And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1

Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice to God
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,* I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.*2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
3 Because of the privilege and authority* God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.*4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,5 so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.10 Love each other with genuine affection,* and take delight in honoring each other.11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.*12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.13 When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them.15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,

"I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,"*
says the LORD.

20 Instead,

"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads."*

21 Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

be blessed!

Another short snippet, today.

14. Wipe thine ass with what is written
and grin like a ninny at what is Spoken. Take
thine refuge with thine wine in the Nothing
behind Everything, as you hurry along the Path.
THE PURPLE SAGE
HBT; The Book of Predictions, Chap. 19

Is this intended to be funny ?

Seems very childish .

It's meant to be funny as well as thought-provoking, like the vast bulk of the Principia. It's actually just in a margin, so it's not significantly highlighted, but it's still a rather good message.

Understanding the Nothing behind Everything and the idea of taking refuge while hurrying are both important lessons that are repeated in various different ways throughout the Principia.

Must be my misunderstanding .

I have always thought scatological humor was the province of adolescents .

Yes, I'm sure you've never laughed at a fart joke.

Of course, the whole "Wipe your ass" thing isn't about literally wiping your ass, but it's quite interesting to see you focus on it so strongly. I think that it says much more about you than it does about the book.

In fact, it reminds me of another quote that's in the book: "This book is a mirror. When a monkey looks in, no apostle looks out."

Not in my recent memory . Must be my advancing years .

Let me know when you get to the " pull my finger " section of wisdom in your book and I will try to reconnect with my preteen years .

what? the past 10 minutes?

Surprisingly, there's no section with a finger-pulling joke in the Principia, which I could have sworn I remembered. At least, not according to Google.

Shame, as I was looking forward to posting it here.

ETA: And if you've gotten too stuffy to laugh at a fart joke, you've got some problems.

This post was edited by AiNedeSpelCzech on Dec 28 2009 10:33am