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Did this man quit his job for Biblical reasons?
- Thread starter Salty
- Start date
Completely stupid. Its these kind of people that ruin our witness.
Did he give up his car when it hit 666 miles? I hate to see what he gives up the 666th time he and his wife are intimate :laugh:
completely irrelevant. If anything this foolishness by this guy is insulting to God in determinism.
Maybe he will stop at 665.
(emphasis added)
Many things other things can ruin our witness, as well.
Right or wrong, I respect the man for standing up for what he believes. Especially where money is involved. How many professing Christians are willing to do that, these days?
Further, we know nothing about this man's walk of faith, other than what we've read at the link. (Unless someone has taken the time to dig deeper.) We do know, from the article, he is a valued employee, which also says a lot about this man.
Because building owners, contractors, residents, etc. do not want a 13th floor designation, do we call them stupid and made crude jokes about their marriage?
At best he is a sorely misguided believer and at worst he is unsaved.
I doubt he is saved if he believes that avoiding the number 666 will keep him out of hell.
From the article:
A Clarksville man said that he quit his job last week in order to save his soul.
Walter Slonopas, 52, resigned as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting LLC in Clarksville after his W-2 tax form was stamped with the number 666.
The Bible calls 666 the “number of the beast,” and it’s often used as a symbol of the devil. Slonopas said that after getting the W-2, he could either go to work or go to hell.
“If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil,” he said.
I doubt he is saved if he believes that avoiding the number 666 will keep him out of hell.
From the article:
A Clarksville man said that he quit his job last week in order to save his soul.
Walter Slonopas, 52, resigned as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting LLC in Clarksville after his W-2 tax form was stamped with the number 666.
The Bible calls 666 the “number of the beast,” and it’s often used as a symbol of the devil. Slonopas said that after getting the W-2, he could either go to work or go to hell.
“If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil,” he said.
Oldtimer,
Brother, how can we respect people for standing up for what they believe in when what they believe in is dead wrong and unbiblical?
The guy made this unbiblical statement.
That’s nowhere in the Bible. The number – in and of itself – is not evil. In and of itself – it means absolutely nothing. If it did, then going with webdog’s idea, ALL Christians would have to sell or trade in their cars when the odometer hit 665 miles.
And, one could never have more than $665.99 in his or her bank accounts nor buy anything that costs $666. The Biblically ignorant man in this article has been influenced by too many horror movies and/or too many teachers/preachers telling him false information about God’s Word.
My goodness, the book of Revelation was written in Greek and written before Arabic numbers, such as “6”, were instituted. The book, written by John, used Greek words which do possess numerical value. But was John trying to say that “666” is a evil number?
What is in the Bible about the number 666 is this.
This verse does not say that the number 666 – all by itself as a numeral – will sell your soul to the devil.
What it DOES say is that the beast who will be a counterfeit of Christ will be recognized by his name (first translated to Greek obviously) being associated with Greek words possessing an association with that number. Such as alpha means 1, chi means 600. And there are so many ways using both addition and subtraction to get to the number 666 with Greek words that I would never in my lifetime even try to speculate how the English name of a person can be translated to Koine Greek and be assigned a number.
Christians have nothing to fear about the Arabic numeral 666.
And I cannot respect this man’s standing up for this unbiblical concept of superstitiously fearing the isolated and meaningless number 666 to the point of quitting his job and causing his family to suffer financially. His actions cannot be justified, respected, or defended. And all one has to do is google his story and see how his actions are bringing out the worst in non-believers and how they are scorning the Christian faith for it.
He is a stumbling block.
Brother, how can we respect people for standing up for what they believe in when what they believe in is dead wrong and unbiblical?
The guy made this unbiblical statement.
“If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil,” he said.
That’s nowhere in the Bible. The number – in and of itself – is not evil. In and of itself – it means absolutely nothing. If it did, then going with webdog’s idea, ALL Christians would have to sell or trade in their cars when the odometer hit 665 miles.
