WEBVTT 00:00:00.660 --> 00:00:03.540 It is the 26th of June, 2026. 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:05.220 I am Corey J. 00:00:05.220 --> 00:00:07.920 Moller, and this is At Any Cost. 00:00:07.920 --> 00:00:11.440 This is episode 32, a Q&A episode. 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.080 And I see there are a number of questions coming in the chat already. 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:17.700 I'm trying to copy those over just so I don't lose those. 00:00:19.900 --> 00:00:26.960 But I do not have any housekeeping for today, so I suppose I will just get straight into the questions here. 00:00:32.803 --> 00:00:44.783 Question one, could AI translation agents be configured to sufficiently satisfy the requirements you and Wo lay out in translating scripture from Greek, referencing the Stone Choir episode, of course? 00:00:45.503 --> 00:00:53.863 If not that, could they at least do a satisfactory job at translating Luther and other authors who don't have inexpensive English versions available? 00:00:56.163 --> 00:00:57.983 The answer to that would be no and then yes. 00:00:58.663 --> 00:01:04.183 No with regard to scripture, I don't think it's wise to use AI to translate scripture. 00:01:04.183 --> 00:01:08.983 I'm not saying you can't use AI to translate a passage here and there. 00:01:09.743 --> 00:01:12.883 Ask for definitions of a word, etymology, things like that. 00:01:13.343 --> 00:01:14.763 Certainly, you can do that. 00:01:15.583 --> 00:01:24.983 You should double check against reliable resources, which certainly exists, particularly if you have something like Logos up on your computer so you can look at the ancient writers and others as well. 00:01:24.983 --> 00:01:29.663 You can look at the dictionary and things like that, the Diglot Dictionary. 00:01:30.763 --> 00:01:34.383 But I don't think it's wise to use AI to translate scripture. 00:01:34.383 --> 00:01:37.523 That is something that should be reserved for Christian men. 00:01:38.063 --> 00:01:40.323 But for other authors, it's good enough. 00:01:41.583 --> 00:01:49.363 At this point, human translators are still better, but it's going to be good enough. 00:01:49.403 --> 00:01:56.763 So you can use that sort of thing for even writers that are writing about Christian subjects like Luther. 00:01:57.503 --> 00:01:58.523 So I think that's fine. 00:01:59.803 --> 00:02:00.563 Is it ideal? 00:02:00.563 --> 00:02:00.863 No. 00:02:00.863 --> 00:02:08.603 I think ideally you use human translators, but it's good enough, and like you noted, it's a lot cheaper and it's a lot quicker. 00:02:10.023 --> 00:02:12.423 I won't say that I don't use it for translation work. 00:02:12.423 --> 00:02:14.403 I use it to translate languages I don't know. 00:02:15.103 --> 00:02:18.123 So if you want to do that, I think it's just fine. 00:02:20.303 --> 00:02:23.723 A tangentially related question, question two here. 00:02:24.423 --> 00:02:32.223 How do you deal with the tension between the etymological bases of words and the colloquial understanding of the words without giving a lesson to everyone you meet? 00:02:32.723 --> 00:02:39.063 And then by way of example, the most obvious example is the conflation of country and nation, but I'm sure there are others. 00:02:39.063 --> 00:02:40.043 There are many others. 00:02:41.423 --> 00:02:42.523 Usually, I just ignore it. 00:02:43.163 --> 00:02:48.903 Unless it is vitally important to the conversation in some way, it's important to a point that I'm making. 00:02:49.523 --> 00:02:55.803 If that's the case, then I'll define these things in order to make it clear what exactly it is that I am saying, what I'm not saying. 00:02:56.183 --> 00:02:57.643 But otherwise, you just... 00:02:58.223 --> 00:03:01.763 Human communication is generally relatively imprecise. 00:03:02.583 --> 00:03:07.643 When we want to be precise, we speak in a certain way, and we write in a certain way. 00:03:07.643 --> 00:03:11.923 It's one of the reasons that contracts look so different from everyday speech. 00:03:12.503 --> 00:03:20.243 Because in a contract, every word matters and every party has to understand the words in the same sense, in theory at least. 00:03:20.883 --> 00:03:26.563 That's why you have that very sort of stilted, drawn-out, legalese. 00:03:27.523 --> 00:03:29.343 That's not the case in everyday speech. 00:03:29.343 --> 00:03:31.223 In everyday speech, things are imprecise. 00:03:31.223 --> 00:03:34.203 People are going to understand to a certain level. 00:03:34.603 --> 00:03:38.363 Some men will understand 95 percent of what you're saying, some will understand 80 percent. 00:03:38.883 --> 00:03:40.963 That's the reality of human communication. 00:03:41.183 --> 00:03:49.343 You do the best that you can, and if it is warranted under the circumstances, then you go through the effort to define your terms. 00:03:49.883 --> 00:03:57.383 Which if you're discussing something like theology, then go through the effort to define your terms, because you may very well not agree with other people. 00:03:57.403 --> 00:04:00.063 And so, it's important to do that. 00:04:00.543 --> 00:04:06.923 But generally speaking, human communication is imprecise, and we just have to accept that. 00:04:09.643 --> 00:04:11.003 Question three. 00:04:12.183 --> 00:04:14.243 Is organ donation legitimate? 00:04:14.963 --> 00:04:19.483 So the reasoning given is red pill me on organ donation, I think is rather sinister. 00:04:19.983 --> 00:04:24.843 I have heard that you have to be alive to be a viable donor, so you are effectively harvested like an animal. 00:04:26.143 --> 00:04:30.963 You have to be, I guess, for lack of a better term, fresh. 