14 Comments

Speaking of demons St Anthony said "if they see us alarmed and afraid, then they greatly increase ouf fear with apparitions and threats, and with these the wretched soul is punished thereafter. But if they find us rejoicing in the Lord, thinking about the good things to come... They are put to shame and turn back.

If real demons have no power over a Christian, how much less a synthetic one?

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In the garden when Adam and Eve were close to God and felt his love, satan turned on all his charm to corrupt them. Now people do stupid satanic shit because satan scares them witless. Satan corrupts Godless people with fear. Satan corrupts God’s people with charm. Just saying.

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Bitcoin, bro! Totally, bro!

Κύριε ελέησον!

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I wasn’t expecting Bitcoin 😂

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Apr 15, 2023Liked by James Poulos

We desperately need a smart and thoughtful “Christian case for Bitcoin” Excited to read more from you in this.

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That is *hilarious*, Chris. You want to gamble on blockchain blocks, why not just DO it, full-throatedly! Own up to your gambling addiction! Don't wait around for someone to pat you on the head and tell you that Jesus wants you to do it, first—just DO IT!

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Hi Peter, I do believe that, as a Christian, interacting with the modern economy comes with many ethical and moral challenges- whether your chosen asset is gold, mortgages, equities, cash, and yes- even Bitcoin. I do own some bitcoin because I do believe that Bitcoin is actually more like property, and may be the most technologically advanced 'sound money'- i.e. the ability to move economic value across time and space- that humanity has invented yet. Of course, I could end up being wrong.

With that said, most of the current evangelization around Bitcoin, has no foundation in Christian ethics, and I haven't seen anyone from a Christian perspective speak to the potential of Bitcoin as a monetary asset that Christians can embrace, not as a gambling token, or as a way to hoard resources, but as one that can build communities. In my view, whether we're talking about gold, 401Ks, houses, cash or bitcoin, Christians have the same obligations to God and neighbor.

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You're wrong. Gambling on blocks of cryptography is about as far removed from soundness as it's possible to get. In fact, Chris, there's no such thing as "sound money"; the value of all money is arbitrary, because no free human being is obliged to take ANY form of currency in exchange. Any person can say "no" to a form of money, even a lump of gold—so it goes without saying that nobody's obliged to honor the illusory value of a hunk of cryptographic noise.

But now I'm wondering, Chris, how you can say that you're a Christian when it's clear that your real affections are for money.

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Bitcoin Monasteries incoming.

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Hristos anesti, Iannis... keep going. And Hronnia Pola for today and this Sunday... Agios Ghiorghios...

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There is a sermon I read or listened on audible a while ago where Sturgeon - the very well known old preacher- he was preaching along the same vane and telling those folks they need not be afraid of Locomotive Engines, they are not demonic. People must not be afraid of these new things they call Steam Trains that blow steam and sound a very loud whistle and they shake and they ramble, and they change the world with locomotive steam transport and people were thinking that it is evil and it is not good. And he was asking people to stop being afraid for this and rather focus on their true faith.

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So, you're honoring your God by idolizing cryptocurrency?

Do I understand that correctly, James? You blither on for many paragraphs about how wonderful your Lord is—much more wonderful than technology anyway!—and you close out with an affirmation of gambling on global-warming tokens? For that's what cryptocurrency is, James: you're gambling on blocks of *noise*. Effective cryptography is disguising a small amount of information in a large amount of noise. Blockchain blocks are *thermal noise*, you're gambling on them, and that's...how you worship the Lord, I guess?

I guess I don't really understand how Jesus pests "think". It doesn't seem very much like actual thinking to me.

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You say bitcoin is noise, but judging from your comments it sounds like it's gotten to you pretty deep... your comments say more about you than about crypto

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Yeah gave himself away, especially with "Jesus pests." Obvious sign of bigotry that doesn't require any actual thinking!

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