Mark Sanguinetti

4 minutes ago, Nathan_Jr said:

Perhaps there's some phrasing in the Bible detailing the required replacement of God's only begotten.. Or the desired replacement. Or the necessary replacement.  Specifically, where in the Bible does it say that the Bible+Christ-in-you+believing+renewed-mind shall replace God's only begotten? 

ZERO! That is only a religious question.

4 hours ago, Mike said:

How many times does it say Christ is currently HIDDEN or NOT VISIBLE to the 5-senses.

Acts Chapter One counts as #1
Hebrews has one, that Oldiesman? found, so count #2

Mike, please use your mind and even common sense. Did you know that "hidden" has a different meaning than "absent"? A dictionary definition of hidden is "being out of sight or not readily apparent". A dictionary definition of "absent" is "not present at a usual or expected place". Instead followers of Jesus Christ who read the bible know that Jesus Christ is now at "the right hand of God" according to Mark 16:19, Acts 2:33, Acts 7:55 & 56, Romans 8:34, Colossians 3:1 and Hebrews 10:12. Through Jesus Christ, who is now standing or seated at "the right hand of God", followers of Jesus Christ have received the gift of Holy Spirit as a connection with God through Jesus Christ. Do you at least believe the Holy Spirit connection with God through Jesus Christ?

3 hours ago, Mike said:

Why?  Does this figure into helping us find out if the phrase "absent Chrst" is useful or hurtful?

Regarding actual versions of the bible. Just like the word "trinity" is not found in any version of the bible. Guess how many times the phrase "absent Christ" is found in any version of the bible, both Old and New Testament? 

Zero

35 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

you're all talk Mike 

Mike is either a super fast typer, while being able to at least try out for the United States Olympic Speed typing team or uses a software program that allows him to speak with the words entered into a text software program.

4 hours ago, T-Bone said:

God & Jesus were not doing a good job of protecting - what about Stephen? What about all the Christians that were harmed and killed by Saul before he was converted? What about all the Christian martyrs from then up to and including present day?

Followers of Jesus Christ who were unfairly in their lives, especially followers of Christ who were murdered for no crime. God will make up for this in the 1,000 year period with the resurrection of the just or the gathering together. Simply different authors express this differently. For example, Luke in Acts 24:15, Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and John in Revelation chapter 20, who often wrote figuratively.

Quote

Revelation 20:4

4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  (NIV)

4 minutes ago, Mike said:

Boy oh boy!  You folks seem to be (I peeked above) really into having Saul blinded by God.  I always thought the devil did that, and was trying to kill him, but God was able to protect his life, like with Job.  God's will was for him to see, so He made immediate provisions to heal Saul's blindness.

Mike, read the scriptures in Acts chapter 9 that clearly show Saul was blinded before he tried to have more followers of Jesus Christ murdered. Then he was healed of his blindness when he became a follower of Jesus Christ.   

Again Jesus Christ and God were protecting followers of Jesus Christ by blinding Saul who again was wanting to religiously capture followers of Jesus Christ and find a reason to have them murdered like Saul did with Stephen. Perhaps, you can think about it this way. If a person was trying to capture and find a reason to have you murdered, would you at least call the police?  I wonder if you would also pray to God? Using logic followers of Jesus Christ knew how to pray to God for protection.  Historically in the first century followers of Jesus Christ did not have the help of a protective government. Therefore they needed help from God. Jesus Christ in his earthly life saw the hatred in Israel and the Roman empire and knew that there would be destruction in the capital city of Israel soon. Historically in 70 AD the capital city of Israel or Jerusalem was at least partially destroyed by the Roman empire. Sorry, but I am not blaming God or Jesus Christ for this destruction. It came because humans are not puppets on a string with God controlling everything that people do or want to do. 

