-------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1995 by the Christian Research Institute. -------------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS: This data file is the sole property of the Christian Research Institute. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright 1995 by the Christian Research Institute"). This data file may not be used without the permission of the Christian Research Institute for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words. If you desire to reproduce less than 500 words of this data file for resale or the enhancement of any other product for resale, please give the following source credit: Copyright 1995 by the Christian Research Institute, P.O. Box 500-TC, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693. -------------------------------------------------------------------- BBS-FYI 2:8 May 3, 1994 NET NEWS "Use E-Mail Gateways to BT, Swiss PTT -- New messaging gateways to British Telecommunications Messaging Services and Unisource Business Networks (Switzerland) are now available, allowing CompuServe members to reach more individual mailboxes and corporate e-mail systems than ever before. Combined with CompuServe connections to the Internet, AT&T, Sprint, MCI, NiftyServe, Advantis, Infonet and Germany's Deutsche Bundespost, these new connections give CompuServe users extensive worldwide reach." From a CompuServe announcement dated Apr 28 '94. And then there is: "Fishermen, hunters, campers, boaters and other outdoor enthusiasts now can access the premiere issue of Outdoor Bytes, the Interactive Electronic Journal of Fishing and Hunting, in the Outdoors Forum's Library 16. At 132 pages, Outdoor Bytes may be the first full-feature outdoors magazine available for reading and viewing solely by computer. The 132-page magazine, which will be published bimonthly, contains articles and pictures from top U.S. writers and photographers. Editor-in-Chief Glen Sapir is a former editor of Field & Stream magazine and president-elect of the Outdoor Writers Association of America." Also from a CompuServe announcement dated Apr 28 '94. I SPY Here's the results of my first look at the Christian Interactive Network on CompuServe, and I'm far from impressed at this point. This is a list of the organizations involved: 1 Amer Family Assoc 2 Life Issues Inst 3 CFTVC & Movieguide 4 Ravi Zacharias Min 5 Chr Computing Mag 6 NNYM Bible Clubs 7 Bible Reference 8 Coral Ridge Min 9 Logos Research 10 Campus Crusade Chr 12 WLTW Straight Talk 13 A.R.P. Online 14 Trinity On-Line If you have a hard time figuring out what some of these items are, don't feel bad. So did I. Trouble was, nor could I find out what they were just by snoop'n around. I didn't take the time to ask. It seemed to me that either bulletin board messages were not being allowed to sit very long before being swept away to conserve system space -- or -- there wasn't much activity. Either way, it was difficult to get history on current happenings. It was interesting to note that the fLamous online oneness pentecostal, Steve Winter (originator of the PRIME BBS network), had already stirred up enough grief within the CIN community that an entire topic area in the message base had been devoted to encouraging the membership to disregard Winter and his hostility. I did drop in and check out the "Ravi Zacharias Min" section of the message base. There wasn't any history to be found regarding what Ravi is doing on CIN either. I'd say CompuServe needs to learn from GEnie here. After that I checked out the "Ravi Zacharias Min" file library. Here is the entire list of files I found: [72662,2740] GENINF.TXT/Text Bytes: 602 Count: 50, 31-Mar-94 Title : JUST THINKING - INFORMATION Keywords: RZIM JUST THINKING View on line (Select VIEW), or retrieve, for information on Ravi Zacharias International Ministries or the JUST THINKING publication. ---------- [72662,2740] WACS.TXT/Text Bytes: 7773 Count: 23, 23-Mar-94 Title : Why Aren't Circles Squares? Keywords: LOGIC RELIGION THEOLOGY GOD RAVI PHILOSOPHY Article by Peter Bocchino, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Spring/Summer 1993. What's wrong with this picture?... A logical study of the popular but erroneous view of associating Christianity with religious fanaticism. ---------- [72662,2740] TOOLS.TXT/Text Bytes: 1915 Count: 37, 23-Mar-94 Title : Teaching Tools by Ravi Zacharias Keywords: CASSETTE VIDEO TOOLS A collection of educational resources available for purchase from RZIM. ---------- [72662,2740] TLSS.TXT/Text Bytes: 3661 Count: 26, 23-Mar-94 Title : The Logic of Sesame Street Keywords: RELIGION PHILOSOPHY GOD THEOLOGY RAVI Article by Peter Bocchino, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Fall 1992. The only consistent course for a skeptic, who denies the law of non-contradiction, is to remain silent. ---------- [72662,2740] R-E.TXT/Text Bytes: 10509 Count: 7, 23-Mar-94 Title : Reflections on Elections Keywords: FREEDOM RELIGION THEOLOGY GOD RAVI Article by Ravi Zacharias, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Winter 1993. "So handcuffed by momentary gratification and the tunnel vision of the so-called Right or Left, we have forgotten there is an Up and a Down. Without understanding the responsibilities of freedom, we lay claim to it as an absolute." -RZ ---------- [72662,2740] PRNC.TXT/Text Bytes: 5018 Count: 6, 23-Mar-94 Title : Political Rhetoric and the National Conscience Keywords: THEOLOGY RELIGION GOD RAVI PHILOSOPHY Article by Ravi Zacharias, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Fall 1992. "It is not so much that there are many words with no ideas, but that there is a radical distorting of ideas with the same words." ---------- [72662,2740] LALF.TXT/Text Bytes: 3392 Count: 19, 23-Mar-94 Title : Logic and Logical Fallacies Keywords: BIBLE THEOLOGY PHILOSOPHY LOGIC Article by Peter Boccino, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Spring 1992. "When we critisize incorrect thinking, we imply the value of correct thinking. Incorrect thinkng leads to faulty conclusions - and ultimately to an invalid world view." --------- [72662,2740] INDIA.TXT/Text Bytes: 3432 Count: 4, 23-Mar-94 Title : Update: India Keywords: INDIA EVANGELISM RAVI GOD Article by Jeff Cranston, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Spring 1992. In January 1992, the Ministry Team of RZIMspent 13 days in Madras, Hyderabad, and Delhi. They