese government. Apparently, however, not many people were paying attention.

Gizmo's Freeware points to a site with all sorts of free calendars.


Environment: Gizmodo reports that sea otter populations, in the Pacific Northwest, should be encouraged to increase.

Health: NPR reports that some experts believe that COVID-19 may be around for a long time.\
So does Gizmodo.

History: (or something) Listverse discusses some conspiracy theories that refuse to die.

Science: Science magazine reports that scientists have put various cell parts together to make an artificial system that carries out photosynthesis.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight says that Maya Moore, who left the WNBA of her own accord, to pursue social justice (overturning the conviction of an innocent man), gave up more than any other athlete gave up for a cause. (I have learned, from a reliable source, that Ms. Moore has been appointed head coach of the men's basketball team at a small college.)


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 40

The previous chapter of my book dealt with the question of who is saved, and pointed out that the Bible describes some characteristics of such a person -- not everyone who believes she has been redeemed really is. The next topic follows:

Nine: Can a believer lose salvation?

In this chapter, I’m going to present the Biblical evidence for both a “yes” and a “no” answer to that question – there’s a lot of evidence supporting both sides. I have my beliefs, but this study has been instructive in helping me to realize that the people who disagree with me on this issue have some good reasons for doing so. I hope this study does the same for you, the reader.

Eternal Security

Does the Bible say that, once a person becomes a believer, they cannot be lost? I will call a belief that answers “yes” to that question a belief in eternal security.

There is a related topic, Predestination. A particular doctrinal outlook, related to predestination, namely Calvinism, is related to eternal security. But there are many Christians who do not believe all of Calvinism to be correct, but still believe in eternal security. This is true of many Southern Baptists, for example. Article Nine of this statement of traditional Southern Baptist belief says:

We affirm that when a person responds in faith to the Gospel, God promises to complete the process of salvation in the believer into eternity. This process begins with justification, whereby the sinner is immediately acquitted of all sin and granted peace with God; continues in sanctification, whereby the saved are progressively conformed to the image of Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit; and concludes in glorification, whereby the saint enjoys life with Christ in heaven forever.

We deny that this Holy Spirit-sealed relationship can ever be broken. We deny even the possibility of apostasy. (Emphasis in original.)

Note - “Apostasy: Abandonment of one’s religious faith, a political party, one’s principles, or a cause.” (The Free Dictionary)

The word, apostasy, occurs only twice in the New Testament, in Acts 21:21 and 2 Timothy 2:3. Most English versions of the Bible do not use apostasy in translating from the Greek, probably because readers might not be familiar with it.

Clearly, many Southern Baptists (and others) do believe in eternal security. But there are also Christians who do not believe in eternal security. What does the Bible say about the question of the chapter?

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the characteristics of a true Christian, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will consider a new topic. Thanks for reading.

Gulf Oil Spill: Southern Baptist reaction

I was pleased to discover that the Southern Baptist Convention, which met this month in Orlando, had passed a resolution condemning the Gulf Oil Spill.

This is a quotation from the resolution, from the Associated Baptist Press report: "Our God-given dominion over the creation is not unlimited, as though we were gods and not creatures, so therefore, all persons and all industries are then accountable to higher standards than to profit alone."

National Public Radio also reported on the matter. I quote from that report:
. . . the Convention called on the government "to act determinatively and with undeterred resolve to end this crisis ... to ensure full corporate accountability for damages, clean-up and restoration ... and to ensure that government and private industry are not again caught without planning for such possibilities."

NPR interviewed the Dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who told the reporter that there was no reason why a true conservative should not call for government to regulate responsibly, and also told the reporter that a believe in sin included a belief in corporate sin. (The Dean was not speaking for the Convention, but for himself, but, no doubt, his views are shared by many Southern Baptists.)

Good for the SBC, which is the largest Christian body in the US, as I understand it, and generally associated with conservative political views.

Thanks for reading.