3 hours ago, T-Bone said:

Not sure why you quoted this...okay I think you're saying Paul was blinded by God & JC - but as God & JC's defense attorney   -  I would just like to say...naw just kidding they don't need my apologetics...what I'm getting at is that it may not have been the intention of God & JC to blind Paul for being a bad guy. The trauma may have been something Paul brought on himself - like I said earlier in daring to look at Christ's visage....the way you used "because" in your earlier post implies intent or motivation on the part of God & JC...but maybe that is what you meant to convey - I don't know

Why don't you want to see that God and Jesus were PROTECTING followers of Jesus Christ so that Saul could not see to get more people MURDERED like Saul did with Stephen before Saul became a follower of Jesus Christ and a very good New Testament teacher? You have logic, but please use logic now. After Saul got out of his mind that of, in practical application, being a religious mafia member or a hateful Pharisee, while again wanting to MURDER more followers of Jesus Christ, like Saul did with Stephen. Then God and Jesus Christ blinded Saul to PROTECT followers of Jesus Christ. Using my VERY GOOD biblical study software program, here are the verses showing Saul's change from being a HATEFUL Pharisee to being a FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST.

Quote

Acts 9:1-22

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"  "Yes, Lord," he answered. 11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." 13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.  Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ. (NIV)

5 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

But in reading  Acts 9  I don't find where it says  Saul was blinded    because   ...maybe you've seen that reason  clearly indicated in other passages - if so, can you please point them out?

Acts 9:7-9

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.  (NIV)

Who was Saul blinded or blind by? It looks like a miracle from God and Jesus Christ.
 

2 hours ago, T-Bone said:

Why was Paul blinded and not his companions? I don’t know.

As 1 Corinthians says in 13:9-12, we know only in part now and will only know fully when we see Jesus Christ face to face. When reading Acts 9:1-19 and other bible verses, Saul was blinded because he was a primary persecutor of the disciples of Jesus Christ, even more than the people who walked with him and Jesus wanted to stop or prevent Saul from this, while being fully successful. 

Quote

Acts 9:1-4
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 
(NIV)
 

Jesus Christ will be successful in getting more and more people to change and follow Him in the future. Especially when he returns for the 1000 year period of time with the devil and demons getting placed in prison so that they can not deceive humanity as covered in Revelation 20. A judgement of humanity  at the end of Revelation chapter 20. The new heaven and earth as read in Revelation 21 and 22. I explain these chapters in the last 2 chapter of my biblical teaching book, named "Our Loving Savior Jesus Christ". 

2 hours ago, T-Bone said:

I think it was the actual presence of Jesus Christ in whatever form he so chose for others to experience - and they all certainly experienced something phenomenal!

The main thing that Jesus Christ and God did was to blind Saul until he bowed down to Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. No more murdering of disciples of Jesus Christ by Saul with the other Pharisees like he did with Stephen.  

1 hour ago, WordWolf said:

(Except for Mark Sanguinetti, whose shoulder-blades were taken by a mad scientist for an experiment.)   

Fortunately that did not happen, at least not yet. What is in harmony with WordWolf's post above and I met him year's ago when he lived in Noo Yawk, pronouncing that very large city with a New York accent.  In chapter 10 of my biblical teaching book is the following:

Quote

We don’t fully see the greatness yet of who we are in Christ when we think of or envision ourselves. We sometimes don’t envision the ability of Jesus Christ to change the sin nature of mankind in future ages. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 when we see Jesus Christ face to face, we will see fully the loving and service oriented mindset and ability of the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeing Jesus Christ face to face will help us acquire more of a Christ like love and service oriented nature. As an example of more people believing in Jesus Christ when they see him face to face. My sister Jane does not believe in Jesus Christ now. I spoke with her on her birthday and asked her if she believes in Jesus Christ? She said she would only believe in Jesus Christ when she saw Jesus alive or face to face. In a recent phone conversation with her she said her favorite apostle or disciple was Thomas. From John 20:19-29, the disciple Thomas did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead until he saw Jesus with his hands alive that previously had been nailed with his crucifixion, while even needing to touch the side of Jesus before he believed that Jesus was alive. When Jesus appeared to Thomas, he finally believed that God raised Jesus from the dead, while even needing to touch Jesus.

