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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] THE RARE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - Alpinia galanga
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 962A]
And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Joshua 23:14, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Now is a critical time as it is quite clear the situation on earth is becoming more desperate day after day. There are armed conflicts and terrorist attacks occurring on a daily basis in diverse places, but fear not as shown at Joshua 24:14 – 15, [AV] “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” And Pslams 34:8, [AV] “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
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[2] Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Alpinia galanga (also Languas galanga),[1] a plant in the ginger family, is an herb used in cooking, especially in Indonesian and Thai cuisines. It is one of four plants known as galangal and is differentiated from the others with the common name greater galangal (or simply Thai galangal). The galangals are also called blue ginger or Thai ginger.
Alpinia galanga is called laos in Indonesian and is the most common form of galangal used in cooking. It is also known as lengkuas and galanga root. In the Philippines, it is known as langkawas. In Manipuri, it is known as kanghu. In Myanmar, it is called pa de kaw (??????). In Cambodia, it is called romdeng (?????).
Description
A. galanga
The plant grows from rhizomes in clumps of stiff stalks up to 2 m in height with abundant long leaves that bear red fruit. It is native to South Asia and Indonesia and cultivated in Malaysia, Laos, and Thailand. A. galanga is the galangal used most often in cookery. The robust rhizome has a sharp, sweet taste and smells like a blend of black pepper and pine needles. The red fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine and has a flavor similar to cardamom.
Culinary uses
The rhizome is a common ingredient in Thai curries and soups, where it is used fresh in chunks or cut into thin slices, mashed and mixed into curry paste. Indonesian rendang is usually spiced with galangal.
Traditional medicine
Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd.
Under the names 'chewing John', 'little John to chew', and 'court case root', it is used in African American folk medicine and hoodoo folk magic.[citation needed] Ayurveda considers A. galanga (Sanskrit:-rasna) as a Vata Shamana drug. Known as ???????? (perarathai) in Tamil, this form of ginger is used with licorice root, called in Tamil athi-mathuram (Glycyrrhiza glabra) as folk medicine for colds and sore throats.[citation needed]
Potential pharmacology
The rhizome has been shown to have weak antimalarial activity in mice.[2]
Chemical constituents
Alpinia galanga rhizome contains the flavonol galangin.[3]
The rhizome contains an oil, known as galangol, which upon fractional distillation produces cineol, which has medicinal properties, pinene and eugenol, among others.[4]
References
1.
• Duke, James A.; Bogenschutz-Godwin, Mary Jo; duCellier, Judi; Peggy-Ann K. Duke (2002). Handbook of Medicinal Herbs (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 350. ISBN 0-8493-1284-1. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
• Al-Adhroey, Abdulelah H.; Nor, Zurainee M.; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.; Mahmud, Rohela (2010). "Median Lethal Dose, Antimalarial Activity, Phytochemical Screening and Radical Scavenging of Methanolic Languas galanga Rhizome Extract". Molecules. 15 (11): 8366–76. doi:10.3390/molecules15118366. PMID 21081857.
• Kaur, A; Singh, R; Dey, CS; Sharma, SS; Bhutani, KK; Singh, IP (2010). "Antileishmanial phenylpropanoids from Alpinia galanga (Linn.) Willd". Indian journal of experimental biology. 48 (3): 314–7. PMID 21046987.
• Rasadah Mat Ali; Zainon Abu Samah; Nik Musaadah Mustapha; Norhara Hussein (2010). ASEAN Herbal and Medicinal Plants (PDF). Association of Southeast Asian Nations. p. 29. ISBN 978-979-3496-92-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2017.
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)[for more details, go to www.jw.org].
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] HOW TO RECOGNIZE A CULT
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 963A]
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. James 4:8, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Almighty God (YHWH) desires all to humble themselves and not be haughty, and this is testified to at James 4:6 – 7, [AV] “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” As the Bible makes clear at James 4:11 – 12, [AV] “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
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[2] HOW TO RECOGNIZE A CULT
Cults are characterized by a charismatic leader(s) who claim infallibility either on the basis of direct communication with a deity, for example, Almighty God (YHWH) or on the basis of ex Cathedra, absolute direction by a deity. Often they have many other features such as strangeness, weirdness, dangerousness, etc. But these are NOT defining features of a cult, but only relative features often associated with cults such as the Charles Manson group, the Brian David Mitchell group, the Osama bin Laden group, etc.
