Wednesday, May 31, 2006

...interpreting the bible

I'm a catholic, so I would print about the Catholic Church's point of view...would just like to share what i've read about, something about why the Church forbids self-interpretation of the bible.. actually, the Church doesn't REALLY forbid it.

to quote from here:
Is Church authority squashing the individual's private interpretation of Scripture?

I don't think the Church is into squashing the individual. In fact it has great respect for the individual. Most of our Saints were simple individuals not in positions of power. Yet they have become great examples to the whole Church. The Church has great respect for these individuals who have said "yes" to the Lord. The Church learns from these individuals and has incorporated their interpretations of Scripture into doctrine. The Church relies on gifted individuals. The Church feels that God has anointed some individuals such as Thomas Aquinas with understanding. The Church goes into a process of prayer and discernment on the validity of interpretations by individuals and makes doctrine from some of the interpretations that emerge out of this official discernment.

The Church is totally cool with private interpretation of Scripture. In fact many of our doctrines were defined through the giftings of people like Thomas Aquinas and Jerome who had private revelations about the interpretation of Scripture. These insights went through a process of discernment, prayer and examination by the Church. Once accepted, they eventually helped mold our understanding of what God was saying to the Church through his Holy Word.

The Church is also cool with guys like you and me having private revelation, if it does not conflict with sound doctrine. If we have a new insight into an area, it can be discerned, prayed over and reviewed the same way as it was for Thomas Aquinas and others who helped mold the Church's understanding of Scripture.

We have a recent example of this. Thérése de Liseux was a young nun who died at 24 years old. She was a "nobody" in the Church - just a little nun in a far away Carmelite convent. The Church looked at her writings and they were floored! They made her a doctor of the Church and she has influenced modern thought about the Bible in a major way. My evangelical friends will be glad to know that her greatest contribution was her total abandonment and confidence in Jesus. She had a personal relationship to Him. He was her personal Saviour.


Bottom line, we need guidance to reading it, because some stuff are simply difficult to understand! To quote:

Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch...reading the prophet Isaiah...[Philip] asked "do you understand what you are reading?" He replied "How can I unless someone guides me?" and he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him (Acts 8:30-31)


Philip, who was an apostle and a representative of Christ's Church, helped him interpret the Scripture.

I read this (this is more on Christianity):

Had Christianity remained multiform [i.e. had it continued to include a variety of gnostic communities in addition to the orthodox community], it might well have disappeared from history, along with dozens of rival religious cults of antiquity. I believe that we owe the survival of Christian tradition to the organizational and theological structure that the emerging church developed. Anyone as powerfully attracted to Christianity as I am will regard that as a major achievement.

this was said by Elaine Pagels, author of The Gnostic Gospels (Random House, New York, 1989)

To say that the Bible isn't historically accurate is BS (sorry, no other word for it)

To quote:

The reliability of the New Testament manuscripts is also supported by the
writings of the early church Fathers. Suppose that the New Testament had been
destroyed, and every copy of it lost by the end of the third century (that's
100 years before the Synod of Hippo canonized the New Testament), how much of
it could be collected from the writings of the Fathers of the second and third
centuries? The answer is stunning! All of it except for eleven verses


The Bible survives every day through criticism. No other book has been
so chopped, knived, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. No other book has been
subjected to such mass attacks. Nevertheless, it remains the book most read
and most cherished until this very day. If this criticism was ever effective in
the past, it would have rendered the Bible unworthy of the critics' attention
today. The fact that critics continue to target the Bible proves that their
past criticism did nothing less than strengthen the belief in the Bible itself!


I could quote a whole slew of googled sites.. but I found this explains it best.

All these historical blah blah is making my head hurt. But we can never find ALL the answers for our endless questions. that's why it's called Faith.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

...da vinci test

haven't watched Da vinci code yet.. don't really know if i'm still gonna catch it in theaters or just wait for the pirated DVD.. (also no X-men, huhuhu)

i can't believe i wrote this.. (scroll down where i talked about the Da Vinci Code)i'll probably rot in hell, saying I believed He could've gotten married. arrrrggghh oh yee of little faith. mind you, i wrote that, directly after reading the book.. but because of that book, i've read a LOT of stuff on the internet,.. The Da Vinci Hoax, Facts on the DaVinci, etc.. so my faith is now FULLY restored. and i've decided, now is the right time than any, to fight for my faith.