00:04:31.103 --> 00:04:41.443 You have to be recently deceased, because obviously, as your systems start to shut down, or whether you want to call them yours at that point, because at this point, you're in theory dead, right? 00:04:42.263 --> 00:04:43.543 There are different kinds of death. 00:04:43.783 --> 00:04:46.283 That's kind of an important starting point, I guess I should mention. 00:04:46.843 --> 00:04:54.343 And the one that we really term death these days, because we have all these medical devices, and we can actually test things, is brain death. 00:04:54.343 --> 00:04:55.923 When your brain's dead, you're dead. 00:04:56.363 --> 00:05:00.043 Your body may still be alive, because your heart may keep pumping for a while. 00:05:00.043 --> 00:05:03.183 Your heart can actually do that, at least for a while, without your brain. 00:05:03.803 --> 00:05:09.703 Other organs will keep functioning, but you're no longer there, and there's no way to bring you back from brain death. 00:05:10.383 --> 00:05:11.583 Probably also shouldn't do it. 00:05:11.583 --> 00:05:15.963 I don't think that would turn out well, even if, you know, zombie movies aren't a thing. 00:05:15.963 --> 00:05:19.643 I don't think bringing someone back from brain death is going to be a good outcome. 00:05:20.623 --> 00:05:37.843 So, you have to be, in theory, dead before they can harvest your organs, but it has to be quickly done, because otherwise you have all these problems, build up the toxins and muscle damage and cell death, and all these other things that happen post-mortem. 00:05:38.343 --> 00:05:41.383 So, that's the theory. 00:05:41.823 --> 00:05:45.943 These days, I don't know how much I would trust health care professionals. 00:05:46.643 --> 00:06:11.363 So, I think it's probably wisest, in most cases, not to be an organ donor, which I find very unfortunate that I have to say that, because if we were under different circumstances, if we had a good government, a righteous government instead of a wicked one, and we had people working in the medical field who were good men, who were reliable and honest, I would absolutely champion organ donation. 00:06:11.363 --> 00:06:14.743 I would say it should be the default, and then you have to opt out. 00:06:15.843 --> 00:06:29.803 We don't live under those circumstances, and so I would be very careful about signing up to be an organ donor these days, because there have definitely been cases where medical professionals have made calls that were the wrong call, because they needed the organs. 00:06:30.963 --> 00:06:34.103 This is more of a problem in some countries than others. 00:06:34.103 --> 00:06:36.203 It's a pretty big problem in the UK, for instance. 00:06:36.603 --> 00:06:39.703 Definitely don't be an organ donor if you live anywhere near Israel. 00:06:39.963 --> 00:06:54.403 They're not going to ask consent anyway, but by and large, probably be careful about doing that these days, just because of the realities of the system right now, not because organ donation itself is per se immoral. 00:06:54.883 --> 00:06:56.083 It's morally fine to do that. 00:06:56.083 --> 00:06:57.263 There's nothing wrong with that. 00:06:57.523 --> 00:07:03.023 We're not, you know, Jehovah's Witnesses or anything like that, where they think that all sorts of medical intervention are bad. 00:07:03.123 --> 00:07:04.543 You can get a blood transfusion. 00:07:05.043 --> 00:07:07.243 That's not consuming human flesh. 00:07:07.243 --> 00:07:08.383 That's not cannibalism. 00:07:08.963 --> 00:07:10.263 That's a medical intervention. 00:07:13.963 --> 00:07:15.783 Question four. 00:07:16.763 --> 00:07:19.323 Advice for a future Lutheran pastor. 00:07:20.463 --> 00:07:23.683 I have been following you, Woe and Stone Quire, for a few years now. 00:07:23.743 --> 00:07:29.143 I am a Zoomer entering a path where I'm eventually going to an undisclosed Lutheran seminary. 00:07:29.383 --> 00:07:30.303 Good choice there. 00:07:30.643 --> 00:07:34.903 I have listened to almost the entirety of Stone Quire, and I believe it wholeheartedly. 00:07:35.243 --> 00:07:38.103 I've asked you questions before on various live streams that you've done. 00:07:38.103 --> 00:07:44.043 I'm wondering specifically what should be the path for those who are going to become Lutheran pastors and already established denominations. 00:07:44.683 --> 00:07:54.503 I know eventually a new church body will be formed of the faithful, but what approach should those like myself going into seminary and eventually becoming ordained in an established Lutheran denomination be? 00:07:54.983 --> 00:07:56.663 How should my ministry approach be? 00:07:57.123 --> 00:08:00.483 I have considered using topics covered in episodes of SC for sermons. 00:08:00.843 --> 00:08:04.683 I also want to make an effort to talk more directly one-on-one with my congregants. 00:08:04.863 --> 00:08:12.863 I recognize that God has bestowed certain abilities and circumstances to allow me to further God's kingdom through pastoral ministry, but I'm still a young man. 00:08:13.463 --> 00:08:18.403 I desperately wish not to falter in my ministry, for I know that teachers have the stricter judgment. 00:08:18.723 --> 00:08:23.683 I seek to be a godly and faithful shepherd in the light of the faithless and anti-Christ clergy of our time. 00:08:25.583 --> 00:08:29.943 So becoming a pastor is a perfectly fine career choice. 00:08:29.943 --> 00:08:32.583 I'm not one to say that all pastors are evil. 00:08:32.583 --> 00:08:36.983 You know, I've said some things about pastors, and quite frankly, they deserve probably worse than the things that I've said. 00:08:37.683 --> 00:08:39.983 But that's because of the quality of current pastors. 