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From: david@cvl.UUCP (David Harwood)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: reply to Paul DuBois, concerning excommunication
Message-ID: <278@cvl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Apr-85 17:41:42 EST
Article-I.D.: cvl.278
Posted: Wed Apr 10 17:41:42 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Apr-85 07:09:48 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Computer Vision Lab, U. of Maryland, College Park
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Reply to a question
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From: dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: A Question
Message-ID: <878@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: 9 Apr 85 22:36:19 GMT

Now I'll ask a question.  You know in Acts where Ananias lied to the
Holy Spirit and ended up laid out?  Ok, now think about this.  I never
noticed this before, though I've read this story many times.  What
happened next?  The young men came in and carried him out and buried him.
A few hours later his wife Sapphira comes in, not knowing what
happened, and Peter says, "sell it for so much?"  She says "yep".  He
says die.  She dies.  They come in and carry her out and bury her,
too.

Now, HOW COME SHE DIDN'T KNOW THAT HER HUSBAND WAS DEAD?  Don't you
think it's a little strange that they would bury her husband without
even telling her?  So she could pay her last respects or something?
What's going on here?     ??????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Elsewhere, Paul says that the assembly will turn out a
certain flagrant sinner from their midst (handing him over to Satan),
so that he might suffer and possibly come to repentance: this very
act of excommunication may effect this psychological alienation of the
one from God, so that he is cut off from God as well as fellowship.
	My point is that "eternal life" and "life", also "death" and
"sleep", are usually ambiguous figures for spiritual or material
existence. From the religious point of view, the one who is "cut off"
from God is as good as dead already, even if he is said to live.
	With this understanding, there is no contradiction; the two
have simply been excommunicated. They may be said to be buried, just
as it is said that Jesus raised some to life.

					David Harwood