I tried re-reading the book, in preparation to watching the movie (just like when a new HP movie comes up, i do a review, to refresh my memory) and i found myself REALLY offended. Who is this Dan Brown, saying all these blasphemous things about MY faith. What right does he have, publishing these theories. (i can't really say INVENT 'cause he's not even original! as you all know, these theories were taken from Holy Blood, Holy Grail, to which he is being sued in London for plagiarism)

I absolutely hate the media's coverage for this movie.. they would say how controversial it was, and what DB's theories are. BUT they do nothing to show the Filipinos the facts and don't even attempt to refute these theories. They have all the chance to do these, to help 'confused' catholics but they instead concentrate how controversial the movie is which makes the public more interested in this friggin movie. I passed by a local channel while surfing (channel 9) and saw what i've been looking for. (just disappointed it's not on a bigger network, with a bigger audience) They had Theology professors, a priest from UST (i'm so sorry, i didn't know the other people).. Kit Tatad was there (i dunno why, think he was one of the people who wanted to ban the movie)and other catholic figures.. they were talking about stuff that i've already read about, but still, i'm happy they're at least discussing it on TV. (with about 5 people watching i'm sure, including me, huhuhu)

that night i found myself reading the bible. things i've learned that i should've known about. Mark and Luke are not part of the 12 apostles. There's Peter of course, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, another Simon and Judas. All the memorizing in Gradeschool did me no good.

I've learned Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote in different styles. I found John the most detailed, (and scary).. in the betrayal of Judas, his name was never mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, only on Mark, Luke and John. in Luke and John's, not only is Judas mentioned, they even said "Satan is inside him"... (ooh scary.)

I have promised myself that I would read the bible more from now on. How could I defend my faith when I know so little about it? I've got to get myself armed somewhat. Read, read, read! It's a good first step.

fave rebuttals (sorry, i can't quote, in the midst of all these googling, i can't locate where i read it)
1. DB said that the disciples where jealous of MM, they asked why He loved them much more than they, and that they would often kiss. A scholar said, if Jesus and MM were married, why would the apostles ask this? Wouldn't it be obvious that Jesus would love his wife more than them?
2. DB said "As any Aramaic scholar will tell you, the word companion, in those days, literally meant spouse." (Ch. 58)
I read this: First, the Gospel of Philip is not in Aramaic and never was. It is a Coptic translation of a Greek original. Second, the Greek word for "companion" is commonly used of friends and associates and does not mean spouse.
3. DB said "Jesus' establishment as 'the Son of God' was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicea... a relatively close vote at that." (ch. 55)"
I read this: The Council of Nicea met in order to discuss how Jesus was divine, not whether he was divine. The vote was not close: more like 250-2
(from here)
4. read this from here:Brown correctly observes that few Jewish men of Jesus' day did not marry. But why, then, did the apostle Paul, himself celibate, not mention Jesus and Mary when he argued that apostles could marry (1 Cor. 9:5)?
5.kakatawa toh: As a side note - The Gospel of Peter, one of the very Gospels that Brown claims as an earlier writing, blames the Jews for the crucifixion. Another Gnostic Gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, claims women must become men in order to receive salvation. Apparently Brown’s Gnostic Gospel is not only anti-Semitic, but also chauvinistic. (read this from here)
6. DB said: Christianity borrowed its beliefs from the pagan religion of Mithraism. Mithraism worshipped the pre-Christian God Mithras, called the Son of God and Light of the World, who was born on December 25th, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days
I read (same source as #5) this:
Scholars of Mithraism would strongly disagree with Brown on all of these points. Nowhere is Mithras given the title Son of God and the Light of the World. Brown apparently made this up because it sounded good. Mithras was born on December 25th, however this proves nothing. The New Testament never associated December 25th with the birth of Christ. The early Christians chose to celebrate the birth of Christ on this day intentionally to oppose the pagan mid-winter festival of Saturnalia. They never claimed Jesus was actually born on that date. The claim that Mithras died and was buried in a rock tomb is just not true. Scholars will tell you that in Mithraism there is no death of Mithras at all. So, there was no rock tomb and no resurrection.

whew. i could go on and on. kakafrustrate lang, di ko macopy paste yung mga nabasa ko kanina, di ko makita ulit.

Do we just take this crap and ignore it? As I read here:"There are some other religions which, if you insult their founder, they will not just be talking. They will make it painfully clear to you" .. cardinal was of course, referring to the Muslims, after a Western newspaper showed cartoons that caricatured the prophet Mohammed. DB is showing his disrespect to the millions of people who believe in Jesus! so, my question is.. how strong is your faith?

