COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]   (PART 2 OF)  STRANGE, MANY DOUBT IF JESUS (YESHUA) REALLY EXISTED.    THE AWAKE MAGAZINE NO. 5 OF 2016 HAD AN ENTIRE ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT THAT CAN BE READ AT   https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/awake-no5-2016-october/ .    AN ARTICLE, THE HISTORIC JESUS (YESHUA) CHRIST GOES INTO CONSIDERABLE DETAIL AND PROOF THAT HE ACTUALLY EXISTED.
 
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 668A]
 
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.  Matthew 10:1  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Jesus (Yeshua) gave his Apostles the power to heal all manner of disease, and at Acts 3:1 – 9, [AV], we witness the Apostle Peter exercising this power as follows, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.  2  And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;  3  Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.  4  And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.  5  And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.  6  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.  7  And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.  8  And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.  9  And all the people saw him walking and praising God:”  This was a powerful testimony to all in the temple.  
 
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[2]       PART 2 - OF  STRANGE, MANY DOUBT IF JESUS (YESHUA) REALLY EXISTED.    THE AWAKE MAGAZINE NO. 5 OF 2016 HAD AN ENTIRE ARTICLE ON THE SUBJECT THAT CAN BE READ AT   https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/awake-no5-2016-october/ .    AN ARTICLE, THE HISTORIC JESUS (YESHUA) CHRIST GOES INTO CONSIDERABLE DETAIL AND PROOF THAT HE ACTUALLY EXISTED.
THIS IS STRANGE AS MANY OF THE HISTORIC PERSONAGES OF HIS TIME ON WHICH VERY LITTLE PROOF OF THEIR ACTUAL EXISTENCE ARE NEVER QUESTIONED WITH RESPECT WHETHER THEY ACTUALLY EXISTED.    NOW LET’S READ:
The Historic Jesus (Yeshua) Christ: (presented with detailed evidence and proofs: (PART 2, CONTINUANCE OF PART 1 WHICH WAS VOL 667A)
 
The later Jewish writings show traces of acquaintance with the murder of the Holy Innocents (Wagenseil, "Confut. Libr.Toldoth", 15; Eisenmenger op. cit., I, 116; Schottgen, op. cit., II, 667), with the flight into Egypt (cf. Josephus, "Ant." XIII, xiii), with the stay of Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve (Schottgen, op. cit., II, 696), with the call of the disciples ("Sanhedrin", 43a; Wagenseil, op. cit., 17; Schottgen, loc. cit., 713), with His miracles (Origen, "Contra Cels", II, 48; Wagenseil, op. cit., 150; Gemara "Sanhedrin" fol. 17); "Schabbath", fol. 104b; Wagenseil, op.cit., 6, 7, 17), with His claim to be God (Origen, "Contra Cels.", I, 28; cf. Eisenmenger, op. cit., I, 152; Schottgen, loc. cit., 699) with His betrayal by Judas and His death (Origen, "Contra cels.", II, 9, 45, 68, 70; Buxtorf, op. cit., 1458; Lightfoot, "Hor. Heb.", 458, 490, 498; Eisenmenger, loc. cit., 185; Schottgen, loc. cit.,699 700; cf. "Sanhedrin", vi, vii). Celsus (Origen, "Contra Cels.", II, 55) tries to throw doubt on the Resurrection, while Toldoth (cf. Wagenseil, 19) repeats the Jewish fiction that the body of Jesus had been stolen from the sepulchre. "[source - The Catholic Encyclopedia]>>>.
 
EARLY CHRISTIAN SOURCES INCLUDING THE BIBLE:
 
<<<"Among the Christian sources of the life of Jesus we need hardly mention the so called Agrapha and Apocrypha. For whether the Agrapha contain Logia of Jesus, or refer to incidents in His life, they are either highly uncertain or present only variations of the Gospel story. The chief value of the Apocrypha consists in their showing the infinite superiority of the Inspired Writings by contrasting the coarse and erroneous productions of the human mind with the simple and sublime truths written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
 
Among the Sacred Books of the New Testament, it is especially the four Gospels and the four great Epistles of St. Paul that are of the highest importance for the construction of the life of Jesus.
 
The four great Pauline Epistles (Romans, Galatians, and First and Second Corinthinas) can hardly be overestimated by the student of Christ's life; they have at times been called the "fifth gospel"; their authenticity has never been assailed by serious critics; their testimony is also earlier than that of the Gospels, at least most of the Gospels; it is the more valuable because it is incidental and undesigned; it is the testimony of a highly intellectual and cultured writer, who had been the greatest enemy of Jesus, who writes within twenty-five years of the events which he relates. At the same time, these four great Epistles bear witness to all the most important facts in the life of Christ: His Davidic dscent, His poverty, His Messiahship, His moral teaching, His preaching of the kingdom of God, His calling of the apostles, His miraculous power, His claims to be God, His betrayal, His institution of the Holy Eucharist, His passion, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, His repeated appearances (Romans 1:3-4; 5:11; 8:2-3; 8:32; 9:5; 15:8; Galatians 2:17; 3:13; 4:4; 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 13:4; etc.). However important the four great Epistles may be, the gospels are still more so. Not that any one of them offers a complete biography of Jesus, but they account for the origin of Christianity by the life of its Founder. Questions like the authenticity of the Gospels, the relation between the Synoptic Gospels, and the Fourth, the Synoptic problem, must be studied in the articles referring to these respective subjects." [source - The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York]>>>.
 
THE HISTORIC RECORD AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
 
Historic Record:
 
Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus recorded information pertaining to Jesus, thus removing the only supporting source for His existence as being in the New Testament. In 115 A.D., Tactius wrote about the great fire in Rome, "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberious at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths, Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed."
It is believed by some scholars that Tactius gained his information about Christ from official records, perhaps actual reports written by Pilate. Tactius also wrote about the burning of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. The Christians are mentioned as a group that were connected with these events. "All we can gather from this reference is that Tactius was also aware of the existence of Christians other than in the context of their presence in Rome," states Habermas. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian, wrote, "Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from the City." Chrestus is a variant spelling of Christ. Suetonius refers to a wave of riots that broke out in a large Jewish community in Rome during the year 49 A.D. As a result, the Jews were banished from the city.[source - Proving the historic Jesus by By Harry V. Martin, http://sonic.net/sentinel/naij3.html ].>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"F.F. Bruce ("Christian Origins" pp. 29,30) draws attention to the fact that there are references to a history of the Eastern Mediterranean written by a historian called Thallus about 52 AD. Bruce shows elsewhere ("The New Testament Documents", p. 113) that a scholar named Julius Africanus quoted from Thallus, mocking his description of the darkness at the crucifixion of Jesus as due to the eclipse of the sun. This suggests that Thallus wrote an account of the crucifixion of Jesus which occurred some years before he wrote his history in 52 AD.[source - The Historical Christ, http://www.baptistchapel.net/pages.asp?pageid=20651 on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"Tacitus was a Roman historian writing early in the 2nd century A.D. His Annals provide us with a single reference to Jesus of considerable value. Rather frustratingly, much of his work has been lost, including a work which covers the years 29-32, where the trial of Jesus would have been had he recorded it. [Meie.MarJ, 89]
Here is a full quote of the cite of our concern, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD:
But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind
[source - Jesus Nero's Scapegoats: by Cornelius Tacitus, The Reliability of the Secular References to Jesus, by J. P. Holding, http://www.tektonics.org/tekton_01_01_01_TC.html on 03/19/2008]
 
And,
 
<<<"On the eve of Passover Jesus was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favor, he was hanged on the eve of Passover. Ulla retorted: Do you suppose he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not a mesith (enticer), concerning whom Scripture says, "Neither shall thou spare nor shall thou conceal him?" With Jesus, however, it was different, for he was connected with the government. (Sanhedrin 43a)[source - Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a as provided by September 24, 2003 Steven Bayme, National Director, Contemporary Jewish Life Department , http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/997317/posts on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"[And first century slanders of Jesus (Yeshua) prove he existed] ""... Scholars have debated at length how Jesus came to have this name (i.e., ben Pandira) attached to his. Strauss thought it was from the Greek word pentheros, meaning 'son-in-law.' Klausner and Bruce accept the position that panthera is a corruption of the Greek parthenos meaning 'virgin.' Klausner says, 'The Jews constantly heard that the Christians (the majority of whom spoke Greek from the earliest times) called Jesus by the name "Son of the Virgin"... and so, in mockery, they called him Ben ha-Pantera, i.e., "son of the leopard."'... The theory most sensational but least accepted by serious scholars was dramatized by the discovery of a first century tombstone at Bingerbruck, Germany. The inscription read, 'Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera, an archer, native of Sidon, Phoenicia, who in 9 c.e. was transferred to service in Germany.'... This discovery fueled the fire of the theory that Jesus was the illegitimate son of Mary and the soldier, Panthera. Even Origen writes that his opponent, Celsus, in circa A.D. 178, said that he heard from a Jew that 'Miriam' had become pregnant by 'Pantheras,' a Roman soldier; was divorced by her husband, and bore Jesus in secret." [source - III.Ancient Secular Historians, I.Talmudic Sources, DOXA, http://www.doxa.ws/Jesus_pages/Talmud_JC.html on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"Celsus, a late second-century critic of Christianity, accused Jesus of being a bastard child and a sorcerer.[67] He is quoted as saying that Jesus was a "mere man".[68]
The Acts of Pilate is purportedly an official document from Pilate reporting events in Judea to the Emperor Tiberius (thus, it would have been among the commentaii principis). It was mentioned by Justin Martyr, in his First Apology (c. 150) to Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus, who said that his claims concerning Jesus' crucifixion, and some miracles, could be verified by referencing the official record, the "Acts of Pontius Pilate".[69] With the exception of Tertullian, no other writer is known to have mentioned the work, and Tertullian's reference says that Tiberius debated the details of Jesus' life before the Roman Senate, an event that is almost universally considered absurd.[70] There is a later apocryphal text, undoubtedly fanciful, by the same name, and though it is generally thought to have been inspired by Justin's reference (and thus to post-date his Apology), it is possible that Justin actually mentioned this text, though that would give the work an unusually early date and therefore is not a straightforward identification.[71]" [source - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"[Pliny the Younger (c. 62 - c.113 AD) was the Roman Governor of Bithynia (present-day northwestern Turkey). Around 111 or 112 AD, he wrote the following letter to Emperor Trajan of Rome asking for advice on how to deal with Christians. - quite a letter preserved from antiquity, and this is only one of ten .]
It is a rule, Sir, which I inviolably observe, to refer myself to you in all my doubts; for who is more capable of guiding my uncertainty or informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials of the Christians, I am unacquainted with the method and limits to be observed either in examining or punishing them. Whether any difference is to be allowed between the youngest and the adult; whether repentance admits to a pardon, or if a man has been once a Christian it avails him nothing to recant; whether the mere profession of Christianity, albeit without crimes, or only the crimes associated therewith are punishable -- in all these points I am greatly doubtful.
 