00:08:39.983 --> 00:08:42.603 Becoming a pastor is an important thing, it's a good thing. 00:08:42.603 --> 00:08:43.563 We need pastors. 00:08:44.503 --> 00:08:51.123 However, I think it's probably better if you become a pastor later in life, because you should probably... 00:08:51.263 --> 00:09:03.683 It's not in the sense that, you know, boomers tell women, gain life experience, but it is gain life experience, which is something that men actually do acquire as they get older, as they mature, as they've had more experience in life. 00:09:04.143 --> 00:09:24.743 And I think it's probably better if men do something else first, and then go into the past, so in your case, because you're still quite young, I would say the best thing to do is do some other career first, and spend the excess, the free time that you have studying this stuff. 00:09:25.503 --> 00:09:34.023 Make sure that you have an aptitude for it, make sure that it continues to interest you really is important, make sure that you're apt to teach things like that. 00:09:34.743 --> 00:09:40.523 You can do all of those things without actually being on the proper track to become a pastor. 00:09:40.903 --> 00:09:59.683 And then in the future, whether seminary is required or there's some alternate route, whether it's you have an apprenticeship under an existing pastor, whatever it happens to be, however that shakes out in the future, then go into the pastorate when you feel you've had that time to mature and gain that life experience so that you'll be the right man for the job. 00:10:00.383 --> 00:10:07.603 And part of the reason for that is that when you're a pastor or a teacher, you are serving in a fatherly role. 00:10:08.543 --> 00:10:14.843 You should be of a certain age for that, because even for, say, I'm 40 years old, right? 00:10:14.843 --> 00:10:30.343 If I go into a classroom and I'm teaching, and I'm teaching a bunch of 65, 70, 80-year-olds, and I've done that, in a sense, I'm in a fatherly role, because all authority derives from that certain, that kind of relationship. 00:10:31.743 --> 00:10:35.103 If you are too young, it's going to be awkward, right? 00:10:35.143 --> 00:10:54.963 If you have 60, 70-year-old men in your congregation, particularly if you're lucky and get men who have studied scripture in a dedicated fashion for 50 years, that's an awkward position to be in, where they are sort of in the child position of the relationship, and you're kind of the father. 00:10:55.883 --> 00:11:00.463 That's not as much of a problem once you get into your mid-30s, your 40s, your 50s. 00:11:00.823 --> 00:11:04.483 Then the difference between 50 and 80 is not as big of a deal. 00:11:04.483 --> 00:11:08.283 The difference between 20 and 50 is a world of difference. 00:11:08.903 --> 00:11:17.283 So I think the best advice I can give you is, do something else for a while, acquire that life experience, go find a wife, get married. 00:11:17.563 --> 00:11:21.323 I don't think that that husband of one wife thing is optional. 00:11:21.323 --> 00:11:22.763 I think pastors should be married. 00:11:23.663 --> 00:11:28.183 Not the time to argue about that necessarily, but I do think that you should go and do that. 00:11:28.783 --> 00:11:29.863 Do the studying. 00:11:29.903 --> 00:11:31.763 You don't have to be in seminary to read the books, right? 00:11:31.763 --> 00:11:33.683 I've never attended seminary. 00:11:33.683 --> 00:11:35.123 I have all the books they read here. 00:11:35.123 --> 00:11:36.623 I've read basically all of them. 00:11:37.363 --> 00:11:38.583 You can do that on your own. 00:11:39.323 --> 00:11:44.223 Unfortunately, the prices are a little high because CPH overcharges, but you can find PDS for free. 00:11:44.223 --> 00:11:47.403 So if you want to do it that way, by all means get an e-reader, do it that way. 00:11:47.403 --> 00:11:48.883 That's perfectly acceptable. 00:11:50.043 --> 00:11:52.143 So, I think that's the best route. 00:11:52.143 --> 00:12:05.683 And then depending on how things shake out, the path forward will be more clear in, say, 10 years or so, once you've had that experience, once you've gone out and done those things, and are in a firmer position to take on that role of authority. 00:12:06.063 --> 00:12:10.683 I'm not saying that there are no young men who are capable of being pastors. 00:12:10.683 --> 00:12:14.583 There are men who are in their early 20s who are capable of being pastors. 00:12:14.883 --> 00:12:16.063 It's still not ideal. 00:12:17.063 --> 00:12:20.683 So, can you take on some teaching authority and things like that in your church? 00:12:20.683 --> 00:12:21.503 Absolutely. 00:12:21.903 --> 00:12:25.883 Teach a class on the Bible, go through a book of the Bible, whatever it happens to be. 00:12:26.383 --> 00:12:31.343 That's a good way to get experience doing the very thing that you'd like to eventually do. 00:12:31.823 --> 00:12:39.583 I think that's the best path forward just because of how these things should play out in a properly organized society. 00:12:39.583 --> 00:12:42.303 So, we're doing the best that we can with what we have. 00:12:43.143 --> 00:12:59.963 I do think it's better if men who go into the pastorate are, as it were, second career, because then you have some life experience that helps you connect with those men in your congregation who've only ever had some career that wasn't academic, something like that. 00:13:00.743 --> 00:13:03.543 So, I think that's the best path forward. 