conducted evangelistic campaigns and leadership training. ---------- [72662,2740] HSOT.TXT/Text Bytes: 10326 Count: 11, 23-Mar-94 Title : The Hide and Seek of Truth Keywords: RELIGION PHILOSOPHY THEOLOGY GOD RAVI TRUTH Article by Ravi Zacharias, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Spring/Summer 1993. "The lie most rampant in our sophisticated academic halls and in bastions of power is that people who live duplicitous lives are somehow interested in the truth." ---------- [72662,2740] EVAN.TXT/Text Bytes: 5086 Count: 11, 23-Mar-94 Title : Who Owns Evangelicalism? Keywords: EVANGELISM DAVID WELLS PLACE TRUTH THEOLOGY A book review by Danielle DuRant, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Winter 1993. David Wells' book No Place for Truth, or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology. ---------- [72662,2740] DY-ART.TXT/Text Bytes: 5317 Count: 19, 23-Mar-94 Title : The Dying Art of Thinking Keywords: PHILOSOPHY THEOLOGY GOD RAVI THINKING BIBLE Article by Ravi Zacharias, from RZIM's publication Just Thinking, Spring 1992 "The church... must challenge the mind of this generation, else we betray our trust." ---------- [72662,2740] BAON.TXT/Text Bytes: 3854 Count: 8, 23-Mar-94 Title : The Better Angels of Our Nature Keywords: BENNETT WILLIAM DEVALUING AMERICA Book review by Danielle DuRant, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Fall 1992. William Bennett's The Devaluing of America:The Flight of Our Culture and Our Children ---------- [72662,2740] AVFH.TXT/Text Bytes: 3389 Count: 8, 23-Mar-94 Title : A View from the Hammock Keywords: RELIGION HILLARY CLINTON VALUES Article by Danielle DuRant, from RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Spring/Summer 1993. Reaction to a recent speech by Hillary Clinton, relating to values and religion in the public square. ---------- [72662,2740] ABE.TXT/Text Bytes: 8310 Count: 17, 23-Mar-94 Title : Abraham Lincoln's Text Keywords: LINCOLN THEOLOGY HISTORY CHRISTIANITY BOREHAM Here is an editted version of one of F.W. Boreham's fine essays from his book, A Temple of Topaz, on the great Abe Lincoln. From RZIM's publication, Just Thinking, Winter 1993 ---------- [72662,2740] TWTOC.TXT/Text Bytes: 9158 Count: 16, 18-Mar-94 Title : THEY WANT THEIR OWN CANON Keywords: CANNON MEDIA ALLEGRO FANTASY THOMAS SHOCKING An article by Ravi Zacharias -THEY WANT THEIR OWN CANON, "There are many responses Christian apologists could make to these bizarre theories because they really are not that difficult to deal with - media hype notwithstanding." JUST THINKING - Winter 1994 JUST THINKING is a publication of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Inc. (RZIM). RZIM is a Bible-based ministry with a main focus toward worldwide evangelism undergirded by apologetics, reaching the thinker and opinion makers of the world. ---------- [72662,2740] VR.TXT/Text Bytes: 4481 Count: 9, 17-Mar-94 Title : VIRTUAL REALITY: WORLD OF MAN'S CREATION Keywords: VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY SIMULATE COMPUTER An article by Kevin Cattell. VIRTUAL REALITY: WORLD OF MAN'S CREATION- "Even the shocking has a way of becoming monotonous and the 'scholarly' ridiculous." JUST THINKING - Winter 1994 JUST THINKING is a publication of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Inc. (RZIM). Please address all correspondence to: RZIM 4725 Peachtree Corners Circle, Suite 250 Norcross, GA 300 ---------- [72662,2740] ROTP.TXT/Text Bytes: 4211 Count: 6, 17-Mar-94 Title : REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST AND PRESENT Keywords: PAST PRESENT IMAGES MINDFUL DEUTERNONOMY REDEMPTIVE REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST AND PRESENT, an article from the Fall 1993 issue of JUST THINKING, by Danielle DuRant. ---------- [72662,2740] IAIYM.TXT/Text Bytes: 6851 Count: 12, 17-Mar-94 Title : IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND Keywords: MIND LOGIC IDEAS PSYCHOLOGICAL FALSE FEAR PSYCHOGENETIC GENETIC HOOVER GOD An article by Peter Bocchino, -IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND. "It is incorrect to think that just because the origin of an idea came from a biased mind, it must necessarily be a false idea." JUST THINKING -Fall 1993 ---------- [72662,2740] HDGT.TXT/Text Bytes: 6355 Count: 7, 17-Mar-94 Title : HOW DOES GREEN TASTE? Keywords: JUST THINKIG GREEN An article by Peter Bocchino, "For God to make a rock so big He cannot lift it, the rock would have to be infinitely big. But anything that is created is by definition a finite thing." From JUST THINKING -Fall 1993 ---------- [72662,2740] BACR.TXT/Text Bytes: 8856 Count: 21, 17-Mar-94 Title : BIBLICAL AUTHORITY AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM Keywords: TRUTH RELATIVISM AUTHORITY MINDSET WORD CULTURAL An article by Ravi Zacharias -BIBLICAL AUTHORITY AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM "...biblical truth, transcultural as it is, has an indispensable message for modern man..." BBS-FYI 2:9 May 19, 1994 NET NEWS "The year of the Christian Online Service" -- mostly plugs this magazine's involvement with the Christian Interactive Network (CIN, which is supposed to be pronounced "kin" says a systype there) on CompuServe. It also reports that Didax is now redoing their beta test prior to opening their doors, maybe in August. An ad for Didax on page 47 says their front end will be Lotus Notes. Too bad, the May 9th InfoWorld reported that Lotus will no longer support the Macintosh, period. Lotus never did make a strong showing on the Mac side. A mysterious third Christian commercial system "will open up this Fall on another major online service" (p5c.8), probably referring to the Christianity Today Inc. effort. Nothing has been announced officially by CTi yet. Christian Computing, May '94, p22. TELESTATS "One of every four calls handled by U.S. phone lines today carries a facsimile, or 'fax,' transmission rather than a voice." Consumer Reports, Sep '93, n.p. LISTSERVE NEWS For what it's worth, the NuRel list recently had a focus on witchcraft in a general, introductory sense and at about the same time the Jesus' Witnesses list was centered on the Watchtower and its hate teachings. UPLOADS Here's news directly from Jerry White who heads up the Religion & Ethics forum of America Online. He reports: The Forum has expanded again to better serve it's members. We now have 16 religion boards with