Friday, May 26, 2006

...american idol finale (updated)

finally, i was able to watch the whole show last night.. and i don't know, maybe it's the AI addict in me speaking but i thought it was the best finale evaaaah. i loved all the AI finalists! i loved Paris' song, Chris (mainly because i'm a Live fan), Elliot's song with MJ Blige (though, she totally outsang him, *spanks her*).. (ooh, i hated Meatloaf, though. and Kat's boobs were huuuuge! inggit ako)

cringed moments:
1. not a fan of Prince. sowee.
2. Taylor with Toni Braxton. WTF, Toni!?? Rape rape! are you friggin high?

favorite moments:
1. oooh, i love Kellie Pickler.. hihihi, hope I see her more in TV. i'm so mababaw, nakukyutan kasi ako sa kanya. hehe.
2. burt bacharach(?) medley.. galing kumanta ni Lisa Tucker, i'm a fan. pati si Elliot! (oha)
3. Mandisa moment sa I'm every woman. whoooo! galing!
4. Elliot's mom.. awwwww so sweet.
5. Clay Aiken there.. first time for me to see him sing. grabe.. kamukha mo pala yun, reeyuh! L O L. as in.
6. Kat and Taylor duet. 'cause i so love that song! Whooo!
7. Syempre, kakaiyak nung nanalo na si Taylor. huhuhuhuh. SOUUUUUUUUUL PATROOOOL!!

ohmygosh how could i forget this.. i just have to add this to my list.. the cowboys!!! i absolutely love gareth, the cowboy kid who sang Elton John at the auditions.. i love him and love that he improved sooo much and i actually thought the judges liked him during hollywood week because he got passed til the 2nd cut, (even after a disastrous song) only because i thought simon, randy and paula favored him a wee bit.

I've been working for more than 12 hours for 2 days now, (damn work requests) but when I got home (on AI nights) I still tried to catch the show.. now i'm getting withdrawal symptoms from AI.. huhuhuh, so sad, wala na akong papanoorin.

love that show. props to the AI producers!

/me trying to make do with Taylor's Under the Radar cd.. *it's a simple refrain... it's a soul thing..* whoo!

p.s. i've lost count of my "Whoos".
p.p.s read this i laughed my a** off.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

...SOUL PATROL!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! PANALO MANOK KO!

SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL!
SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL! SOUL PATROL!

GO TAYLOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

listen to Taylor's Single here: Do I Make You Proud? (OHHH YESSS, YOU DO!!!)

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

...mcCrap

yeyyy Taylor!!! Soul Patrol Soul Patrol! both coronation songs SUCKED but taylor did the most he could in his sucky song.. when i listened at Kath's mp3 My Destiny.. all i could think was "ouch ouch ouch this hurts* never mind the crappy song.. how about OVER the top? screechy? painful? and i'm really hating McDaddy. enough with the tears, save them for tomorrow when Kath loses.

to AI producers: fire your crappy songwriters.
never make a finale with 2 old songs. it's boring.
do i get to vote for Daniel Powter?

hihihihihi. go go go Taylor! Soul Patrol Soul patrol!! i'm gonna listen to that crappy song because i love Taylor! Yey!!! and did you see Elliot shouting Soul Patrol! i love that hobbit!

update from DialIdol:
1 Taylor Hicks 72.938
2 Katharine McPhee 62.808

wow.. such a big margin.. i'm gonna laugh out loud if they say this was close.. it's an embarrassingly huuuge gap. *takbo palayo keh harbie. di ka ata bumoto e! lol*)

p.s. and excuseeeeeeeee me Levon wasn't pitchy!

Monday, May 22, 2006

...for raymond

ei.. check out raymond's blog here.. blatant advertising lang, bisitahin nyo daw siya!

he's only using his Nokia camera.. kawawa, pahiramin nyo nga ng digicam jane! l o l!