00:13:04.203 --> 00:13:08.583 And feel free to ask follow-up questions if you have more concerns about that. 00:13:12.123 --> 00:13:15.843 This is not one of the questions for the episode, but I saw someone ask you take questions from the chat. 00:13:15.843 --> 00:13:21.523 The answer is yes, which is what I am going to do in a couple questions here. 00:13:21.523 --> 00:13:24.603 I have a couple more to get through before I get to the chat. 00:13:26.543 --> 00:13:32.423 Question five, a close friend thinks gender roles are just social constructs. 00:13:33.303 --> 00:13:36.063 This friend says couples should do whatever works. 00:13:36.203 --> 00:13:41.883 For example, the woman has a career, the man at home, and sees his girlfriend as his best friend. 00:13:42.643 --> 00:13:43.863 I don't really know what to do. 00:13:46.303 --> 00:13:50.543 This is going to depend in part on your read of this friend. 00:13:50.543 --> 00:13:54.663 Now, this is a male friend, so you have an easier time. 00:13:55.303 --> 00:14:03.283 Because with a female friend, you're going to have more trouble appealing to reason and logic, because of the way that men and women are wired. 00:14:03.283 --> 00:14:05.143 I've gone over this in previous episodes. 00:14:05.763 --> 00:14:12.743 So, what you probably want to do in his case, is you can bring up studies that we've done in psychology. 00:14:12.743 --> 00:14:14.603 There's some very good studies in this area. 00:14:15.223 --> 00:14:18.903 Men and women are different from the time they exit the womb. 00:14:19.823 --> 00:14:27.523 As soon as girls start playing with toys, they gravitate toward dolls, and babies, and things like that. 00:14:27.803 --> 00:14:32.203 And even when they use toys that were clearly designed for boys, right? 00:14:32.483 --> 00:14:41.823 You know, trucks, cars, helicopters, army men, whatever it happens to be, they treat them in the way that girls treat girl toys. 00:14:42.003 --> 00:14:47.903 Which is to say, they take the army truck and start putting it to bed, and having it feed, and do things like that. 00:14:48.963 --> 00:14:50.423 These differences are fundamental. 00:14:50.883 --> 00:14:54.723 These differences are not something that appears later on. 00:14:54.723 --> 00:14:57.063 They are not something that is taught. 00:14:57.463 --> 00:14:59.103 Some things are taught, of course. 00:14:59.103 --> 00:15:07.143 So, the colors, for instance, that apply to girls versus boys, those are cultural, and those have changed over time. 00:15:07.523 --> 00:15:13.123 For instance, pink used to be a male color, because pink is red, and red was a male color. 00:15:13.623 --> 00:15:14.843 That's changed over time. 00:15:14.843 --> 00:15:16.403 Pink is now associated with girls. 00:15:17.083 --> 00:15:20.183 That sort of thing is socially constructed, to some degree. 00:15:20.183 --> 00:15:23.123 There are still biological preferences there as well. 00:15:23.543 --> 00:15:41.143 But when it comes to things like raising children versus having a career and all that kind of stuff, even the secular, in some cases, quite leftist psychology, can't avoid the reality of what they keep encountering, particularly with regard to very young children. 00:15:41.823 --> 00:15:44.003 They'll argue it away with adults, right? 00:15:44.143 --> 00:15:55.623 They'll say that if you have someone who's 20 or 30 or whatever it happens, even early teens, they've been acculturated to believe something, they've been trained to believe something, and they act in that way because of the programming. 00:15:55.643 --> 00:15:59.703 Try to excuse it, they're wrong, but at least they have an argument there. 00:16:00.783 --> 00:16:02.763 You don't have that argument with a one-year-old. 00:16:03.323 --> 00:16:19.523 If a one-year-old just decides, as a female, right, I want the doll versus as a male, I want the truck, that wasn't trained in any way, particularly with modern parents who just give them a whole bunch of different random toys, not even designed for their gender, they still pick that. 00:16:19.823 --> 00:16:31.223 So you can bring up that stuff with your friend and point out, no, this is very real, this is demonstrable evidentially from what we have learned from psychology and some other fields. 00:16:32.023 --> 00:16:41.563 If he's a Christian, hopefully he is a Christian, then you can point out all the places in scripture where it says what women are supposed to do versus what men are supposed to do. 00:16:41.783 --> 00:16:45.663 What does it say in the New Testament and elsewhere for women? 00:16:46.643 --> 00:16:48.543 Marry a husband, right? 00:16:48.883 --> 00:16:53.583 Get married to a husband more properly, raise children, keep a home. 00:16:54.083 --> 00:16:55.083 That's what women are supposed to do. 00:16:55.083 --> 00:16:55.743 It's very simple. 00:16:55.743 --> 00:17:00.043 Women actually have it a little easier because it's already laid out exactly what they're supposed to do. 00:17:00.963 --> 00:17:04.923 Men have to find their way, particularly these days, more so than women. 00:17:04.923 --> 00:17:08.483 You have to figure out, what am I actually good? 00:17:09.663 --> 00:17:11.223 Where can I actually get employed? 00:17:11.703 --> 00:17:12.763 All these things like that. 00:17:12.763 --> 00:17:15.263 There are a bunch of considerations for men that aren't there for women. 00:17:15.483 --> 00:17:20.043 Women have to find a husband, have babies, keep a home. 00:17:20.543 --> 00:17:21.483 Pretty straight forward. 00:17:22.203 --> 00:17:23.983 And scripture is abundantly clear on that. 00:17:23.983 --> 00:17:35.663 So if he's a Christian, you can appeal to scripture, but in either case, Christian or not Christian, you can certainly appeal to the wealth of evidence that we have demonstrating the fundamental difference between boys and girls. 