And, one could never have more than $665.99 in his or her bank accounts nor buy anything that costs $666. The Biblically ignorant man in this article has been influenced by too many horror movies and/or too many teachers/preachers telling him false information about God’s Word.
My goodness, the book of Revelation was written in Greek and written before Arabic numbers, such as “6”, were instituted. The book, written by John, used Greek words which do possess numerical value. But was John trying to say that “666” is a evil number?
What is in the Bible about the number 666 is this.
Revelation 13: 16-18 – “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
This verse does not say that the number 666 – all by itself as a numeral – will sell your soul to the devil.
What it DOES say is that the beast who will be a counterfeit of Christ will be recognized by his name (first translated to Greek obviously) being associated with Greek words possessing an association with that number. Such as alpha means 1, chi means 600. And there are so many ways using both addition and subtraction to get to the number 666 with Greek words that I would never in my lifetime even try to speculate how the English name of a person can be translated to Koine Greek and be assigned a number.
Christians have nothing to fear about the Arabic numeral 666.
And I cannot respect this man’s standing up for this unbiblical concept of superstitiously fearing the isolated and meaningless number 666 to the point of quitting his job and causing his family to suffer financially. His actions cannot be justified, respected, or defended. And all one has to do is google his story and see how his actions are bringing out the worst in non-believers and how they are scorning the Christian faith for it.
He is a stumbling block.
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Ignorance abounds everywhere, even on the BB.
Evidently, I did a poor job of making my point.
Sister, how can we respect people when they DON'T stand up for what they believe, whether they are right our wrong by our own set of standards.
It's OK for them to take a stand, as long as we agree with them. If we disagree, they are stupid, ignorant and likely unsaved. Can't help but wonder if any Christian, with an understanding of Revelations, as you have expressed it, has taken the time to work with this man? Has anyone taken the time or had the patience to help him be "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"?
I was saved as a teenager. I became a theistic evolutionist because of what I had been taught, by "educated" folks for over 50 years. In essence, I believed that God created heaven and earth. "Evolution" was the method He used over millions of years. It was only when I stood up for my belief, did my pastor challenge my views. Challenged me in a way that led me to seek the truth. To begin to look for alternatives that refuted so much of what I thought I knew.
Had my pastor called me an equivalent of being "stupid". Questioned my salvation. Berated me for being a stumbling block for others. Cracked jokes at my expense, I doubt very seriously that I would have taken Proverbs 2:3-6 and 2 Tim 2:15 to heart. Doubt that I would have prayed for guidance, as I spent countless hours pouring over everything I could get my eyes on that refuted what I'd been taught.
Agree or disagree -- that's your choice.
I'd rather see any man stand up for what he believes, be it right or wrong, in my eyes, than to see him simply keep a seat warm. And, especially when he has to make a sacrifice in order to do so. By taking a stand, he has given someone the opportunity to led him around, over, under, a stumbling block in his life. Just as my pastor did for me.
How often did Jesus lead people around him to understanding far greater than what they thought they knew? In this instance, would Jesus ridicule this man or would He teach him, the way He did so many others? Would Jesus call him "stupid" and "ignorant" or would He extend a hand to guide the way? To help him overcome what we consider to be an unreasonable fear of a particular number.
Sister, I hope this helps to explain further, what I was trying to say earlier. If not, the only thing I can do, is to keep trying. Or, until my own ignorance is revealed.
Let he, who has full knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of everything cast the first stone.
You (plural) are ignorant if you do not know exactly how God creates life at the split second of conception.
I am ignorant because I do not know every detail about the founding of this country and because I cannot quote every scripture from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.
You (again, plural) are ignorant if you cannot turn wood ashes and hamburger grease into soap.
I am ignorant because I do not know the day my Saviour will return. Nor, the day He will call me home, if they are not the same.
