"Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?"

The main reason Jesus died on the cross was to defeat Satan and set us free from his oppressive rule. Everything else that Jesus accomplished was to be understood as an aspect and consequence of this victory (e.g., Recapitulation, Moral Influence, etc.).
This understanding of why Jesus had to die is called the Christus Victor (Latin for “Christ is Victorious”) view of the atonement. But, what exactly was Christ victorious from, and why? To find out the answers to these questions, we have to turn to the Old Testament, as that's what the apostles would often allude to in order to properly teach their audience the message they were trying to convey (Rom. 15:4).
The OT is full of conflict between the Father (YHVH) and false gods, between YHVH and cosmic forces of chaos. The Psalms speak of this conflict between YHVH and water monsters of the deeps (an ancient image for chaos) (Psa. 29:3-4; 74:10-14; 77:16, 19; 89:9-10; 104:2-9, etc).
The liberation of Israel from Egypt wasn’t just a conflict between Pharaoh and Moses. It was really between YHVH and the false gods of Egypt.
Regardless of whether you think the aforementioned descriptions are literal or metaphorical, the reality that the Old Testament describes is that humanity lived in a “cosmic war zone.”
The Christus Victor motif is about Christ reigning victorious over wicked principalities and Satan's kingdom, and is strongly emphasized throughout the New Testament. Scripture declares that Jesus came to drive out "the prince of this world” (John 12:31), to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), to “destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14) and to “put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25). Jesus came to overpower the “strong man” (Satan) who held the world in bondage and worked with his Church to plunder his "palace" (Luke 11:21-22). He came to end the reign of the cosmic “thief” who seized the world to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy” the life YHVH intended for us (John 10:10). Jesus came and died on the cross to disarm “the principalities and powers” and make a “shew of them openly [i.e., public spectacle]” by “triumphing over them in [the cross]” (Col. 2:15).
Beyond these explicit statements, there are many other passages that express the Christus Victor motif as well. For example, the first prophecy in the Bible foretells that a descendent of Eve (Jesus) would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). The first Christian sermon ever preached proclaimed that Jesus in principle conquered all YHVH's enemies (Acts 2:32-36). And the single most frequently quoted Old Testament passage by New Testament authors is Psalm 110:1 which predicts that Christ would conquer all YHVH’s opponents. (Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to in Matthew 22:41-45; 26:64, Mark 12:35-37; 14:62, Luke 20:41-44; 22:69, Acts 5:31; 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, 1st Corinthians 15:22-25, Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 1:3; 1:13; 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 15, 17, 21; 8:1; 10:12-13, 1st Peter 3:22, and Revelation 3:21.) According to New Testament scholar Oscar Cullman, the frequency with which New Testament authors cite this Psalm is the greatest proof that Christ’s “victory over the angel powers stands at the very center of early Christian thought.”
Because of man's rebellion, the Messiah's coming involved a rescue mission that included a strategy for vanquishing the powers of darkness.
Since YHVH is a God of love who gives genuine “say-so” to both angels and humans, YHVH rarely accomplishes His providential plans through coercion. YHVH relies on His infinite wisdom to achieve His goals. Nowhere is YHVH's wisdom put more on display than in the manner in which He outsmarted Satan and the powers of evil, using their own evil to bring about their defeat.
Most readers probably know the famous story from ancient Greece about the Trojan Horse. To recap the story, Troy and Greece had been locked in a ten-year-long vicious war when, according to Homer and Virgil, the Greeks came up with a brilliant idea. They built an enormous wooden horse, hid soldiers inside and offered it to the Trojans as a gift, claiming they were conceding defeat and going home. The delighted Trojans accepted the gift and proceeded to celebrate by drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. When night came and the Trojan warriors were too wasted to fight, the Greeks exited the horse, unlocked the city gates to quietly let all their compatriots in, and easily conquered the city, thus winning the war.
Historians debate whether any of this actually happened. But either way, as military strategies go, it’s brilliant.
Now, there are five clues in the New Testament that suggest YHVH was using something like this Trojan Horse strategy against the powers when he sent Jesus into the world:
1) The Bible tells us that YHVH's victory over the powers of darkness was achieved by the employment of YHVH’s wisdom, and was centered on that wisdom having become reality in Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:25, 1 Cor. 2:7, Eph. 3:9-10, Col. 1:26). It also tells us that, for some reason, this Christ-centered wisdom was kept “secret and hidden” throughout the ages. It’s clear from this that YHVH's strategy was to outsmart and surprise the powers by sending Jesus.
2) While humans don’t generally know Jesus’ true identity during his ministry, demons do. They recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, but, interestingly enough, they have no idea what he’s doing (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7, Luke 8:21). Again, the wisdom of YHVH in sending Jesus was hidden from them.
3) We’re told that, while humans certainly share in the responsibility for the crucifixion, Satan and the powers were working behind the scenes to bring it about (John 13:27 cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-8). These forces of evil helped orchestrate the crucifixion.
4) We’re taught that if the “princes of this world [age]” had understood the secret wisdom of YHVH, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8 cf. vss 6-7). Apparently, Satan and the powers regretted orchestrating Christ’s crucifixion once they learned of the wisdom of YHVH that was behind it.
5) Finally, we can begin to understand why the powers came to regret crucifying “the Lord of glory” when we read that it was by means of the crucifixion that the “handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us [i.e., the charge of our legal indebtedness]” was “[taken] out of the way [i.e., canceled]” as the powers were disarmed. In this way Christ “triumph[ed] over” the powers by "his cross” and even “made a shew of them openly” (Col. 2:14-15). Through Christ’s death and resurrection YHVH's enemies were vanquished and placed under his Messiah's feet, and ultimately His own in the end (1 Cor. 15:23-28).
Putting these five clues together, we can discern YHVH's Trojan Horse strategy in sending Jesus.
The powers couldn’t discern why Jesus came because YHVH's wisdom was hidden from them. YHVH's wisdom was motivated by unfathomable love, and since Satan and the other powers were evil, they lacked the capacity to understand it. Their evil hearts prevented them from suspecting what YHVH was up to.
What the powers did understand was that Jesus was mortal. This meant he was killable. Lacking the capacity to understand that this was the means by which YHVH would ultimately bring about the defeat of death (and thus, pave the road for the resurrection itself), they never suspected that making Jesus vulnerable to their evil might actually be part of YHVH's infinitely wise plan.
And so they took the bait (or "ransom"; Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim. 2:5-6). Utilizing Judas and other willing human agents, the powers played right into YHVH’s secret plan and orchestrated the crucifixion of the Messiah (Acts 2:22-23; 4:28). YHVH thus brilliantly used the self-inflicted incapacity of evil to understand love against itself. And, like light dispelling darkness, the unfathomably beautiful act of YHVH's love in sending the willing Messiah as a "ransom" to these blood-thirsty powers defeated them. The whole creation was in principle freed and reconciled to YHVH, while everything written against us humans was nailed to the cross, thus robbing the powers of the only legal claim they had on us. They were “spoiled [i.e., disempowered]” (Col. 2:14-15).
As happened to the Trojans in accepting the gift from the Greeks, in seizing on Christ’s vulnerability and orchestrating his crucifixion, the powers unwittingly cooperated with YHVH to unleash the one power in the world that dispels all evil and sets captives free. It’s the power of self-sacrificial love.

Why Penal Substitution Is Unbiblical

For the sake of keeping this already lengthy post as short as possible I'm not going to spend too much time on why exactly PSA (Penal Substitutionary Atonement) is inconsistent with Scripture, but I'll go ahead and point out the main reasons why I believe this is so, and let the reader look further into this subject by themselves, being that there are many resources out there which have devoted much more time than I ever could here in supporting this premise.

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"-1 Corinthians 5:7

The Passover is one of the two most prominent images in the New Testament given as a comparison to Christ's atonement and what it accomplished, (the other most common image being the Day of Atonement sacrifice).
In the Passover, the blood of the lamb on the door posts of the Hebrews in the book of Exodus was meant to mark out those who were YHVH's, not be a symbol of PSA, as the lamb itself was not being punished by God in place of the Hebrews, but rather the kingdom of Egypt (and thus, allegorically speaking, the kingdom of darkness which opposed YHVH) was what was being judged and punished, because those who were not "covered" by the blood of the lamb could be easily identified as not part of God's kingdom/covenant and liberated people.
Looking at the Day of Atonement sacrifice (which, again, Christ's death is repeatedly compared to throughout the New Testament), this ritual required a ram, a bull, and two goats (Lev. 16:3-5). The ram was for a burnt offering intended to please God (Lev. 16:3-4). The bull served as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest, and his family. In this case, the sin offering restored the priest to ritual purity, allowing him to occupy sacred space and be near YHVH’s presence. Two goats taken from "the congregation” were needed for the single sin offering for the people (Lev. 16:5). So why two goats?
The high priest would cast lots over the two goats, with one chosen as a sacrifice “for the Lord” (Lev. 16:8). The blood of that goat would purify the people. The second goat was not sacrificed or designated “for the Lord.” On the contrary, this goat—the one that symbolically carried the sins away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness—was “for Azazel” (Lev. 16:8-10).
What—or who—is Azazel?
The Hebrew term azazel (עזאזל) occurs four times in Leviticus 16 but nowhere else in most people's canon of the Bible, (and I say "most people's canon," because some people do include 1 Enoch in their canon of Scripture, which of course goes into great detail about this "Azazel" figure). Many translations prefer to translate the term as a phrase, “the goat that goes away,” which is the same idea conveyed in the King James Version’s “scapegoat.” Other translations treat the word as a name: Azazel. The “scapegoat” option is possible, but since the phrase “for Azazel” parallels the phrase “for YHVH” (“for the Lord”), the wording suggests that two divine figures are being contrasted by the two goats.
A strong case can be made for translating the term as the name Azazel. Ancient Jewish texts show that Azazel was understood as a demonic figure associated with the wilderness. The Mishnah (ca. AD 200; Yoma 6:6) records that the goat for Azazel was led to a cliff and pushed over, ensuring it would not return with its death. This association of the wilderness with evil is also evident in the New Testament, as this was where Jesus met the devil (Matt. 4:1). Also, in Leviticus 17:1-7 we learn that some Israelites had been accustomed to sacrificing offerings to "devils" (alternatively translated as “goat demons”). The Day of Atonement replaced this illegitimate practice.
The second goat was not sent into the wilderness as a sacrifice to a foreign god or demon. The act of sending the live goat out into the wilderness, which was unholy ground, was to send the sins of the people where they belonged—to the demonic domain. With one goat sacrificed to bring purification and access to YHVH and one goat sent to carry the people’s sins to the demonic domain, this annual ritual reinforced the identity of the true God and His mercy and holiness.
When Jesus died on the cross for all of humanity’s sins, he was crucified outside the city, paralleling the sins of the people being cast to the wilderness via the goat to Azazel. Jesus died once for all sinners, negating the need for this ritual.
As previously stated, the goat which had all the sin put on it was sent alive off to the wilderness, while the blood of the goat which was blameless was used to purify the temple and the people. Penal substitution would necessitate the killing of the goat which had the sin put on it.
Mind you, this is the only sacrificial ritual of any kind in the Torah in which sins are placed on an animal. The only time it happens is this, and that animal is not sacrificed. Most PSA proponents unwittingly point to this ritual as evidence of their view, despite it actually serving as evidence to the contrary, because most people don't read their Old Testament and don't familiarize themselves with the "boring parts" like Leviticus (when it's actually rather important to do so, since that book explains how exactly animal offerings were to be carried out and why they were done in the first place).
In the New Testament, Christ's blood was not only meant to mark out those who were his, but also expel the presence of sin and ritual uncleanness so as to make the presence of YHVH manifest in the believer's life. Notice how God's wrath isn't poured out on Christ in our stead on this view, but rather His wrath was poured out on those who weren't covered, and the presence of sin and evil were merely removed by that which is pure and blameless (Christ's blood) for the believer.
All this is the difference between expiation and propitiation.