00:17:36.143 --> 00:17:37.903 And it is purely biology. 00:17:50.483 --> 00:17:52.803 Let's see, the next question here. 00:17:55.563 --> 00:17:56.823 Question 6. 00:17:58.403 --> 00:18:07.183 How should Christian theology respond to virtual reality as it becomes more immersive and addictive, especially with pornography becoming part of that space? 00:18:08.703 --> 00:18:18.763 This is actually something that I have somewhere in this room, a mostly finished essay written on, but I'll go ahead and just answer the question instead of sort of punting it for later. 00:18:20.503 --> 00:18:25.683 Virtual reality can become a problem when it starts to supplant reality. 00:18:26.403 --> 00:18:29.403 I'm not going to say virtual reality is always wrongful, right? 00:18:29.683 --> 00:18:32.743 If we had immersive virtual reality, it was actually good. 00:18:32.743 --> 00:18:34.523 I don't think the current stuff's that good. 00:18:34.823 --> 00:18:37.283 But if we had a virtual reality, it was actually good. 00:18:37.483 --> 00:18:42.383 And, you know, you want to play a game for an hour a day or 30 minutes, whatever it happens to be. 00:18:42.383 --> 00:18:44.403 Don't go overboard, not six hours a day. 00:18:44.403 --> 00:18:46.763 But if you want to do that, fine. 00:18:46.983 --> 00:18:48.303 There's nothing wrong with that. 00:18:48.623 --> 00:18:55.323 I don't think that raises any real problems, unless it becomes an addiction that starts to supplant other things in your life you should be doing. 00:18:55.683 --> 00:18:56.423 That's the problem. 00:18:56.423 --> 00:19:00.623 It's kind of like drinking alcohol is not bad until you become a drunk. 00:19:00.643 --> 00:19:04.503 Once it becomes an addiction, now it's a problem when it's controlling your behavior. 00:19:04.503 --> 00:19:08.183 Pornography, obviously, always impermissible, morally wrongful. 00:19:08.643 --> 00:19:09.303 A huge issue. 00:19:09.303 --> 00:19:13.863 This is sort of part of the essay that I have written somewhere here. 00:19:15.163 --> 00:19:22.143 And what I want to do is warn, particularly young men, but certainly more and more, unfortunately, young women these days as well. 00:19:23.323 --> 00:19:28.223 If you are dabbling in that stuff, we'll be kind with our terms, you need to stop. 00:19:28.583 --> 00:19:31.783 Put in whatever effort it takes to stop. 00:19:32.323 --> 00:19:36.003 It's going to get so much worse as technology advances. 00:19:36.223 --> 00:19:43.743 They are dialing in how addictive this stuff is, and they will eventually get you hooked in a way where it will be nearly impossible for you to stop. 00:19:43.743 --> 00:19:45.463 So stop now before it gets worse. 00:19:45.463 --> 00:19:48.503 It will never get better, it will always get worse for you. 00:19:48.943 --> 00:19:53.763 So, the easiest time you are going to have trying to stop is now. 00:19:54.243 --> 00:19:58.943 It will only get harder with each additional day, each additional month, year, whatever it happens to be. 00:19:59.683 --> 00:20:07.063 And the Christian response to it is that we should have legislation banning this stuff, it should not exist in our countries. 00:20:07.523 --> 00:20:11.203 Anything short of that is a substandard response from Christians. 00:20:11.963 --> 00:20:18.263 What we can do as individuals, because obviously we don't currently have control of the government, as individuals we just avoid it. 00:20:18.463 --> 00:20:22.443 It's the same problem that pornography has been for years and years and years. 00:20:22.863 --> 00:20:32.163 Granted, it gets worse as technology gets better, but the same sort of things that you can do to avoid it now can be done with virtual reality, right? 00:20:32.423 --> 00:20:35.763 Virtual reality is not yet anyway. 00:20:35.823 --> 00:20:41.903 In theory, the technology is good enough where we'd have additional problems, but it's the same problem as a computer, right? 00:20:42.523 --> 00:20:47.603 A computer in your private room, if that's a temptation for you, put it in a public part of your house. 00:20:48.243 --> 00:20:52.683 Put it somewhere that you use only between certain hours when there are others around, things like that. 00:20:53.103 --> 00:21:04.723 Take the same sort of measures you would for other temptations, because it is the same, it's not the same exact kind of temptation, but the physical nature there is similar. 00:21:05.103 --> 00:21:22.163 You can use structure to avoid the sin, which is the best way to do it, and obviously just if you avoid it, then that part of your brain slowly rewires and the addiction fades, which is part of why you should stop immediately, because the sooner you stop, the sooner your brain can start repairing that damage. 00:21:23.723 --> 00:21:38.223 But the basic answer is that VR itself is not necessarily a threat or even a problem, it's not morally impermissible, but obviously the pornography aspect is going to be a huge problem going forward, as that gets more and more addictive. 00:21:39.143 --> 00:21:42.203 Now let me pull out some questions from the chat. 00:21:58.141 --> 00:22:01.281 Question about Methodism. 00:22:01.601 --> 00:22:03.161 So I'll answer that one first. 00:22:04.381 --> 00:22:06.661 This is question eight. 00:22:08.301 --> 00:22:12.021 I've noticed a couple, this is question seven, rather, question seven. 00:22:12.461 --> 00:22:15.901 I've noticed a couple of times you have negatively referenced Methodists. 00:22:15.901 --> 00:22:20.621 Good faith question, what is your reasoning for your negative stance on the Methodist Church? 00:22:22.321 --> 00:22:28.601 So the Methodist Church, technically speaking, is what Lutherans would call Enthusiasts. 