As far as I know, every person walking on this earth is ignorant about something. And, in my case, a heck of a whole lot of things. Does telling me what I already know help me (or anyone else) grow in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding?
Kind sir,
First of all, the book is named Revelation, no "s". It is one continuous revelation.
Secondly, nowhere in the Scriptures do I see ignorance, foolishness or misinterpretation of the Scriptures being applauded.
Thirdly, if I were to know the man personally, I would do as your pastor did. Since I don't, and the gentleman chose to trumpet his ignorance to the world by agreeing to be interviewed for a newspaper article, he should be held up as an example of "what not to do". Paul did this often in his epistles, he warned the readers about people to beware of.
It is true that we are all ignorant about different things. But we don't have to broadcast our ignorance and neither do we have to stay that way.
Thank you, I do understand better what you were saying.
And your post does give one pause as to how much responsibility the more learned Christian bears in making sure the unlearned believer grows in knowledge and wisdom.
I had many men and women in my life (and still do) who made sure that I knew what the Bible said. Some leaned more heavily on their interpretation and some leaned on the Holy Spirit's leadership.
I think you make a good point. This man has not been taught properly. Who is responsible for that?
But I still think his ignorance and the media's blaring it all over the place is a shame.
Revelation - understood. Now if I can just teach my fingers the same thing. :flower:
Next, having respect for a man for standing for his beliefs (when incorrect) shouldn't imply that Scriptures applaud his error. If I've left a different impression, I apologize.
Thirdly, even though I'm not a pastor, if I knew this man personally I'd do the same thing, too.
You've used the terms "trumpet" and "broadcast" with regards to this man's lack of understanding. How does he know not to do that if he has not been taught?
Further, we don't know, if this man was actually following God's will in order for this discussion thread to come about. How many others, unknown to us, have read the article, read this thread, heard (will hear) a sermon based on it, and/or pause to think about it, perhaps for the first time? Perhaps, it is God's intent to lead Walter Slonopas to this discussion or somewhere else that's applicable to grow in his understanding. We never know who's sitting in this virtual "Baptist" assembly of believers congregation.
My friend, I'm sure that I reveal in some manner my ignorance of xyz to someone everyday. That revelation gives a more learned person the opportunity to do one of two things.
1: Tell me I'm stupid. Tell me that I'm ignorant, dumb, or some of the other words that I see tossed around this here from time to time. Question my salvation based on something I don't know that I don't know. Find some way to belittle while lifting his own self esteem.
2: With kind words guide me to a better understanding of xyz.
Yes, I agree, to some extent, that this man can be used as an example of what not to do if we are caught up in a similar situation. Wouldn't misguided be a better choice of words than "stupid", "ignorant", and "likely unsaved" when a professing Christian is mistaken in taking a particular stance for what he believes?
Thank you.
Agree that it is a shame on both counts.
Put his name in a search engine to see just how much the media has become involved. Walter Slonopas
Hopefully, some good will come from it that will offset, at least in measure, the negatives being associated with it. If nothing else, perhaps someone Walter Slonopas knows will be prompted to guide him. And, others, as well.
Ignorance is not a bad word, the opposite of it is enlightenment. I try to learn something every day and therefore go to bed at night less ignorant then when I awoke.
Carolina Baptist
Active Member
I once received a government check for $666. I remember thinking "I wish they would have kept a dollar", but I cashed it without fear.
Ignorance is not a bad word.
Stupid is not a bad word.
Hypocrite is not a bad word.
Liar isn't a bad word.
Fool isn't a bad word, either.
Like you, I try to learn something new everyday. Even though I'm an old dog, it's a blessing when I can learn a new trick. Especially when it means further enlightenment in God's word. (Proverbs 2:3-6 & 2 Tim 2:15)
I have been a fool when my ignorance led to stupid mistakes that lying about them turned me into a hyprocrite.
vs
Because you disagree with me you are a lying hypocrite who is allowing your stupid ignorance to show how much of a fool you are with your opinion.
Context of usage is the key.