Friday, May 19, 2006

...out sick

back in the office, only worked for 2 days this week.. kinda miss watching Eat Bulaga already (lol).. i've been sick,.. with fever and guess what, l b m. i don't know why i would get a fever from lbm, but that's what i just had. hay.

watched a lot of TV.. very very happy with the amazing race results.. finally, nanalo din ang gusto ko! yeyyyyy hippies! i was laughing so hard when they were in Japan,.. Tyler could speak Japanese and he was so funny.. they even had a japanese background music when they were biking in the streets of japan.. hihihi.. love 'em ..

in AI naman.. goooo Taylor! Soul Patrol! Soul patrol! too bad about Elliot.. i cried on his homecoming, his mother was so sweet.. i sniggered at Kat's.. hihihihi.. sorry, wow, she's so popular in her hometown uh, l o l. *takbooooo away from harbie*

hindi ko pa pala nakukwento yung DISASTROUS company "summer" outing namin.. hay. parang ayaw ko na ikwento. next post na lang. pag wala na akong ginagawa, nagparamdam lang aku.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

...wow

wow, chris is gone. i didn't like him but i really thought it wasn't his time to go, 'cause Kat did horribly as i said here.. i guess Kat's fans were stronger and she got a lot of sympathy votes..but as one Soul Patroller said, boobs beat bald any day.

ooooh, i'm so scared.. hope the judges won't give Taylor a shitty song. hope's it's Taylor in the finals!!

p.s. bumoto ka noh harbie? l o l. kaya nasave si Kat!

...a wreck

that's what i am since yesterday. i don't know what has gotten into me.. is it the hormones? magkakaroon na ata kasi ako.. is it these books i'm reading? it's just freakin' chick-lit books! they're supposed to make me happy..

but yesterday, just a couple of minutes away from my parents' house.. it hit me. My Raymond is not here. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
he's there in Singapore, and i can't hug him, i can't kiss him.. i can't see his eyes, his face, touch him, squeeze him SHIIIIIIIIT. it took me a whole minute to breathe again. i was in the back of the shuttle and i had to squeeze my eyes and look above to keep from crying in front of these strangers. i said a convincing "Para po!" when it was my stop and staggered out of the van.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

ano ba naisip ko bakit ko pinagtutulakang umalis si raymond? hello, okay naman kami! waaah i was being too greedy! so what kung wala kaming savings! buti nga hindi kami lubog. huhuhuh. hay.

talked to Pangs yesterday and i lost it. i bawled like a baby. i can't cry! he's the one always crying! (lol, pangs sorry) huhuhuhu. haaay. sorry pangs, i'm supposed to be the strong one.

this is probably just one of those bad days.. i'll have good days naman.. i've had them.. reading, blogging, watching tv.. even watching AI last night didn't cheer up. (oooh, this is bad)

*mukmoks sa tabi* lapit na July diba? sorry Pangs ko. I'll be insane if i don't write about this. I can't tell it infront of my friends, for fear of crying shamelessly. and i'm such a bad cryer. ugly. red nose, red eyes, ewwww.

i miss you pangs ko. *sighs*

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

...bye bye kat

hihihi, of course she's not out YET.. i want it to be chris, but i can't have everything..*sighs* dialIdol has taylor and elliot on top and i really like elliot's voice.. never mind that i can't look at him, i listen at mp3s anyway hehe. Kat's mp3 though is tooorture. her voice started to go shrilly and irritating. dunno, it's just maybe me and my total devotion to Taylor, everyone else sounds mediocre.

yey! hope it's Taylor and Elliot in the finals. Elliot's fans are bit fickle, one bad song and they all forget about him. totally don't want chris but i'm feeling it's a taylor vs. chris but who knows, i might get my prayer's answered, l o l. I'm totally going to jinx Taylor because of this post. bwehehe.

Go Taylor!!! Whooo!!!

Monday, May 08, 2006

...wet and wild in villa conception (that's their slogan, lol)

we had our family outing last weekend, at Villa Conception in Pandi, Bulacan. that really wasn't where we intended to go, nagsara na pala yung lagi naming pinupuntahan. (a very cheap, resort, with itsee-bitsee private pools parallel to one another) Grabe, tagal na pala kaming hindi pumupunta dun hehehe. We just followed a sign that said "Villa Conception Wet and Wild Wave pool" and it was a good decision 'cause we had a great time!

first time for me to go to a "WAVE" pool so i didn't know what to expect. I didn't even planned on going swimming.. i brought the company issued laptop and chatted with Pangs (courtesy of PLDT WeRoam) for a bit.. after lunch (wow lunch, inihaw na pork and chicken, adobo, hilaw and hinog na mangga, etc.. all the resort-food-essentials), i was surfing in our rented airconditioned room when ate ging went in to get her underwater casing for her digicam. she said "meh waves na!" ('cause it only has waves for 1-2pm and 3-4pm..we learned this after) tapus biglang sarado ako ng laptop at sumama sa kanya.