Quoting from John 20:26-27 on this forum is the following:

Quote

John 20:26-27

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."  (NIV)
 

Mike is so religious on this forum thread instead of scripturally following Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is NOT absent as the head of the body of Christ. The early disciples later to be apostles clearly saw this. For example from the book of Acts are the following scriptures as quoted from the New King James Version. 

Quote

Acts 2:32-33

32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.  (NKJV)

With Jesus seated on the right hand of God and he currently still is, spoke to Saul later to be the apostle for the Gentiles, got Saul to make a major change from perhaps being the worst persecutor of first century followers of Jesus Christ to being the best and most informative teacher of the New Testament. The Roman citizenship name of Saul was Paul. VPW new about Paul, and quoted from some of the scriptures originally written by Paul many times in his books.  For example, what I view as Wierwille’s best book named, “Are the Dead Alive Now?”, which I have fully read. Chapter 13 of my biblical teaching book is in harmony with this book and is named:  “When Will the Dead Be Made Alive Through Jesus Christ?”.

Quote

Acts 9:1-19

1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.  4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"  5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?"  Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."   6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"  Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."  7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Ananias Baptizes Saul  10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias. "And he said, "Here I am, Lord."   11 So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.  12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight." 13 Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.  16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." 17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. 19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.  (NKJV)

Even the original apostles were not able to get Saul also called Paul to make a major change like Jesus Christ did as the head of the body of Christ.

A very good YouTube video showing mistakes by Victor Wierwille. I simply give this video by John Juedes, a grade of A. However, God our heavenly spiritual Father could give this video a grade of A+. The only perfect man is Jesus Christ. Simply the rest of us are not perfect, but hopefully we can make good decisions and have good spiritual doctrinal knowledge in our earthly lives.

9 hours ago, T-Bone said:

it’s out of His original mandate that gave us freedom of will and some responsibility - God is a BIG risktaker I'll give Him that.

Revelation 22:14-15

14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.  (NIV®)

Just like dogs have been trained more and more of humanity will be trained to follow Jesus Christ with his mindset. Especially in the new heaven and earth as explained in Revelation chapters 21 and 22, which are the last two chapters in the bible. I scripturally teach about this in the last chapter of the book Our Loving Savior Jesus Christ. The above verses are quoted from Jesus Christ with revelation to John the writer of the book of Revelation. 

11 hours ago, Mike said:

I have no idea if and when or how many times VPW repented, and anyone here who says they do know, or know to the contrary, God’s Word calls a liar.  ONLY God knows a man’s heart. 

Yes, Victor Wierwille was not perfect regarding faith in God. The only perfect man in his earthly life was and is Jesus Christ. Near the end of Wierwille’s life, I believe he saw that more fully with him showing more humility by passing on authority to people in the TWI ministry which he started. In the late 1970s and 1980s, I saw the problem with the hierarchical structure of TWI with the lordship of people, especially the leader of TWI taking the place of Jesus Christ as head of the body or the TWI organization.  I more clearly saw and heard that in the late 1970s when I listened to a tape of a Wierwille teaching when he agreed with the Roman Catholic church that regarding church leadership in this church that the Pope was and is the Vicar of Christ. According to the Catholic web site, the Vicar of Christ is the following: “A title of the pope implying his supreme and universal primacy, both of honor and of jurisdiction, over the Church of Christ”. When Wierwille was the main leader of TWI, he thought of this in a similar way as the primary leader of TWI and the church of Christ. 

