The story I am about to tell you is true. It was told directly to me by one of the principals of the story. The names have been changed as a matter of courtesy and to protect the innocent. The quote to the left by Oscar Wilde is one that I wish I had been aware of before the beginning of this story.
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The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 authors, in three different languages, on three different continents, over approximately 1600 years. The Bible claims to be inspired and men have also said it is without error (inerrant). This means that the Bible claims to be from God and that it is without error in everything it addresses.
When applied to sacred writings, inerrancy is the belief that the words are God's true revelations to mankind. An inerrant text is considered infallible, truthful, reliable, totally free of error and absolutely authoritative. Inerrancy is not restricted to moral and religious truth. It is normally applied to all statements of fact in the Bible: "scientific, historical, or geographical." "There's a sucker born every minute."--(often attributed to P.T. Barnum, though history shows otherwise.)
People will fall for most anything that they think will help them in the moment. The selling of snake oil in days gone by, the current weight-loss pills, the almost daily introduction of a new pain reliever, or depression destroyer, etc.--virtually anything promising to move me away from pain and toward pleasure. These are the two motivations upon which all persuasion is built. Christians and pre-Christians are no less gullible. "Prayer Changes Things." "God Answers Knee-mail." "Seven Days Without Prayer Makes One Weak."
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