First strangeness and weirdness are only relative terms and not absolute since what appears strange to one individual may not appear strange to another and the same goes for weirdness. There is an animistic group in Africa that worships mushrooms where the whole congregation when they find a mushroom gets down and worships it, this is very strange and weird to most in the USA; however, many of our religious practices would seem very strange to them. Therefore, since strangeness and weirdness are relative terms and/or features, they can in no way be defining terms.
However, having a charismatic leader(s) who claim infallibility either on the basis of direct communication with a deity or on the basis of ex Cathedra is a defining none relative feature of all cults. Without this claim of infallibility, a group can NOT be a cult even if they are strange, weird, dangerous, etc. which are relative terms often fitting a cult in one specific context. To reemphasis, to be a cult a group of any kind must claim infallibility for its leader(s); if it does not it is something else other than a cult. This was brought out by one reporter as follows:
Bin Laden fits the definition of a cult leader, experts say
Cleveland Plain Dealer/October 28, 2001
Michael Sangiacomo
Independence -- Osama bin Laden is a religious leader who claims his authority comes directly from God and who wants to destroy people and countries that do not share his rigid religious beliefs.
That points to him being a cult leader, concluded speakers at this weekend's Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation national conference, held at the Hilton Cleveland South Hotel in Independence. The conference ends this morning.
He can dress his sect up any way he wants, but bin Laden is just one more apocalyptic cult figurehead who cites his inside track to the almighty as justification for abhorrent acts, the speakers said.
Second, In our modern world of the new millennium, the word "cult" has become largely overused and is now a catch-all for any group, religion or lifestyle which someone doesn't understand, or with which they happen to disagree. This is a dangerous trend, as many of the organizations labeled a cult by dissidents are truly legitimate groups. Once the taint of the term "cult" is applied to a particular group, it is often difficult to change that image to the public.
At this reporter stressed, "the word "cult" has become largely overused and is now a catch-all for any group, religion or lifestyle which someone doesn't understand, or with which they happen to disagree. This is a dangerous trend, as many of the organizations labeled a cult by dissidents are truly legitimate groups. Once the taint of the term "cult" is applied to a particular group, it is often difficult to change that image to the public."
Therefore, to separate what is really a cult from those groups falsely labeled cults by bigots that do not like them for one reason or another, it is necessary to determine if their leader(s) claim infallibility or not. If they do NOT claim infallibility, they are NOT a cult. If someone claims the leader(s) of a group claim infallibility, then they should show proof of this or otherwise STOP MAKING FALSE ACCUSATIONS! If they continue to make false accusations, they are false accusers and liars, prima face.
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] HERE IS A BRIEF ABSTRACT ON A NUMBER OF POPULAR ENGLISH BIBLES
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 964A]
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Yes, there is no fear in perfect love regardless of your past wrongs as highlighted at Isaiah 44:22, [AV] “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” This, also applies to anyone who loves the Lord as shown at Isaiah 56:6, [AV] “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;” But with respect those hating the Lord, Almighty God (YHWH), Isaiah 1:15, [AV] “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.”
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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 BRIEF ABSTRACT ON A NUMBER OF POPULAR ENGLISH BIBLES:
NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (NAB)
Catholic. A translation from the original languages by a group of
Roman Catholic scholars done in the 1970s and revised in the 1980s.
Also includes helpful reading notes. A good study Bible.
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (NASB)
In 1901 the American Standard Version was produce by American
Protestants who reworked the Revised Version (not the RSV), which
was a revision of the KJV done by British Scholars on the basis of
available mss. It used readings preferred by the Americans and
with "American" English and weights and measures. In 1963/71 a
conservative revision of this became the NASB. They used the most up
to date critical editions of the biblical texts and attempted to be
as literal as possible in terms of translation and sentence
structure. A good Bible for close textual study.
CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH BIBLE (CEV)
A rendering of the intent of the Hebrew and Greek text published in
1995 by the American Bible Society. It uses inclusive gender
language and is sensitive to concerns over Jewish sensitivities.
There is some controversy over this version's claim to contain no
anti-Judaism since there are biblical texts which seem, in the
original, to express such sentiments. The interpretive translation
strategy eliminates these and sometimes masks the language of the
original writer. Although this is done to help modern readers avoid
drawing wrong inferences about Judaism, this version is sometimes
less of a translation and more of a commentary (see further Bible
Review 12/5 (Oct 1996) 42-43). A readable version but should be used
with caution and checked against other versions.
NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (NEB)
British Protestant churches set out to produce a completely new
translation of the Bible, based on the Greek text, under the general
directorship of C.H. Dodd (1961/70). It shows excellent scholarship
and vigorous modern British style. The translators had access to all
the important Greek mss, including the major codices. It has
recently undergone a thorough revision. It is good for general
reading but is not literal enough for detailed study. Now revised as
the REVISED ENGLISH BIBLE (REB).
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
Evangelical. A translation of recent critical editions of the
biblical texts by conservative, protestant biblical scholars done in
1973/78. It is based on a dynamic equivalence model and thus the
text is very readable. It is recommended for reading large blocks of
material. There is also a New International Readers Version (NIrV)
which is for readers of English as a second language. In England a
gender inclusive language edition was produced but has generally not
caught on as well as the original NIV. In North America attempts are
now being made to resurrect an earlier project that would produce a
gender inclusive language edition of the NIV, although it continues
to be controversial among the conservative evangelical community.
The New Testament has been completed and is published as "Todays New
International Version" (TNIV).
JERUSALEM BIBLE (JB)
Catholic. Originally a French translation of the original languages.
The English translation of the French was checked against the
original languages, but sometimes the French is followed more
closely than the original languages. It includes an abbreviated form
of the original French notes. Although the English is a translation
of a translation, it is still thought to have captured well the
sense of the original. It is good for study and reading purposes.
NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE (NJB)
Catholic. Published in 1985, it is a completely new translation into
English of the original Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible. It is a
more literal translation than the original JB. The introductions and
notes are revised and expanded to take account of recent advances in
scholarship. Where some aspect of an interpretation of a text is
involved in the translation, the interpretation chosen by the
editors of the JB has generally been followed by the NJB. It
reflects consistency in translation of similar synoptic passages and
in using the same English word for a particular Greek or Hebrew
word. Primarily a study Bible but it also reads well.
KING JAMES VERSION (KJV) or (AV)
Also called the Authorized version, this text dates from 1611. It is
a revision of the Bishop's Bible (which was somewhat based on the
original languages) by a commission appointed by King James I. It
was favourably received by the authorities and authorized to be read
in the churches. It has had an important influence on English
literature. However, it is based on III CE (or later) Byzantine
Greek texts, which have subsequently proven to be fairly unreliable
from a text critical perspective. The New King James Version (NKJV)
updates the language of the KJV while preserving its basic literary
structure. There is also The 21st Century King James Version (KJ21).
None of these versions are recommended for study purposes.
THE LIVING BIBLE (TLB)
Fundamentalist. A paraphrase of the Bible done by one man, Kenneth
Taylor, between 1962 and 1970. His sources were the English versions
of the Bible available to him. He took many liberties in his
modernization of the English text which often alters and distorts
the biblical message. It has a fundamentalist theological bias and
betrays a certain anti-semitism in places. Although it is a very
popular version is not recommended at all for study or general
reading.
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION (NLT)
Conservative Evangelical. A new translation (1996) of the original
languages based on a dynamic equivalence model done by a large group
of American evangelical scholars. Although marketed as a revision of
the Living Bible (to capitalize on the earlier version's popularity)
it represents a fresh, easy to read translation. It is better used
for reading large amounts at a time than for detailed study of a
text.
REVISED STANDARD VERSION (RSV)
Commissioned in 1937 an authorized by the National Council of
Churches, this American work is the best of various attempts to
revise of the KJV (published 1946/52). It stays faithful to the KJV
where possible, but uses modern scholarship and a good sense of
English. Its two problems are that its loyalty to the KJV prevents
the full play of modern critical knowledge and it retains
much "Bible English." It was able to employ better Greek mss than
its predecessor, particularly some that are both early and
important. It is a fairly literal translation and thus good for
study purposes.
NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV)
True to its name, this is a revision of the RSV, taking full account
of the most recent papyrological finds. The committee of scholars
was able to break free from adherence to the KJV. It attempts to use
inclusive gender language. It is somewhat quirky in its translation
in a few places but generally it is a good choice for reading and
study.
TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION (TEV)
= GOOD NEWS BIBLE (GNB)
Published in the 1960-70s by the United Bible Societies. A
translation of the original texts which does not use the traditional
vocabulary and style found in English versions but "attempts in this
century to set forth the Biblical content and message in standard,
everyday form of English." A few "cultural" or "historical" notes
are supplied to explain aspects of the texts. Available with or
without the Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. In some editions line
drawings attempt to illustrate various aspects of the text. In 1990
a revised edition was published which attempted to use inclusive
language and correct passages in which the translation was seen to
be problematic or insensitive from either a stylistic or an
exegetical point of view. Good for general reading and to supplement
more literal translations for Bible study.