The only time I met him and talked directly with Wierwille was in the 1980s at a TWI event in a southern state, perhaps North Carolina, or Tennessee. When he was with his best friend, I walked up to him and told him that he looked familiar, but I can’t remember your name, but it sounds something like “Wear Something”. Then he answered by saying, “Werewolf”. In recently looking up the word “werewolf” on the internet, this has the meaning of a “mythological animal” or “a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf”. That showed he had more humility towards the end of his life with his death less than 2 years later. Then I answered him with an apology for not calling him “Werewolf”, but calling him something else. Then Victor Wierwille, his best male friend and I all laughed. This clearly shows at least to me his increased humility at the end of his life with Victor Wierwille not elevating himself up over others in the ministry organization, which he started. 
 

18 hours ago, T-Bone said:

Fantastic excerpt, Mark!

I referenced the same link in    part 3 post above

Great minds think alike 

 

We know who our spiritual head is. His name is Jesus Christ. 

WOW and amazing in that we even know where our individual physical heads are with the help of 2 hands connected to 2 arms. 

I wonder was I successful in getting you to laugh at least a little bit??? 

The following is a link that explains the history of the trinity from the Stanford University web site. I like Stanford University and this is one of the top five rated universities in the USA.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/trinity-history.html

Here are two paragraphs in this:

Quote

3.1.1 The One God in the Trinity

Early Christianity was theologically diverse, although as time went on a “catholic” movement, a bishop-led, developing organization which, at least from the late second century, claimed to be the true successors of Jesus’ apostles, became increasingly dominant, out-competing many gnostic and quasi-Jewish groups. Still, confining our attention to what scholars now call this “catholic” or “proto-orthodox” Christianity, it contained divergent views about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No theologian in the first three Christian centuries was a trinitarian in the sense of a believing that the one God is tripersonal, containing equally divine “persons”, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The terms we translate as “Trinity” (Latin: trinitas, Greek: trias) seem to have come into use only in the last two decades of the second century; but such usage doesn’t reflect trinitarian belief. These late second and third century authors use such terms not to refer to the one God, but rather to refer to the plurality of the one God, together with his Son (on Word) and his Spirit. They profess a “trinity”, triad or threesome, but not a triune or tripersonal God. Nor did they consider these to be equally divine. A common strategy for defending monotheism in this period is to emphasize the unique divinity of the Father. Thus Origen (ca. 186–255),

35 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

I don’t have a beef with wierwille offering his opinion of God and Jesus Christ. I think the real treachery was wierwille’s self-assuming role as TWI’s high priest

I first saw that errant problem in the late 1970s when I was listening to a tape of one of VPW's Sunday teachings. He mentioned the doctrine of the Pope being the vicar of Christ and agreed with that Roman Catholic doctrine. That inspired or motivated me to, a few years later, write the first draft of the chapter in my book titled: "Lordship of Jesus Christ Contrasting the Lordship of Imperfect Man".

5 minutes ago, Nathan_Jr said:

The title of victor's book was calculated to garner attention, foster controversy and cause division. In that sense, it was without error. Though vic claimed accuracy, attention and reverence were all he cared about (along with the three P's).

That is logical and makes sense. Mostly to bring attention to his book. Again VPW should have had a more peaceful title. If you have a copy of that book, you could do the research to find the verses. 

16 minutes ago, Nathan_Jr said:

Actually, my question was what are the four verses vic refers to where Jesus is called God.

That is a question for a person that has a copy of the book, "Jesus Christ is Not God". I no longer have a copy of this book and sold it years ago. Instead I have a better book on this subject: "One God & One Lord". VPW's book is OK, but VPW made an error with the title that he choose. A better and more peaceful title would have been, "Jesus Christ the Son of God".

2 hours ago, Nathan_Jr said:

Which Bible software do you use? Is it Logos? And which interlinear do you use?

Here is a link to the very good biblical study software program that I use. https://biblesoft.com/

The following is the complete copy right information for the interlinear that I use. 

