Introducing Paul Price

I have an agreement with @Timothy_Horton; he can troll to his heart’s content, and I’ll continue to ignore his trolling.

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Welcome!

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Apologetics are annoying at best and sometime becomes harassment as well as possibly threatening. It should be illegal to do apologetic to anyone under 18 or for anyone under 18 to do apologetics.

@PDPrice, meet @Patrick. Patrick is one of my favorite PS participants—admittedly, I have lots of favorites here at PS—and he has an entertaining signature style of tongue-in-cheek, ignore-the-Constitution, compromise-those-free-speech-rights point of view. Give him a chance and I guarantee that you will have fun.

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@AllenWitmerMiller is one of my favorite Christian. I consider him to be a really great Christian and a fine American. Christianity needs more Christians like him.:sunglasses:

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Welcome, @PDPrice! :slight_smile:

It has been very interesting to read your discussions so far! I hope you will stick around and keep it up! :slight_smile:

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Well that it up to @AllenWitmerMiller to assess. I consider him a friend and I hope he consider me his friend. I would not purposely harm him in any way. I would give him blood if he needed it (and if our blood type is compatible.) I wish him a long and happy life full of meaning and purpose. And those wishes of wellness goes to all his family and descendants both genealogically and genetically.

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13 posts were split to a new topic: Patrick and PD Price

I’ve quoted a lot of scriptures on Peaceful Science and this is one which comes to mind in this context:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. — Romans 12:18

I think that is one of many good maxims in the Bible. (I would bet that Patrick would agree with that Romans 12:18 maxim.)

And yes, I consider @Patrick a friend. (And if Patrick is not adverse to some of the medications likely to be present in my blood, I am certainly willing to spare him a pint or two. Perhaps more. I’m not sure how much I’ve got on tap.)

I’ve seen this type of question and scenario come up a lot on various Internet forums, usually posed by one Christian disagreeing with another Christian. I usually suggest the same exercise which I’ve often assigned to my students: Read the Bible and see how Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Stephen, and others addressed various audiences. In particular, read Acts 17 to see how the Apostle Paul addressed his audience at the Areopagus in Athens, aka Mars Hill. In many respects this Peaceful Science forum is a modern day Mars Hill, and I think we can learn a lot from the Apostle Paul in our dealings with others in this forum.

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@AllenWitmerMiller It is an honor and a privilege to be your friend.

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Thank you. I can say the very same of you.

@PDPrice, you may not yet fully understand this, largely because you are new to these forums—and we all welcome you as a newcomer—but @Patrick and I respectfully disagree with one another on all sorts of topics. Of course, we are still probing, questioning, and critiquing the details of our individual positions, yet I don’t think there is much uncertainty in our understanding of each other’s thoughts about God, the Bible, and the Gospel. Indeed, we’ve covered those topics again and again. Patrick knows my stance and I know his. Do I need to remind him regularly of where I stand? Perhaps not, but I often do, simply in the normal routine course of our discussions. Also, you may not yet be familiar with Patrick’s background in church. (He even attended a parochial school. I think he would say that he heard plenty about hell and judgment.)

I also point out to my students and congregations that it is the Spirit of God and the power of the scriptures which calls people to the Gospel. We are conduits but, as the Apostle Paul explained, it is not through careful rhetoric or impressive tactics of persuasion by which people enter the Kingdom. And First Corinthians 13 has a lot to say about how we communicate with others:

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When I speak with others—Patrick included—I don’t want to sound like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I hope that I sound like Jesus Christ. That is my goal.

Moreover, I can’t help but notice that in the Bible’s accounts of Jesus’ and the Apostle Paul’s interactions with various audiences, their most dogmatic and even angry words were reserved for the most “religious” people they encountered who one might have otherwise expected to be their most likely “God-loving” allies. Their words when on trial were especially interesting when considering how their words varied with the type of audience they were addressing. I don’t want to pursue too many tangents here, so I will simply restate my opinion that the Apostle Paul’s conduct and methods on Mars Hill in Acts 17 provides good lessons for forums like Peaceful Science.

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First of all, @pdprice, don’t make it a habit of calling out the moderators publicly, like this. We are all volunteers and we come from many different backgrounds. If you want to take issue, use the messaging system. Second, if unanswered questions were truly a reason for us to shut down a thread, we’d have shut yours down about twenty posts in. Third, everyone needs to take a break. This thread is going downhill fast.

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No disrespect intended toward the moderators. Thanks, and I agree, this thread is going nowhere at this point.

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We can all reboot it at any time. It takes two to argue.

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So, Paul Price, tell us (within your comfort zone) about your family and where you grew up. What have you done for work?

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Grew up in the Atlanta area, which is where I still live. I was one of those individuals who graduated college around the time of the 2008 crash, so for several years afterwards I was holding odd jobs. I also lived overseas with my wife in Korea and Russia, and did quite a bit of traveling. We eventually settled back down in the Atlanta area where we both grew up.

I remember one year I held 5 different jobs all in one year! I was one of those who was under a delusion that merely ‘having a degree’ would be good enough! Thankfully I’ve been able to work in an area of particular interest, and that’s been very rewarding so far.

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How long have you been with CMI?

I finished my PhD in 2009, I certainly remember watching the number of chemistry job openings evaporate :frowning: Thankfully, I was able to find a post-doc and “real” job eventually.

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Since early 2015.

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What was it like to live in Korea and Russia? How long were you there? Did you speak the language? That must have been an amazing experience.

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Ditto. I admire YEC’s and really wish I could still be one. I may disagree politely with those here, but I make it a rule not to disparage or engage in a fight with any YEC present. (By the way, that same rule does not necessarily apply to others here :slight_smile: – for instance, an open evolutionist of any stripe.) Good luck on the forum!