In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel not doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others also possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be carried thither.
 
These accusations spread (as is usually the case) from the mere fact of the matter being investigated and several forms of the mischief came to light. A placard was put up, without any signature, accusing a large number of persons by name. Those who denied they were, or had ever been, Christians, who repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered adoration, with wine and frankincense, to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for that purpose, together with those of the gods, and who finally cursed Christ -- none of which acts, it is into performing -- these I thought it proper to discharge. Others who were named by that informer at first confessed themselves Christians, and then denied it; true, they had been of that persuasion but they had quitted it, some three years, others many years, and a few as much as twenty-five years ago. They all worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, and cursed Christ.
 
They affirmed, however, the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food -- but food of an ordinary and innocent kind. Even this practice, however, they had abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had forbidden political associations. I judged it so much the more necessary to extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.
 
I therefore adjourned the proceedings, and betook myself at once to your counsel. For the matter seemed to me well worth referring to you, especially considering the numbers endangered. Persons of all ranks and ages, and of both sexes are, and will be, involved in the prosecution. For this contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread through the villages and rural districts; it seems possible, however, to check and cure it." [source - http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/pliny-the-younger.htm on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"Pliny the Younger, the provincial governor of Pontus and Bithynia, wrote to Emperor Trajan c. 112 concerning how to deal with Christians, who refused to worship the emperor, and instead worshiped "Christus".
Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ - none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do - these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
 
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food-but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations." [source - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"[The ancient Roman historian Suetonius, he was court official under the Roman Emperor Hadrian,
 made two interesting historical notes about the followers of Jesus Christ ] "Suetonius provides more insight into how and why "Chrestus" would cause such disturbances among the Jews in Rome when he tells of Nero's campaign of persecution against the Christians, launched in A.D. 64. (Scholars believe this was the persecution that claimed, among others, Peter and Paul - both believed to have died in Rome). Suetonius describes these "Christians" as a "class of men given to a new and mischevious superstition."
[source - Suetonius on Christians in Rome, Ancient Roman Historian Writes of Jesus' Followers, by Brian Tubbs, http://protestantism.suite101.com/blog.cfm/suetonius_on_christians_in_rome on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"There are passages relevant to Christianity in the works of four major non-Christian writers of the late 1st and early 2nd centuries - Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger. However, these are generally references to early Christians rather than a historical Jesus. Of the four, Josephus' writings, which document John the Baptist, James the Just, and possibly also Jesus, are of the most interest to scholars dealing with the historicity of Jesus (see below). Tacitus, in his Annals written c. 115, mentions popular opinion about Christus, without historical details (see also: Tacitus on Jesus). There is an obscure reference to a Jewish leader called "Chrestus" in Suetonius. Pliny condemned Christians as easily-led fools." [source - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"The Talmud Sanhedrin 43a, which dates to the earliest period of composition (Tannaitic period) contains the following:
On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu was hanged. Forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried: "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.[72] [source - From The Babylonian Talmud, translated I. Epstein (London: Soncio, 1935), vol. 3, Sanhedrin 43a, p. 281, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<"Michael Grant stated (in 1977) that the view is derived from a lack of application of historical methods:
...if we apply to the New Testament, as we should, the same sort of criteria as we should apply to other ancient writings containing historical material, we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned. ... To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ myth theory. It has 'again and again been answered and annihilated by first rank scholars.' In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary." [source - M. Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review, pp. 199-200 , as provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<" In The Historical Figure of Jesus, E.P. Sanders used Alexander the Great as a paradigm-the available sources tell us much about Alexander's deeds, but nothing about his thoughts. "The sources for Jesus are better, however, than those that deal with Alexander" and "the superiority of evidence for Jesus is seen when we ask what he thought."[74] Thus, Sanders considers the quest for the Historical Jesus to be much closer to a search for historical details on Alexander than to those historical figures with adequate documentation.
Consequently, scholars like Sanders, Geza Vermes, John P. Meier, David Flusser, James H. Charlesworth, Raymond E. Brown, Paula Fredriksen and John Dominic Crossan argue that, although many readers are accustomed to thinking of Jesus solely as a theological figure whose existence is a matter only of religious debate, the four canonical Gospel accounts are based on source documents written within decades of Jesus' lifetime, and therefore provide a basis for the study of the "historical" Jesus. These historians also draw on other historical sources and archaeological evidence to reconstruct the life of Jesus in his historical and cultural context." [source - Sanders 1993:3 as provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<" Lucian, a second century Romano-Syrian satirist, who wrote in Greek, wrote:
The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account... You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.[66]" [source - Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11-13 in The Works of Lucian of Samosata, translated by H. W. Fowler (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949) vol. 4 as provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<" Thallus, of whom very little is known, wrote a history from the Trojan War to, according to Eusebius, 109 AD. No work of Thallus survives. There is one reference to Thallus having written about events beyond 109 AD. Julius Africanus, writing c. 221, while writing about the crucifixion of Jesus, mentioned Thallus. Thus:
On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in his third book of History, calls (as appears to me without reason) an eclipse of the sun.[65]" [source - Julius Africanus, Extant Writings XVIII in Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973) vol. VI, p. 130 as provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
And,
 
<<<" Tacitus (c. 56-c. 117), writing c. 116, included in his Annals a mention of Christianity and "Christus", the Latinized Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah". In describing Nero's persecution of Christians following the Great Fire of Rome c. 64, he wrote:
Nero fastened the guilt of starting the blaze and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius 14-37 at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.[53]
R. E. Van Voorst noted the improbability that later Christians would have interpolated "such disparaging remarks about Christianity".[54] For this reason the authenticity of the passage is rarely doubted, but there is disagreement about what it proves. It has been controversially speculated that Tacitus may have used one of Pilate's reports to the emperor as the source for his statement that "Christus" had been crucified by Pilate.[55] Biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman wrote that: "Tacitus's report confirms what we know from other sources, that Jesus was executed by order of the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, sometime during Tiberius's reign."[56] Others would say it tells us only what the Christians in the year 116 believed, and is not therefore an independent confirmation of the Gospel reports. For example, historian Richard Carrier writes "it is inconceivable that there were any records of Jesus for Tacitus to consult in Rome (for many reasons, not the least of which being that Rome's capitol had burned to the ground more than once in the interim), and even less conceivable that he would have dug through them even if they existed ... It would simply be too easy to just ask a Christian--or a colleague who had done so ... there can be no doubt that what Pliny discovered from Christians he had interrogated was passed on to Tacitus."[57]" [sources - ^ Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (Latin, English and also here) ^ Robert E. Van Voorst (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 43. See also the criterion of embarrassment. ^ F.F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974) p. 23 ^ Ehrman, p. [212 INSERT TITLE]. as provided by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus on 03/19/2008]>>>.
 
CONCLUSION AND ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:
 
As can be readily seen, it is totally unreasonable to assert that Jesus (Yeshua) Christ is not a genuine historic figure as do some unreasonable ones.  And to reiterate what was said in the introduction,
 
<<<"Interestingly, the first type of records comes from what are known commonly as "hostile" sources-writers who mentioned Jesus in a negative light or derogatory fashion. Such penmen certainly were not predisposed to further the cause of Christ or otherwise to add credence to His existence. In fact, quite the opposite is true. They rejected His teachings and often reviled Him as well. Thus, one can appeal to them without the charge of built-in bias. " [source - Apologetics Press :: Reason & Revelation, The Historical Christ-Fact or Fiction? by Kyle Butt, M.A., sub-part HOSTILE TESTIMONY]>>>.
 
But for those wanting to do additional research and/or checking, here are some resources not previously mentioned:
 
REFERENCES
 
Anderson, J.N.D. (1969), Christianity: The Witness of History (London: Tyndale).
 
Anderson, Norman (1985), Jesus Christ: The Witness of History (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), second edition.
 
Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith in Faith (Minneapolis, MN: Freedom From Religion Foundation).
 
Beare, Francis Wright (1962), The Earliest Records of Jesus (New York: Abingdon).
 
Blomberg, Craig L. (1987), The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press).
 
Bruce, F.F. (1953), The New Testament Documents-Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), fourth edition.
 