Quote

INTERLINEAR TRANSLITERATED BIBLE
Published by Biblesoft

OLD TESTAMENT:
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
edited by Karl Ellinger and Wilhelm Rudolph.
Fifth Revised Edition, edited by Adrian Schenker.
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft Stuttgart

Groves-Wheeler Westminster Hebrew Morphology, Version 4.4
Westminster Theological Seminary
NEW TESTAMENT:
Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament
27 th Revised Edition
Novum Testamentum Graece,
in the tradition of Eberhard Nestle and Erwin Nestle,
edited by Barbara and Kurt Aland,
Johannes Karavidpopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger.
Deutsche Biblegesellschaft

The GRAMCORD™ Greek New Testament Alpha Morphological Database.
The GRAMCORD™ Institute.
TRANSLATION:
The King James Version
Electronic Database
Published by Biblesoft

Regarding your question "where Jesus is called God". That is a religious question only. There are NO verses where Jesus is clearly called God. If a trinitarian asks me about about the subject of the trinity. One of the things that I tell him or her, "Jesus being seated at the right hand of God is now like God with God his Father delegating ALL authority under Jesus Christ his Son for the salvation of humanity. Yet in his earthly life Jesus showed his humility by often calling himself the Son of Man, much more than He called himself the Son of God. Jesus often related himself to common every day humanity." 

On 8/18/2022 at 9:40 PM, T-Bone said:

we note Jesus Christ is directly referred to as the “Son of God” in more than 50 verses in the New Testament; he is called “God” in four. (Never is he called “God the Son.”) By sheer weight of this evidence alone, 50 to 4, the truth should be evident.

I cover this with more detail in one of the chapters of my biblical teaching book with the help of the very informative biblical study software program that I use to help me with my biblical study research. The following is the first part of chapter 7 titled "Reconciliation Through Jesus Christ".

Quote

      Reconciliation is the restoration of friendly relations when doing an internet Google search or when looking up this word in a dictionary. Reconciliation between God and humanity is through Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, while also being the Son of God. Jesus Christ, while living with a natural, earthly body as does humanity today, referred to himself as the Son of Man many times. This in large part showed the relationship between Jesus Christ and imperfect mortal humanity. In the New Testament when using the American Standard Version there are (84) usages of the phrase “Son of Man” (ASV). Perhaps all (84) speak of Jesus Christ with (78) being quoted out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament again using the (ASV) bible, there are (109) usages of “son of man”, most of which are in the book of Ezekiel with the prophet Ezekiel being called “son of man” (ASV).  A few usages of “son of man” are even thought of negatively. As an example, in Job 25:6, it compares “son of man” to a worm and states, “the son of man that is a worm!” (ASV)  

     In the ASV there are (45) usages of the phrase “Son of God” (ASV) with all in the New Testament. All (45) of them refer to Jesus Christ, with only (5) of them quoted out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. This clearly shows Jesus Christ humbly promoting himself mostly as an ordinary every day man. Using math this clearly shows the relationship of Jesus Christ with mortal mankind even more than His relationship with God, his Father as spoken by Jesus Christ. Using simple math this is seen by 84 being a higher number than 45 and 78 being a higher number than 5.

      In addition, one of the (45) quoted scriptures with Jesus Christ as the “Son of God” from ASV does not match the Greek text from the Interlinear Transliterated Bible. In John 9:35 based on the Greek word “anthroopou”, which is almost always translated as “man” this should read “Son of Man” instead of “Son of God”. According to the more accurate NIV® bible, John 9:35 reads “…Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (NIV®) as spoken by Jesus Christ.

7 hours ago, chockfull said:

Yes Mark with an extreme fundamentalist view people think of themselves as equal to Jesus Christ because they are thinking about scripture.  I remember that doctrine taught clearly in the foundational and renewed mind classes.

Thank you for the information. Also thank you OldSkool. Hopefully, TWI has improved their doctrines at least a little. 

OldSkool, that is simply one of the doctrines that TWI taught,  "that by our minds renewed to God's word we take the place of the absent Christ". I wonder if they still taught that from 1996 to 2008? Do other people remember that TWI doctrine?