Posts Made By: Brien Stratton

Here is some info I found for those interested in this topic:

Who were the 'sons of God' that fathered the Nephilim?

Who were "the sons of the true God" that were involved? Were they men who were worshipers of God (as distinguished from the general run of wicked mankind), as some claim? Evidently not. The Bible implies that their marriage to the daughters of men resulted in whipping up the badness in the earth. Noah and his three sons, along with their wives, were the only ones in God's favor and were the only ones preserved through the Deluge.-Ge 6:9; 8:15, 16; 1Pe 3:20.

Hence, if these "sons of the true God" were merely men, the question arises, Why were their offspring "men of fame" more than those of the wicked, or of faithful Noah? Also, the question might be asked, Why mention their marriage to the daughters of men as something special? Marriage and childbearing had been taking place for more than 1,500 years.

The sons of God mentioned at Genesis 6:2, therefore, must have been angels, spirit "sons of God." This expression is applied to angels at Job 1:6; 38:7. This view is supported by Peter, who speaks of "the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient when the patience of God was waiting in Noah's days." (1Pe 3:19, 20) Also Jude writes of "the angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place." (Jude 6) Angels had the power to materialize in human form, and some angels did so to bring messages from God. (Ge 18:1, 2, 8, 20-22; 19:1-11; Jos 5:13-15) But heaven is the proper abode of spirit persons, and the angels there have positions of service under God. (Da 7:9, 10) To leave this abode to dwell on earth and to forsake their assigned service to have fleshly relations would be rebellion against God's laws, and perversion.

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Brien

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The Bible states that the disobedient angels are now "spirits in prison," having been 'thrown into Tartarus' and "reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day." This seems to indicate that they are greatly restricted, unable again to materialize as they did prior to the Flood.-1Pe 3:19; 2Pe 2:4; Jude 6.

Increased Wickedness. "The mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame" that were produced by these marriages, were not men of fame with God, for they did not survive the Flood, as did Noah and his family. They were "Nephilim," bullies, tyrants, who no doubt helped to make conditions worse. Their name in Hebrew means "fellers", those who cause others to fall down. Their angelic fathers, knowing the construction of the human body and being able to materialize, were not creating life, but lived in these human bodies and, cohabiting with women, brought forth children. Their children, "mighty ones," were therefore unauthorized hybrids. Apparently the Nephilim did not, in turn, have children.

In Mythology. The fame and dread of the Nephilim, it appears, gave rise to many mythologies of heathen people who, after the confusion of languages at Babel, were scattered throughout the earth. Though the historical forms of the Genesis account were greatly distorted and embellished, there was a remarkable resemblance in these ancient mythologies (those of the Greeks being only one example), in which gods and goddesses mated with humans to produce superhuman heroes and fearful demigods having god-man characteristics.

Also Josephus comes to this same conclusion about the Nephilim in his account of the Antiquities of the Jews in book 1, chapter 3, paragraph 1.

Brien

Hello, I have a JMI DX3 focuser with their standard 2" to 1.25" adapter. I was thinking of getting the Televue Equalizer to help with balancing the scope with the lighter eyepieces. Two questions:

1) Will this change the focus position much (it looks like the Equalizer has a higher hat), because right now the focus point is dead on with the JMI adapter for all the eyepieces I have? It looks as if I might have to cut the trusses another 1/2" or so, if I buy the Equalizer?

2) Is the Equalizer threaded for 2" filters?

Thanks,

Brien Stratton

Hello all, I was just wondering how many reflector glass pushers use a spherometer to determine sphericity of the mirror's surfaces during the grinding stages of a mirror?

Do you feel personally that a spherometer is a necessity to make high quality surfaces, or can someone who uses the standard visual tests (bubble observance, sharpie tests ect,) make as accurate surfaces?