Bruce, F.F. (1967), The New Testament Documents-Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), fifth edition.
 
Chapman, Colin (1981), The Case for Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
 
Daniel-Rops, Henri, (1969), "Silence of Jesus' Contemporaries," The Sources for the Life of Christ, ed. Henri Daniel-Rops (New York: Hawthorn).
 
Durant, Will, ed. (1932), On the Meaning of Life (New York: Long and Smith).
 
Geisler, Norman L. and Ronald M. Brooks (1990), When Skeptics Ask (Wheaton, IL: Victor).
 
Guthrie, Donald (1990), New Testament Introduction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press).
 
Habermas, Gary R. (1996), The Historical Jesus (Joplin, MO: College Press).
 
Harvey, A.E. (1982), Jesus and the Constraints of History (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster).
 
Horne, Thomas H. (1841), An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), 1970 reprint.
 
Jackson, Wayne (1991), "Josephus and the Bible [Part II]" Reason & Revelation, 11:29-32, August.
 
Josephus, Flavius (1957 reprint), The Life and Works of Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whitson (Philadelphia, PA: John Whitson).
 
Josephus, Flavius (1988 reprint), Josephus: The Essential Writings, trans. Paul L Maier (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel).
 
Kähler, Martin (1896), The So-called Historical Jesus and the Historic, Biblical Christ, trans. Carl E. Braaten (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress), 1964 reprint.
 
Key, Howard Clark (1970), Jesus in History (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World).
 
Linton, Irwin H. (1943), A Lawyer Examines the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker), sixth edition.
 
Meier, John P. (1990), "Jesus in Josephus: A Modest Proposal." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 52:76-99.
 
Metzger, Bruce M. (1968), The Text of the New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press).
 
Monser, J.W. (1961), An Encyclopedia on the Evidences; or Masterpieces of Many Minds (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
 
Rajak, Tessa (1984), Josephus: The Historian and His Society (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress).
 
Sanders, E.P. (1993), The Historical Figure of Jesus (New York: Lane-Penguin).
 
Schweitzer, Albert. (1964), The Quest for the Historical Jesus (New York: Macmillan).
 
Suetonius (1957 reprint), The Twelve Caesars, trans. Robert Graves (London: Penguin).
 
Schaff, Philip & N.M. Roussel (1868), The Romance of M. Renan and the Christ of the Gospels (New York: Carlton & Lanahan).
 
Tacitus, Cornelius P. (1952 reprint), The Annals and the Histories, trans. Michael Grant (Chicago, IL: William Benton), Great Books of the Western World Series, vol. 15.
 
Thompson, Bert (1994), "Famous Enemies of Christ-Ancient and Modern," Reason & Revelation, 14:1-7, January.
 
Wells, H.G. (1931), Outline of History, Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind (Garden City, NY: Garden City Publishing).
 
Wilken, Robert L. (1990), "The Piety of the Persecutors," Christian History, 9:16.
 
Yamauchi, Edwin M. (1995), "Jesus Outside the New Testament: What is the Evidence?," Jesus Under Fire, ed. Michael J. Wilkins and J.P. Moreland (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
 
[source - Apologetics Press :: Reason & Revelation, The Historical Christ-Fact or Fiction? by Kyle Butt, M.A., sub-part HOSTILE TESTIMONY]
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIBLE AND RELIGION –BOTH TRUE AND FALSE – AT   WWW.JW.ORG
 

COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] Discourse On the Law Covenant Made by God With Israel and Fulfilled By The Ransom Sacrifice of his Son:
 
[1]       SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 670A]
 
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.  15  Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.  Job 14:15 – 16 [AV]
 
Yes, Almighty God (YHWH) is waiting to resurrect all righteous individuals as shown at Luke 14:14, [AV] “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”  Why is he waiting?  He is waiting as He is missing the righteous ones or yearning for them.  And Acts 24:15, [AV] makes this clear, “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”  
 
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO, 
 
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6) http://religioustruthsbyiris.createmybb3.com/ 
 
7) http://religioustruths.forumotion.com/ 
 
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]       Discourse On the Law Covenant Made by God With Israel and Fulfilled By The Ransom Sacrifice of his Son:
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
God (YHWH) made a covenant with natural Israel that remained in force until his son, Jesus (Yeshua) gave his life as a ransom sacrifice as the fulfillment  as shown in Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil." (American Standard Version; ASV).  So Jesus (Yeshua) fulfilled the law and it is NO longer in effect, but the principles embodied in the Law Covenant are beneficial for true Christians today.  Now let's look at the details with respect the Law Covenant God (YHWH) made with Israel in ancient times and its fulfillment.
 
MADE WITH ISRAEL ONLY:
 
The Law Covenant was NOT made with all tribes and nations, but only with the nation of Israel as shown at Exodus 24:3-8, "And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the ordinances: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which Jehovah hath spoken will we do. 4 And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto Jehovah. 6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do, and be obedient. 8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah hath made with you concerning all these words." (American Standard Version; ASV).  God's (YHWH's) specific words with respect the covenant are, Exodus 34:27-29, "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him." (ASV).  And God (YHWH) by means of his Holy Spirit, his active force or power spoke to the people of Israel out of a fire as recorded at Deuternonmy 4:12-13, "And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only `ye heard' a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." (ASV).
 
This Law Covenant was given to the nation of Israel under awe-inspiring circumstances as clearly testified to at Exodus 19:18-20, "And mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And Jehovah came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount: and Jehovah called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up." (ASV).  And this was mentioned in the New Testament at Hebrews 12:18-21, "For ye are not come unto `a mount' that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which `voice' they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them; 20 for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; 21 and so fearful was the appearance, `that' Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:" (ASV).  Thus, we see here the harmony between the Old and the New Testament which shows God's (YHWH's) authorship of the entire Bible.
 
LAW COVENANT MADE ONLY WITH THE NATION OF ISRAEL:
 
The Law Covenant was NOT made with any nation, but Israel.  This fact is testified to at many places in the Bible such as at Psalms 147:19-20, "He showeth his word to Jacob, his statutes and his judgments to Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD." (the Webster Bible; WB); And at Deuteronomy 4:7-8, "`For which `is' the great nation that hath God near unto it, as Jehovah our God, in all we have called unto him? 8 and which `is' the great nation which hath righteous statutes and judgments according to all this law which I am setting before you to-day?" (Young's Literal Translation; YLT); And at Exodus 31:15-17, "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."; And at Deuteronomy 5:2-3, "Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb; 3 not with our fathers hath Jehovah made this covenant, but with us; we -- these -- here to-day -- all of us alive." (YLT).
 
GOD'S (YHWH'S) STATED PURPOSE FOR THE LAW COVENANT:
 
At Exodus 19:4-6 God (YHWH) stated his purpose for the Law Covenant, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: 6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." (ASV); And this is testified to in the New Testament at Galatians 3:19 showing the harmony once more of the entire Bible, "Why, then, the law? on account of the transgressions it was added, till the seed might come to which the promise hath been made, having been set in order through messengers in the hand of a mediator -" (YLT).  The Law Covenant was intended to produce righteousness, but due to the hard heartedness of many of the nation of Israel, it did not.
 
DID NOT PRODUCE RIGHTEOUSNESS AS INTENDED:
 
The Law Covenant with the nation of Israel did NOT produce righteousness as it was intended.  Why?  Let's look at what the Bible says with respect this in the New Testament at Romans 8:3-4, "for what the law was not able to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, His own Son having sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did condemn the sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (YLT); And at Acts 13:38-39 showing, "`Let it therefore be known to you, men, brethren, that through this one to you is the forgiveness of sins declared, 39 and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;" (YLT). 
 
Why did the nation of Israel not obtain righteousness under the Law Covenant is addressed at Romans 9:30-32, "What, then, shall we say? that nations who are not pursuing righteousness did attain to righteousness, and righteousness that `is' of faith, 31 and Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, at a law of righteousness did not arrive  32 wherefore? because -- not by faith, but as by works of law; for they did stumble at the stone of stumbling," (YLT); And at Galatians 3:21-22, "the law, then, `is' against the promises of God? -- let it not be! for if a law was given that was able to make alive, truly by law there would have been the righteousness, 22 but the Writing did shut up the whole under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ may be given to those believing." (YLT).
 
LAW COVENANT LED THOSE OF FAITH TO CHRIST:
 
The Law Covenant became our tutor that leads to Christ as testified to at Galatians 3:24, "so that the law became our child-conductor -- to Christ, that by faith we may be declared righteous," (YLT); And at Romans 10:4, "For Christ is an end of law for righteousness to every one who is believing," (YLT).
 
But, as indicated above, the Law Covenant embodied prophetic pattern or shadow of things to come as shown at Hebrews 10:1, "For the law having a shadow of the good `things' to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh." (ASV); And at Colossians 2:16-17, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: 17 which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's." (ASV); And at Hebrews 8:4-5, "for if, indeed, he were upon earth, he would not be a priest -- (there being the priests who are offering according to the law, the gifts, 5 who unto an example and shadow do serve of the heavenly things, as Moses hath been divinely warned, being about to construct the tabernacle, for `See (saith He) thou mayest make all things according to the pattern that was shewn to thee in the mount;') -" (YLT); And at, Hebrews 9:7-9 and 23-24, "and into the second, once in the year, only the chief priest, not apart from blood, which he doth offer for himself and the errors of the people, 8 the Holy Spirit this evidencing that not yet hath been manifested the way of the holy `places', the first tabernacle having yet a standing; 9 which `is' a simile in regard to the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which are not able, in regard to conscience, to make perfect him who is serving," and "`It is' necessary, therefore, the pattern indeed of the things in the heavens to be purified with these, and the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these; 24 for not into holy places made with hands did the Christ enter -- figures of the true -- but into the heaven itself, now to be manifested in the presence of God for us;" (YLT).
 