The Content of Paul's Gospel Message

When the New Testament writers talked about “the gospel,” they referred not to the Protestant doctrine of justification sola fide–the proposition that if we will stop trying to win God’s favor and only just believe that God has exchanged our sin for Christ’s perfect righteousness, then in God’s eyes we will have the perfect righteousness required both for salvation and for assuaging our guilty consciences–but rather they referred to the simple but explosive proposition Kyrios Christos, “Christ is Lord.” That is to say, the gospel was, properly speaking, the royal announcement that Jesus of Nazareth was the God of Israel’s promised Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
The New Testament writers were not writing in a cultural or linguistic vacuum and their language of euangelion (good news) and euangelizomai would have been understood by their audience in fairly specific ways. Namely, in the Greco-Roman world for which the New Testament authors wrote, euangelion/euangelizomai language typically had to do with either A) the announcement of the accession of a ruler, or B) the announcement of a victory in battle, and would probably have been understood along those lines.
Let’s take the announcements of a new ruler first. The classic example of such a language is the Priene Calendar Inscription, dating to circa 9 BC, which celebrates the rule (and birthday) of Caesar Augustus as follows:
"It was seeming to the Greeks in Asia, in the opinion of the high priest Apollonius of Menophilus Azanitus: Since Providence, which has ordered all things of our life and is very much interested in our life, has ordered things in sending Augustus, whom she filled with virtue for the benefit of men, sending him as a savior [soter] both for us and for those after us, him who would end war and order all things, and since Caesar by his appearance [epiphanein] surpassed the hopes of all those who received the good tidings [euangelia], not only those who were benefactors before him, but even the hope among those who will be left afterward, and the birthday of the god [he genethlios tou theou] was for the world the beginning of the good tidings [euangelion] through him; and Asia resolved it in Smyrna."
The association of the term euangelion with the announcement of Augustus’ rule is clear enough and is typical of how this language is used elsewhere. To give another example, Josephus records that at the news of the accession of the new emperor Vespasian (69 AD) “every city kept festival for the good news (euangelia) and offered sacrifices on his behalf.” (The Jewish War, IV.618). Finally, a papyrus dating to ca. 498 AD begins:
"Since I have become aware of the good news (euangeliou) about the proclamation as Caesar (of Gaius Julius Verus Maximus Augustus)…"
This usage occurs also in the Septuagint, the Greek translations of the Jewish Scriptures. For instance LXX Isaiah 52:7 reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (euangelizomenou), who publishes peace, who brings good news (euangelizomenos) of salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.'" Similarly, LXX Isaiah 40:9-10 reads:

"…Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos) to Sion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings (ho euangelizomenos); lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Ioudas, “See your God!” Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and his arm with authority (kyrieias)…."-NETS, Esaias 40:9-10

This consistent close connection between euangelion/euangelizomai language and announcements of rule strongly suggests that many of the initial hearers/readers of the early Christians’ evangelical language would likely have understood that language as the announcement of a new ruler (see, e.g., Acts 17:7), and, unless there is strong NT evidence to the contrary, we should presume that the NT writers probably intended their language to be so understood.
However, the other main way in which euangelion/euangelizomai language was used in the Greco-Roman world was with reference to battle reports, announcements of victory in war. A classic example of this sort of usage can be found in LXX 2 Samuel 18:19ff, where David receives word that his traitorous son, Absalom, has been defeated in battle. Euangelion/euangelizomai is used throughout the passage for the communications from the front.
As already shown throughout this post, the NT speaks of Jesus’s death and resurrection as a great victory over the powers that existed at that time and, most importantly, over death itself. Jesus’ conquest of the principalities and powers was the establishment of his rule and comprehensive authority over heaven and earth, that is, of his Lordship over all things (again, at that time).
This was the content of Paul's gospel message...

Justification, and the "New" Perspective on Paul

The following quotation is from The Gospel Coalition, and I believe it to be a decently accurate summary of the NPP (New Perspective on Paul), despite it being from a source which is in opposition to it:

The New Perspective on Paul, a major scholarly shift that began in the 1980s, argues that the Jewish context of the New Testament has been wrongly understood and that this misunderstand[ing] has led to errors in the traditional-Protestant understanding of justification. According to the New Perspective, the Jewish systems of salvation were not based on works-righteousness but rather on covenantal nomism, the belief that one enters the people of God by grace and stays in through obedience to the covenant. This means that Paul could not have been referring to works-righteousness by his phrase “works of the law”; instead, he was referring to Jewish boundary markers that made clear who was or was not within the people of God. For the New Perspective, this is the issue that Paul opposes in the NT. Thus, justification takes on two aspects for the New Perspective rather than one; initial justification is by faith (grace) and recognizes covenant status (ecclesiology), while final justification is partially by works, albeit works produced by the Spirit.