over 50,00 messages. Three of these are dedicated "Christian" (broadly defined) message areas named Christian Fellowship, Christian Doctrine/Theology and Christian Living. There are 15 libraries including Homiletics, Religious Applications, Religious Publications and two that are Christian. Some of the more popular downloads are: ====================== Atheism Library Subj: The 3 Big Questions File: 3BIGQUES (31517 bytes) Download count: 19 AUTHOR: T. Cogito The WritersCoOp is a group of writers who have a wide range of beliefs and literary tastes. But we all believe that everyone has a right to his or her opinion. That's why we would like to present this controversial work. This is the first four chapters of a philosophical novel that is so irreverently questioning that it is definitely not for everyone. It is called "The 3 BIG QUESTIONS: Who Is God? Who Are We? and Is It Over When It's Over?" A somewhat serious, sort of irreverent look at life's most important questions, for those who care enough to wonder "but not enough to take it all too seriously!!!" ====================== Christianity Libraries Subj: Early Church History File: HISTORY.ZIP (66058 bytes) Download count: 375 AUTHOR: Roddy Chestnut Detailed outline of early church history. Covers the first six centuries--Christ to Gregory the Great. Compiled from a class taught by Dr. James North at Cincinnati Bible Seminary. ====================== Subj: Dead Sea Scrolls prove Mormonism File: DEAD.TXT (10610 bytes) Download count: 414 AUTHOR: Computers for Christ This text file describes the way in which the well known Mormon lecturer, Einar C. Erickson has been telling the LDS church and its followers how the Dead Sea Scrolls prove the LDS church to be true. It points out his lies and severe flaws in changing and portraying the truth. If your one of those who "heard" how the LDS church was proven with the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls... ====================== Subj: CBL Journal April 1994. MAC File: OTHEO.sit (84894 bytes) Download count: 11 AUTHOR: CBL Staff Note - This is the issue file only. You will need to download REPLICA (the magazine reader program) to view this file. TO GET REPLICA Keyword: "QUICKFIND" and type "REPLICA" Download file REPMAC.SEA The Center for Biblical Literacy is offering its new journal, O Theophilus, in an electronic version in the Ethics and Religion Forum's Publications Library.* The journal is an analysis of cultural trends in art and literature, contemporary philosophy, and world views. The purpose of O Theophilus is to help Christians understand the cultural forces at work in the world around them. We hope to help people think critically about Western Culture, to recognize those elements of our culture which are worthy of redemption and perpetuation, and also to see those elements of our culture which undermine and oppose the knowledge of God. Sometimes those philosophies and ideas which oppose Christianity are so subtle, we do not even recognize that we are in battle with our culture. Without realizing it, we have adopted values and methods that are truly American but which are totally unbiblical. The Center for Biblical Literacy was created to impart not only a biblical literacy but cultural understanding. JPUSA BBS BYTES Two BBS lists from Eric Pement: CounterCult Bulletin Board Systems The aim of CCBBSnnn.LST is to list BBS's with a special focus on cults or Christian apologetics. "nnn" is an incrementing version number this list will be updated periodically. A printed version of this listing appears annually in the Directory of Cult Research Organizations, by Keith E. Tolbert and Eric Pement, published by the American Religions Center (PO Box 168, Trenton, MI 48183). The electronic text always supersedes the printed version. The latest edition of CCBBSnnn.LST is available from Jesus People USA BBS (Chicago), 312-878-6030, USR Dual Standard HST/V.32, 9600+ baud. New callers receive immediate download access. Goto iles, BS lists. Jesus People USA is a Christian Bulletin Board System, presenting Jesus Christ as the only answer to the fundamental needs of humankind. This compilation is copyright 1994 by Eric Pement to protect the integrity of data. This file may be freely copied and distributed without charge or permission from the author, provided that it is not edited, altered, or textually changed. BBS names are sorted by area code and phone number. Phone No. <--> BBS Name <--> City, St/Prov. <--> Sysop's Name 205-808-0736 Chr. Apologetics Board ??, AL Jeff Brumlow 206-784-7508 Chr. Research BBS (8:7000/14) Seattle, WA Will Hansen 301-949-7769 Truth Seekers BBS (8:3105/35) Rockville, MD 303-289-6864 Midrash MJCN (8:7000/0) Denver, CO Daniel Segard 312-878-6030 Jesus People USA (8:7000/43) Chicago, IL Eric Pement 313-535-0842 A Call for Papers (8:7000/50) Redford, MI Scott Wilson 404-978-6417 IXTHUS BBS Lawrenceville, GA 407-582-1972 Creation BBS W. Palm Beach, FL Jim Johnston 414-768-8902 SON BBS--Milwaukee (FBBS) Oak Creek, WI Dave Brown 512-452-6350 Counter Cult Consultants Round Rock, TX Jim Toungate 602-889-8796 The Christian Connection Tucson, AZ 602-973-3739 Pros Apologian (8:7707/5) Phoenix, AZ James White 602-981-2099 Standing Word BBS (8:7007/1) Chandler, AZ Paul Thomas 604-642-3184 Christian BBS Victoria, BC Dave G. 609-586-4847 Freedom Infonet BBS Mercersville, NJ Peter Skorupsky 615-745-7110 Last Days BBS (8:3115/10) Athens, TN 619-487-7746 Abba II San Diego, CA Anton Hein 707-252-4830 Corpus Christi (1:161/520) Amer. Canyon, CA Gary Bradford 708-362-7875 CFC #11 (8:7000/11) Vernon Hills,IL Doug Moore 708-390-6942 SON BBS--Chicago (FBBS) Des Plaines, IL Bill Bennett 714-971-1564 Chr. Central (8:7007/10) Garden Grove, CA Jeff Reese 708-934-1649 Gospel Outreach BBS Palatine, IL Don Schlesak 810-391-4142 C. Cumbey's New Age Monitor Lake Orion, MI Constance Cumbey 916-742-4828 The Flaming Sword (FBBS) Grass Valley, CA Ron Knudson ------ Abbreviations Used: CFC Computers For Christ Chr. Christian FBBS Fundamental Bible Believers System (custom software & nework) MJCN Messianic Jewish Computer Network SON Salvation Online Network ------ Numbers in parentheses indicate FamilyNet (zone 8) or FidoNet (zone 1) netmail addresses, in the form of "zone:net/node". There are many BBS's with multiple addresses: a FidoNet address, plus two or more FamilyNet addresses. Space prohibits us from listing more than 1 address, and