Kenya

[Staropramen]

It starting to seem like that to me, too, Staropramen.
This individual's whole demeanor spoke of "winning an argument" and "lording it over" rather than a discussion among Bible-believers to see if these things are so, as the Bereans did.

This fellow from my wife's church that I met had the same attitude. It was all about winning the argument so as to lord something over me. He even had a "bible study" which attempted to elucidate how scripture forbids honest discussion amongst Christians. Every single scripture employed was misappropriated, taken out of context or flat out twisted to say something entirely different. In response to my quoting the Berean passage he proclaimed that the Bereans never debated the meaning of scripture with Paul and therefore that passage doesn't refute his "no debate" doctrine but rather supports it. My explanation that the Bereans lack of need to confront Paul about his teachings only proves that Paul's doctrines were sound fell on deaf ears. He apparently was incapable of understanding that Paul could teach something about teachers without being himself guilty of the offences that he was teaching about. But yet this clown is teaching people scripture! Unbelievable!

[Gaius]

This fellow from my wife's church that I met had the same attitude. It was all about winning the argument so as to lord something over me. He even had a "bible study" which attempted to elucidate how scripture forbids honest discussion amongst Christians. Every single scripture employed was misappropriated, taken out of context or flat out twisted to say something entirely different.

That is the way they operate, and deceive the simple such as I myself have been in past days.
Quoting verses out of context, occasionally with (often spurious) links to other single/small groups of verses is a major vehicle for them, it seems. John 3 v 16 is a big favourite in this "soundbite" approach to serious and profound truths. It is just as you say incredible, and indeed most shameful for them.

It may be that the "lording it over" attitude could be a tacit self-admission that they themselves know they are on very unsure ground. It is often blowhards that blow the hardest in an attempt to make up for their lack of real strength. Empty vessels make the most noise, as they say -- "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals" .... Their greatest fear is not of God, but that it should become generally known just what truly empty vessels they really are.
It might not do any harm to hint this to your wife's "pastor" ...

[Staropramen]

John 3 v 16 is a big favourite in this "soundbite" approach to serious and profound truths. It is just as you say incredible, and indeed most shameful for them.

John 3:16 is so easy to explain properly it's almost ridiculous. It is not an endorsement of universalism by any stretch of the imagination!

[mchawe]

@Joe

I just wanted to add that I just found-out that Kenya is one of the African countries dealing with ebola, so I don't know how that makes you feel or what you can do about it Mchawe.

I am all for ebola virus! Every time you get an epidemic of something or other all the do-gooders do their very best to exterminate it. One example was the tse-tse fly which made certain areas uninhabitable. That was good for the wild life which were immune and it kept those areas wilderness. Traps were set up which wiped out the tse-tse fly, but that meant that all those beautiful animals, the gazelles, zebra, buffalo, leopard, lion etc which inhabited those areas were doomed as a different type of animal (you know what!), moved in to replace them.
Africans breed like flies and there seems to be nothing that can keep the population down. It seems the only thing they are capable of creating is babies. AIDS which is common, didn't put a dent in the problem! The population growth is relentless.
It would be great if ebola or something similar rolled out and knocked out 90% of the population before anything could done to prevent it. That would only take the numbers back to what they were in the 1950s! If I find myself part of the equation, well so be it!