I believe what's called the "new perspective" is actually rather old, and that the Reformers' view of Paul is what is truly new, being that the Lutheran understanding of Paul is simply not Biblical.
The Reformation perspective understands Paul to be arguing against a legalistic Jewish culture that seeks to earn their salvation through works. However, supporters of the NPP argue that Paul has been misread. We contend he was actually combating Jews who were boasting because they were God's people, the "elect" or the "chosen ones." Their "works," so to speak, were done to show they were God's covenant people and not to earn their salvation.
The key questions involve Paul’s view(s) of the law and the meaning of the controversy in which Paul was engaged. Paul strongly argued that we are “justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law” (Gal. 2:16b). Since the time of Martin Luther, this has been understood as an indictment of legalistic efforts to merit favor before God. Judaism was cast in the role of the medieval "church," and so Paul’s protests became very Lutheran, with traditional-Protestant theology reinforced in all its particulars (along with its limitations) as a result. In hermeneutical terms, then, the historical context of Paul’s debate will answer the questions we have about what exactly the apostle meant by the phrase "works of the law," along with other phrases often used as support by the Reformers for their doctrine of Sola Fide (justification by faith alone), like when Paul mentions "the righteousness of God."
Obviously an in-depth analysis of the Pauline corpus and its place in the context of first-century Judaism would take us far beyond the scope of this brief post. We can, however, quickly survey the topography of Paul’s thought in context, particularly as it has emerged through the efforts of recent scholarship, and note some salient points which may be used as the basis of a refurbished soteriology.
[Note: The more popular scholars associated with the NPP are E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, and N.T. Wright. Dunn was the first to coin the term "The New Perspective" in a 1983 Manson Memorial Lecture, The New Perspective on Paul and the Law.]
Varying authors since the early 1900's have brought up the charge that Paul was misread by those in the tradition of Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers. Yet, it wasn't until E.P. Sanders' 1977 book, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, that scholars began to pay much attention to the issue. In his book, Sanders argues that the Judaism of Paul's day has been wrongly criticized as a religion of "works-salvation" by those in the Protestant tradition.
A fundamental premise in the NPP is that Judaism was actually a religion of grace. Sander's puts it clearly:
"On the point at which many have found the decisive contrast between Paul and Judaism - grace and works - Paul is in agreement with Palestinian Judaism... Salvation is by grace but judgment is according to works'...God saves by grace, but... within the framework established by grace he rewards good deeds and punishes transgression." (Paul and Palestinian Judaism, p. 543)
N.T. Wright adds that, "we have misjudged early Judaism, especially Pharisaism, if we have thought of it as an early version of Pelagianism," (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p. 32).
Sanders has coined a now well-known phrase to describe the character of first-century Palestinian Judaism: “covenantal nomism.” The meaning of “covenantal nomism” is that human obedience is not construed as the means of entering into God’s covenant. That cannot be earned; inclusion within the covenant body is by the grace of God. Rather, obedience is the means of maintaining one’s status within the covenant. And with its emphasis on divine grace and forgiveness, Judaism was never a religion of legalism.
If covenantal nomism was operating as the primary category under which Jews understood the Law, then when Jews spoke of obeying commandments, or when they required strict obedience of themselves and fellow Jews, it was because they were "keeping the covenant," rather than out of legalism.
More recently, N.T. Wright has made a significant contribution in his little book, What Saint Paul Really Said. Wright’s focus is the gospel and the doctrine of justification. With incisive clarity he demonstrates that the core of Paul’s gospel was not justification by faith, but the death and resurrection of Christ and his exaltation as Lord. The proclamation of the gospel was the proclamation of Jesus as Lord, the Messiah who fulfilled Israel’s expectations. Romans 1:3-4, not 1:16-17, is the gospel, contrary to traditional thinking. Justification is not the center of Paul’s thought, but an outworking of it:
"[T]he doctrine of justification by faith is not what Paul means by ‘the gospel’. It is implied by the gospel; when the gospel is proclaimed, people come to faith and so are regarded by God as members of his people. But ‘the gospel’ is not an account of how people get saved. It is, as we saw in an earlier chapter, the proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ….Let us be quite clear. ‘The gospel’ is the announcement of Jesus’ lordship, which works with power to bring people into the family of Abraham, now redefined around Jesus Christ and characterized solely by faith in him. ‘Justification’ is the doctrine which insists that all those who have this faith belong as full members of this family, on this basis and no other." (pp. 132, 133)
Wright brings us to this point by showing what “justification” would have meant in Paul’s Jewish context, bound up as it was in law-court terminology, eschatology, and God’s faithfulness to God’s covenant.
Specifically, Wright explodes the myth that the pre-Christian Saul was a pious, proto-Pelagian moralist seeking to earn his individual passage into heaven. Wright capitalizes on Paul’s autobiographical confessions to paint rather a picture of a zealous Jewish nationalist whose driving concern was to cleanse Israel of Gentiles as well as Jews who had lax attitudes toward the Torah. Running the risk of anachronism, Wright points to a contemporary version of the pre-Christian Saul: Yigal Amir, the zealous Torah-loyal Jew who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for exchanging Israel’s land for peace. Wright writes:
"Jews like Saul of Tarsus were not interested in an abstract, ahistorical system of salvation... They were interested in the salvation which, they believed, the one true God had promised to his people Israel." (pp. 32, 33)
Wright maintains that as a Christian, Paul continued to challenge paganism by taking the moral high ground of the creational monotheist. The doctrine of justification was not what Paul preached to the Gentiles as the main thrust of his gospel message; it was rather “the thing his converts most needed to know in order to be assured that they really were part of God’s people” after they had responded to the gospel message.
Even while taking the gospel to the Gentiles, however, Paul continued to criticize Judaism “from within” even as he had as a zealous Pharisee. But whereas his mission before was to root out those with lax attitudes toward the Torah, now his mission was to demonstrate that God’s covenant faithfulness (righteousness) has already been revealed in Jesus Christ.
At this point Wright carefully documents Paul’s use of the controversial phrase “God’s righteousness” and draws out the implications of his meaning against the background of a Jewish concept of justification. The righteousness of God and the righteousness of the party who is “justified” cannot be confused because the term bears different connotations for the judge than for the plaintiff or defendant. The judge is “righteous” if his or her judgment is fair and impartial; the plaintiff or defendant is “righteous” if the judge rules in his or her favor. Hence:
"If we use the language of the law court, it makes no sense whatsoever to say that the judge imputes, imparts, bequeaths, conveys or otherwise transfers his righteousness to either the plaintiff or the defendant. Righteousness is not an object, a substance or a gas which can be passed across the courtroom. For the judge to be righteous does not mean that the court has found in his favor. For the plaintiff or defendant to be righteous does not mean that he or she has tried the case properly or impartially. To imagine the defendant somehow receiving the judge’s righteousness is simply a category mistake. That is not how the language works." (p. 98)
However, Wright makes the important observation that even with the forensic metaphor, Paul’s theology is not so much about the courtroom as it is about God’s love.
Righteousness is not an impersonal, abstract standard, a measuring-stick or a balancing scale. That was, and still is, a Greek view. Righteousness, Biblically speaking, grows out of covenant relationship. We forgive because we have been forgiven (Matt. 18:21-35); “we love" because God “first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8, 10, Gal 5:14, Jam. 2:8). Paul even looked forward to a day when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and he acknowledged that his clear conscience did not necessarily ensure this verdict (1 Cor. 4:4), but he was confident nevertheless. Paul did in fact testify of his clear conscience: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation [i.e., behavior] in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (2 Cor. 1:12). He was aware that he had not yet “attained” (Phil. 3:12-14), that he still struggled with the flesh, yet he was confident of the value of his performance (1 Cor. 9:27). These are hardly the convictions of someone who intends to rest entirely on the merits of an alien righteousness imputed to his or her account.
Wright went on to flesh out the doctrine of justification in Galatians, Philippians, and Romans. The “works of the law” are not proto-Pelagian efforts to earn salvation, but rather “sabbath [keeping], food-laws, circumcision” (p. 132). Considering the controversy in Galatia, Wright writes:
"Despite a long tradition to the contrary, the problem Paul addresses in Galatians is not the question of how precisely someone becomes a Christian, or attains to a relationship with God….The problem he addresses is: should his ex-pagan converts be circumcised or not? Now this question is by no means obviously to do with the questions faced by Augustine and Pelagius, or by Luther and Erasmus. On anyone’s reading, but especially within its first-century context, it has to do quite obviously with the question of how you define the people of God: are they to be defined by the badges of Jewish race, or in some other way? Circumcision is not a ‘moral’ issue; it does not have to do with moral effort, or earning salvation by good deeds. Nor can we simply treat it as a religious ritual, then designate all religious ritual as crypto-Pelagian good works, and so smuggle Pelagius into Galatia as the arch-opponent after all. First-century thought, both Jewish and Christian, simply doesn’t work like that…. [T]he polemic against the Torah in Galatians simply will not work if we ‘translate’ it into polemic either against straightforward self-help moralism or against the more subtle snare of ‘legalism’, as some have suggested. The passages about the law only work — and by ‘work’ I mean they will only make full sense in their contexts, which is what counts in the last analysis — when we take them as references to the Jewish law, the Torah, seen as the national charter of the Jewish race." (pp. 120-122)
The debate about justification, then, “wasn’t so much about soteriology as about ecclesiology; not so much about salvation as about the church.” (p. 119)
To summarize the theology of Paul in his epistles, the apostle mainly spent time arguing to those whom he were sending letters that salvation in Christ was available to all men without distinction. Jews and Gentiles alike may accept the free gift; it was not limited to any one group. Paul was vehement about this, especially in his letter to the Romans. As such, I will finish this post off by summarizing the letter itself, so as to provide Biblical support for the premises of the NPP and for what the scholars I referenced have thus far argued.
After his introduction in the epistle to an already believing and mostly Gentile audience (who would've already been familiar with the gospel proclaimed in verses 3-4), Paul makes a thematic statement in 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” This statement is just one of many key statements littered throughout the book of Romans that give us proper understanding of the point Paul wished to make to the interlocutors of his day, namely, salvation is available to all, whether Jew or Gentile.
In 1:16 Paul sets out a basic theme of his message in the letter to the Romans. All who believed, whether they be Jew or Gentile, were saved by the power of the gospel. The universal nature of salvation was explicitly stated. The gospel saved all without distinction, whether Jew or Greek; salvation was through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately after this thematic declaration, Paul undertakes to show the universal nature of sin and guilt. In 1:18-32 Paul shows how the Gentile is guilty before God. Despite evidence of God and his attributes, which is readily available to all, they have failed to honor YHVH as God and have exchanged His glory for idolatrous worship and self-promotion. As a consequence, God handed them over in judgment (1:18-32). Paul moves to denunciation of those who would judge others while themselves being guilty of the very same offenses (2:1-5) and argues that all will be judged according to their deeds (2:6). This judgment applies to all, namely, Jew and Greek (2:9-10). This section serves as somewhat of a transition in Paul’s argument. He has highlighted the guilt of the Gentiles (1:18ff) and will shortly outline the guilt of the Jew (2:17-24). The universal statement of 2:1-11 sets the stage for Paul’s rebuke of Jewish presumption. It was not possession of the Law which delivered; it was faithful obedience. It is better to have no Law and yet to obey the essence of the Law (2:12-16) than to have the Law and not obey (2:17-3:4). Paul then defends the justice of God’s judgment (3:5-8), which leads to the conclusion that all (Jew and Gentile) are guilty before God (3:9).
Paul argues that it was a mistaken notion to think that salvation was the prerogative of the Jew only. This presumption is wrong for two reasons. First, it leads to the mistaken assumption that only Jews were eligible for this vindication (Paul deals with this misunderstanding in chapter 4 where he demonstrates that Abraham was justified by faith independently of the Law and is therefore the father of all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike). Second, it leads to the equally mistaken conclusion that all who were Jews are guaranteed of vindication. Paul demonstrates how this perspective, which would call God’s integrity into question since Paul was assuming many Jews would not experience this vindication, was misguided. He did this by demonstrating that it was never the case that all physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) were likewise recipients of the promise. In the past (9:6-33) as in the present (at that time; 11:1-10), only a remnant was preserved and only a remnant would experience vindication. Paul also argued that the unbelief of national Israel (the non-remnant) had the purpose of extending the compass of salvation. The unbelief of one group made the universal scope of the gospel possible. This universalism was itself intended to bring about the vindication of the unbelieving group (11:11-16). As a result of faith, all (Jew and Gentile) could be branches of the olive tree (11:17-24). Since faith in Christ was necessary to remain grafted into the tree, no one could boast of his position. All, Jew and Gentile alike, were dependent upon the mercy and grace of God. As a result of God’s mysterious plan, He would bring about the vindication of His people (11:25-27). [Note: It is this author's belief that this vindication occurred around 66-70 AD, with the Parousia of Christ's Church; this author is Full-Preterist in their Eschatology.]

I was in a tough spot a few years ago. Went searching for a family when I had good people around me all along. I was raised Christian but had so many unanswered questions like most of us. I joined a church but didn’t do my research (smfh) Long story short.. the head pastor has been in soooo many sex scandals. I didn’t find out till after I left. He sleeps with different women, cheating on his wife, and let me tell you.. he has a type. Theres a video of him sexting with S workers. TMI: his D has the thickest singular vein I’ve seen🤣🤣 the pictures and videos are all online Working with cult.. oops I mean church leaders🤣 I have seen upside down pineapples in their homes, lots of porn, bouncing toddlers who can’t speak yet on grown men’s laps during night vigils ( in front of the ditzy single mothers who are the number one financiers and supporters of the church) and their personal favorite.. You Guessed it! Homosexual relationships!… but they clean themselves off dry then jump on the pulpit to preach against all the ‘fun’ they just had. But of course they are special because God is still “working on them”🤣😂😂 The church was repeatedly told never to speak on the head pastors “alleged” infidelities. So I never researched what was going on. I thought I was a super Christian lol Sadly I was drinking the kool aid too. I was so into it, spending all my HARD earned money and spent almost 4 days a week there. Gotta love that good ol deprivation and manipulation. They even tried to rope me in a love triangle with some ‘leaders’ . I refused and when I called them out on it, the church tried to estrange me and tarnish my image. Claiming I’m on drugs and other lies. I don’t even drink smh but I know some of them who do This made me HATE the religion and immediately discredit it. There is so so much more but I’m just venting a little here. It’s sad because they have thousands of members worldwide. I guess they thought I would be mad but I’m happy and feel so FREE! Like I can literally listen to music and watch movies again. I can also go to more places than work church and home and occasionally the store. You would get reprimanded for going out or casually dating. I’m just happy I escaped a terrible place. Yes this sounds crazy but its true. If I saw that in such a short amount of time, just imagine what others who try to escape but are too scared of go through. Number one lesson I learned: Christian leaders LOVE SEX DRUGS AND most of all ….MONEY! True rockstars and hypocrites 🤘

Hey everyone
I am just going to be honest. I have asked a similar question here before, so i kindly ask for some grace.
I've been praying for a wife and I truly believe that the opportunity is coming my way. I've noticed a pattern in the past where a guy I see around a girl I like ends up becoming a threat and trying to pursue her. It's happened before numerous times and now I find myself in a similar situation with a Christian girl I am getting to know. There's another guy in the picture who is currently dating someone else, but for some reason, I have a gut feeling that he may become a threat. It's happened to me before, where a guy was in a relationship, broke up, and then started dating the girl I was interested in a few months later .
Please pray that I get wisdom in this, do I need to fight in pray and not give up or accept its not her that I should pursue. Or maybe god is trying to teach me something and i just cant see it yet.