since this listing will primarily circulate among Christians, priority was given to FamilyNet addresses first. The accuracy of CCBBSnnn.LST depends on input from =YOU=, the reader. Please forward all corrections, updates, or necessary deletions to: Eric Pement -- Internet: , FamilyNet at 8:7000/43 FidoNet/FamilyNet Zone Gateway is accessed via 1:115/887. Alternative Religious Bulletin Boards ALTREL01.LST - First release * May 7, 1994 I would appreciate it if anyone would be willing to verify phone numbers, give me new ones (especially LDS ones), and generally add to this file. But please do not release or post this information publicly on any [non-Christian] BBS because it is not my intention to aid non-Christians in networking with other unbelievers. The aim of ALTRELnn.LST is to list religiously oriented BBS's which are _not_ included in the standard Christian BBS list (JESUSBBS.nnn) nor in the standard Occult BBS list (OCCULTnn.LST). "nnn" is an incrementing version number this list will be updated periodically. This file lists BBS's run by non-Christian religions which were left out of OCCULTnn.LST. Thus, the union of JESUSBBS.nnn -- OCCULTnn.LST -- ALTRELnn.LST forms the set of all religiously oriented BBS's known to the compilers. The latest edition of ALTRELnn.LST is available from Jesus People USA BBS (Chicago), 312-878-6030, USR Dual Std HST/V.32. IT IS AVALIABLE ONLY BY REQUEST FROM THE SYSOP. Jesus People USA is a Christian BBS presenting Jesus Christ as the only answer to the fundamental needs of humankind. BBS names are topically arranged and sorted by area code. Phone no. <--> BBS name <--> City, ST/Prov. <--> month added ------ BAHA'I FAITH 708-869-0389 Baha'i National Center Wilmette, IL 3/94 ------ IDENTITY (Anglo-Saxon, White/Aryan supremist) 312-275-6362 Cyberspace Minutemen Chicago, IL 3/94 412-775-6205 Transponder BBS PA 3/94 503-232-6566 Banished BBS OR 3/94 503-292-3305 Gay Agenda Resistance OR 3/94 503-590-0949 A.R.I.E.S. (pwd: "sturm") OR 3/94 916-944-8733 W.A.R. BBS Northern CA 3/94 ------ ISLAMIC 202-789-2527 AMnet Washington, D.C. 3/94 212-679-0813 Islamic LifeStyles New York, NY 3/94 301-656-4714 Imad-ad-Dean MD 3/94 312-274-8136 National Islamic BBS {115/nnn} Chicago, IL 3/94 713-597-8888 Mumeen Connection Houston, TX 3/94 714-638-0876 Thinknet BBS Garden Grove, CA 3/94 912-929-1073 Islam On-Line BBS [node 1] Warner Robins, GA 3/94 912-929-2873 Islam On-Line BBS [node 2] Warner Robins, GA 3/94 ------ JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES 410-367-8659 Jehovah's Witnesses BBS Baltimore, MD 3/94 ------ KRISHNA 312-743-7741 Krishna Yoga Foundation Chicago, IL 3/94 312-743-6116 Krishna Yoga Foundation {800} Chicago, IL 3/94 ------ RLDS (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) 404-928-1579 RLDS-BBS GA 3/94 ------ UNIFICATION CHURCH (Moonies) 415-968-7481 HSA-UWC BBS San Francisco, CA 3/94 ------ URANTIA BOOK 319-263-6790 Brotherhood of Man Library IA 3/94 818-904-1656 Compendium of Wisdom Southern CA 3/94 ------ The accuracy of ALTRELnn.LST depends on input from =YOU=, the reader. Please forward all corrections, updates, or necessary deletions to: Eric Pement -- Internet: , FamilyNet at 8:7000/43 FidoNet/FamilyNet Zone Gateway is accessed via 1:115/887. BBS-FYI 2:10 June 9, 1994 NET NEWS Probe Ministries is now on-line in the Ministry Outreach Forum of the Christian Interactive Network within CompuServe. Here's a list of some of the files in Probe's CIN library that I've snagged already (this was approximately half of the total available at the time). ------- ABORT.TXT, 24K, Abortion AIDS.TXT, 16K, Aids CAPITL.TXT, 16K, Capital Punishment CULTUR, 24K, Christianity and Culture DARWIN, 24K, Darwin On Trial (reviews Philip Johnson's book) DIVORC, 24K, Divorce DOCTRN.TXT, 8K, Probe Doctrinal Statement ECOLOG, 16K, Christian Environmentalism EUTHAN, 32K, Euthanasia: A Biblical Appraisal GODDES, 24K, Goddess Worship GR-CAN, 24K, The Grand Canyon and the Age of the Earth HOMO, 24K, Homosexuality: Questions and Answers MASON, 40K, Freemasonry and the Christian Church OCCULT, 24K, The Occult Connection POLREL, 24K, Politics and Religion PORN, 24K, Pornography ROCK, 24K, Rock Music SOCIOB, 24K, Evolution, Genes, and Morality WHATIS.PRB, 8K, What Is Probe Ministries? -------- There are also a number of files available related to social issues that I didn't grab. CompuServe's system notes how many times each file has been downloaded. It was interesting to see that by far the file on Aids has received the most attention (other than the two files that describe Probe and its doctrinal position). RESOURCES Christian Science now offers its Concord, the complete writings of Mary Baker Eddy, on diskette for both DOS and Mac. The price will be $200 until the end of June when it goes up to $295. Call (800) 779-6005 for more details. Christian Science Monitor, Jun 2 '94, p15. I've mentioned in the past that the Lord has provided a source for CRI to have its software (the CRI TEXT package for DOS and Mac, as well as articles from our Newsletter and Journal) freely promoted and made available on the Internet. Martin Bush, the system administrator of ICLnet, says the CRI software in their library gets the most ftp attention of any individual source they have (including unofficially provided files from Focus on the Family and Prison Fellowship, among others). Current download rates for our stuff run "approximately 150 files per day." (See BBS-FYI 2:1 for background details.) LISTSERVE NEWS Thanks to John Brubaker, a co-author of the Not Just Bibles guide to the Internet, for the following: ------ The LDS discussion lists below are forums that allow you to discuss your thoughts and feelings about Mormonism with other members and interested parties. The commentaries are my personal opinion, Brandon Plewe - plewe@acsu.buffalo.edu, not anything official. ------ Mormon-L The most liberal/unorthodox of the forums. To subscribe send mail to majordomo@teleport.com, no subject, body as follows: SUB MORMON-L (your name) To submit articles, mail articles to mormon-l@teleport.com To unsubscribe, send mail to mojordomo@teleport.com, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB MORMON-L Digest-format archives are located here. ------ LDSNet Fairly moderate. To subscribe send mail to LISTSERV@mainstream.com, no subject, body as follows: SUB LDS-NET (your name) To submit articles mail articles to lds-net@mainstream.com