How about the spherometer's use at the end of rough grinding? Is the spherometer the most handy at this point? How much varience would be expected over the surface of the mirror by moving the spherometer across the surface? I have read that if a person used the standard 1/3rd over strokes right from the beginning of the rough grind (in a small 6-8" mirror) then you would have more sphericity, but if you used a chordal stroke at the beginning, then used the 1/3rd stroke at the end of rough grinding , then the spherometer might come in handy to determine if you have enough mirror contact (sphericity), so you could move to fine grinding.

I would think also that once a person in fine grinding removes pits from the previous stage, that sphericity would be at that time somewhat guaranteed? That is if fine grinding started with surfaces with good sphericity from the rough grinding stage.

Comments?

Brien Stratton

I am reposting this from an earlier post: the paste function in windows is a great asset.

The Bible does not specify the length of each of the creative periods. Yet all six of them have ended, it being said with respect to the sixth day (as in the case of each of the preceding five days): "And there came to evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day." (Genesis 1:31) However, this statement is not made regarding the seventh day, on which God proceeded to rest, indicating that it continued.

Also, more than 4000 years after the seventh day, or God's rest day, commenced, Paul indicated that it was still in progress. At Hebrews 4:1-11 he referred to the earlier words of David (Psalms 95:7,8,11) and to Genesis 2:2 and urged: "Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest." By the apostle's time, the seventh day had been continuing for thousands of years and had not yet ended.

The Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, who is scripturally identified a "Lord of the sabbath" (Matthew 12:8), is evidently part of the great sabbath, God's rest day. (Revelation 20:1-6) This would indicate the passing of thousands of years from the commencement of God's rest day to its end.

The week of days set forth at Genesis 1:3 to 2:3, the last of which is a sabbath, seems to parallel the week into which the Israelites divided their time, observing a sabbath on the seventh day therof, in keeping with the divine will. (Exodus 20:8-11) And, since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length.

That a day can be longer than 24 hours is indicated by Genesis 2:4, which speaks of all the creative periods as one "day". Here, the term "day" is used in a way which humans sometimes use, when they say things like: "in my grandfather's day, taxes were lower."

Also, indicative of this is Peter's inspired observation that " With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8) Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself. -From the book- Insight on the Scriptures.


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Ok, I could'nt help myself. My 20000 was not the original either.

The WEBB Society has volume #7 The Southern Sky which has some interesting deep sky lists, and descriptions. Can be found for not much $.

Also they have the Visual Atlas of the Magellanic Clouds which is a descripion of most of the NGC objects to be seen in a modest scope. Itis 56 pages, have'nt seen so can't comment how good it is. It is only $7.

Brien Stratton

Steve,

Try Precision Mirror cells and Pivot kits. You may have to have it specially made or he may have one off the shelf. His firm is listed on the home page on Astromart.

Brien Stratton

Ed, I am just sharing some Bible passages that deal with astronomy . I am not going to rest my whole faith on these astronomy passages alone, nor do I expect others. The Bible is not a science book, but deals mostly with the worship of the creator, and the history of the dealings He had with His people. However, I feel that the times it does touch on the subject of science it is not out of touch , and seems reliable.

Brien

Joe , thanks for the quotes. Samuel Butler must not have found an answer in life to hold on to.Once you have the truth, it sets you free. Nice poetry, but kids are strung out in New Jersey. They need a hope for the future, not wishy washy thinking.Today there is no wrong or right. No moral code. Aids, std's , broken families, alcoholism,crime , overcrowded prisons, ect. Sorry, we need stronger medicine Joe.

Kindness is good. I agree. God is love. If you sacrifice to God, yet don't have love, then it is meaningless. It is also kind to steer people where they will receive the most benefits. If I saw someone going in the wrong direction that leads into danger, is it not loving to point the right way. Sure it is . The the way to life is to God and his word. Also the Dalai Lama is not a Christian, so does not listen to the commands of the God in the Bible.This God brought his people through the Red Sea on dry land out of Egypt, after they were slaves in captivity. Why should I listen to the Dalai Lama? Has he done similar things? No we need stronger medicine than this.

Brien