My (39 F) daughter (20) is a really good kid. She's always been. She's very smart, she's compassionate. I raised her on my own since she was 5. It has always been us. When she was 8 she decided on her own to be baptized. She decided on her own to make a vow to stay pure until marriage. My parents bought her a ring. When she was 19. She started dating her first boyfriend. I really liked him, I still do but here is my issue.... He isn't a Christian, he doesn't go to church with her, he has no intention on doing so either. Also, she broke her vow to stay pure . I knew and at first she didn't tell me, but I could sense an energy shift. Idk mom's just know these things. When she finally confessed, she said it was her who initiated. They started dating in April of 2023. Fast forward to end of June, I was in a serious car accident, that had me in ICu, then rehab, then recovery at my parents house. Finally this April I returned home. While I was away, he stayed with her at my house. Which I was understanding of, because of the extent of my injuries they didn't know if I was going to even survive. He was her comfort, he was there so she didn't have to be alone. When I was at my parents they would come together, and it was nice. I that time away my relationship with God got better. When I came home, I went right back to the rules I had before I was gone. He couldn't stay over, door had to be open. He was was fully moved out before I came and got his own house. Now she stays there a lot of nights during the week. She has initially asked me do you mind if I stay the night. And I said, if you ask me, I'm going to say yes. It doesn't align with my beliefs, and it doesn't align with what God wants for you, or what you choose for yourself either. But you're also an adult, if you choose to stay don't ask me, because I will say no. If you do stay just know I don't agree with it, neither does God but im not going to stop you. Lately we've been fighting, which we haven't done in a while. When we text during a fight, she will respond in a way that seems more like him than her. I started to unsend my messages and she accused me of doing so because what I was saying was wrong. Which it wasn't, the reason I did was because it dawned on me that he's influencing her replies and involved in our conversation that had nothing to do with him, and I decided it's better to delete and not have the conversation over text. He doesn't have a very good relationship with his own mom. Or his sisters. He's mentioned their conversations before and it's very odd. I am not a controlling mom, I was a young mom. I've never been strict, I never even forced church on her, everything she did was on her own. Now I see her making choices that just go against everything we both believe, and honestly down the same path I took with her dad. She says, it's not your relationship, you can't view it like it's hour yours was. But, she doesn't get in not comparing out of comparison sake. It's from experience, I see what's happening from a mile away. Ever since about September, she's been sick with random things, and this girl was NEVER sick. She had a double kidney infection from the first time they had sex, was severely sick with that until she fessed up and I took her to the doctor. She's had covid, flu, pink eye at least 4x. And randomly she has eczema on her hands. I'm really not exaggerating, she was never sick. Like she barely ever even had a cold. The problem is that this accident has left me unable to drive, so now we're in a weird dynamic, where in the mom but she's having to drive me pick me up, and pick up the slack. The sad thing is that I really loved him, but since I've back home, during her and my disagreements, she had me on speaker and let him listen. She let him hear me asking if he helps her, if he's ever going to church, that I don't know if he's the one because they aren't equally yoked. Now he doesn't have anything to do with me. So I feel like I'm losing her, and to someone who had nothing to do with her only parent. I don't know how to address it or if I even should because I am not wanting to push her away, because I don't think it will last forever, and I want her to know I am here for her. But I don't want to mention i don't think it will last. I think she's confused too because before I didn't have a problem and now I do. While I was gone God was the only one there constantly, I seriously have turned my own life around and in doing so I can now see in her situation what I didn't see before. The closer I got to God the stronger my convictions are. I don't even know what I'm asking....

I'm a mid-20's average (maybe below average) looking african girl living in Northern Europe. I've never been kissed or asked on a date let alone had a boyfriend. I live in a country where the beauty standard is white and even the majority of black men date white women. I should add that I'm a christian woman who doesn't go out, drink, smoke etc. And there are not many practicing/believing christians in this country and at this point most of them around my age group are married.
Of what I understand, men date women they find beautiful so is it because I'm too ugly or don't fit the beauty standard that I'm still single?
EDIT: I forgot to mention, I prefer non-white men

Hey there! I'm putting myself out here in the hopes of finding a partner who shares my values and beliefs. I'll keep it short and sweet because, honestly, I haven't had much luck so far. But hey, creating this post might just be the turning point.
I'm a traditional man looking for a partner and a best friend. Life has its ups and downs, and having the right person by your side makes all the difference.
Here's a quick and organized overview of who I am, so you can get to know me better:
About Me:

• I'm a Christian (specifically, I belong to the Coptic Orthodox church), and my faith is incredibly important to me.
• I'm turning 34 next month, and I've never been marri-ed or had children.
• I work as an engineer in the tech field.
• I'm 5'11" (180 cm), slim, with black hair.
• I'm open to starting with a long-distance relationship and potentially relocating for the right person. I'm open to considering any country.
• I don't smoke or drink.
• In my free time, I enjoy watching movies, TV series, and occasionally diving into a good book.
  
• I consider myself patient and capable of handling life's challenges.
  
• I'm caring, a good communicator, and an attentive listener.
  
• I like to think I have a good sense of humor too 😅.
  
• I'm looking for a serious relationship that leads to marri-age, building a family, and having children in the future.
  
• I value love, commitment, and shared goals.
  
• I strongly believe in open and honest communication.
  
• I'm willing to invest time and effort in nurturing a deep and genuine connection.
  

About the Ideal Partner (You):

• I'm hoping to find a Christian woman who genuinely loves God and follows the teachings of the Bible (specifically, someone who is Coptic or open to converting to Coptic).
• You should be looking for a long-term commitment, ready to settle down, and have the intention of dating with the purpose of marri-age and starting a family.
• Raising our children in the fear of the Lord Jesus and within the Oriental Coptic Orthodox Church is important to me.
• Ideally, you would be between 20 and 35 years old (a few years older is also acceptable).
• You should be straight, single, never marri-ed, and without children.
• It's important that you don't smoke, vape, drink, have piercings, or use drugs.
• Kindness, honesty, and good communication skills are essential to you.
• You possess qualities such as patience, wisdom, clarity, and loyalty.
• Your presence brings comfort and a sense of safety.
• I can imagine true happiness with you.
• You're able to support and trust your partner.
• You'll be my best friend forever and brighten my days.
• You can be located anywhere, but it's important that we're able to meet in person soon once we both feel comfortable.

Nobody's perfect, and there's so much more to discover about each other. Feel free to send me a DM or chat with me to get to know each other better. Let's see where our connection leads us.
Note: If you are leaving or ghosting after a while, please don't bother texting me.

This is haunting me and I need help. I (22M) am the oldest of 6. My sister (17F) is the 3rd oldest of our bunch. Growing up, we didn’t have a great childhood which has lead to separation between me and my younger sisters. While I was visiting my grandparents, my uncle (40M) asked to have a beer and I went out to smoke with him. Things are going normal as we were chatting about life, moving, and other matters.
While we were chatting about updates on his divorce, he told me that my sister and him were moving into an apartment together in the city. That didn’t phase me much as I knew they were close and she had previously lived with him, my soon to be ex-aunt and cousins in another state a few months ago. This is information that my mom, dad, and grandparents know, but I’m the first of the children that know.
As we continue shooting the breeze, he tells me that he has something to tell me about. Something that would want me to yell him out for, or just walk away and never look back. In my mind I thought it was something about suicide or abuse as he is going through not the greatest divorce and has been struggling.
Then he drops a fucking nuke, HE GOT MY SISTER PREGNANT. I’ll be as precise as possible about the details but I still feel shockwaves after hearing it. He told me the reason they’re moving in is because he is the father of my sister’s baby and besides him and my sister, I am the only family member who knows. He said that everything that transpired was consensual and that their intent is to keep the baby. And the reason they are moving out is to keep my sister protected from the backlash. He repeatedly told me that I can do with I want with this information and that he won’t judge me if I tell everyone in the family. But I am left in awe that he would
1) Be romantly involved with his blood related niece
And 2) think that I am fit and able to carry this information
It’s only been a few hours as writing this post, but I just feel sick being the only one outside of them who is burdened with this information.
A few details that I should mention that is scrambling in my head. their move in date is only a few days away. The baby is few late this year (Oct-Nov). My uncle is in the process of being divorced and has two kids of their own. My uncle is our mom’s brother. My uncle and sister are religious (Christianity). My uncle has never been a person to tell a lie, or at least not to me.
So I come to you Reddit as a source of help. How do I handle this information?? After talking to my girlfriend, she pointed out that it seems that he wants me to be the one to break the news to the family. But I just can’t handle my parents not knowing that them moving out is actually because they are having a kid. She’s not a legal adult yet so I’m not sure what laws were broken on top or incest. I’m going to bed after writing this but I’ll try to edit or reply when I can.
TL/DR: My uncle got my sister pregnant (blood related) and I’m the only one who knows.

For example you see it often in shows and movies from the 70s and earlier. A man would propose to a woman and not even really know her. They could have met the girl once or twice, maybe went on a few dates and then they'll just propose to her. Does it derive from the old Christian values of no sex before marriage? I know this is just media but I'm sure it was a popular thing in general for the times. Nowadays it usually takes people years of dating to get to that proposal point then usually at least a year after that until the actual marriage. For reference you see it a lot in shows like Good Times, Sanford and Son, etc. I'm not talking about planned marriages either.

For example you see it often in shows and movies from the 70s and earlier. A man would propose to a woman and not even really know her. They could have met the girl once or twice, maybe went on a few dates and then they'll just propose to her. Does it derive from the old Christian values of no sex before marriage? I know this is just media but I'm sure it was a popular thing in general for the times. Nowadays it usually takes people years of dating to get to that proposal point then usually at least a year after that until the actual marriage. For reference you see it a lot in shows like Good Times, Sanford and Son, etc. I'm not talking about planned marriages either.

For example you see it often in shows and movies from the 70s and earlier. A man would propose to a woman and not even really know her. They could have met the girl once or twice, maybe went on a few dates and then they'll just propose to her. Does it derive from the old Christian values of no sex before marriage? I know this is just media but I'm sure it was a popular thing in general for the times. Nowadays it usually takes people years of dating to get to that proposal point then usually at least a year after that until the actual marriage. For reference you see it a lot in shows like Good Times, Sanford and Son, etc. I'm not talking about planned marriages either.

This guy wants me, wants to get to know me. I met this guy on a app. I wanted to use it to reach people to tell them about Jesus. When we had our first call like I would say 3 days we talked abt Jesus and he wasn’t a believer. Later that day he wanted to call again. To talk casually, So we where talking and later on in the call, he was telling me about this other girl and how he will take her on a date soon and how he doesn’t wanna just use her for sex..etc. so after I heard that I was like okay I’ll back off and won’t like him. Cause that will be weird. But I guess now he likes me and he was talking about this girl a couple days ago. So it’s confusing. he’s not Christian . He was Christian for more than 5 yrs before he stopped believing. He said that he had a wonderful relationship with a Christian girl for a couple yrs. While he wasn’t christain. He said he will respect my beliefs and I’ll respect his. But I’m a Christian girl how will he lead me? How will he pray for me? How will we serve the lord? I want to get to know him too. But very slowly because I wanna focus on Jesus. And I have other goals. What do I do? I know the answer is probably no..