To unsubscribe send mail to LISTSERV@mainstream.com, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB LDS-NET ------ Zion A fairly conservative forum, discussions are normally in line with official Church teachings. To subscribe send mail to majordomo@zilker.net, no subject, body as follows: SUB ZION (your name) To submit articles mail articles to zion@zilker.net To unsubscribe send mail to majordomo@zilker.net, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB ZION ------ Joseph New, appears similar to Zion. To subscribe send mail to joseph-req@edu-suu-cc.cc.suu.edu, no subject, body as follows: SUB JOSEPH (your name) To submit articles mail articles to joseph@edu-suu-cc.suu.edu To unsubscribe send mail to joseph-req@edu-suu-cc.cc.suu.edu, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB JOSEPH ------ Moroni Ultra-conservative, discussions are of a religio-political nature (2nd Amendment, Survivalism, Conspiracies, etc). To subscribe send mail to majordomo@zilker.net, no subject, body as follows: SUB MORONI (your name) To submit articles mail articles to moroni@zilker.net To unsubscribe send mail to majordomo@zilker.net, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB MORONI ------ Saints-Best A compendium of sorts, distilling gems from Mormon-L, LDSNet, and other sources. To subscribe send mail to LISTSERV@mainstream.com, no subject, body as follows: SUB SAINTS-BEST (your name) To unsubscribe send mail to LISTSERV@mainstream.com, no subject, body as follows: UNSUB SAINTS-BEST The list is one-way; if you want to participate in one of the discussions, you should respond to the list the topic originated at. ------ Mormon Antiquities Devoted to scholarly pursuits (i.e. history, archaeology, scripture); analogous to F.A.R.M.S. This list was recently discontinued. A digest-format archive of articles is located here. Studies in Antiquities and Mormonism (Uncontentious) The replacement for morm-ant (above), moderated and subscription controlled to stay on the subject. To subscribe send mail to LISTSERV@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu, with no subject, containing the following in the body: SUB SAMU-L (your name) You will be sent mail containing the rules and guidelines on the list. Once you return a message saying you agree to follow the rules, you will be added. To submit articles mail articles to samu-l@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu To unsubscribe send mail to LISTSERV@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu, with no subject, containing the following in the body: UNSUB SAMU-L ------Mormonism and Science The name says it all To subscribe, you can't self-subscribe. Send mail to John Beck at beck@noao.edu for more information. To submit articles mail articles to msl@noao.edu Netiquette Note: Over the past few months, the lists seem to have segregated somewhat. Each of the lists seems to have its own opinion on what is useful discussion material and what isn't, and subscribers informally enforce it (through comments or by ignoring "inappropriate" messages). I would suggest that before you actively participate, you listen to each of the lists until you find one that suits your interests. Also thanks to Gary Bogart, I just found out about a new Internet listserve on apologetics. Apologia-L "is a forum for the exploration of Biblical Christian apologetics. As this description implies, the Bible will be viewed as a standard and will held to be absolute. Any discussion relating to the responsible defense of the Christian faith is appropriate here. Among the goals is to strengthen the participant's faith by exposing it to honest and sincere objectivism. Persons of all levels of expertise and knowledge are encouraged to join us." To subscribe to apologia-l send the commands: subscribe apologia-l end to the address: majordomo@netcom.com or listserv@netcom.com If you have trouble or questions send a note to apologia-l-owner@netcom.com Internet World recently included a wide range of resources on philosophy in their July/August issue (p105). Included were: ------ Discussion Lists - Belief-L Centers on religious and philosophical topics. Covers religion, philosophy, ethics, and political science. Informally moderated. Subscribe to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu Post to belief-l@brownvm. brown.edu More info, atropos@netlab.cis.brown.edu ------ Ethics-L Centers on ethics in computing. Covers ethics, philosophy, and computer science. Unmoderated. Subscribe to listserv@twnmoe10 More info, Jane Robinett - jrobinet@polytech ------ Philosop@yorkvm1 Centers on academic philosophy. Covers philosophy and education. Unmoderated. Subscribe to listserv@suvmf More info, Thomas F. Green - tfgreen@suvm ------ Relevant-Logic@exeter.ac.uk Centers on philosophies of logic. Host is University of Exeter, Devon, England. Moderated. More info, Geoff B. Keene - g.b.keene@exeter.ac.uk ------ SWIP-L Centers on feminist philosophy for the members of the Society of Women in Philosophy. Unmoderated. Subscribe to listserv@cfrvm.cfr.usf.edu ------ ------ FTP & Gopher Sources - The international Philosophical Preprint Exchange The IPPE is a service intended to make it easy for philosophers with Internet access of any kind to exchange working papers in all areas of philosophy, and to comment publicly on one another's work. The IPPE provides storage for working papers, abstracts, and comments. It is free of charge and open to all. FTP access via phil-preprints.l.chiba-u.ac.jp with anonymous log in. Gopher to apa.oxy.edu or kasey. umkc.edu see Science Studies ------ ------ Electronic Journals - Practical Anarchy Online Centers on anarchy and related political philosophies. Bimonthly. Gopher to gopher.well.sf.us More info, cardell@lysator.liu.se ThinkNet Centers on a wide range of philosophical issues. Irregularly published. More info, Kent D. Palmer - palmer@world.std.com ------ ------ Usenet Newsgroups alt.philosophy.objectivism Centers on the philosophy of Ayn Rand. THOT FOOD I just finished listening to last year's debate at Willow Creek Community Church between Frank Zindlar and William Lane Craig on the existence of God. Having never heard Craig before, I was impressed. In particular I was arrested by his memorable remarks on the place of creation evidence in the sequence of apologetic presentation priorities: The theory of evolution is irrelevant to the truth of the