I agree with everyone, and I'll add, if you had committed the unforgivable sin, you wouldn't know it or worry about it. Because you absolutely would no longer care.
(Oh - and I'm not saying you think you may have. Lol - I know it was just a question. I'm just adding my two cents! :) )
If we tried to escape everything rooted in paganism, we would have to disconnect ourselves completely from society.
The names of the months and the planets are named after pagan gods. So are many of the days of the week. Thursday was the god of sky and thunder. Tuesday was for Tiw, the god of war. Wednesday is from Woden, a god from Germanic mythology. Sunday and Monday were related to the worship of the sun and the moon. Friday comes from Fria, the goddess of love. Even the idea from our government came from Rome, which was a pagan culture. Just because something was rooted in paganism doesn't mean it's still evil today.
We need to use our common sense here. When we celebrate Christmas and Easter, are we deep in our hearts secretly celebrating the Roman Feast of the unconquered sun (December 25th)? Of course not!! We are celebrating a day that our Savior came into the world to die for our sins so we could be with Him for eternity. The pagan aspect was divorced from the Christian aspect thousands of years ago and no longer holds any weight in the "reason behind the season." Same goes for Easter.
Now before I hear "the Bible doesn't command us to celebrate Christ's birth or His day of resurrection," let me ask this: Where in the Bible does it mention church choirs, Sunday school, prayer alters, pews, or water skiing for that matter? Does that make these things also bad? No.
Paul said it best in Romans 14: (Especially 14:6 with this matter)
14:1 Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
14:2 For instance, one person believes it is all right to eat anything. But another believer who has a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.
14:3 Those who think it is all right to eat anything must not look down on those who won't. And those who won't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.
14:4 Who are you to condemn God's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord's power will help them do as they should.
14:5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter.
14:6 Those who have a special day for worshiping the Lord are trying to honor him. Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who won't eat everything also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.
14:7 For we are not our own masters when we live or when we die.
14:8 While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord.
14:9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he might be Lord of those who are alive and of those who have died.
14:10 Why do you look down on another Christian? Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God.
I have a lot of admiration for people who see their pets as family - cause I just don't have that same heart. Fido is cute, Fluffy is cuddly, but that's about it for me. I just don't get attached to animals.
I say go for the second - we're living in the end times and I think it's really important as a witnessing tool to be able to state our beliefs in a well thought out way.
I can imagine you were pretty mad, too. (This happened to me once when I switched cell carriers). If it cost her any minutes, let the cell carrier know you expect those minutes to be credited to her account. The phone numbers are supposed to be out of circulation for a YEAR before they give them to a new customer.
Sampson, I also thought that when you said, "Racism will never go away as long as those who fight it keep fanning the flames" you were talking about this discussion.
But then again, I have a history of misunderstanding people and not waiting for clarification - one of my many faults.
In a way, racism is foreign to me. I don't want to sound like I just fell off the turnip truck, but I live in a small college town in the middle of the country where diversity is wide. We live amongst people from all nationalities and races (again, because of the college) and it's such a non-issue here. (I'm not taking away from it being an issue in other areas of the country - years ago I lived in a much larger town and occasionally heard things that turned my ears red).
I teach my kids that people ARE different. But that difference is to be celebrated, not used as an outlet for fear about our differences. I've told them to look at flowers - there are all kinds of different colors of flowers - God loves color, that's why He made us with different colors, too. I then tell them it would be pretty boring if all the flowers were blue (yeah, okay, remember this is an explanation to a 4 year old Lol). My daughter and I were getting ready to go to a friends house (met her in college) for the first time and my daughter asked, "What color is she?" She had been "exposed" to so many different races in her young life that she was simply curious.
I think most racism is caused not by the actual differences that people possess, but by the stereotypes given to individual races. "Lazy," or "cheat," or "drunk" can apply to any person, regardless of race. It's not until we start building each other up instead of tearing each other down that we'll see change. But this has to be on an individual basis - it's nothing that can be solved with man-made laws. I have to be willing to look at someone and see them as God sees them - not who society tells me they are. I have to be willing to find out what makes us different and be willing to learn from and embrace those differences. And sometimes, I might just have to reach out, touch their face, and see for myself if the orange freckle does come off on my finger.
This is a very interesting read. I had read a little about this a while back, but will look into it again (as if it's possible to get more in-depth than you already have. Lol). I do know from my own research that many words were translated into English improperly, but never with the implications that you've made here. It is now on my list of things to study further.
Question though, do you believe that "Theotokos" is really the word to use for Mary? "Christotokos" seems more fitting considering she was the birth mother of Christ's human form and not His divine nature. I've read that they felt calling her the latter would divide Jesus into two distinct parts. But isn't calling her "Theotokos" giving her a little too much credit?