00:22:28.681 --> 00:22:51.901 And Enthusiasts are, the term has a number of different meanings, but generally speaking, it means those who believe that the Holy Spirit comes to you and gives you faith, not via the means of grace, which is to say not via the sacraments and the gospel, that he just gives you faith, right? 00:22:51.901 --> 00:22:53.381 He just zaps you and gives you faith. 00:22:53.381 --> 00:22:56.981 This is nowhere in scripture, so that's sort of a fundamental difference we have. 00:22:58.181 --> 00:23:01.321 And there's some... 00:23:01.661 --> 00:23:08.021 It depends on the Methodist Church, obviously, because there are some that are not as hardcore on that aspect. 00:23:08.301 --> 00:23:10.421 This is the same problem with so many groups. 00:23:10.721 --> 00:23:12.281 The umbrella is broad, right? 00:23:12.281 --> 00:23:20.101 You'll have some that are conservative with regard to their own tradition and liberal with regard to their own tradition, and they're not all identical. 00:23:22.041 --> 00:23:32.081 So, they will say that the sacraments are means of grace, but they still don't mean it in the sense that Lutherans mean it when they say that. 00:23:32.421 --> 00:23:41.881 So, they are still enthusiasts in the sense where they do believe that the Holy Spirit will just, you know, zap some people and they magically have faith, which is nowhere in Scripture. 00:23:42.341 --> 00:23:43.741 God always acts through means. 00:23:44.641 --> 00:24:02.361 But the two, perhaps, bigger objections, and these are probably easier for people to grasp than the theology of the means of grace and things like that, would be their view of the role of the person, right, in his own salvation. 00:24:02.641 --> 00:24:09.601 They focus a little more on, really a lot more, but works, righteousness, and things like that. 00:24:09.761 --> 00:24:19.501 And the biggest part of it is they think that you can become, via sanctification, entirely sanctified or perfectly sanctified in this life and no longer sin. 00:24:21.241 --> 00:24:26.161 Rome kind of teaches that a little bit too sometimes, but the Methodists are really big on that one. 00:24:26.861 --> 00:24:27.881 That's not in Scripture. 00:24:28.441 --> 00:24:32.021 As long as you're in this life, you will be a sinner, you will continue to sin. 00:24:32.421 --> 00:24:33.821 Will you sin as much? 00:24:34.061 --> 00:24:34.401 No. 00:24:34.801 --> 00:24:42.261 In theory, and this is how it should be, as you are sanctified, as sanctification progresses, you should sin less. 00:24:42.481 --> 00:24:44.761 But that comes with a really big caveat. 00:24:44.761 --> 00:24:54.281 And that big caveat is the Holy Spirit will address the big sins in your life first, the obvious ones, so, you know, previous question, that kind of stuff. 00:24:54.861 --> 00:25:04.541 As those problems start to get tamped down via sanctification, and yes, you have to work on it as well, you'll notice more problems. 00:25:04.541 --> 00:25:11.621 You'll notice, oh, that other thing that I've been doing for decades that I didn't really think much about, that's sin as well. 00:25:12.081 --> 00:25:16.861 So, you'll notice things that you didn't notice were sin, and realize they're sin. 00:25:17.981 --> 00:25:21.621 But yes, you will sin less via sanctification over time. 00:25:21.621 --> 00:25:23.961 That is just the way that it goes. 00:25:23.961 --> 00:25:25.781 So, I think those are probably the two big ones. 00:25:26.981 --> 00:25:30.601 Their view of the human element, they're Arminian. 00:25:32.061 --> 00:25:38.701 They believe in prevenient grace that anyone can basically work their way toward God and believe in God of their own free will. 00:25:39.621 --> 00:25:41.121 Lutherans obviously don't believe that. 00:25:41.121 --> 00:25:42.461 The Reform don't believe that. 00:25:42.861 --> 00:25:55.801 The Roman Catholics kind of agree with the Methodists on this one, but that's a big point of difference, a point of contention between particularly Lutherans and the Methodists, and then their view of what they would call entire sanctification. 00:25:57.401 --> 00:26:00.261 Because that's not taught anywhere in Scripture. 00:26:00.261 --> 00:26:05.321 Nowhere in Scripture does it say that you will become perfect and no longer sin, because you won't. 00:26:06.301 --> 00:26:08.381 You are tainted by original sin. 00:26:08.761 --> 00:26:17.421 You're living in a sinful world, surrounded by sinful people, in sinful flesh, tempted by the devil and your flesh and society. 00:26:17.781 --> 00:26:19.181 You're never going to not sin. 00:26:19.521 --> 00:26:22.721 All you can do is sin less via sanctification. 00:26:22.841 --> 00:26:31.761 So those are the two big points that would be real disagreements between particularly Lutherans, but also the Reformed and the Methodists. 00:26:32.761 --> 00:26:38.181 And then obviously the other theological point, but that's a little more, not nitpicky, but technical. 00:26:41.401 --> 00:26:43.621 Let me grab another question here from the chat. 00:26:46.241 --> 00:26:52.661 And I am trying to copy and paste them into the show notes as I go, so I do not lose them. 00:26:54.161 --> 00:27:04.801 Before I started today, there was a question from someone in reply to my tweet, saying the Q&A would be tomorrow, obviously. 00:27:04.801 --> 00:27:05.741 I said that yesterday. 00:27:06.381 --> 00:27:07.641 That reply disappeared. 00:27:08.141 --> 00:27:15.441 So if that was your question, please ask it again, because I refreshed and the comment just disappeared. 00:27:15.581 --> 00:27:18.881 And it no longer shows a count, and it also doesn't show anything deleted. 