Hello! I’m in Los Angeles and Orange County right now and I like southern CA but it is time for some change with the goal of long term relocation.
I have decided to spend 4 months in Atlanta beginning in July with the goal of spending some time in a few different cities every 3-4 months until I find one I like and could see myself relocating to permanently.
I consult for work so location really location is not an issue; I just need to be close to a decent sized airport but does not have to be a HUB.
What I am prioritizing is cost of living (rent, opportunity to buy a home) and dating (high on the list). I would prefer to not be somewhere cold/snow but it's not necessarily a deal breaker. I like the idea of being in the Southeast but I am flexible. I like places with some walkability.
About Me :

• politically moderate
• enjoys live music/concerts
• likes the outdoors
• restaurants/food
• sense of community and culture, museums,
• coffee shops

Here is a current list I have started putting together and am open/looking to/for feedback:

• Greenville, SC
• Knoxville, TN
• Richmond, VA
• Athens, GA
• Memphis, TN
• Raleigh/Durham, NC
• Columbia, SC
• Nashville, TN

I do not want to live in:

• California
• NYC
• Boston
• Minnesota

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I’m in Los Angeles and Orange County right now and I like southern CA but it is time for some change with the goal of long term relocation.
I have decided to spend 4 months in Atlanta beginning in July with the goal of spending some time in a few different cities every 3-4 months until I find one I like and could see myself relocating to permanently.
I consult for work so location really location is not an issue; I just need to be close to a decent sized airport but does not have to be a HUB.
What I am prioritizing is cost of living (rent, opportunity to buy a home) and dating (high on the list). I would prefer to not be somewhere cold/snow but it's not necessarily a deal breaker. I like the idea of being in the Southeast but I am flexible. I like places with some walkability.
About Me :

• politically moderate
• enjoys live music/concerts
• likes the outdoors
• restaurants/food
• sense of community and culture, museums,
• coffee shops

Here is a current list I have started putting together and am open/looking to/for feedback:

• Greenville, SC
• Knoxville, TN
• Richmond, VA
• Athens, GA
• Memphis, TN
• Raleigh/Durham, NC
• Columbia, SC
• Nashville, TN

I do not want to live in:

• California
• NYC
• Boston
• Minnesota

Thanks in advance!

So I wanted to do a few posts about this because I’ve been very interested in studying the New Testament the past year or so. My views have changed quite a bit- I realized to be a Christian doesn’t mean you have to believe everything that is written in the Bible. There are problematic passages and different contradictory viewpoints- the authors were different people and human, after all. What’s really interesting is that several of the books in the New Testament made it in simply because some of the early Church fathers got duped because they make authorial claims that critical scholars see as highly problematic. Take 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
These books are not written by the same author. They have different writing styles, and different concerns. Both are written by highly educated Greek Christians with knowledge of the Greek translation of the OT- the Septuagint. They both claim to be written by Jesus’ closest disciple, Simon Peter. But would this be feasible?
Most likely not. Peter was a fisherman in Capernaum- a rural fishing village in backwoods Galilee. He very likely wouldn’t have had an education, as the majority of people in antiquity were illiterate- especially those in the lower classes. And even if he had an education, it wouldn’t be writing in Greek. Peter spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus. There was little contact with Gentiles in Galilee (despite what’s shown in The Chosen.) And Acts 4:13 even calls him and John the Apostle “agrammatoi,” the Greek word for illiterate.
Ok, now let’s look at some clues in the letters. 1 Peter has a passage where the author sends greetings from “she who is in Babylon, who is also chosen” (1 Peter 5:13). Babylon was the city that destroyed Jerusalem and the first temple in the 6th century BC. Early Christians began to refer to Rome as the new Babylon after the destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 AD (see Revelation). So this letter likely dates post-70. But Peter was martyred in Rome in the year 64! So unless he somehow wasn’t martyred and learned how to read and write highly rhetorical Greek, there’s no way this is by him.
Which brings us to 2 Peter. First off, this book contains numerous verbal agreements with the letter of Jude. And there are clues that this book almost certainly post-dates Peter. The author covers the delayed return of Jesus- who many early Christians expected to imminently return in their lifetimes (see 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.) When that didn’t happen, the author of 2 Peter provides an explanation: “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8). He indicates Paul himself taught this, in “all his letters, which the ignorant and unstable people twist, as they do with all the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16). But Paul’s letters didn’t start circulating as scripture until after Peter’s lifetime (they didn’t have the printing press, remember. So while they were written during Peter’s lifetime, they would’ve had to be copied down by someone who got a hold of it, and then that copy got copied, etc. It would take decades for works to widely circulate). For this reason many scholars think 2 Peter is the last book of the New Testament chronologically.
So, should the fact that there are books in the NT that are forgeries provide a crisis of faith? Absolutely not! The New Testament is a collection of writings written by early Christians, and they provide extremely valuable insight into the early Christian beliefs. The authors of 1 and 2 Peter wanted to use a highly respected figure’s name to legitimize what they were writing- who better than Christ’s closest apostle? And they did get legitimized, as they made it into the New Testament.

So, I will try to keep it as short as I can. Me and this girl have been dating for 7 years. We came from a different country but met in Australia. She's Christian and I am Atheist/Buddhist. Her father is a pastor. She labelled herself a strong believer when we started dating. But after a few months , we just got busy with life, travelling, having fun and etc. She didnt go to church. But after 7 years of dating, a few months before her sister comes her to study, she has been in touch with her father and family. Since then, she's been asking me to change the religion in order for me to be accepted into her family. And, she asked me to go to one specific church that's like one hour drive away from where we live every Sunday. Me and her work 6 days a week. The only day off is Sunday, Personally, I wanna go for brunch, camp, hiking , or anything different or interesting on the only day off that we have. I have been to a few churches but I don't like going to the church she recently found out to go enjoying. i find it a bit one-sided. The speeches they give. Anyway, if it gives her happiness , I don't wanna stay between. We never had a big issue, I find us compatible with each other. We both know we love each other. But recently, she has become a person of faith and she said the only way for us to continue and to be accepted by her family is to change my religion and hold a religions conversation with her father. Me and my family will accept her for who she's . She doesn't need to change anything. She 's been with me during my difficult times. Now, I feel when i got everything (career, financial, etch) together, I want her to be with me to enjoy life. I don't mind going to church once in a while. But I do not see myself spending 4-5 hours on the only day off that we have, listening to/say things that I do not agree with every Sunday. What makes it worse is that her younger sister who got here recently managed to convert her bf into Christian. So, I am not sure if she's now being pressured by people in her life or she just became a person of faith all of a sudden.
What should I do next?

I (30M) recently found God and have been growing my faith through reading the Bible, prayer, journaling, and attending church (the classics). Things were very rocky at first as He was really cutting the old parts of me and my life away and I was struggling to surrender to Him, but things have calmed recently.
My values have changed so much. I used to drink a lot, now it's minimal and rare. I no longer want to bartend and live a superficial life. Feelings of lust have subsided and I don't give into temptation like I used to. I have gone from a single, non-believer just looking for sex to wanting a wife and family. I know God has a plan for me and I have faith in Him, but what's fascinating and confusing is dating as a 30 year old Christian.
No pre-marital sex and no sexual immorality, that I get, but what about kissing, hand holding, cuddling, etc? Where's the line? I only know stories of Christian teens from when I was younger, not single Christian adults. And I understand the line of temptation, and avoiding tempting situations, but where's the line?
I'm coming from the place of hooking up on a first date and the like, lots of sexual immorality in the eyes of the Lord, so this is very foreign.

