The Digital Dilemma

E-readers have been a staple of my life for over a decade.  I am a voracious reader and I love books.  I also speak more than one language.  Since my work has blessed me with the opportunity to travel globally, it has never been convenient for me to carry a large number of book as I travel.  The e-reader has been a wonderful modern convenience to me.

Unfortunately, I have noticed a troubling trend in my digital library.  Please note I have e-readers from more than one country and in multiple languages.  I have written columns, blogs, and papers referencing digital material.  When I review some of the material years later, I discover some of my references have been deleted.  They no longer exist.

I know digital books are updated.  Receiving the next edition’s update of a book over my e-reader is considered a benefit or a convenience.  But there is no reference made to the missing material.  There is no link back to a previous edition and usually no notice that this modification has taken place.

This troubles me for a couple of reasons.  First, it undermines the work I have published.  When people go to verify my research or references and the references are missing, my credibility is damaged.  Second, in such a hostile political environment, it is possible what I have read or referenced may fall out of favor with the general populace.  If that be the case, it is possible parts of my digital library can be deleted.

In history there have been a number of mass book burnings.  These are usually not a good thing.  It can also be noted when Marxists, Communists, or extreme Socialists come to power, they strive to change the language and rewrite history.  The goal is to separate people from their roots and traditions.  People without a foundation can be reformed into anything the ruling parties desire.  

In a digital world, this becomes very simple.  I hope you can see my dilemma.

“The first battlefield is to rewrite history… Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily persuaded.”

– Karl Marx

• S.C.P.

For further information, please read:

I Will Bear Witness, Volume 1: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1933-1941 – Victor Klemperer

I Will Bear Witness, Volume 2: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1942-1945 – Victor Klemperer

Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii (Bloomsbury Revelations) – by Victor Klemperer

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Answers to the Questions Thinking Young People Ask: Why Do We Still Eat Apples?

Question:

If an apple was the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, why do we still eat apples?

Short Answer:

The use of the word apple has changed. Eve did not eat the fruit we know today as an apple. When the Bible was first translated into English; however, the forbidden fruit was known as an apple.  Hence, the common misconception lingers till this day.  (Even though the Bible never mentions the word apple in conjunction with the story of the fall of man (Genesis 3:1-24).)

Explanation:

As late as the 17th century “apple” was a term applied to any fruit specifically not from Europe.  For example: dates were known as finger-apples, bananas were apples of paradise, tomatoes were love apples, and potatoes were apples of the earth.  In the French language potatoes are still referred to as “apples of the earth” – pomme de terre.

During the Renaissance, the term apple became known solely as the fruit which originated in Central Asia.  This is the fruit we know today as an apple.  So, Renaissance painters portrayed Eve as giving an apple to Adam and the misconception still lives today.

So much so, that a man’s larynx is referred to as an Adam’s apple because folk lore believes the forbidden fruit became lodged in Adam’s throat after he ate it.

Objections:

Some people believe the confusion comes from the old Latin word for apple.  The old Latin word for apple and the old Latin word for evil sound similar.  Therefore, some people believe Eve partook of the “evil.”

Different cultures, teachers, and traditions have all suggested many different and various kinds of fruit.

Regardless, don’t take my word for it.  Research it for yourself (2 Timothy 2:15) and spend more time in your Bible.

OMG is NOT OK!

Thought for the Day: Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

There is a gross amount of ignorance concerning the taking of the LORD’s name in vain.  God’s WORD, the Bible, says NOT to take the LORD’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).  To use the LORD’s name in vain is to use it without purpose or reverence.  It is the third of the TEN COMMANDMENTS.  God said not to take His name in vain before He said not to kill, steal, or commit adultery.

Many people believe God is love (I John 4:8) and God loves everybody (John 3:16).  These are true statements but they neglect all of God’s nature and provide a distorted view of who He is.

The Power to Create

Thought for the Day: Proverbs 18:21a

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”

Man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6).  God’s first act was to create (Gen. 1:1).  He spoke the world into existence from nothing, ex nihilo.

And God said, Let…

There be light – Gen. 1:3

There be a firmament – Gen. 1:6

The waters… be gathered together – Gen. 1:9

The earth bring forth – Gen. 1:11

There be lights… for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years – Gen. 1:14

Them be for lights… to give light upon the earth – Gen. 1:15

The waters bring forth abundantly – Gen. 1:20

The earth bring forth – Gen. 1:24

US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE – Gen. 1:26

The triune Creator God of the universe created man in His image.  That is why man is defined as a trichotomy (a fancy word meaning it takes three parts to make the whole).

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

– I Thessalonians 5:23

Because we are made in the image of God, we are naturally indued with certain ‘powers’ and properties that mirror God’s nature.

Much like the LORD, when we speak, we have the power to create.

Please allow me to illustrate.

When you walk into a room full of people, whatever comes out of your mouth can completely transform the environment where you are standing.  You can say mean and hurtful things creating a hostile environment.  You can say something encouraging, inspirational, or uplifting and create a positive environment.  You can walk into a hospital room where people are hurting and through a few kind words bring peace.

Please allow me to give more pointed illustrations.

Hitler never pulled a trigger. Yet through his words, orders, and speeches Hitler is responsible of the death of millions of people.

Stalin sent millions of people to their death with his words.

The Roman Senator Cato occasioned the complete destruction of Carthage by ending all of his speeches with something to the effect of, “Carthage must be destroyed.”  Thousands of people killed, a city annihilated, and all because of one man’s words.

As men and women created in the image of God, we have an incredible power to create.  With that power also comes an even greater responsibility.  God is going to hold us accountable someday for what has come out of our mouths.

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”

– Matthew 12:36

Those words were spoken by the LORD Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry.  We will all give an account for what we have created through our words.

Please also note the order the words are given to us in our verse today, “death and life.”  

Because of our sin nature* usually the first thing out of our mouths is something that brings death.

You can destroy people with your words.  You can abuse your spouse, children, relatives, friends, or aquaintances and never lay a finger on them.  You can drive people to the brink of suicide and never physically touch them.  This damage can come through your words.

Conversely, you can strengthen, encourage, and build people up through your words.  This ability in truth only comes from the regeneration given to those by the Spirit of God through belief in His Son the LORD Jesus Christ.

If you are a believer, you are under a biblical mandate to help people through your words.

“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

– Colossians 4:6

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

– Ephesians 4:29

Create something beautiful today!  Create peace!

“Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the children of God.”

– Matthew 5:9

*(All men are sinners because of Adam’s fall.  When we are born, we are born with a sin nature. Romans 3:10; 3:23.  When Adam sinned in the garden, the image of God was not erased but rather defaced, or marred.  We are still procreated in the image of God but with a natural bend towards sin.  This destructive nature can only be replaced by the redeeming power that comes through salvation.  When a man or woman admits (confesses) they are a sinner and asks for forgiveness from the LORD Jesus Christ, placing their faith (belief) in the LORD Jesus Christ that he paid for their sins through his death on the cross and justified them through the power of His resurrection, they will be saved.  

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

– Romans 10:9

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

– Romans 10:13)

– S.C.P.