00:27:19.241 --> 00:27:22.901 So the website H-er your question. 00:27:23.921 --> 00:27:26.601 That's why I'm copying things to try and not lose them. 00:27:26.961 --> 00:27:27.621 Question 8. 00:27:28.101 --> 00:27:31.341 I learned today that the Bible does not prohibit first cousin marriage. 00:27:31.341 --> 00:27:33.081 That is technically correct. 00:27:33.401 --> 00:27:37.281 That Pope Gregory prohibited it for more practical reasons, which Luther condemned. 00:27:37.561 --> 00:27:44.521 This was troubling as Christianity's eugenic nature was one of the main reasons I found it convincing compared to other faiths. 00:27:44.521 --> 00:27:45.841 Would appreciate your thoughts. 00:27:45.841 --> 00:27:57.541 So just because scripture does not explicitly state that you cannot do something doesn't mean that society cannot legislate against it. 00:27:58.881 --> 00:28:04.261 This is one of those places where people get mixed up with regard to categories. 00:28:05.181 --> 00:28:08.881 There are things that scripture categorically prohibits. 00:28:09.281 --> 00:28:17.421 There are things that scripture says are unwise, and there are things that scripture permits, and there are things that scripture says you must do. 00:28:19.001 --> 00:28:26.821 When it comes to marrying your first cousin, scripture does not explicitly prohibit that. 00:28:26.961 --> 00:28:41.081 Scripture gives a pretty long list of prohibitions with regard to marriage, because apparently the Jews needed a lot of rules, but just because scripture doesn't explicitly prohibit it, doesn't mean we have to permit it. 00:28:41.161 --> 00:28:43.541 That is still something we are allowed to ban. 00:28:44.961 --> 00:29:00.481 Luther's objection, I didn't have time, obviously, reading this just now, and then I didn't go and look up what Luther said, but undoubtedly, I have zero doubt that Luther's objection to be the Pope probably promulgated that and said, this is required according to Christianity. 00:29:02.561 --> 00:29:11.301 That would be impermissible, because if you're saying that scripture requires this, but it's nowhere in scripture, you're lying about the word of God. 00:29:11.301 --> 00:29:18.641 What you can say is that wisdom, which God commands us to be wise, prohibits first cousin marriage. 00:29:18.921 --> 00:29:19.581 We all know that. 00:29:19.581 --> 00:29:23.401 We can look at the world and see what's going on in pretty much the rest of the world. 00:29:24.221 --> 00:29:25.041 That's permissible. 00:29:25.041 --> 00:29:29.021 In fact, that is something Christians should do, because we're commanded to be wise. 00:29:29.901 --> 00:29:33.721 There's no explicit prohibition against it in scripture. 00:29:35.921 --> 00:29:39.641 That's the point Luther was making, undoubtedly, and that's true. 00:29:40.221 --> 00:29:52.661 But again, that's not the end of the story, because just because it is not explicitly prohibited doesn't mean it is not implicitly prohibited by something else, which in this case is to say wisdom. 00:29:52.901 --> 00:29:56.261 So if the pope had written it in that way, I don't know that he did. 00:29:56.341 --> 00:29:59.461 I highly doubt Luther got this one wrong when reading what the pope wrote, though. 00:29:59.881 --> 00:30:16.021 If he had written it that wisdom, which is commanded us by God, says that you should not marry your first cousin, and so we should ban this according to our positive law, not the moral law, but according to our positive laws, that's perfectly permissible and something Christians should in fact do. 00:30:16.441 --> 00:30:25.361 So Christianity is still definitely eugenic, because obviously all of the outright incestuous relationships are banned. 00:30:25.361 --> 00:30:30.281 You're not allowed to marry your daughter, your mother, your whatever, that's all banned. 00:30:30.421 --> 00:30:33.801 You can go read that in, Leviticus has all of those rules enumerated. 00:30:34.821 --> 00:30:38.901 It just doesn't go all the way to prohibiting first cousin, second cousin, whatever. 00:30:39.441 --> 00:30:49.421 We should have those as part of our positive law rules, and we should interpret that as being something God requires of us, because we are stewards of creation, and it is according to wisdom. 00:30:49.661 --> 00:30:53.961 And we have greater wisdom about these issues than they did 500 years ago, undoubtedly. 00:30:54.521 --> 00:31:00.961 They knew that marrying your own siblings was deeply unwise and caused problems over time. 00:31:01.281 --> 00:31:05.361 This didn't stop certain royal families, but they were aware of those problems. 00:31:05.981 --> 00:31:10.081 They did not know as much as we know about first cousin marriages. 00:31:10.441 --> 00:31:21.501 And even then, first cousin marriages, unless you're doing that for many generations, don't actually typically cause that many problems, unless you already have genetic problems when you're starting. 00:31:22.341 --> 00:31:29.581 We see the problem with it in places like India, but they've been at it for 4,000 years, or perhaps longer. 00:31:30.421 --> 00:31:33.941 So, the problems have arisen and they're just compounding them. 00:31:34.301 --> 00:31:43.181 But yes, I've spoken about this before, we should ban first cousin marriage, and the ideal is third or fourth cousin, because that's the peak of fertility, which is another part of this, of course. 00:31:43.601 --> 00:31:49.961 God designed that peak fertility in, and we should use our wisdom to look at that and say, well, this is God's design. 00:31:50.261 --> 00:31:51.841 This is the mark of the Creator. 