JESUS (YESHUA) FULFILLED THE LAW AND GOD (YHWH) TERMINATED IT:
 
Jesus (Yeshua) came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it as testified to at Matthew 5:17-19, "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (ASV); And at Colossians 2:13-14, "And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, `I say', did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; 14 having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross;" (ASV); And at Ephesians 2:13-15, "But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15 having abolished in the flesh the enmity, `even' the law of commandments `contained' in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, `so' making peace;" (ASV).
 
However, the principles embodied in the Law Covenant are beneficial for true Christians as clearly testified to at Romans 13:8-10, "Owe no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law." (ASV); And at Romans 12:18-19, "If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath `of God': for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord." (ASV); And at Ephesians 6:1-3, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), 3 that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." (ASV).   So we can clearly see Jesus (Yeshua) Christ fulfilled the Law Covenant and it was done away with, but its principles still apply.  Also, we see the New Testament is not separate from the Old Testament, but its fulfillment.
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIBLE AND RELIGION – BOTH TRUE AND FALSE – AT   WWW.JW.ORG

COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    Discourse On Apparent Bible Contradictions and Divine Inspiration:
 
[1]    SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 672A]
 
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  Matthew 22:34 – 38, (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
 
Our love for Jehovah should spring from the heart.   Jesus made that clear when a Pharisee asked him which was the greatest commandment.
 
 What did Jesus mean when he said that we must love God with our “whole heart”? He meant that we must love Jehovah with our entire figurative heart, affecting our desires, emotions, and feelings. We must also love him with our “whole soul,” or our life and being. Moreover, we must love God with our “whole mind,” or our full intellect. In essence, we ought to love Jehovah fully, without reservation. 
 
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO, 
 
1) http://iris89.conforums.com/ 
 
2) http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/ 
 
3) http://religioustruths.lefora.com/ 
 
4) http://religioustruths.boardhost.com/ 
 
5) http://religioustruths.forumsland.com/ 
 
6) http://religioustruthsbyiris.createmybb3.com/ 
 
7) http://religioustruths.forumotion.com/ 
 
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]       Discourse On Apparent Bible Contradictions and Divine Inspiration:
 
 
 INTRODUCTION:
 
Some misguided ones who lack true Bible knowledge often contend that the Bible contradicts itself and/or promotes wrong doing, killing, or some other error.   But in reality this is not the case.  The Bible is NOT the product of one committee or strongman. It has over 40 individual writers who wrote under divine inspiration/guidance much as transcribing secretaries today taking transcription and then later typing it out. In other words one real author, God (YHWH), and many scribes each of whom wrote in his own style over a period of approximately 1,600 years. All of what people call or consider inconsistencies are really not such, but most often just a problem of translation and/or understanding, i.e., lack of understanding of what the original writer writing in his own language and culture meant/said in his original writing. What is remarkable, is the writers over such a period of time all wrote in harmony when even most posters on threads on this forum can not even stay on track or subject over a period of a few days and/or weeks at most with the original subject of the thread. This fact of harmony over a period so great as to almost stagger the imagination shows that it had one guiding force or author who divinely inspired its writers as humans of their own volition can not keep on track over short periods of time.
 
EXPLANATION OF WARS OF JUDGMENT:
 
There are many passages that require real study since on the surface they appear to be contradictory, but when carefully examined this has been found to NOT be the case.  One example of this they point to is God's (YHWH's) Commandment at Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill." (Authorized King James Bible; AV), and the many wars Israel engaged in at God's (YHWH's)direction in which they killed the enemy, a seeming contradiction.  But in reality it is NOT a contradiction since a loving God (YHWH) needed to execute judgment against the evil ones to protect his then chosen people.  This is shown at Deuteronomy 20:16-18, "`Only, of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee `for' an inheritance, thou dost not keep alive any breathing; 17 for thou dost certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee, 18   so that they teach you not to do according to all their abominations which they have done to their gods, and ye have sinned against Jehovah your God." (Young's Literal Translation; YT); and at Deuteronomy 7:16, "`And thou hast consumed all the peoples whom Jehovah thy God is giving to thee; thine eye hath no pity on them, and thou dost not serve their gods, for a snare it `is' to thee." (YLT).
 
The fact is that God (YHWH) himself actually used his forces to fight for Israel in these wars in these wars of execution of judgment as testified to at Joshua 10:14, "And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah hearkened unto the voice of a man: for Jehovah fought for Israel." (American Standard Version; ASV); and at Joshua 10:42, "And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because Jehovah, the God of Israel, fought for Israel." (ASV).   In fact, the dread of the true God (YHWH) came to be on all of the pagans as shown at 2 Chronicles 20:29, "And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel." (ASV).   However, early true Christians did NOT participate in the wars of men, i.e., the pagan Roman Empire as shown in a book by Professor Jesse E. Wrench, "The Christians refused to show their loyalty by burning incense to the emperor.  Being men of peace, they would not serve in the Roman armies." [source - "The March of Civilization, Ancient and Medieval World," by Jesse E. Wrench, Professor of History at the University of Missouri, 1931, page 205] showing their respect for God's (YHWH's) law in Exodus.  Another writer, Eugene A. Colligan, stated in his book, "They preferred the Kingdom of God to any kingdom that they might serve on earth....Since they believed in peace, they would not serve in Rome's imperial armies." [source - "From the Old World to the New," Eugene A. Colligan, Associate Superintendent of Schools, City of New York, and Maxwell F. Littwin, Principal, New York City Public Schools, pages 88-89].
 
EXPLANATION OF HIGHER CRITICISM FROM THE WRITINGS OF DR. GRIESBACH:
 
A Jewish scholar, ri Kuchinsky, wrote this about Dr. Griesbach:
 
"Eminent German rationalist theologian & father of modern literary/historical analysis of the biblical text. Born in Hesse, Griesbach studied under Johann S. Semler at Halle (Prussia). He expanded the  base of the Greek with what he discovered during extensive travels & published (1774-75) the first revised edition of the traditional Greek  complete with an extensive critical apparatus. He was appointed professor of NT studies at the U of Jena (1775). In 1776 he published A Synopsis of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke, the work that launched modern gospel studies. Since that time these three gospels have been referred to as "the synoptics."
 
 
Pointing to discrepancies between gospel narratives, Griesbach dismissed traditional attempts to harmonize these accounts & focused attention on their literary dependence instead. He accepted J. B. Koppe's observation that the text of Mark is often closer Luke. This led him to turn Augustine's theory that Luke used Matthew & Mark around and claim that Mark was an uninspired compilation from Matthew & Luke. In 1789 he published his defense of this thesis as "A Demonstration that the Whole Gospel of Mark is Excerpted from the Narratives of Matthew & Luke." In the 19th c. Griesbach's thesis was championed by his student, W. L. de Wette. After years of neglect it was revived in 1964 by the American scholar, W.R. Farmer as "the Two Gospel hypothesis."
In his Demonstration, Griesbach summed up his argument as follows:
 
 
This is a summary of the thesis we are defending:
* When writing his book, Mark had not only Matthew but also Luke positioned before his eyes;
* and from these (texts) he excerpted whatever deeds, speeches and sayings of the Savior he committed to memory;
* so that mainly & most often he followed Matthew as a guide;
yet sometimes, leaving Matthew, he allied himself with Luke;
* where he would stick to Matthew's tracks, he still would not let Luke out of his eyesight, but would compare him with Matthew and vice-versa;
* he would try to be brief, as he wanted to write a book with minimum mass; So not only did he leave out what was not pertinent to the role of teacher, which the Lord performed in public..., he also passed over several of Christ's wordier speeches.
* Furthermore, ...he kept in mind his readers: that is, people far from Palestine, among whom the maxims & customs of Palestinian Jews, especially the Pharisees, were not well known, nor were necessary to know; so, partly for this reason,
* he would cut out some things found in Matthew or Luke that were meant only for Jews, especially those in Palestine, or fit their way of thinking...,
* he would be stingier in citing OT passages...,
* he would add things that he thought necessary as illustration or useful for his readers to understand the narrative....
Thus, in Griesbach's view, Mark worked like a cross between a researcher & a Reader's Digest editor to produce for non-Jewish readers a single condensed version of two books, adding only minor details & 24 new sentences to passages quoted from his sources. Other scholars, like J. G. Herder, were not persuaded that this presented a realistic picture of how ancient scribes functioned.
[For full text & further information see J. J. Griesbach: Synoptic and text- critical studies 1776-1976 (ed. by B. Orchard & T. R. W. Longstaff) Cambridge: Cambridge U. Press, 1978. The passage translated here from Latin is found on pp. 76-77].
 
New Testament Textual Criticism is often seen as the most obscure of all biblical disciplines. The textual scholars are the folks whose responsibility it is actually to produce the text of the NT that the Christians are reading today. All English translations of the gospels are based on the work of these Textual Critics, who have assembled the Greek text of the gospels from many old biblical manuscripts as they saw fit.
 
Yes, generally, it's quite an obscure field... The disputes among the professional Textual Critics are still many and bitter. They still keep disputing about the simplest things. For example, they still cannot agree among themselves, Which of the three main NT texts-types -- Alexandrian, Byzantine, and Western -- is the earliest?
 