The Number 47, Synchronicity & the Law of Time Courtney Jamal Dewar, aka Capital STEEZ, came with perfect timing. Wielding a higher message, he revealed to all those around him through his music and his being the corruption of society and all of its constructs. He was fascinated, some would say, obsessed, with the number 47. For him this number held a higher meaning on many levels. First and foremost, he felt it was about synchronicity. He made all of his homies, including myself, aware of how this is the quintessential random number. We literally began to see it everywhere. You can research the numerological significance of 47. Here are just a few: 47 appears to be the quintessential random number of the universe. When a number appears randomly, more often than not, that number is 47. In other other words, if you asked people to pick a number at random, more often than not, that number would be 47. Of course, if 47 shows up more than any other number then it isn’t truly random, but using the word random makes the whole phenomenon easier to describe. From a spiritual perspective, number 47 is a combination of the energies and attributes of number 4 and number 7. The vibrations of number 4 include those of productivity and application, inner-wisdom and practical-thinking, honesty and integrity, endurance and determination, conscientiousness and discipline. Number 4 also relates to our passion and drive in life. Number 7 brings the qualities of spiritual awakening and enlightenment, intuition and inner-knowing, psychic abilities and mysticism, independence and individualism, persistence of purpose and manifesting good fortune.
There is even a much-viewed YouTube spoof of Jim Carrey’s The Number 23, substituting—you guessed it–the No. 47. Jim Carrey's character named Walter is given a book titled The Number 23. Walter starts reading the book and notices striking similarities between himself and the main character, a detective named "Fingerling". Fingerling is obsessed with the 23 enigma, the idea that all incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23 (Weirdly enough when I was younger I was in cod team called 23Enigma) only noted it as of the coincidence.
Jim Carrey told reporters he was so captivated by the 23 enigma even before reading the script that he renamed his production company from "Pit Bull Productions" to "JC23." (Jesus Christ 23?) Oddly enough the first film Carrey worked on with Joel Schumacher his character The Riddler's real name was 'E. Nigma'. According to Carrey, he was reading a book about Psalm 23 when he was first given a copy of the screenplay to review. He said he asked a friend to read the script and "an hour and a half later he was on page 23, circling every 23rd word. That's the kind of thing I want to do to an audience." When he discovered that the first page of the script involved the lead character trying to capture a pit bull, he was "freaked out," given the change in name of his production company. (Pitbull productions) My Nicknames Pitty, short for pitbul (These are just speculations) Also I've gathered others inputs and went down a deep rabbit hole. Mind you, this is just connections that has been gathered over time, but the consistency of certain "coincidences" are interesting to say the least. Just try to piece together the connections even though it may be out of radar due to us living completely different lives.
James > Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs) > Number 23 > Nicknames are King James & The Chosen One
Cavs is the nickname of my last name Cavanagh
When you flip the cleveland cavaliers logo upside down it is quite similar
(The hat I've worn since 14, P represents the nickname"Pitty:" short for pitbill a nickname ive had since i was around 10 years old.
Matthew writes that on 23 occasions Jesus blessed 47 people.
The Bible credits Jesus with 47 miracles.
The Declaration of Independence has 47 sentences. Originally published: 4 July 1776 (4/7)
1947 is when the UFO crashed at Roswel
The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are 47 degrees of latitude apart.
Capital STEEZ died from allegedly leaping from the Cinematic Music Group’ either gripping a bible or with it strapped on his back There is also the fact that a blood lunar eclipse will occur in New York at 3:47 am on STEEZ’s birthday in 2047, and then the lunar eclipse which will occur after this one is part of the Lunar Saros series 135. He said he named the song 135 for “5th dimensional synchronization”... whatever that means, this would be a massive coincidence.
How Many People Can See This Eclipse? Number of People Seeing... Number of People* Fraction of World Population At least some of the penumbral phase 4,070,000,000 When the Eclipse Happens Worldwide — Timeline Event UTC Time Time in Melbourne* Penumbral Eclipse begins 7 Jul at 07:47:47 Visible in Melbourne 7 Jul at 5:47:47 pm On capital steez birthday.
STEEZs last tweet “the end” Was posted December (23) 2012 The building steez died (The colliers office) is on 666 fifth avenue, 10103 10+10+3=(23), New York. The building was built in 1878 The bohemian grove was established in 1878 The address of the CMG label building is on 40 west (23)rd st, 10010, New York The Freemasonry Grand lodge of New York is on 71 west, (23)rd st 10010 NY. Directly located across the same building STEEZ died. Yeah. West 23rd st, w is the (23)rd letter in the alphabet. In Hebrew the letter W represents the number 6 The fraction 2/3 in decimals=0.666 The freemasonry grand lodge of New York was founded in December 15, 1782 15, 1782 1+5+1+7+8+2 = 24. December 24 the date that's etched on STEEZs tombstone. A police report about his death has never surfaced, information has never been released, but there is pictures of his gravestone (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuFVUJJR4Ug) and on that gravestone it says 24/12/12, which actually adds up to 48, yet he tweets on the 23/12/12 stating 'The End. Steez was ready to open up Pandora’s box and expose the illuminati occult in a way that has never been done before. It gets deep. Just think about it guys. Steez was an intellectual genius. He would obviously know that suicide actually makes u go to hell and not heaven. As a believer in the lord he would never commit suicide.
I'm not sure if you're paying attention to the ryan garcia trying to reveal how something tragic happened to him where he was taken to boheiman grove and forced to watch things i wont mention here People said his crazy and on drugs, sad thing is, I believe he is telling the truth Fast forward he wasn't on drugs and
Peep his song "Free The Robots" https://youtu.be/XcmR8DxuHBA
STEEZ has definitely made a positive impact on this world by introducing a new way of thinking and spirituality, even more of an impact than a lot of artists who are still alive... Capital STEEZ was 19 at the time of his death.
There is also gematria behind his death it has to do with numbers. I’ll explain what it is for those who aren’t aware of it. Gematria is the decoding of letters to numbers, it’s used to translate ancient Hebrew Scriptures. But it’s also the code for the entire world. The most basic way I can put it is that it’s as simple as ABC=123, they use these numbers thru media, and the thing that’s being shown on the media always correlates with Masonic numbers and words that correlate with whatever and whoever is being shown on the news or media and whatever event is taking place always correlates 100% of the time. In news, sports, music industry, Hollywood, politics, everything. In Numerology, which is different from gematria. After calculating his name I came across a lot of similarities when calculating mine in various forms.
While calculating his name i came across things relating to me like Like "Melbourne Victoria Australia, Royal Melbourne Hospital, june twenty fourth. From his name which connected to me personally as i was born in that hospital, thats the city i live and my birthday. The similarities left me wondering if it was actually real or not so I used multiple different calculators and paid for a membership on gematrinator to get maximum results and ended up noticing so much our mine and steezs calculations were similar answers in different form, and answers i got with his name ultimately connected to mine, vice versa. So i was intrigued and these are a list of numbers that matched up with our names. This is all speculation based on connections that seem to be very consistent peep this
Calculating these variations of our names such as Courtney Jamal Dewar / Courtney jamal Dewar Jr / Courtney Everald Jamal Dewar Jr / Capital STEEZ / Nathan Cavanagh / Nathan James Cavanagh / Nathan James Cavanagh Sciarra, calculations all listed together when I noted them all I didn't think to label to each name as I was so captivated by the coincidences I just kept going down the rabbit hole. I came across profound links to both our names that binds us both to the unique synchronicities that were to apparent to all be ruled as pure coincidence, such as his name calculating to my birthday, place of birth and city, and city i live to say the least.
These are calculations through gematria, some are our calculations mixed in this as I was just noting down every connection I noticed
The first and the last Eye Of Horus Total Eclipse the numbers of gods matrix coordinated universal time Capital Steez June Twenty Forth (my birthday) came up from steez name Lunar Eclipse Sacrifice July (2047 lunar eclipse on steezs birthday) The Central Intelligence Agency A WISE TALENTED MUSIC PRODUCER Royal Melbourne Hospital (where I was born) The Holy Bloodline Of Jesus The Return of Christ Exodus Luke synchronisation The Synchronicities Of Jesus The Book Of Revelations Vibrational Frequency Biblical Prophecy Melbourne Victoria Australia (where im from), came up on steezs calculations The Royal Bloodline The Divine Bloodline Of Jesus fourth of jew lie Energy frequency vibration The Holy Lineage Of Christ One Who Understands Mysteries december the twenty fifth. ..... speaks for itself A Door to another dimension New Moons And Solar Eclipse twenty four seven (my birthdays the 24th, his is the 7th) the victory of the lamb multidimensional royal regiment of scotland Golden Gate Sacrifice Gods Gift Clairvoyant The Chosen One The Two Appointed Ones Leaving For Heaven David And Daughter Of The Oath Are One Almighty God Roars Upon His Throne Powerful Great Grandma The Lord On Earth Donald Trump Assassination Lords Alignment The Lord Gods Here God Is Really Here God Birthdate Encoded End Of Times God Code The Code Of The Lord Lord Birthday Code Gods Provable Code Gods Alive Loser Access Into Heaven Twenty Three The Anunnaki Gods Jesus Is Coming A True Prophet The Seventh Seal What is Jesus's number? 888 Apollo Is The Beast Of Revelation See Fulfillment Of The Book Of Isaiah Prophecy The Serpent In Genesis Describes The Mark Of The Beast See The Forced Evil Mark Of The Beast Foiled The Victory Of The Lamb May The Lord Fill Your Heart Two Masters Is Cancer (steez and I are both Cancer) God Of Eternity We Are God Twins Maker Of New Earth A Two Edged Swords Xanax Vicodin Addiction (i struggled with bad) The Bible Is Intentionally Concealing Information The Galactic Jesus the Anointed One Moses Will Come The King Is Coming Miraculously Encoded By God Pyramids On Mars Forests On Mars Holy Spirit Of Zeus We Are Absolute Infinite Sent By The Gods Powerful Great Grandma999 Burning Alive The Gang Stalkers. (long story short I was a victim of whay they call gangstalking when I was reaching my peak or enlightenment and have been trying to get back to that state again, all I can describe it as is demonic torment) Enoch 777 on YouTube speaks on it good.) A Fourty Seven Mandating The Poisonous Jabs Knowledge Of God Brings Eternal Life Death Isnt So Scary Anymore Invictus Sol The Lion And The Lamb https://imgur.com/gallery/ztGPJGS The Lord Is Here Coming To Restore The Eternal Kingdom The Blood Of The Lamb Contact With A God Revival Jesus The Annointed One the key to it all I Am The Holy Grail Sun Moon Earth Revelation Nine Spirit World I Am The One Lord Jesus Christ I Know All Codes And Connections The Wisdom Of God Word Of The Lord Quantum Entanglement Theory The Anunnaki Path Almighty God Roars Upon His Throne 173 Enoch Chapter Ninety Five Pyramids Have Hidden Chambers Music Is My Life Revelation Five Everyone Is God Forever Jesus Walking With God Vision Of Gabriel New Revelation Seven Wonders Symbiotic Craft Thank You James (my middle name is James) Words Of The Bible Isaiah Fourteen Thirteen Trumps Last Son He Is Jesus Crown Chakra God Is You Gods In A Body The Resurrection Of Life The Book Lj Enoch King Jesus Gods Wrath We Are At War Truth Hidden In Plain Sight Double Conciousness The Anointed Lay Dead On The Cross Dragon Of China Is The Anti Christ. A Seed Of Jesse Angelic Guidance Black Pyramid Hidden Truth In Plain Sight King Messiah Heavens Dream Let The Decoding Fun Begin Add Up Letters Notorious Names The Child Of Christ Aliens Exist Spirit Of Moses C E R T I F I C A T E Of Baptism Of The Lord Of Christ Alchemist Fluoride To Heaven God Is Number Codes Numerical Language Learning Decoding Is Fun The Lord Of The Messiah The Book Of Hidden Messages Eight Eight Eight Nine Nine Nine Lost Books Of The Bible Rna Vaccine Maternal Ancestors Are Of Royal Descent You Are Gifted Frequency Turn Off Your Smart Phone I Am Eternal Life David Christ Gods Son The Sound Of Jesus Coming Help Others Realize Full Potential Implants During Surgical Procedures The Solar System And Thoughts The Reincarnation Of King David King David Divine Dna Is Activated Jesus Returns To Earth The Lion Of Judah Is With Us (Steez would speak about Judah)
Jamal Dewar; psalm twenty three Jesus son of God Nathan Day Revelation fourteen one Spiritual warfare Gang Stalker (experienced this myself) Satanic Cults Commit Suicide forty seven problem Bloodline of Jesus Christ The End (when this came up my jaw dropped.) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you Amen The Holy Mother of Jesus christ Are you ready for whats coming july seventh twenty eighteen
Courtney Jamal Dewar, Jr: The Book Of Revelations Vibrational frequency MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA (where I live) Christ Resurrection Satan Rules The World The Divine Bloodline of Christ synchronization Biblical Prophecy Capital steez Exodus Luke The Divine Bloodline of David Second Christ The Return of Christ Jesus Resurrection Jesus Christ Bloodline
I added stuff from my name as it was so coincidental I didn't think to label them at first I just wrote down anything I thought added up This is just deep research into who reminds me of myself My instagram is mistapitty Listen to The Resurrection by Pitty https://on.soundcloud.com/Xn3nN
Listen to Revelation 22 by Pitty https://on.soundcloud.com/gBAja
Peep his song "Free The Robots" https://youtu.be/XcmR8DxuHBA
STEEZ has definitely made a positive impact on this world by introducing a new way of thinking and spirituality, even more of an impact than a lot of artists who are still alive... Capital STEEZ was 19 at the time of his death.
There are four gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry. Each of these emphasizes a unique aspect of his sacrifice and ministry. Matthew's focus is on Christ being the son of David and a King.
Look into the etymology of your name. - What Does Nathan Mean? The name Nathan means “Gift of God” or “God has given.” In the Old Testament, Nathan was a prophet and one of King David's sons; he acted as a messenger to King David and is considered one of Jesus' ancestors. (David name of my biological grandfather) (James is my middle name) - James is a classic, traditional and Biblical name (Saint James, of course, was Jesus's brother and one of the 12 apostles) meaning "supplanter" or "replacer." It's derived from the Latin Jacomus which also means "may God protect.
Every letter to Capital STEEZs full name calculates to 147 when done in reverse on the gematria calculator and mine equals to exactly 470 when done in reverse.
"Nathan James Cavanagh Sciarra" = 470 (Reverse Reduction) N a t h a n 104 13 26 7 19 26 13 J a m e s 87 17 26 14 22 8 C a v a n a g h 159 24 26 5 26 13 26 20 19 S c i a r r a 120 = 470 8 24 18 26 9 9 26 Reverse = 470
"Capital STEEZ" = 47 (Reduction) C a p i t a l 26 3 1 7 9 2 1 3 S T E E Z 21 = 47 1 2 5 5 8 Reduction = 47
"Courtney Everald Jamal Dewar" = 147 (Reverse Reduction) C o u r t n e y 41 6 3 6 9 7 4 4 2 E v e r e s t 41 4 5 4 9 4 8 7 J a m a l 35 8 8 5 8 6 D e w a r 30 = 147 5 4 4 8 9 Reverse = 147