Christian faith. Genesis One permits all manner of different interpretations and Christians are not necessarily committed to special creationism. Howard Van Till of Calvin College, a Christian school, asks, "Is the concept of special creation required of all persons who trust in the Creator God of Scripture? Most Christians in my acquaintance who engaged in either scientific or biblical scholarship have concluded that the special creationist picture of the world's formation is not a necessary component of Christian belief." And I want to emphasize this is not a retreat caused by modern science. St. Augustine in the 300s, in his commentary on Genesis, argued that the days needn't be taken literally nor need the creation be a few thousand years ago. He didn't even envisage special acts of creation. He said the world could have been made by God with certain potencies that unfolded in the progress of time. This interpretation was enunciated one- thousand five-hundred years prior to Darwin. And therefore this is a position that is consistent with being a Christian. BBS-FYI 2:11 July 11, 1994 NET NEWS "Cruising the Information Highway" -- This month the General Conference and North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has opened their own forum on CompuServe. Four reasons were cited for choosing CIS over other information service providers: 1) CIS has the largest number of possible international subscribers [130 countries], 2) "90 to 95 percent of homes and businesses in the United States can access CompuServe with a local phone number rather than by long distance," 3) CIS allows clients (the SDA in this case) to run their forum with their own personnel, and 4) low user costs for private forum access. The forum is divided into 17 sections which include full text access to several official publications. $7.00 per month, in addition to the $9.00 monthly for CIS in general, gives you unlimited access to the forum (the same set up as the Christian Interactive Net on CIS). "GO SDA" will take current CompuServe members to the forum. Ministry, Jul '94, p10. The GEnie New Age RoundTable was born on May 23, 1994, at 7:06AM EDT, Rockville, MD. Split off of the generic "Religion & Philosophy RoundTable," the New Age RT has 25 categories. Activity, while more diverse, seems down from what it was a year ago (before GEnie's rate change). I captured a complete index of the bulletin board there. Ron Rhodes passed on a letter dated July 1 to AOL's membership from CEO Steve Case. In it Case says everybody should soon have 9600 baud access at no additional charge. For what it's worth in the stat department, he also said, "America Online is handling over 10 million pieces of mail per month." In addition, AOL is working on a Mosaic interface with the Internet. A new, "Multimedia User Interfaces (MUI) that incorporate photos, sound, and video" is supposed to be available in August as a replacement front end for Mac users (with a Windows version due later). "How Much Do Online Services Really Cost?" -- a sidebar with a chart that rates the major players as follows: Light Use* Medium Use* Heavy Use* AOL $20.45 $44.95 $62.45 CIS $8.95 $39.25 $80.65 Delphi $44.00 $77.00 $158.00 E-World $44.55 $91.00 $142.30 GEnie $99.95 $200.95 $331.45 Prodigy $14.95 $18.55 $32.95 (Note: Somewhat user-hostile, Prodigy offers no downloading and has seriously limited Internet access.) Macworld, Aug '94, p90. * - see the original article, "Macworld's Guide to Online Services," for an idea of how these divisions were made. LISTSERVE NEWS Andrew Wilson recently visited NuRel-L again (AA18503), this time to expound on Moonie soteriology. If you'll remember from an earlier issue of the BBS-FYI, Wilson teaches Old Testament at the Unification Theological Seminary. In this post he defines salvation from his perspective and explains the "three stages" necessary to achieve it. Included is an equally succinct explanation of the roles that free will and human responsibility play. Greg Slade, author of the Christian Telecommunications Toolkit (CTT) mentioned previously in the BBS-FYI, has launched the CTT listserve. A recent post from him included the best description of FamilyNet that I've seen so far. Here it is: FamilyNet is a FidoNet technology network which uses the FidoNet protocols, but is not part of FidoNet itself. FamilyNet consists of Zone 8, and includes most of North America, Hong Kong, parts of Australia and New Zealand, and Great Britain. Unlike FidoNet, FamilyNet does recognize special interest groups in the nodelist, and has a "G-rated" rule banning profanity in echoes and pornographic files, so it has attracted a large number of Christian BBSs and sub-networks, including the Christian Distribution Network (CDN), Christian Fellowship Network (CFN), Computers for Christ (CFC), and the Messianic Jewish Computer Network (MJCN). The host node of FamilyNet is Harvester BBS, 1:11/50 in FidoNet, and netmail addressed to a FamilyNet BBS from a FidoNet BBS should be routed through there. Netmail addressed to a FidoNet BBS from a FamilyNet BBS should be routed through 8:8/1. Information on how to join FamilyNet is contained in the file FMLYNET.ARC, which can be downloaded or FREQed from [SOME OF THIS INFORMATION IS INCORRECT. SEE THE CONCLUSION OF BBS-FYI 2:12]. -------- Greg Slade: Computer Aided Ministry Society, gslade@cyberstore.ca; Fidonet 1:153/309; FamilyNet 8:7501/0; GMN 12:2000/37 On NuRel recently there was a response to a general request for information on William Branham. It was a posting of two complete articles, one from Media Spotlight and the other from PFO. This is the first I've seen of a substantial digital resource on the subject other than PFO's. Gary Bogart passed on the following announcement of the new list: NIGHT-L@UNICORN.ACS. TTU.EDU: an unmoderated list for discussion of folklore, fact and fiction about supernatural creatures of all sorts (ghosts, ghouls, demons, vampires, "things that go bump in the night", etc). This list is for discussion of these topics only. Another list will be provided for the posting of original fiction pertaining to the supernatural. Subscriptions to LISTPROC@UNICORN.ACS.TTU.EDU List owner/coordinator: Morgan Bottrell raven@kehleyr.phys.ttu.edu TELESTATS "NCLIS Study Indicates 21% of Public Libraries on the Internet" -- even though two-thirds to three-quarters of public libraries in cities with populations of a quarter-million