wahahaha kakatuwa! first i was very disoriented, i think i gulped like a gallon of water (ewww) before i learned to jump with the waves hihihi. then we had our picture taking underwater..

i'm still at awe how my cousins could smile normally underwater, sabi ko nga, pwede na keyu sa cast ng marina hehe.


here's cindy.. galing noh?
cindy

and her sister,nina.. isa pa toh, bwiset
nina

and ate ging.. one of her rare pictures, siya kasi photographer eh ehehe
ate ging

and nagkagulo na dito.. si arjay.. l o l!
yajay

it gets wackier..si yapi..
jp

and here's something from national geographic.. embryo babies..lol!.. si tenten.. pwede ring animal planet, walrus. l o l.
tenten

and for the love of God, i can't open my freakin eyes underwater! here's me na parang nalulunod.. huhuhuhu
nalulunod

humiram nga ako ng goggles para makamulat man lang ako.. hehe, pwede na ba?
at least nakasmile na ako

eto na group shot..takes a lot of coordination, hehe..nina, me tenten and yapi
kaming 4

magpipinsan, napagod na kami kakaunderwater shot.. dami ng pumasok na tubig sa ilong ko pa, l o l.
cousins

here's mom and dad enjoying the waves.. grabe, O.A. sa lakas ang waves!
sobrang lakas ng wave

mom and dad again
daddy and mommy

eto puro tubig! biglang dumating yung wave eh, puro tubig lang tuloy nakunan.
puro tubig lng!


grabi. ang saya. hihihi. saket nga lang sa my nonexistent dibdib yung waves dun sa "shore". pero katuwa. pwede naman akong umatras ng konti eh, medyo meh pagkamasokista siguro ako, natutuwa ako shado sa waves.

ayun. namiss kita pangs ko. sana meh underwater shot ka rin. pareho dapat keyu ni tenten uh. para kayo sigurong father and son walrus. HIHIHI. joke lang. labyu! miss you!

Friday, May 05, 2006

...LIBRE horoscope

yeah, those funny "Kapalaran" stuff from the Libre tabloid you get from MRT stations..

mine had a disturbing one today

sa Love: "Pag nag-abroad siya, kakalimutan ka na niya"

wahahahahaha! Pangs ko? wag mo kong kalimutan! lecheng libre toh!

...red kusina

ei guys! just want to show(off.lol) our kitchen.. it's only a small one, but i like the layout a lot (we designed it ourselves and picked the colors)


our kitchen benefited the most when i went to IKEA.. here you can see the magnetic blackboard on the left..all my friends and family were like "whaaat, you brought a blackboard from singapore!??" lol.. it's a lovely blackboard, hmpft.
Picture 198
you can also see the 2 lamps above the bar, i got them at IKEA too, for around 400php each. cheap, noh?

here's another angle of our kitchen.. love the red! (to go with our asian theme, bwehehe) you can see the rails i got from IKEA also..and on the left it's a magnetic sort of rail and i just stick the knives to it, it's pretty cool..
Picture 196
also bought the dish drainer, paper towel holder and a lot of other stuff.

and another angle here..
Picture 197


i love our kitchen! and i miss my pangs! he spent the whoooole day drilling those damn rails hehe. miss you asawa ko!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

...reeyuh's here

will be meeting reeyuh later again today, around 7ish at GB.. huhuh tas hongkee na naman siya..

went to reeyuh's house last monday.. kwentuhan, syempre asar talo saken si reeyuh, hahaha. isa lang masasabi ko..TWFAF (that's what friends are for, l o l).

can't make kwento mashado, basta, sana happy ending =)

here are the pics:


ria and me
Picture 200

ria..oh, sakop mo buong frame, bwehehhe
Picture 202

us
Picture 203

us again..astig ni vian
Picture 204

eto malufet
vian tomador
manang mana sa ina. bweheheh.


just remembered that i haven't posted our honeymoon story yet.. hmm.. baka mawala na sa flickr stream ko uh, have to remember to post about it one of these days..

and in AI naman, woohooo Taylor did it! love both of his songs! whooooo! go taylor! soul patrol!! dialidol has him on top again.. and waaaaay ahead from the rest of the pack. Yey! can't wait to see the replay tonight.