On June 24th 2022: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are lining up in the pre-dawn sky, a planetary procession that could be seen above the eastern horizon And what’s even more remarkable about this month’s lineup is that the planets are arranged in their natural order from the sun. The best day to see the spectacle will likely be the morning of June 24 of 2022, weather permitting, as the planetary parade will be joined by the waning crescent moon. This is three days after the summer solstice (or winter in australia), which is June 21. What makes this so unique is the last time we had 5 planets aligned in this fashion, was in March of 1874.
All of the "classical" planets will be viewable in the early morning skies of June 24th 2022. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will be visible, all apparent to the naked eye even under urban light pollution. On the 24th, our moon will be situated between Venus and Mars, so you could say the Earth-Luna system will complete the "perfect" alignment. Under the darkest skies, one will be able to see seven planets in one sweeping gaze. The same year December 24th (25th in Australian time) the planets will align in their correct order outward from the sun for the second time this year, after a pre-dawn alignment in June was on my birthday. STEEZ is said to have died on the 24th of December 👉 https://imgur.com/gallery/0RVIxxA
In australian time it would've been the 25th as we are a day ahead
Alternatively, 25 December may have been selected owing to its proximity to the winter solstice because of its symbolic theological significance. After the solstice, the days begin to lengthen with longer hours of sunlight, which Christians see as representing the Light of Christ entering the world. This symbolism applies equally to the celebration of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, near the summer solstice, based on John's remark about Jesus "He must increase; I must decrease." John 3:30 NRSV.[59] Now check out the following texts from the bible, they speak of the solstice here. 👉 https://imgur.com/gallery/0RVIxxA and I thought I should add this as it seemed to be quite a coincidence of the date i posted this somg and the content of the posts she made. It aligned with those geomatria calculations I made and i wish I could document snd explain why certain ones just synchronzie but it'd be to hard to comphrened.
"AFTER THE SOLSTICE, THE DAYS BEGIN TO LENGTHEN WITH LONGER HOURS OF SUNLIGHT, WHICH CHRISTIANS SEE AS REPRESENTING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST ENTERING THE WORLD. THIS SYMBOLISM APPLIES EQUALLY TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST ON 24 JUNE, NEAR THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, BASED ON JOHN'S REMARK ABOUT JESUS "HE MUST INCREASE; I MUST DECREASE." JOHN THE BAPTIST ANNOUNCES THE COMING OF THE LIGHT THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, JOHN THE BAPTIST, ANNOUNCES THE COMING OF JESUS, THE COMING OF NEW TIMES, JOHN ANNOUNCES THAT GOD IS GRACIOUS TO HIS PEOPLE BY ANNOUNCING THE COMING OF THE SON OF GOD. BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, AND EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; AND ALL THE TRIBES OF THE LAND WILL MOURN OVER HIM.” –ZECHARIAH 12:10-14; DANIEL 7:13-14 SO IT IS TO BE. AMEN (AGREED, YESHUA HIMSELF IS THE AMEN 3:14). “I KEPT LOOKING IN THE NIGHT VISIONS, AND BEHOLD, WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN WAS COMING."
John the Baptist day is 24th of June.
"The flower of life, represents global consciousness and like there's this thing on the consciousness grid, the last piece, it has to be the flower of life and it has to align with the sun and all that stuff and it will wake up global consciousness & as i further in my ascension I hope to build it one day" "Some people might think this type of thinking, first of all this type of thinking might jump over a lot of people's heads" "I think humans need to lighten up, maybe try lighten up" - STEEZ
Someone regarding STEEZ: "Did he think there were codes in the Bible or something? I’ve heard him say he knows the “code” does anyone know what the code is? He was a truly enlightened person I wish I could understand him better."
STEEZ supposedly said he had to die now in order to save the Earth in 2047, which is when the world is supposed to end. Before he killed himself his friends say he withdrew not only from them, but rap in general, saying he was going to become a superhero.
(My birthday)24th of June 1999 = 2+4+6+1+9+9+9 = 40 STEEZ birthday) 7th of July 1993 = 7+7+1,993 = 2007.) 40 + 2007 = 2047
Now read a conversation he had on Facebook prior to death https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/rip-capital-steez.354864/page-42?post_id=16781894&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-167818 His song Dead Prez (credit to who found these calculations as this wasn't mine) If you wanna conspire a little, we technically have had 46 different president so far, tho truly only 45 different guys have been in office. This year, if we elect a new president they will be our 47th prezident. You could say that happens when the next president is elected, or when the second new president is elected because then there'd actually be 47 different people. On the contrary, you could predict that once 47 presidents have died, something very significant will happen because the song is about DEAD presidents. It'll happen in most of our lifetimes i wonder what will happen 2047?
https://imgur.com/a/bOpRy
FORTY, THE NUMBER: "Forty days was the period from the resurrection of Jesus to the ascension of Jesus some scholars note that 40 days in the Bible doesn't always mean 40 days literally, but may be a symbolic way of saying "a longer time. A master number and part of the “awakening code”. Also Jose Arguelles’s kin is 11 – he brought forth the Law of Time aka the World Thirteen Moon Cale In the Bible, next to the number seven, the number forty occurs most frequently.
Here's an article on Fader that's kind of aligns some things I've discovered.
https://www.thefader.com/2013/11/26/capital-steez-king-capital
Check out these images, not a lot of people would've seen these: h ttp://i.imgur.com/nPE90.png / http://i.imgur.com/sHtdM.png / http://i.imgur.com/ZcNu2.png - he thought he was the alchemist that had the key for world peahttp://i.imgur.com/ZcNu2.png Deshay posted this on Facebook after his immediate death: "Fxck.... This shxt jus rly fxcked me up. Me and Steezus JUST made plans to record on Saturday now hes gone. RIP Capital STEEZ" Joey said he believed he sacrificed himself for spiritual rebirth.
The End THE WIDELY ACCEPTED STORY is that Courtney ‘Jamal’ Dewar committed suicide by jumping off the Cinematic Music Building in Manhattan on 23.12.12 – which equals 47, the rapper’s favourite number. None of the city’s newspapers reported his death. As a result of inconsistent stories and a lack of police intelligence, confusion surrounds the heart-breaking event for the Dewar family. In a 2013 interview with Fader, an anonymous member of Pro Era said, “STEEZ told some of the Pros that he was thinking of killing himself by jumping off the building where Cinematic had its offices.” Dirty Sanchez a close friend of the late rapper recalled, “Nothing was working. Nothing. It was like too late. He made up his mind already.”
Today I will be briefly explaining the practice of Gematria. Gematria comes from ancient Jewish mysticism. It is the practice of combining the letter with the number, with the word. It is said this is how God created the world.
How does it work? Gematria has 4 major ciphers. The first two are easy as ABC, literally. For example A=1 B=2 C=3. And so on. The code can also be read backward from Z to A. This is called reverse ordinal. There are two more ciphers that are equally important but a bit more nuanced so for the sake of clarity I’ll leave those explanations to the work of Zachary K Hubbard. But to put Gematria into usable terms I’m gonna explain a decode I did recently. If you want to decode a word or phrase without doing the math yourself, there is an extremely helpful calculator at gematrinator.com it will give you all four cipher values for your word or phrase in an instant, as well as compare it with corresponding ciphers. Without further ado let’s look at this example:
Here I will outline some interesting numbers that coincide with the rapper Capital STEEZ and the numbers surrounding the music industry as well as numbers that come up with race, and other things I found eye grabbing.
(Credit to another user on here) First off I’ll start with Capital STEEZ, The interesting number here is the full reduction number, 47. It’s eye grabbing for many reasons, but we’ll start with a little back ground. Before Capital STEEZ’s (aka Jamal Dewar) death (suicide) in 2012, STEEZ was apart of an up and coming rap group known as Progressive Era, or ProEra for short. A known staple among these young men were the belief in “47 chakras” and “indigo children”. The two are a topic on their own, but the interesting part is that such a powerful number in Jamal Dewar’s life also coincides with the Gematria of his rap name. But that’s not it! Let’s continue
Capital STEEZ English ordinal: 137
Full reduction: 47
Reverse ordinal: 187 ( see pushed off a roof)
Reverse full reduction :70
Now keep an eye on 70, as we shall see him more as well.
Next we will decode the gematria of the reported means of STEEZ’s death, suicide. This is where I admittedly started getting intrigued.
Gematria of Suicide:
English Ordinal: 70
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal:119
Reverse full reduction: 47
Wow. The exact same values but flipped.
Just a mere coincidence I’m sure But let’s continue .
With these next two we will see two repeats of values, one new value, 88 and a previously used value, 34. As well as 65
Jamal Dewar
English ordinal: 88
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal: 182
Reverse full reduction: 65 ————————— Phrase: pushed off the roof
English Ordinal: 187
Full reduction: 88
Reverse ordinal: 245
Reverse full reduction: 65
And the next term we will decode will be Jamal’s occupation of rapper. Here we will see a reverse of our main number in question, 47, which I’ve found to be reoccurring as well.
Rapper
English ordinal: 74
Full reduction: 38
Reverse ordinal: 88
Reverse full reduction: 34
I’m beginning to sense a bit of a pattern here... But let me move on Now it’s time to get a little spicy
Jamal Dewar commited suicide on the night of December 23, 2012, though his wiki has his death on the 24 I believe as it was around midnight. Many articles coming out about his death including one I read from thefader.com reported his death on the 23rd. I specifically remember this detail because I was a huge fan of his and Pro Era at the time and it was a huge loss to the community.
December is the 12th month
12
23
12
Care to guess what that equals?
Yep. 47
Here are some other related phrases put into the gematrinator calculator:
Brooklyn New York (where proera is from)
223 79 182 74
Suicide by fall 128 56 223 79
Are you seeing the synchronization of these seemingly unrelated words and phrases?.
The word murder and murdered both have synchronized gematria with Jamal. We also see another repeat with 38, also found in the full reduction of the word rapper.
Murder
English ordinal: 79
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal: 83 (38 reverse)
Reverse full reduction: 38
Murdered ,interestingly enough, though only being two letters away from murder, is actually more closely related numerically to jamals name and the word rapper, But there are similarities abound. Murdered.
English ordinal: 88
Full reduction: 43 (34 reverse)
Reverse ordinal: 128
Reverse full reduction: 47
Wow. This one really stands out to me. Every single number code number is used in the over all code of Capital steez just in this one word.
We see the repeats of 88 and 47 as well as the reverse of 34 for the first time and a repeat in the numbers of 128, which we saw as 182 above.
This one is slightly unrelated so I left it sort of by itself but I still maintain it’s validity as it’s use in the music industry is still relevant. That is the word racist. Race is huge in the overall narrative that msm tries to portray.
Racist
English ordinal: 70
Full reduction:25
Reverse ordinal: 92
Reverse full reduction: 47
racist and suicide are perfect matches on the front end and back end. 70 and 47.
Here’s another nugget.
The phrase : jumped to his death
English ordinal: 178 (pushed off the roof 187)
Full reduction: 70 (pushed off the roof 88)
Reverse ordinal:254 (pushed off the roof 245)
Reverse full reduction :83 (pushed off the roof 65)
Leap also shares 34 and 84.
Suicided 74 38 142 52
Occult
English ordinal: 74
Full reduction: 20
Reverse ordinal:88
Reverse full reduction:34
3 more repeats
The year of his suicide was a leap year
Leap year
English ordinal:83 Full reduction: 38 Reverse ordinal:133 Full res verse reduction: 43
Target audience: 133 61 245 83 Suicidal: 78 33 138 57 Hidden mission: 142 70 209 74 Some of these numbers are conjecture but there’s a lot of links between the numbers. 47/74 being the one of the more prominent, as well as 83/38, 34/43, 70, 245/254, 88, 33, 29/92/209, 182/128 all of these numbers connect in one way or another. Now it wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t know more about the nature of these numbers and how and where they appear. But since these number keep popping up in accordance to things like CONTROL GRID or MYSTERY RELIGION or SUPREME MATHEMATICS it seems almost impossible for it to be mere coincidence. Anyways I urge you guys to think for yourself and put in some work and see if you can find any use of this practice. God bless
Ps:
STEEZ’s debut album ”amerikkkan korruption” Came out on 4-7-2012 another 47. Vibration equals 47
A theory out there is that the cabal needed him to die because STEEZ was really bringing influence to more and more young minds with knowledge and the way STEEZ attacked and exposed certain things is not a good thing for those in power, the label that Joey wanted to sign when they were pro era, was a Jewish man named Jonny Shipes. if you’ve extensively went down the “rabbit hole”, like extensively, and you’d say you’re pretty “woke” (I hate that word), then you may know that most labels especially Jewish owned labels are basically the portals into The Illuminati cult, the Jesuit organization that controls the entire world. Oh and remember the news outrage, and investigation because of the 47 “swa stikkas” all over NY, yea you think these Jonny Shipes fucked with that? Nah. But this is all speculation.
It wasn’t long after Capital STEEZ's unfathomable passing on 12/23/12 – 12+23+12 = 47), which was only days after December 21, 2012, the precise date calculated by the great Mayans to be the end of a Great Cycle, that I received knowledge & became aware of the Law of Time. This seemingly new cosmology felt ancient and I quickly realized it had EVERYTHING to do with Synchronicity! I even found the number 47 to be ever ubiquitous throughout this 13 Moon calendar system.
"The next chapter is unstoppable. And yet, the greatest revolutions sometimes originate from the confines of impossibility, do they not? Break the code. It could make a leap and make possible a decision that defines the order of things that are." " Reality is a mathematical model which gets solved over and over again by the observer your thoughts are computations. And they render this world for you to call your own. Not all processors are alike. Different brains produce different realities. The variations go from the subtle to the drastic. Your mind defines how much you can taste. How much you can feel. How much you can understand. Perception defines perspective. We designed you and made sure to engineer your senses so you could perceive just what we needed you to. Neither more nor less. There are parts of time we preferred you remained blind to. It was a necessity."
The Law of Time, I found to hold the most profound yet simple teaching; our Time is not Money, Time is Art. I was able to grasp a greater vision of how we as humans have created an artificial timing system where our time here equates to how much money we can accumulate, where we are constantly stressed by this false belief of our making, and where there is never enough time… This system of our making and continuous propagation has only served to separate us from our Selves, from each other, and ultimately, from nature. Hence, resulting in the chaos and disharmony prevalent in the world today.
What is the greatest common factor of 23 & 47? 1 is the greatest number that 23 & 47 is divided to. The Chosen One @mistapitty ㄣ

