Farrell Till wrote:
>
> McDONALD 7/23
> I have already explained this in a previous post. Farrell thinks
> that this verse will have far reaching effects that will have me tap
> dancing all over the place before this thread is over, but I have a
> feeling that his presumption is a little premature. This isn't the
> first time Farrell has said things like this to me and I have yet to
> see anything that he has ever written that has caused me to tap dance
> anywhere.
>
> TILL (later)
> Well, then, you shouldn't have any problems explaining how that David
> repented of his lie to Ahimelech when almost a year and a half later, he was
> lying to king Achish about his guerilla activities.
>
> > McDONALD
> > In that instance he refused to repent until Nathan the prophet went to
> >him and pointed out, in terms that no one could misunderstand, that David
> >had sinned and that he needed to repent. Then and only then did David
> >repent. That was the only time that he failed to obey the command to repent
> when >he sinned.
> >
> TILL (later)
> So your argument seems to be that a significant time lapse would constitute
> proof that repentance had not occurred. Would you say that a year and four
> months would be long enough to show that someone had not repented of a sin?
>
> <material already answered snipped>
>
> McDONALD
> I have already explained my reason for attaching so much significance
> to the fact that David didn't repent until Nathan pointed his sin out
> to him. David's remorse was immediate when he understood the
> significance, but this happened some time after he committed his sin.
> Several months as a matter of fact. Enough time had lapsed for
> Bathsheba to give birth to a son. So this was not a sin that David
> committed and then the next day God sent Nathan the prophet to tell
> David that he had committed. This was a sin that David lived for
> several months and finally after giving him every available
> opportunity to repent on his own with no results, God finally sent
> Nathan the prophet in.
>
> TILL (later)
> So if David lived with this sin for "several months" without repenting,
> would you say that a year and four months would also be several months that
> he lived with a sin without repenting?
>
> TILL
> > Considering the situation, I would say that this was rather admirable on
> David's >part. Many kings would have been resentful of Nathan's
> presumptuousness, >wouldn't they?
> >
> > Third, would you please define "repent" for us? How is it possible to
> know if a person had "repented"?
> >
> McDONALD
> Repentance is Godly sorrow mixed with change. Godly sorrow (by
> itself) isn't sufficient and change (by itself) isn't sufficient. A
> person might be sorry that he got drunk, but never change thus he has
> not repented. A person, on the other hand, might change and no
> longer drink but not be sorry that he sinned, thus he has not
> repented. Repentance is being sorry for your sins and changing your
> direction back to God.
>
> TILL (later)
> So, as I pointed out in the first part of my response to this posting, by
> your own definition of repentance, David did not repent of his lie to
> Ahimelech, because he continued to lie at least for several months. How
> then are you able to say that the matter of Uriah the Hittite is the ONLY
> sin that David failed to repent of? Let the dancing begin.
>
> TILL
> > More than that, I want to see you point to specific language in 1 Kings
> >15:5 that justifies your claim that the writer was speaking in terms of
> >David's willingness to repent, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
> >
> > Then please tell us why IF REPENTANCE WAS THE SUBJECT UNDER
> CONSIDERATION in this verse, the writer said that David had never turned
> aside >from ANYTHING Yahweh had commanded. Did Yahweh ever command anything
> >besides repentance?
>
> TILL
> What? No response to this? Could this be interpreted as tap dancing?
>
> Farrell Till
> Skepticism, Inc.
> jftill@midwest.net
McDonald
I think Till needs to go back and read my posts again. I did respond
to this post and gave my reasons for my beliefs. No reason to take
dancing lessons yet.
In Christ's service,
Jerry D. McDonald
jerrydmcdonald@geocities.com
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/mcdonaldsplace/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/7252/index.html
challenge@ctwok.com