00:31:51.861 --> 00:31:56.361 We should obey what He has commanded us, in effect, implicitly to do. 00:31:58.641 --> 00:32:05.861 So, Luther was undoubtedly just making a technical point about scripture, and also he kind of liked to poke the Pope in the eye. 00:32:12.182 --> 00:32:18.302 I have a question here about the Book of Job. 00:32:18.402 --> 00:32:19.462 Let me pull that up. 00:32:35.507 --> 00:32:37.347 Two related questions here, actually. 00:32:37.347 --> 00:32:41.827 I will split them because they are separate questions. 00:32:42.267 --> 00:32:49.447 The first is about a passage in Job, of which we are all undoubtedly aware, and with which we should all be familiar. 00:32:50.027 --> 00:32:53.187 I will pull it up in Logos here in a second, so we can actually look at it. 00:32:55.407 --> 00:32:58.687 And I can answer it before actually reading it. 00:32:58.687 --> 00:33:04.347 It is less, perhaps explicitly, Christological, but it's still there. 00:33:04.787 --> 00:33:14.527 And also, bear in mind, when you are reading the Septuagint these days in English, the translations we have are not great yet. 00:33:14.527 --> 00:33:19.947 They are stilted, very academic, particularly the nets is academic, which is what I've opened here. 00:33:20.507 --> 00:33:22.947 We open up the lexam as well. 00:33:25.187 --> 00:33:29.147 So I don't think we need the Greek here. 00:33:29.307 --> 00:33:30.247 We'll get rid of that. 00:33:32.187 --> 00:33:32.747 There we go. 00:33:34.547 --> 00:33:41.887 So Job 19.25, the question is, is this Christological in the same sense as basically the Masoretic text? 00:33:41.887 --> 00:33:46.467 Because, just to pull up the Masoretic text here real quick, we all know this one, right? 00:33:46.467 --> 00:33:49.827 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth, right? 00:33:49.827 --> 00:33:51.647 Very clearly Christological. 00:33:52.727 --> 00:33:54.047 No one has any question about that. 00:33:55.647 --> 00:33:59.907 So, some little word choice things here in the footnotes, but other than that, very straightforward. 00:34:01.167 --> 00:34:07.047 In Job, in the Greek, it says, For I know that an eternal one exists, one who is about to free me upon the earth. 00:34:07.047 --> 00:34:09.867 And so, is it different? 00:34:09.927 --> 00:34:10.347 Yes. 00:34:10.347 --> 00:34:11.587 Is it still Christological? 00:34:11.587 --> 00:34:11.907 Yes. 00:34:11.907 --> 00:34:13.387 The eternal one is still Christ. 00:34:13.387 --> 00:34:16.227 And it says, to raise up my skin, which endures these things. 00:34:17.007 --> 00:34:18.527 That's the resurrection of the dead. 00:34:18.527 --> 00:34:20.487 That is still there, the resurrection of the just. 00:34:20.907 --> 00:34:22.607 So, it is still Christological. 00:34:23.087 --> 00:34:25.047 It probably could be better translated from the Greek. 00:34:25.047 --> 00:34:28.587 I'd have to look at the underlying Greek in order to make an assessment. 00:34:28.627 --> 00:34:32.167 Usually, the nets is pretty good when it comes to that stuff. 00:34:32.827 --> 00:34:34.767 But again, you know, stilted. 00:34:34.767 --> 00:34:37.647 Sometimes it's nice to swap back and forth between the two and compare them. 00:34:38.307 --> 00:34:40.027 But yes, it's still Christological. 00:34:40.027 --> 00:34:47.027 It's just not the neat, tidy one we're accustomed to in English, because we don't have a nice English translation of the Septuagint yet. 00:34:47.387 --> 00:34:48.447 That's still pending. 00:34:48.447 --> 00:34:52.527 There are some ones that are slated to be published in the not-too-distant future. 00:34:52.527 --> 00:34:54.147 Hopefully, at least one of them will be good. 00:34:55.667 --> 00:35:03.147 The second part of this question, really the second question, question 10, is Genesis 3.15 Christological in the Septuagint? 00:35:03.147 --> 00:35:03.587 Yes. 00:35:04.607 --> 00:35:05.487 That one is as well. 00:35:05.487 --> 00:35:12.567 And this one comes up, because it doesn't have the same wording, right? 00:35:12.767 --> 00:35:16.527 I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:35:16.527 --> 00:35:18.927 He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. 00:35:18.927 --> 00:35:26.127 The one we're all accustomed to in the Masoretic text is different in the Septuagint. 00:35:26.127 --> 00:35:30.627 I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:35:31.167 --> 00:35:39.427 Greek uses between in both places, whereas we just put between and then both of the objects, so I just skipped that when I'm reading because it sounds weird in English. 00:35:39.887 --> 00:35:43.127 He will watch your head and you will watch his heel. 00:35:44.807 --> 00:35:53.887 This has some necessary exegesis in the Septuagint that you don't really necessarily have there. 00:35:54.867 --> 00:35:59.447 In the Masoretic, because in the Masoretic we all, it still needs the exegesis, right? 00:35:59.447 --> 00:36:02.227 Because bruise your head, bruise his heel. 00:36:02.227 --> 00:36:02.707 Okay. 00:36:04.847 --> 00:36:05.987 What exactly does that mean? 00:36:05.987 --> 00:36:06.427 Right? 00:36:06.667 --> 00:36:15.567 You still need some, and these verbs are not exactly identical either, but you still need some exegesis there to understand what's being said. 00:36:15.567 --> 00:36:17.207 We all know what the exegesis is, right? 00:36:17.207 --> 00:36:26.827 This is a Christological prophecy about Satan having his little victory with the cross, and then his ultimate defeat also with the cross. 00:36:27.607 --> 00:36:29.127 This is the same thing we have here. 00:36:29.127 --> 00:36:41.627 There are a number of other places that this particular sense of watch in Greek pops up in the scriptures, and I would have to do some searching to find those. 00:36:41.627 --> 00:36:42.827