But, actually, I'm saying that the Textual Criticism isn't such a difficult area at all... In fact, the whole thing is extremely simple!
Just how simple it is? It's actually so simple that, as I see it, the biggest problem in this area had already been solved over 200 years ago! And it seems like it's been downhill ever since...
 
Thus, today's NT Textual Criticism seems to be mostly smoke and mirrors. Indeed, it now looks to me like these folks spend far more time obscuring some of the most obvious things in this area, rather than clarifying them. And, as a result -- sorry to say, friends -- our mainstream "eclectic" text of the gospels, as well as all the English translations based on it, appear to be all wrong...
 
 
The following is a brief review of the work of Griesbach, and of some other famous Textual Critics of the times long past -- the scholars such as Hug and Lachmann. This review is based on the information that I've assembled from other biblical historians. All this can be easily verified.
 
 
 
GRIESBACH HAD IT RIGHT!
looks to me like the Textual problem of the NT had been solved by J. J. Griesbach -- who was one of the great pioneers of biblical criticism -- already by the end of the 18th century! And so, everything that happened in biblical studies ever since was simply footnotes...
And the reason why it was so easy for Griesbach to solve this main textual problem was... because it was so easy! At least that's how it seems to me...
In modern TC textbooks, Dr. J. J. Griesbach is cited as the originator of the classification of all our NT MSS into the three basic families, Western, Alexandrian, and Byzantine (although we can also note that he relied on the work of his mentors, such as Semler). Griesbach also formulated almost all of the major rules of TC that are still in use even now.
 
The following account is based on an overview by Dr. A. Klijn (see the ref below), who is, himself, one of the big Textual Critics today.
 
 
According to Klijn, Griesbach started his analysis by studying the works of Origen, an early Alexandrian Church Father, and the biblical quotations as found in these writings. He observed that Origen had used two different texts of Mark; one of them close to the Alexandrian type, and the other one close to the text of Codex Bezae -- that famous very ancient NT manuscript of "Western" type. Of course, Western text was already very well known in Europe prior to Griesbach, because this was the text as represented by numerous versions of the gospels that still survive in the Old Latin.
 
Furthermore, Griesbach observed that these Western gospel texts, as found in Europe, had many similarities to the Syriac Peshitta -- a very important observation. So these unusual old texts of "Western type" could be found both in the West and in the East!
 
Griesbach could see clearly that both Western and the Alexandrian texts deviate widely from the Majority Text (which is represented for us now by the KJV). The Majority Text was the text that was most popular since the Middle Ages; thus it is found in the majority of old biblical MSS.
 
One of Griesbach's most noteworthy observations was that Western text represented a pre-recension text. In other words, according to him, these Western texts were current before the NT had been published as a whole. In Griesbach's view, when the canon was finally closed and settled upon, that older text came to be rejected by Church authorities.
 
And so, Griesbach was somewhat hesitant to describe Western text as a "recension". The only true recensions, according to him, were the Alexandrian and the Byzantine, because there's a lot more consistency within these two textual families. Thus, Western text was a pre-recension text.
 
So, as we can see, it was the Patristic evidence that led Griesbach to all these revolutionary discoveries. It was the quotes from the old Church Fathers that, according to him, still preserve for us the earliest pre-recension gospel text.
So this is how Klijn summarises these matters,
 
"Griesbach noticed that Marcion, Irenaeus and even Clement of Alexandria, who wrote before the recensions used a Western text." [SOURCE -(A. Klijn, A SURVEY OF THE RESEARCHES INTO THE WESTERN TEXT OF THE GOSPELS AND ACTS: Part 1, Utrecht, 1948, p. 7)]
 
Also, Lachmann, another great pioneer of TC, continued the work of both Griesbach and Hug. Writing in 1831, he stated that, based on the extant NT manuscripts, it was not possible to construct a text which would go any farther back than the fourth century.
 
So this was an extremely honest observation on the part of Lachmann. Indeed, to all intents and purposes, our canonical Greek texts -- whether Alexandrian or Byzantine -- are really nothing other than the Catholic texts as commonly accepted in the fourth century. (The former was popular in Egypt, but then abandoned; the latter was popular in Constantinople, and became the standard text in the early middle ages.)
 
So Griesbach was right; the earliest text was Western. (I, myself, prefer to describe it as the Peripheral text -- after all, the name "Western text" is just such an obvious misnomer, in light of the fact that it's the eastern MSS that are its key representatives. See this article where I explain this matter some more.) And he was working at the time when the ancient Old Syriac Aramaic gospels -- our main Western/Peripheral texts today -- were still unknown to scholarship! Yet, still and all, he put this whole puzzle together quite easily, using the Syriac Peshitta as his reference.
 
Sure, he was a very talented biblical scholar. But, still, how could TC wander in the wilderness so long after him? Are our modern TC scholars really so incompetent?
 
Maybe so... But, in my view, it's mostly their political bias that's to blame. They are simply not brave enough to challenge today's academic-ecclesiastical consensus -- something that Griesbach obviously wasn't afraid to do even back in the eighteenth century! [SOURCE - Yuri].
 
DR. GRIESBACH TRANSLATION FROM KOINE GREEK TO ENGLISH THE GREEK ENGLISH PORTION OF THE EMPHATIC DIALOGTT CLEARS UP AN APPARENT BIBLE CONTRADICTION:
 
With respect the Emphatic Dialogtt, the word-for-word section was done by a very renown Koine Greek expert and Bible scholar, Dr. Griesbach.  the standard or 'flowing-language' part, this was done by a newspaper reporter, Bengemin Wilson, who was not a translator, but knew how to take from what Dr. Griesbach had done as a word-for-word translation and put it into flowing English.  Reporters would naturally be good at this.
 
 
 
 
 
"Now with respect to one scripture to which the poster pointed special attention, John 1:1, I had reached exactly the same conclusion as Dr. Griesbach, but from a very different analysis as follows:
 
"John 1:1 could in no way support the doctrine of the Trinity, as follows:
 
John 1:1, "When all things began, the Word already was.  The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was" (New English Translation; NEB)
John 1:1, " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (American Standard Version; ASV)
 
 
Neither mention in any way more than two beings, yet a trinity of anything requires three similar things.
 
 
However, in very careful careful analysis as an independent thinker and using my knowledge of language and translation constructs, I am able to prove it can not even support a Duality.  Let's take the poor construct of this verse found in the Authorized King James Bible (AV) which is as follows and break it down into its three sub-constructs.
 
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
 
Sub-construct # 1 "In the beginning was the Word."
 
Sub-construct # 2 "and the Word was with God"
 
Sub-construct # 3 "and the Word was God."
 
It is clear that there is a mutually exclusive condition existing between sub-construct # 2 and # 3 in that sub-construct # 2 clearly says, "the Word was with God" which clearly denotes two distinct beings, one with the other; whereas, sub-construct # 3 clearly says, "and the word was God," now obviously both can NOT be true.  No individual can be with another individual and at the same time be that other individual so obviously both can NOT be so.  When we look at how the New English Translation; NEB, renders these two sub-constructs we get two sub-constructs that no longer are mutually exclusive thus accurately reflecting the intent or thought of the original writer, see sub-construct #2 "The Word dwelt with God," and sub-construct # 3 "and what God was, the Word was."
 
Of course the New English Translation; NEB, would clearly be in line with the fact that a Son, Jesus (Yeshua), would be a lot like his Father (YHWH); therefore, he would be both divine like his Father (YHWH) and a god.  To use an analogy to make this even clearer, we would expect a son dog to be a lot like father dog; a dog pure and simple; so we would also expect a son of a god to be both divine and a god.
 
In fact some Bible translations even use a god such as "And the word was a god"  The New Testament in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Achbishop Newcome's New Translation: With a Corrected Text.  Both this rendering and that of the NEB say the same thing in different words with the NEB making it quite clear that both the Father (YHWH) and the Son, Jesus (Yeshua), are  of the same substance which is clearly delineated at Philippians 2:1-11, "there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven and [things] on earth and [things] under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (American Standard Version; ASV).  Clearly testifying that the Son is of the same substance as the Father (YHWH), but just not as great as his Father (YHWH) as he himself testified to at John 14:28, "Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I." (ASV).  Of course this would have to be the case or Exodus 20:3 , "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (ASV) would be violated.
 
So as can be seen the more common rendering of John 1:1 can not be correct as its sub-constructs are mutually exclusive, a physical impossibility." [by Iris the Preacher, 2004].
 
So this seeming contradiction is NOT that at all, but just a biased and bad translation from the original Koine Greek into English; once more giving another example where an apparent contradiction is actually NOT one at all.  It is nothing more than a failure by some translators to correctly render what the original writer stated when writing in his language.  However, many translators, not just Dr. Griesbach, have translated this passage in line with the thinking of the original writer, some of them are:
 
 
"<2>  "the nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God"   [example of Bible using,  Schonfield, 1976]"
 
"<3>  "The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the word was."   [example of Bible using, The New English Bible, NEB, 1961-present standard Bible agreed to by most denominations in the United Kingdom]"
 
"<4> "And the word was a god"  [example of Bible using, The New Testament in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Achbishop Newcome's New Translation: With a Corrected Text.]"
 
