re: #300 Eclectic Cyborg

Also in reference to Pat Robertson babbling about having the power to raise the dead: This belief, actually held by many evangelicals, comes from a scripture in the Book of Matthew:

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Bascially, a considerably literal reading of these scripture would boil down to: “Jesus is saying that as his followers we also have his powers and He is calling on us to use them just as he did to win converts.”

A more broad interpretation would be that Jesus is merely, once again, calling on us to be like Him. For example, instead of meaning physically raise the dead he may be referring more to the spiritual dead. Instead of meaning the physically sick, He may also mean the sinning and psychologically damaged.

Evangelicals insist miraculous resurrections continue to this day, primarily in Africa.

That reminds me of a song lyric I heard many years ago:

“Heal the sick
Raise the dead
And make the girls go outa their head”

Who sang that? Johnny Cash?