and up have Inet access, the common small town library typically doesn't have it. And that is the cause of low stat in the headline. Library Journal, Jun 1 '94, p16. "Survey Finds 1 in 3 Homes Has a Computer" -- headline speaks for itself. The story also notes that now 11 million Americans are using their modems and that 18% of men use their home computer almost daily; women were at half that figure. Interestingly, "among children described as home computer users, 53% were boys and 47% girls." Los Angeles Times, May 24 '94, pD1. RESOURCES Jim Gallagher has revised and expanded his book, Modems and Ministry, which is now available in paperback. The flyer I received reports that he lists 33 Christian networks now along with over 600 individual Christian BBS sources. Volume two is in the works. For more info, call (214) 539-7855 in Texas. Dave Harmeyer, now the acting Library Director at the International School of Theology, passed on the following very significant resource: To: Multiple recipients of list ATLANTIS Subject: UMI GOPHER To check philosophy, religion, and theology UMI Dissertations Abstracts from 1980-present, access the UMI Gopher. Unfortunately, you cannot telnet directly to the UMI Gopher. However you can go through another gopher to get to it. Here's how: 1. Telnet CONSULTANT.MICRO.UMN.EDU 2. login: gopher 3. terminal type: vt100 (probably) 4. From menu choose Other Gopher and Information Servers 5. From menu choose All the Gopher Servers in the World 6. A list of gopher servers will show up. Choose no. 1362 (UMI Gopher) HANDSHAKE Using kenmyers@delphi.com will get you in touch with the founder of Mars Hill Tapes, perhaps the most significant culture-watch resource available to the Church today. I bumped into Rich Buhler (70506,1237) on the Christian Interactive Net within CompuServe recently. He was chatting in the Message Base on the subject of Satanic Ritual Abuse (June 22): "I've written a couple of books about victimization ... and am very concerned about SRA. I BELIEVE the victims, that they've experienced everything they remember. There is no documentation, however, that it was done by Satanists. I am suspecting that the abuse is not being done by people with religious motives...but by pedophiles who are simply using Satanic props to confuse and discredit the kids...." And speaking of the CIS Message Base, I don't like it near as much as GEnie's set up. Even though GEnie is text driven it is better organized and allows easier access to conversation thread history. ERRATA Issue 2:6 of the BBS-FYI reported that the Oneness-oriented Prime Network of Steve Winter was the only system mentioned under the heading of "Christian" in an article on religious boards by Online Access (Dec '93). Recently I received my first complete copy of the magazine and discovered that my source omitted some pages in the photocopy of the article upon which I based my original report. While it is true that the article begins with Prime, that is followed by a listing of the Christian Fellowship network of Harold Robbins (part of FamilyNet) which appears to be five times the size of the Prime system. BBS-FYI 2:12 August 11, 1994 LISTSERVE NEWS The Apologia list included the mention of a new newsgroup recently: soc.religion.unitarian-univ (moderated). The NuRel list included the text (IAA16973) of a very revealing July 26 speech by Sun Myung Moon at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. Andrew Wilson, mentioned previously in the BBS-FYI, who works "in the [Unification] church headquarters building in NYC," says the message was "meant for a select audience of missionaries and leaders, and not for the general public." Due to the strong messianic consciousness expressed by Moon in it, I can see why. NET NEWS "Ecunet Expands Worldwide" -- mentions the addition of directors in England and Switzerland among other details, but not very informative overall. Church Bytes, Jul 15 '94, p1. Just an observation. The current (August 15) issue of U.S. News & World Report contains a story unlike any other in its history. Titled "New Software, Old Computer" (p62), unaware readers would expect they were reading a trade magazine and not a national news weekly. The piece gives you detailed directions (including DOS commands) on how to get that old hardware to work with the latest operating systems from Microsoft and Apple. "Battle for the Soul of the Internet" -- seven full pages, a good general introduction. Time, Jul 25 '94, p50. "High-Tech Witnessing" -- this one got by me, and it hurts. It is a general introduction to evangelical online experience. It also includes the sidebar "Christianity Today Goes Online" introducing "Christianity Online" (here tentatively called "Christian Global Network"), CTi's information service within America Online due "late this year." Apparently, in addition to many other features, CTi will broker access to the full text of other magazines besides their own eight titles. Christianity Today, May 16 '94, p42. RESOURCES "Lost In Space" -- a profile on "the largest online collection [of UFO data] in the world" at the UFO BBS in Gilroy, CA (408) 847-7910. Boardwatch, Jul '94, p111. >From Dave Harmeyer, "I've stumbled on to something you might want to try . . . Lynx. It's a text based way of getting around in world wide web (WWW) and one alternative to Mosaic. Telnet to it.njit.edu and at login: type www. Enjoy." "Catching on to the Internet" -- If you want a great resource for introducing someone to computer telecommunications in general or the Internet in specific, have them dial up InterNIC, the federal government's five year project sponsored by the National Science Foundation, at (800) 444-4345. I called up and requested a digital copy of their InterNIC Internet Starter Kit. All I had to do is give them my electronic address and ...presto changeo. The 120K file is very comprehensive. Los Angeles Times, Jul 26 '94, pH4. "The Lubavitch Are Coming! The Lubavitch Are Coming!" -- that's right, Gopher to lubavitch.chabad.org and you'll find this segment of the Chassidic movement. How 'bout a Lubavitch mailing list? Send email with the subject "Subscribe Me" to yyk@lubavitch.chabad.org with "Subscribe all" in the body. L'chaim. Internet World, Sep '94, p18. The National Christian Computing Expo & Convention will be held November 10-12 in Anaheim. Call (800) 456-1868 for more details. Christian Computing, Sep '94, p29. "Choice