Originally Posted by
halleyscomet
I want a Paul Bethke => English dictionary.
Every entry would just read "see Adultery."
But yes, Bethke's arguments rely quite heavily on redefining common words and then gaslighting people into accepting them. "You don't know what ______ is, which is why you post such outrageous things." We do see this a lot in various reformist Christian traditions. "When the Bible says ________, this can figuratively mean..." and we're off to the races. So we don't necessarily have to individualize the argument here except perhaps to note that Bethke does it a lot more than usual.
Quote:
It also serves as a nice reminder that a good deal of the "End Times" nonsense spewed by televangelists and other con men is more "editorial creativity" than responsible Biblical scholarship.
I honestly don't consider televangelists even to have a seat at the exegetical table. They're clearly businesses selling religion as a commodity. Zero scholarly integrity, as far as I'm concerned.
But in a larger sense, I think the "end times" rhetoric plays a big part in Fundamentalist rhetoric. They're literally trying to scare their followers into membership and obedience. Spend some time in the American south; it's frightening. I grew up in the Bible belt. It was all about Satan lurking around every corner, waiting to entrap you, and dire warnings about where you'll be when the trumpet sounds. I also lived through the Cold War, under the real threat of nuclear annihilation. Not even close to the sphincter-clenching rhetoric I heard coming from Fundamentalist doomsayers.