In John chapter 20, Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me..” and delegates forgiveness of sins to his disciplines? Apparently so.

[Multicolored Lemur]

If the Bible is written by people,

Maybe one group of early Christians were sincerely talking and thinking among themselves, and they decided, no, not just Peter, but Jesus gave this authority to all the disciples.

And decades later, both made it into the Bible. Both the belief that God specifically and particularly gave authority to Peter, and the belief that God gave authority to all the disciples. I mean, there is a verse in another gospel about Peter.

Sincere people all the way down, but human beings who can be mistaken.

 

[Scooter]

@Scooter

When Albert Barnes says, “The meaning of the passage is not that man can forgive sins--that belongs only to God (Isa 43:23), but that they should be inspired; . . ”

He seems to be saying the more specific verse takes precedence over the less specific.

Verses do not take precedence over others. They harmonize with each other. Proper hermeneutics are essential in understanding the scriptures.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

If repeat business is important enough and if you anticipate seeing this particular customer again in the near-term, then Yes!, Win-Win is most probably the way to go.

Once again, B+ ethics are relatively easy to find. And if you’re asking for absolute perfection, you’re probably asking for too much!

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

In the two episodes of “Time’s Arrow,” the Star Ship Enterprise goes back in time . . . and meets Mark Twain!

Twain — “I know what you say, that this is a vessel of exploration and that your mission is to discover new worlds. Mmm, that’s what the Spaniards said, and the Dutch, and the Portuguese. It’s what all conquerors say. I’m sure that’s what you told that blue-skinned fellow I just saw before you brought him here to serve you.”

Counselor Troi — “He’s one of the 1000’s of species that we’ve encountered. We live in a peaceful federation with most of them. The people you see are here by choice.”

Twain then brings up “the privileged few,” and Troi sets him straight there, too.

—————————-

Point being, that a big part of ethics is to expand the circle, eventually even to that blue-skinned fellow!