As of Dec 2023, Match Group owns the following dating services:

• Tinder
• Hinge
• OkCupid
• The League
• Plenty of Fish
• Match.com

Others that they also own:
Archer, Asian People Meet, Azar, BB People Meet, BB People Meet, Baby Boomer People Meet, Black People Meet, Black Christian People Meet, Black Professional People Meet, BLK, Catholic People Meet, Chinese People Meet, Chispa, Delightful, Democratic People Meet, Divorced People Meet, GenX People Meet, Hakuna, India Match, Interracial People Meet, Italian People Meet, J People Meet, Latino People Meet, LDS Planet, Little People Meet, Loveandseek, Marriage Minded People Meet, Meetic, Ourtime, Pairs, Peoplemeet, Petpeoplemeet, Republican People Meet, Senior Black People Meet, Ship, Single People Meet, Upward, Yuzu, Veggie People Meet
The only app they don't own is Bumble, but Bumble is horribly ran and seems to make the same mistakes.
Does no one realize how much power Match Group wields in our society? Lots of people are aware of the porn producers these days, but why doesn't anyone talk about the very apps which are now the primary way for men and women to meet each other (and to eventually start families).
Let's have a discussion.

Note: I do not own Howl’s Moving Castle, so all rights go to Studio Ghibli. Monetization is allowed, just send me a link to the finished audio, credit me, and ask before you make any changes (this includes gender swapping of any kind). Even though I do use “They/Them” a few times in here, I use that so I don’t have to write she/he every time. Just wanted to explain in case anyone was confused.
Note: Around 1203 words
(Talking to self) Alright, I got the snacks, sodas, tea, blankets, plushies, pillows. Am I missing anything? Right! My wonderful partner, the movie, and our fuzzy pajamas. Ordered these specifically for our movie night. They’re gonna love them!
(Talking to listener) Babe! Everything is ready for our movie night!
….
Yes, I even set up a pillow fort on the couch. We’ll be nice and comfy while we watch the movie.
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Of course Rocky is gonna watch with us! It’s not a movie night without our favorite pupper! He’s even wearing the Calicifer dog collar I got him for Christmas.
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You got a surprise for me? That’s very sweet of you, honey. I always love your surprises and I actually got one for you too.
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[Chuckles] Sweetie, if I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise. Come down when you’re ready and we will give each other our surprises. Does that sound like a good plan to you?
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Excellent! I’ll be down here getting the movie set up on the TV.
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Alright, now what is this surprise you have for me?
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A Calcifer plushie!? I love it! Thank you so much, baby! [Kisses Cheek] You’re way too sweet to me.
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[Chuckles] Yes, Yes. I’ll give you your surprise now. Remember when you were doing some online browsing for Howl’s Moving Castle Pajamas last week?
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Well, I ordered them last week and they just came in today. Also, got myself some too, so we can match. I know it sounds cheesy, but I thought it would be cute. [Sheepish Chuckle]
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Phew! I’m glad you think it’s cute, despite it being somewhat cheesy. The pajamas I bought for you say “May all your bacon burn.” Thought it fit you, since you say that exact same line every time I make bacon. Also, I somehow managed to find a set that was decorated with pictures of Howl’s bird form. There was only one pair left in my size and I took that as a sign from the universe to buy it. They were also on sale, so that helped a bit.
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Of course the plan was to watch the movie while wearing these! Me, you, and Rocky can all match! Let's get changed so we can look cute and comfy?
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Alright. I’ll meet you here in a few. Can’t wait to see you looking all cute and cuddly
(Time skip)
Babe, I’m ready when you are. (Talking to self) Gotta rearrange the pillows to make it perfect. Wanna make this as comfy as possible.
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[Talking to listener] You look so adorable! It's almost too much for me to handle. I might die from cuteness from overload.
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Please don’t hide your face, darling. I’m just telling the truth. You’re already so adorable, these pajamas just make you that much cuter.
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You think the same for me. Well then….
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No! I’m not blushing! [Thinking to self] I just got called cute by the most adorable person on this planet! And I’m dating them! I’m the most lucky person in history!
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Huh? Oh, I’m alright. Just zoned out for a second there. Now, how about we begin our movie night. Already have the movie, snacks, and pillow fort all set up.
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Yeah, yeah, I’ll scoot over. Or…. (Flirty) You could just snuggle on my lap? I’m sure I’m much more comfortable than the couch.
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Lovely, you just make yourself comfortable and I’ll start the movie.
(Time skip)
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I agree. Sophie honestly should have had a better position. I didn’t really like Fanny because it always seemed she took advantage of Sophie’s kindness. At least Lettie was nice.
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Yeah, I also noticed they didn’t add the third sister, Martha. Guess they wanted to slightly change the plot direction. They sometimes do this with movie adaptations of books.
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Howl will soon make an appearance, don’t worry.
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Glad to see I’m not the only one in this house that thinks Christian Bale did an excellent job as Howl. His voice really did the character justice.
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Yes! Especially when he has his epic freakout sesh. I swear that man is a five year old in an adult body. He’s even worse in the third book.
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I won’t give away spoilers, since you haven’t read it anyway. However, I will say that you will laugh your head off when he makes his appearance.
…. (Time Skip)
You alright there, honey?
….
Seeing the Witch of the Waste’s blob monsters scared you? You wanna snuggle into me for comfort?
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There you go. And no, I won’t laugh at you for being scared of them. I will admit they can be very creepy, especially when they are masquerading as humans.
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Sorry for the subject change, but I like how Miyazaki can make characters that are instantly recognizable. Like, you can take one look and know that either it's from Ghibli or from a company that employs former Ghibli animators. They just have a certain look and feel to them.
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Yeah, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a good example. The film was made by Studio Ponoc, which had animators who previously worked at Ghibli. Even the director was previously from that company.
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Oh, you want some snacks? Alright, which one would you like? I got chips, cookies, an assortment of candy, and some moon pies. I also tried to make some Calicfer themed cupcakes to make it a bit more fun.
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Alright, you want a cupcake, some chips, and a Diet Coke. Gotcha.
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I’m glad you like cupcakes. Wanted to make sure I got their cute little faces just right. For a first attempt, they didn’t turn out too bad.
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(Talks to dog) Rocky! No you silly pupper, you can’t have a bite of the cupcakes. They have chocolate in them.
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No, the literal puppy dog eyes are not gonna work on me.
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Here, just chew on your bones and toys. There you go, good pupper.
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(Talks to Listener) Right, we should get back to the movie. And yes, I’ll make sure Rocky doesn’t steal anymore food. Honestly, I can see him try and do one of those complicated thief plans from the movies. You know, the one where they crawl into a ceiling duct and suspend over the target on a cable?
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Knew you would find that funny. Ok, let’s start the movie up again.
…. (Time Skip)
Why does Miyazaki always know how to make people cry? I mean, seeing Sophie embrace Howl in his bird creature form is so beautiful. I always tear up at this heart wrenching scene. Anyway, I have a stupid question for you: Would you still love me if I was a bird hybrid creature like Howl?
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Awww! You’re so sweet! It's nice to know if I started to sprout feathers, you’d still love me.
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Of course I’d still love you if you also started to sprout feathers as well! You’d always be the same beautiful person I fell in love with, with or without black-blue feathers.
…. (Time Skip)
Now that was a wonderful movie. I’ll never get tired of seeing it with you. I do have something important to tell you.
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Instead of a small fire demon holding my heart, you are the one who holds it. The moment I gave it to you, I always knew it would be safe in your care. I love you so much [Kiss] never, ever forget that.
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And yes, I’ll never forget that you love me too. Now how about you and I get some sleep. Goodnight sweetie.