"<5>  "and the Word was divine"  [example of Bible using, The Bible: An American Translation, by J.M.P. Smith and E.J. Goodspeed. }"
 
"<8>  "the Logos was divine"  [example of Bible using,  The New Testament: A New Translation, by James Moffat]"
 
"<9>  "r war bei Gott und in allem Gott gleich"[He was with God and in all like God] [example of Bible using, Haenchen (tr. By R. Funk), 1982]"
 
"<10> "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] [example of Bible using, Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch, 1980]"
 
My husband favors construct # 5 ; whereas I favor constructs # 3 and # 4 ; however when you reason on any of these seven, they in essence are saying the exact same thing, but in different words.  They are all recognizing that Jesus (Yeshua) Christ is divine in their own way and that he is God's (YHWH's) only begotten son.  This fact is clearly shown in the Bible at Philippians 2:1-11, "If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 [doing] nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven and [things] on earth and [things] under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (ASV).   Obviously all thinking people should believe the Bible and not accept the opinions of man.
 
As can easily be seen from these two examples, apparent contradictions in the Bible are NOT that al all, but just lack of understanding. 
 
BIBLE SHOWN RELIABLE BY ACCURATE PROPHECY ABOUT JESUS (YESHUA):
 
Is there a way to prove inspiration or, at least, intelligently present evidence for its inspiration? The answer is "Yes!" One of the best ways to prove inspiration is by examining prophecy. There are many religious books in the world that have many good things to say. But only the Bible has fulfilled prophecies--with more fulfillments to come. The Bible has never been wrong in the past, and it won't be wrong in the future. It claims inspiration from God, " All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" (2 Timothy 3:16 AV).  Since God is the creator of all things " Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;" (Isaiah 44:24 AV), then He (YHWH) is also the creator of time. It is under His control. Only God, then, would always be right about what is in the future, our future.
 
Fulfilled prophecy is strong evidence that God is the author of the Bible because when you look at the mathematical odds of prophecy being fulfilled, you quickly see a design, a purpose, and a guiding hand behind the Bible. If just one prophecy failed, then we would know that God is not the true God, because the creator of all things, which includes time, would not be wrong about predicting the future. " When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:22 AV).  And  "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; 10  declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;" (Isaiah 46:9-10 American Standard Version of 1901).
 
One writer and mathmatician, Peter Stoner has figured out the possibilities of the fulfillment of just eight (8) prophecies happening, let alone 100 having been fulfilled, and had this to say:
 
The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963) to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, 'we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017." That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep.
"Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man."
Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "we find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10157.
 
The estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 1079. It should be quite evident that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies by accident."  [ excerpt from book Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell.]
 
EXAMPLES OF A FEW OF THE PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN JESUS (YESHUA OR YHWH SAVES):
 
PROPHECY FULFILLED WHEN JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED
 
[ 1. Betrayed by a friend - Psalms 41:9 - John 13:18-27 - 460 BCE ]]
 
[ 2. Thirty (30) of silver thrown in Temple - Zechariah 11:13 - Matthew 27:3-5 - 518 BCE ]
 
[ 3. Betrayed for thirty (30) pieces of silver - Zechariah 11:12 - Matthew 26:14-15 - 518 BCE ]
 
[ 4. Potters field bought for thirty (30) pieces of silver&Zechariah 11:13 - Matthew 27:6-10 - 518 BCE ]
 
[ 5. Forsaken by His disciples - Zechariah 13:7 - Mark 14:27-50 - 518 BCE ]
 
[ 6. Falsely accused by false witnesses - Psalms 35:11-21 - Matthew 26:59-61 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 7. Remained silent before accusers - Isaiah 53:7 - Matthew 27:12-14 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 8. Was wounded and bruised - Isaiah 53:4-6 - 1 Peter 2:21-25 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 9. Spit upon and beaten - Isaiah 50:6 - Matthew 26:67-68 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 10. Was mocked - Psalms 22:6-  8 - Matthew 27:27-  31 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 11. Fell under the cross (stauros) - Psalms 109:24-  25 - John 19:17, Luke 23:26 - 460 BCE]
 
[ 12. Had hands and feet pierced - Psalms 22:16 - John 20:24-28 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 13. Was crucified with thieves - Isaiah 53:12 - Matthew 27:38 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 14. Prayed for His enemies - Isaiah 53:12 - Luke 23:34 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 15. His own people rejected him - Isaiah 53:3 - John 19:14-15 - 732 BCE]
 
[ 16. Was hated without cause - Psalms 69:4 - John 15:25 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 17. Friends stood aloof - Psalms 38:11 -Luke 22:54; Luke 23:49 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 18. People wag their heads - Psalms 22:7; Psalms 109:25 - Matthew 27:39 - 460 BCE]
 
[19. He was stared at by people - Psalms 22:17 - Luke 23:35 - 460 BCE]
 
[ 20. Gamblers divided his clothes - Psalms 22:18 - John 19:23-24 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 21. He became very thirsty - Psalms 22:15 - John 19:28 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 22. He was given gall & vinegar - Psalms 69:21 - Matthew 27:34 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 23. He committed himself to God - Psalms 31:5 - Luke 23:46 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 24. His forsaken cry - Psalms 22:1 - Matthew 27:46 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 25. His bones not broken - Psalms 34:20 - John 19:32-36 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 26. Was buried in tomb of a rich man - Isaiah 53:9 - Matthew 27:56-60 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 27. A darkness came over the land - Amos 8:9 - Luke 23:44-45 - 804 BCE ]
 
[ 28. His heart was broken - Psalms 69:20;Psalms 22:14 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 29. His side pierced - Zechariah 12:10 - John 19:34-37 - 648 BCE ]
 
 
 
PROPHECIES FULFILLED CONCERNING HIS BIRTH
 
[ 1. Born of the seed of women - Genesis 3:15 - Galatians 4:4 - 1513 BCE ]
 
[ 2. Born to a virgin Hebrew - Isaiah 7:14 - Matthew 1:18-25 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 3. Children are killed by Herod - Jeremiah 31:15 - Matthew 2:16-18 - 580 BCE ]
 
[ 4. Born of the family line of Jesse - Isaiah 11:1 - Luke 3:32 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 5. Born into the Tribe of Judah - Genesis 49:10 - Revelations 5:5 - 1513 BCE ]
 
[ 6. Born in Bethlehem - Micah 5:2 - Matthew 2:1-6 - 717 BCE ]
 
[ 7. Seed of David - Jeremiah 23:5 - Luke 3:31 - 580 BCE ]
 
[ 8. Seed of Jacob - Numbers 24:17 - Luke 3:34 - 1473 BCE ]
 
[ 9. Seed of Isaac - Genesis 21:12 - Luke 3:23-34 - 1513 BCE ]
 
[ 10. Seed of Abraham - Genesis 22:18 - Matthew 1:1 - 1513 BCE ]
 
PROPHECIES ON HIS PERSONALITY
 
[ 1. His zeal for this Father (YHWY) - Psalms 69:9 - John 2:15-17 - 460 BCE ]
 
[2. His existence before creation - Micah 5:2 - 1 Peter 1:20 - 717 BCE ]
 
[ 3. He shall be called Lord - Psalms 110:1 - Acts 2:36 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 4. Called Immanuel (God with us) - Isaiah 7:14 - Matthew 1:22-23 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 5. Anointed by the Spirit (HS) - Isaiah 11:2 - Matthew 3:16-17 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 6. He is a Prophet - Deuteronomy 18:18-19 - Acts 3:18-25 - 1473 BCE ]
 
[ 7. He will be a Priest - Psalms 110:4 - Hebrews 5:5-6 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 8. He will be a Judge - Isaiah 33:32 - John 5:22-23 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 9. He will be a King - Psalms 2:6 - John 18:33-37 - 460 BCE ]
 
PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY
 
[ 1. Will be preceded by a messenger - Isaiah 40:3 - Matthew 3:1-3 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 2. He would perform miracles - Isaiah 35:5-6 - Matthew 9:35 & 11:4 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 3. Ministry to begin in Galilee - Isaiah 9:1-2 - Matthew 4:12-17 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 4. Would teach with parables - Psalms 78:1-4 - Matthew 13:34-35 - 460 BCE ]
[ 5. He would preach in temple - Malachi 3:1 - Matthew 21:10-12 - 443 BCE ]
 
[ 6. Enter Jerusalem on a donkey - Zechariah 9:9 - Matthew 21:1-7 - 518 BCE ]
 
[ 7. Stone of stumbling to Jews - Isaiah 28:16; Psalms 118:22 - 1 Peter 2:6-8 - 732 BCE ]
 
[ 8. Light to Gentiles - Isaiah 49:6 - Acts 13:46-48 - 732 BCE ]
 
PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION
 
[ 1. Raised from the dead - Psalms 16:8-11 - Acts 2:24-31 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 2. Only begotten Son of God (YHWH) - Psalms 2:7 - Acts 13:32-35 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 3. Ascended to God (YHWH) - Psalms 68:18 - Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:26 - 460 BCE ]
 
[ 4. Seated at the Right Hand of God (YHWH) - Psalms 110.1 - Hebrews 1:3-13 - 460 BCE]
 
CONCLUSION:
 
As can easily be seen from the examples given, that when an apparent contradiction is researched and studied in depth, it proves to be NOT a contradiction, but a lack of understanding on the part of those calling it a contradiction.  The Caliph Saladin, for example, once claimed the John 1:1 was a contradiction based on his reading of the Latin Vulgate of Jerome, but as we have seen, it was NOT a Bible contradiction.  It was simply a failure on the translators part to adequately capture the understanding of what the original writer writing in his own language and culture meant/said in his original writing.
 