In Dying Establishes A Free BBS" -- New York City-based and billing itself as a non-profit "national" organization, Choice In Dying ([212] 727-8219, voice [800] 989-9455) is "the nation's first [BBS] devoted solely to right-to-die issues and end-of-life decision making." It also claims to be "the nation's largest distributor of free, state-specific advance directives, and source of free counseling services about end-of-life decision making." Link-Up, Jul/Aug '94, p1. Eric Pement e-mailed me a lengthy, very detailed account of the Rodney Howard-Browne Campmeeting, Louisville, Kentucky, July 18-22, 1994 --written from the perspective of a dedicated follower. Quite telling. Gary Bogart sent me version 2.0 of The Mage's Guide to the Internet, which exists "to facilitate the exchange of esoteric materials, especially those of a magical or mystical nature." Included are electronic addresses for representatives of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and Temple of Set; mailing lists on the "Hindu Digest," Sufism, "Feminist Religion," neopaganism, tarot, Kabalah, occult history and theory and Satanism; telnet addresses (apparently) for text files from Yoga Journal and the New Age Journal plus much more. The Mage's Guide is a product of OMNet (Occult and Mysticism Network) and edited by Tyagi Nagasiva (tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com). TELESTATS A thousand gigabytes is a terabyte, right? Well, after waiting for some time, I just learned what the next level is. A thousand terabytes constitutes an "exabyte." Now that's a whole lot of bytes folks! MacWeek, Jul 11 '94, p1. "Telecom Trivia" -- A pie chart of the Internet shows 70% of it in the USA, 27% in Europe and only 2% in the Asia/Pacific sector. In addition, "Between 1981 and 1986 the Internet grew 68% per year. Between 1986 and 1991, the annual rate increased to 191%. During the first part of 1993, even though growth slowed in percentage terms, the network was adding 750,000 new users per month." Los Angeles Times, Jul 26 '94, pH6. "Bragging Rights" -- CompuServe now has 2 million subscribers and, while tied with Prodigy in numbers, it is the world's largest commercial information service because Prodigy is limited to the USA. The story reports that "much of CompuServe's recent growth -- about 80,000 new sign-ups every month -- has come overseas" with native language interfaces in Germany and France. Boardwatch, Aug '94, p103. "A Boom for On-Line Services" -- predicting an approaching glut the story reports a 25% annual growth rate for the industry with 5.5 million total subscribers. In addition, 60 million computer users are said to live in America today. The Internet is stated to now have 25 million users on 2.2 million host computers. Last but not least, America Online weighs in with 900,000 users. And now I'm one of them. I have dropped GEnie and am now lurking on AOL (screen name/ID = RichPoll). New York Times, Jul 12 '94, pC1. "A Snapshot of the Internet" -- what should have been a clear statistical presentation misses by a wide margin. Of interest however in the report is the fact that of the 2.2 million host computers 636,000 are in the educational domain with 516,000 being in the commercial domain. Combined they represent just over half of the host total. The remainder is comprised of "mostly national domain hosts," which went without any real explanation. U.S. government and military hosts are represented in much smaller numbers with organizational and network domains being the smallest. Overall byte traffic is mostly from file transfer with e-mail and Usenet news together producing the second-largest amount. A total of 78 countries had full access to the Net and 146 having the ability to exchange e-mail. Internet World, Sep '94, p54. "The Computer Age Bids Religious World to Enter" -- deep down in the article Christian Computing magazine is said to have 35,000 subscribers in 45 countries. Further on, the Southern Baptist Convention is reported to have 2,300 members in their SBC Net within CompuServe (sounds like the same setup as Christian Interactive Net). New York Times, Jul 24 '94, p1. EDITORIAL The introduction to the very first issue of the BBS-FYI back in November of '92 included the following: "The company that can best gather and evaluate information will have an edge." Simple logic for an age in which raw information replaces petroleum as the most valuable resource. This was found in a column titled, "The Executive Computer" (New York Times, May 13 '90, pF8). Since then much has taken place. Consider the confirmation of this trend mentioned in the July 26 '94 Los Angeles Times (pH2), "...telecommunications business has grown to be the world's largest economic sector, with a strategic importance that surpasses that of oil, steel or even computers." A few column-inches later one reads that the world market has grown 50% in the last year alone. Folio Corporation, the leader in full-text retrieval software, asked the following question recently in its quarterly magazine, "How does a company keep its competitive edge in the Information Age?" The answer: those who lead will provide the most efficient and varied digital access in response to their customer's interests (including automated fax service, online access, and CD-ROM publication just for openers). ERRATA Eric Pement passed on the following corrections to the last issue of the BBS-FYI coming directly from Bob Hoffman sysop of the Chicago Area Computer Center (CACC), the real host node of FamilyNet [708-230-9068 & 708-739-0201]. His system used to be called "Harvester BBS" (and formerly 11/50, but now 115/887 in FidoNet). Netmail addressed to a FamilyNet BBS from a FidoNet BBS should be routed through 8:8/0 and NOT 8:8/1 as stated in the previous issue. Information on how to join FamilyNet is contained in the file FMLYNET.ARC, which can be FREQed from node 8:8/0 (708) 739-0033 -- not the node mentioned previously. Please note: CRI's file, named BBSFYI2A.TXT is assembled verbatim, and with permission, in five parts at ICLnet to make the file available to our World Wide Web Readers. Please do not respresent this file in incomplete form elsewhere without express written consent from CRI. bbsfyi2a-1.txt bbsfyi2a-2.txt bbsfyi2a-3.txt bbsfyi2a-4.txt bbsfyi2a-5.txt (continued in file bbsfyi2a-4.txt) --------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/cri: bbsfyi2a-3.txt .