Likewise, we can see from all the prophecies about Jesus (Yeshua) that the Bible truly is inspired and the word of God (YHWH).  As brought out by one writer, it would have been mathematically impossible for them to have all been fulfilled without God (YHWH) having given them and maneuvered events to have them fulfilled.  Also, it proves the harmony of the Bible throughout, i.e., the New Testament is simply the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIBLE AND RELIGION – BOTH TRUE AND FALSE – AT   WWW.JW.ORG

COMBINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
 
[1]       SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 674A]
 
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  13  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  Romans 5:12  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
This scripture highlights the need for removal of sin from us.  Almighty God (YHWH) provided for this need by providing his Son, Jesus (Yeshua) as a ransom to relieve this from all of obedient mankind as testified to at 1 Timothy 2:5-6, [AV], “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”  And as Philippians 2:5-6,[American Standard Version: AVS], says, “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  6  who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,  7  but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;  8  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.  9  Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;  10  that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, 11  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Clearly showing our heavenly Father, Almighty God (YHWH) loves all obedient mankind and only wants the best for us in keeping with his principle attribute per 1 John 4:10, [AV], “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 
 
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO, 
 
1) http://iris89.conforums.com/ 
 
2) http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/ 
 
3) http://religioustruths.lefora.com/ 
 
4) http://religioustruths.boardhost.com/ 
 
5) http://religioustruths.forumsland.com/ 
 
6) http://religioustruthsbyiris.createmybb3.com/ 
 
7) http://religioustruths.forumotion.com/ 
 
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]       Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the GUAVA, Psidium Guajava:

In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)

One of my favorite fruits that God (YHWH) has so lovingly provided for the enjoyment of mankind is the tropical GUAVA, (Psidium Guajava). It produces a very sweet fruit of fine flavor and full of vitamin C. In many Spanish speaking countries they make a delightful paste out of it somewhat of the consistency of butter that can be put on sandwiches, crackers, etc. to impart a wonderful flavor.

The common guave, Psidium Guajava, is a native to the American tropics, and has become widely distributed throughout all the warm areas of the world. In fact, its seedlings now grow wild in many areas of the tropics including south Florida and Hawaii. The common guave is often called lemon guava, pear guava, apple guava, etc. There are a great number of varieties all with different flavors some of which are more agreeable to the taste than others. Some of the varieties have round fruit, and others have oblong, pear shaped, and other shapes of fruit.

Their flesh which you eat varies in shade from white to red, but in my opinion the red colored flesh taste the best and is the sweetest.

Many food products are made from the common guava besides the paste previously mentioned. Some of these products are nectars, juices, pies, cakes, soda pop, pastries, etc. All are quite tasteful and enjoyable.

There are several important named varieties such as the Strawberry Guava, P. Catteianum, or Cattley Guava which is one of my favorites. Of this species there are many varieties ranging in size from berry size to the size of an orange.

Some Guavas are more cold hardy than others, but the berry size variety of the Strawberry Guava makes a very nice house plant in the north in a 5 to 10 gallon pot. Of course during the cold whether it must be kept in a warm area of the house. It will grown well in most well-drained loams, much, or sandy soils which are supplied with enough moisture. They require more water for their growth than do citrus trees. They are quite tolerant of acidity and alkalinity, doing well in all the circumneutral soils and even tolerating a pH down to 4.5 or up to 8.2. At either of these extremes they need more nitrogen than usual.

Some of the recognized commercial cultivators in south Florida are: Red Indian, Ruby, Supreme, Miami Red, and Miami White. Much of the work on producing other desirable clones is being conducted by members of the Cuban community in Miami, and in Dade County.

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COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]    WHAT IS THE TET·RA·GRAM·MA·TON
 
NOTE: AN ERROR OCCURRED AND THERE IS NO PART 2 TO VOL. 675.
 
[1]     SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 676A]
 
Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.   And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;    That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.   Luke 22:28 – 30   (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
 
Unlike other covenants, in which Almighty God (YHWH) is one of the parties to the covenant, this is a personal covenant between Jesus and his anointed followers. When saying, “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.   As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (5:5 – 6,   [AV])
 
The 11 faithful apostles had ‘stuck with Jesus in his trials.’   The Kingdom covenant assured them that they would be with him in heaven and sit on thrones to rule as kings and serve as priests. However, those 11 would not be the only ones to have that privilege. The glorified Jesus appeared to the apostle John in a vision and said: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Rev. 3:21,   [AV])    Thus, the Kingdom covenant is made with the 144,000  anointed Christians. (Rev. 5:9, 10; 7:4) This is the covenant that forms a legal basis for them to rule with Jesus in heaven. This is similar to a bride from a noble family who might marry a ruling king and come into position to share in his ruling power. In fact, the Scriptures refer to anointed Christians as “the bride” of Christ, “a chaste virgin” promised in marriage to the Christ.—Rev. 19:7, 8; 21:9; 2 Cor. 11:2.  
 
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[2]       WHAT IS THE TET·RA·GRAM·MA·TON ,
 
Pronunciation Key - (Tet`ra*gram"ma*ton), and What is its Significance?
 
[Middle English Tetragramaton, from Greek tetragrammaton, four-letter word, from neuter of tetragrammatos, four-lettered : tetra-, tetra- + gramma, grammat-, letter; see gerbh- in Indo-European Roots.] [The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ]
 
It is a noun, that, "four Hebrew letters (usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh) or JHVH (Jehovah)) signifying the Hebrew name for God (which the Jews regarded as too holy to pronounce)
[WordNet (r) 1.6, (c) 1997 Princeton University]
 
Let's examine what various writers had to say about the Tetragrammation, the proper name for Almighty God, usually shown as YHWH or JHVH in English:
 
"Jehovah (Yahweh): The proper name of God in the Old Testament; hence the Jews called it the name by excellence, the great name, the only name,.... Finally, the word is found even in the "Pugio fidei" of Raymund Martin, a work written about 1270 (ed. Paris, 1651, pt. III, dist. ii, cap. iii, p. 448, and Note, p. 745). PROBABLY THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NAME JEHOVAH ANTEDATES EVEN R. MARTIN. No wonder then that this form has been regarded as the true pronunciation of the Divine name by such scholars as Michaelis  [("Supplementa ad lexica hebraica", I, 1792, p. 524), Drach (loc. cit., I, 469-98), Stier (Lehrgebäude der hebr. Sprache, 327), and others."]
 
What of Michaelis? Johann David Michaelis in his German translation of the Old Testament of the eighteenth century...said in part: "On the other hand, the name Jehovah [ Jehova in German] is used. . . . so I considered it to be a matter of integrity in translation to identify it, even though it might not always be pleasing to the German ear." ....Several of my friends insisted that I not at all insert this foreign word. . . . Jehovah is a Nomen Proprium, and, just as properly as I retain other nomina propria [such as] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... In the translation of a classical author one would not have the slightest hesitance toward the use of the names Jupiter, Apollo [and] Diana; and why then should the name of the Only True God sound more offensive? I do not therefore see why I should not use the name Jehovah in the German Bible."   "How God's Name Was Pronounced?  The following from [Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar./Apr. 1995 Volume 21 Number 2; page 30:]
 
"1) Among the magical papyri the name appears as IAWOUHE (Ya-oh-oo-ay-eh), but it is difficult to know how much this pronunciation had to do with the Tetragrammaton...so it is not certain how many of these syllables were thought to belong to the name. At least, however, it has more syllables than two, and the central vowel is not omitted, as is done in Yah-weh.
 
"2) Clement of Alexandria spelled the Tetragrammaton IAOAI (Ya-oo-ai), IAOE (Ya-oo-eh), and IAO (Ya-oh). In none of these is the central oo or oh vowel omitted.
 
"3) Rabbis often deduced the meaning of a word by taking the word apart and interpreting each part...By this logic Clement argued that the Tetragrammaton had the same consonants as the verb "to be," so it meant the one who caused things to be, but he did not pronounce the word according to any form of that verb. His conjecture was homiletic ally thought provoking, but not scientifically or historically correct...Reams of paper and gallons of ink have been expended over the years justifying a pronunciation Westerners deduced on the basis of Clement's conjecture. It may all be irrelevant to the subject....The word spelled Ya-hoo or Ya-hoh may have been pronounced Yahowah or Yahoowah, but in no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as "Ya," but never as "Ya-weh." This can be illustrated further by studying the proper names of the Bible that were based on the Tetragrammaton....Yah-ho-na-than..."Yaho-cha-nan"...Eli-yahoo ...Anyone who cares to check the concordances will find that there is no name in the entire Scriptures that includes the Tetragrammaton and also omits the vowel that is left out in the two-syllable pronunciation Rainey upholds.
 
"There is still one other clue to the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton- Hebrew poetry. For example, from the poem of Exodus 15, read aloud verses 1, 3, 6, 11, 17 and 18, first pronouncing the Tetragrammaton as "Yahweh" and then read it again, pronouncing the same word as "Yahowah." Notice the rhyme and poetic beat of the two. In this way the reader can judge which one is the more likely pronunciation used in antiquity.
 
"The name "Yahowah" is not a ghost word, as Rainey declared. Clement of Alexandria's conjecture that the Tetragrammaton was based on the verb "to be" overlooks the pronunciation of the proper names in the Scripture that include some portion of the Tetragrammaton. Clement did not have access to the scrolls and may never have seen the Aramaic Papyri.   Nevertheless, he spelled the Tetragrammaton in Greek employing the central vowel that Rainey omitted in his determination that the proper name was Yahweh....
 
The way Rudolf Kittle translates YHWH is more accurate than "Yahweh", he translates it "Yehowah. Why? Became YHWH is a 3 syllable word, not a two syllable word like "Yahweh" is. George Buchanan of Wesley Theological Seminary favors the use of "Yahowah" or "Yahoowah."   He explains how he came up with those: "In ancient times, parents often named their children after their deities. That means that they would have pronounced their children's names the way the deity's name was pronounced. The Tetragrammaton was used in people's names, and they always used the middle vowel." A few examples of proper names found in the Bible that include the shortened form of God's name are Jonathan, which appears as Yohnathan or Yehohnathan in Hebrew. It means "Yaho or Yahowah has given." Elijah's name is Eliyah or Eliyahu in Hebrew, which means: "My God is Yahoo or Yahoo-wah." Also, Jehoshaphat is Yehohshaphat meaning "Yaho has judged."
 
The two syllable pronunciation of YHWH as "Yahweh" would not allow for the "o" vowel sound to exist as part of God's name. But in dozens of Biblical names that incorporate the divine name, this middle vowel sound appears in both the original and the shortened forms, as in Jehonathan and Jonathan. Professor Buchanan says about God's name: "In no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as 'Ya,' but never as 'Ya-weh.'... When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was 'Yah' or 'Yo.' When it was pronounced in three syllables it would have been 'Yahowah' or 'Yahoowa.' If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been 'Yaho.' " [(Biblical Archaeology Review)]
 
Gesenius in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament Scriptures agrees saying: "Those who consider that YHWH [Yehowah] was the actual pronunciation are not altogether without ground on which to defend their opinion. In this way can the abbreviated syllables YHW [Yeho] and YH [Yo], with which many proper names begin, be more satisfactorily explained." -[George Wesley Buchanan Professor Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, DC]
 
However, if the word were spelled with four letters in Moses' day, we would expect it to have had more than two syllables, for at that period there were no vowel letters. All the letters were sounded. At the end of the OT period the
Elephantine papyri write the word YHW to be read either yahu (as in names like Shemayahu) or yaho (as in names like Jehozadek). The pronunciation yaho would be favored by the later Greek from iao found in Qumran Greek fragments (2d or 1st centuries B.C.) and in Gnostic materials of the first Christian centuries.  [Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament]
 
"In the history of the English language however, the letter J has a written counterpart in the German J, although the latter J in German is pronounced like an English Y. The bulk of theological studies having come from the German sources, there has been an intermixed usage in English of the J and the Y. Our English translations of the bible reflect this, so we have chosen to use J, thus Jehovah, rather than Yahweh, because this is established English usage for Biblical names beginning with this Hebrew letters. No one suggests that we ought to change Jacob, Joseph, Jehoshaphat, Joshua etc. to begin with a Y, and neither should we at this late date change Jehovah to Yahweh." -[Bible Translator Jay P. Green, Sr. ]
 
Girdlestones says: "It is generally agreed that Jehovah [unlike Elohim] is not a generic or class name, but a personal or proper name.  Maimonides says this is called the Plain name. [Another] says: It is every where a proper name, denoting the person of God, and Him only; whence Elohim partakes more of the character of a common noun.
"The Hebrew may say the Elohim, the true God, in opposition to all false Gods; but he never says the Jehovah, for Jehovah is the name of the true God only! He says my God, but never my Jehovah; the God of Israel, but never the Jehovah of Israel, for there is no other Jehovah, the living God but never of the living Jehovah.   "God's personal existence, the continuity of His dealings with man, the unchange-ableness of his promises, and the whole revelation of his redeeming mercy gather round the name Jehovah.  "In the 3rd chapt. of Genesis it may be noted that THE SERPENT AVOIDS THE USE OF THE NAME."  [Girdlestones Synonyms of the Old Testament; 36-38:]
 
"THE NAME "Our help is in the name of YHWH, maker of heaven and earth". Psalm 124,8 "And Moses said to Elohim: behold when I come to the children of Israel and say to them: the Elohim (Almighty One) of your fathers has sent me to you; and they say to me; 'What is His Name?' What shall I say to them? And Elohim said to Moses: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH! (I shall be what I shall be!). And he said: say thus to the children of Israel: EHYEH (I shall be) has sent me to you. And Elohim again said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: YHWH, the Elohim of you fathers, "Elohey Abraham", "Elohey Yishaq" we "Elohey Yaaqob" has sent me to you. This is my Name forever, and this is My Mention to all generations!" Exodus 3:13-15. In these passages, the Creator revealed His Name to Moses and through him to Israel and all mankind. It is important to understand that the Creator's Name is neither a noun nor an adjective. It is a verb! Please note that in verse 14 the Creator refers to Himself as "EHYEH", "I shall be". EHYEH is the first person singular, simple future tense of the Hebrew verb HAYOH or HAWOH, to be. Since ONLY the Creator Himself can say "I shall be", Moses, in verse 15, is finally instructed to refer to Him as YHWH, HE will be; This is the third person singular, simple future of the same verb. As such, its correct pronunciation must be YIHWEH. The popular pronunciation YAHWEH is based on a 5th Century Samaritan usage, YABE or YABHE, which is entirely unintelligible, and without any grammatical or linguistic foundation. The form "YAHWEH" is not the simple future used by the Creator Himself in Exodus 3:14 but the so-called CAUSATIVE and would mean "He who causes to be". The Creator certainly "causes to be", but He gives His Name as the simple future in Exodus 3:14 so we can safely assume that the same Name, in the third person, must also be the simple future and not the causative. (In Hebrew the simple future tense is called "ATID" and the causative "HIF'IL"). Some see in the form YAH (as in Halleluyah) proof for the pronunciation "YAHWEH". Anyone who knows Hebrew knows that the vocalization of the syllable, in both verbs and nouns, changes at times with its position in the word. Thus, the root YHW may be pronounced YAHU at the end of the word (as in ELIYAHU - ELIJAH, GEDALYAHU, YISH'AYAHU etc.) and YEHU at the beginning of a word (as in YEHOSHAFAT, YEHOYADA). Thus the syllable YAH at the END of a word, could be pronounced YEH or YIH at the beginning of a word. These observations are based on Hebrew grammar! If the so-called "YAHWISTS" or Sacred Name groups have a source of information above or beyond this one, let them show it! We are specifically commanded by Scripture to use the true Name of the Creator (see Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:21, Psalms 105:1, First Chronicles 23:12 for only a very few examples.)! According to Joel 3:5 (Hebrew Text) deliverance is to be had ONLY by calling upon this name! Some claim that it is a desecration of the Name to have it used so familiarly. No! It is a desecration to substitute a lesser title (as ADONAY, My Supreme Lord, applied to YHWH 134 times in the Hebrew text, but never to be substituted for YHWH) for the Creator's Name. We would not have been commanded by YHWH Himself to bless and swear by His name if this implied desecration of disrespect. Therefore, walking in the light of this truth, we must realize that there is NO room for the use or mention of any of the names of pagan gods in conjunction with the Name YHWH. Calling upon Jesus - alias YAHSHUA, YESHUA, YAHVAHSHUA, - the master, the "messiah", the unknown god, the trinity, the "son" of god, god the son, etc. is idolatry and incompatible with calling upon YHWH. It is NOT enough to pronounce, those who have taken to themselves ANOTHER (beside YHWH). I shall NOT offer their blood-drink offerings (the lord's supper) nor mention their name with my lips!" Psalms 16:4. "And make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of your mouth!" Exodus 23:13. "The gods that have NOT made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." Jeremiah 10:11."
 
"Knowing another's name was a special privilege that offered access to that persons thought and life...God favored His people by revealing [his name] which offered special insight into his love and righteousness."  [-Illustrated Bi. Dictionary]
 
It might be added here that the meaning of Jesus, is, according to Weymouth: "Jehovah is Salvation." So every time anyone uses this name, Jesus, (which is not the original pronunciation of it in the 1st century) he is using and supporting the form of The Divine Name JEHOVAH in the N.T.
 
Appendix on the Tetragrammaton:
 
No doubt everyone whom you know has a name. God also has a personal name to set him apart from all other gods. "Is not God his name"? some may ask. No, for "God" is merely a title, just as "President, King, or Judge", are titles. We can learn God's name from the Bible, where it appears about 7,000 times in the orininal Bible texts. For example in the KING JAMES Version; Psalm 83:18; Exodus 6:3; Isaiah 12:2
Some persons are surprised to see God's name in their Bibles. This often is because their Bibles are one that seldom uses God's name. The KJV, for example uses God's name by the title "Lord" and "God", it always puts this title in capital letters, as "LORD", which sets it apart from the common words.
But why? you may ask, "is God's name not used in every place that it occurs in the original Bible text? Why are the titles Lord and God generally used in its place? "The American Revisers", after a careful consideration were brought to the unanimous conviction that a "Jewish Superstition", which regarded the Divine Name, as too "sacred" to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English Bibles or any other versions......This personal name with its wealth of sacred associations has been removed from our Bibles.
Yet, think of this, should we use God's name, even though we may not be saying it exactly the way it was originally pronounced? Well, we use the names of other persons in the Bible, even though we do not say them in the way the names were pronounced in the original Hebrew. For example, "Jesus" name is pronounced "Yesh'ua" in Hebrew. Likewise, it is proper to use God's name, which is revealed in the Bible, whether we pronounce it "Yahweh" in Hebrew or "Jehovah" in english, or in some other way common in our language. What is wrong is to "fail" to use these names. Why? Because those who do not use the names of "Jesus" or "Yahweh" could not be identified with the ones whom God takes out to be "a people for his name", Acts 15:14 We should not only know the name of God and his Son, but praise it before others, as Jesus did when on earth. Matthew 6:9; John 17:6,25 Revelation 14:1
[http://anyboard.net/soc/religion/christian/chapel/posts/277.html ]
 
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