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] BIBLE PROVED ACCURATE ONCE MORE – READ REALITY:
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 965A]
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26 – 27, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Clearly we should put aside rage and anger as shown by Psalms 4:3 – 5, [AV] “But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. 4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.” And this is also stated in Leviticus 19:17 - 18, [AV] “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” These two scriptures clearly show we should NOT carry hate in our heart.”
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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] BIBLE PROVED ACCURATE ONCE MORE – READ REALITY:
"RED SEA: ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER REMAINS OF EGYPTIAN ARMY FROM THE BIBLICAL EXODUS Suez| Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry announced this morning that a team of underwater archaeologists had discovered that remains of a large Egyptian army from the 14th century BC, at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, 1.5 kilometers offshore from the modern city of Ras Gharib. The team was searching for the remains of ancient ships and artifacts related to Stone Age and Bronze Age trade in the Red Sea area, when they stumbled upon a gigantic mass of human bones darkened by age. The scientists lead by Professor Abdel Muhammad Gader and associated with Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology, have already recovered a total of more than 400 different skeletons, as well as hundreds of weapons and pieces of armor, also the remains of two war chariots, scattered over an area of approximately 200 square meters. They estimate that more than 5000 other bodies could be dispersed over a wider area, suggesting that an army of large size who have perished on the site. This magnificient blade from an egyptian khopesh, was certainly the weapon of an important character. It was discovered near the remains of a richly decorated war chariot, suggesting it could have belonged to a prince or nobleman. Many clues on the site have brought Professor Gader and his team to conclude that the bodies could be linked to the famous episode of the Exodus. First of all, the ancient soldiers seem to have died on dry ground, since no traces of boats or ships have been found in the area. The positions of the bodies and the fact that they were stuck in a vast quantity of clay and rock, implie that they could have died in a mudslide or a tidal wave. The shear number of bodies suggests that a large ancient army perished on the site and the dramatic way by which they were killed, both seem to corroborate the biblical version of the Red Sea Crossing, when the army of the Egyptian Pharaoh was destroyed by the returning waters that Moses had parted. This new find certainly proves that there was indeed an Egyptian army of large size that was destroyed by the waters of the Red Sea during the reign of King Akhenaten. For centuries, the famous biblical account of the “Red Sea Crossing” was dismissed by most scholars and historians as more symbolic than historical. This astounding discovery brings undeniable scientific proof that one the most famous episodes of the Old Testament was indeed, based on an historical event. It brings a brand new perspective on a story that many historians have been considering for years as a work of fiction, and suggesting that other themes like the “Plagues of Egypt” could indeed have an historical base. A lot more research and many more recovery operations are to be expected on the site over the next few years, as Professor Gader and his team have already announced their desire to retrieve the rest of the bodies and artifacts from was has turned out to be one of the richest archaeological underwater sites ever discovered ( via worldnewsdailyreport.com )." copied. READ MORE:
[sourc - retrieved from on 10/14/2015]
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] CIVILIZATION AND THE BIBLE
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 966A]
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. Matthew 11:16 – 17, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
This same theme is amplified at Luke 7:31 – 35, [AV] “And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.” Yes, all this was foretold by Zechariah 8:4 – 8, [AV] “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. 6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; 8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” Yes, after the culmination of the end times which is close at hand, Almighty God (YHWH) has promised paradise conditions and this is made clear at Revelation 21:3 – 4, [AV], “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”
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7)
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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] CIVILIZATION AND THE BIBLE
1) Our entire civilization as we know it is actually built on the ability to store information in one form or another and to pass it on to others for their use. This storage can take many different forms such as books, memory cores and disks, scrolls, clay tablets, writings on stones and artifacts, etc. Storage of the repository of human knowledge and better reasoning ability are the things that set humankind apart from all other species that inhabits this planet. We know what happened in the past and can learn from the past because of our store of knowledge. Without this ability to store knowledge we would not know anything about the Roman Empire, the various ancient dynasties of the Chinese or the scientific findings of the past that we have built on and developed on in a synergistic way to continually advance. This sets us apart from all the other concurrent inhabiting species of this planet; take the common cat, this animal has coexisted with mankind during are entire existence, but it lacks the ability to pass on anything more than the most rudimentary information to the next generation and it has NOT advanced; we see no great cat cities or developments by this species and we never will.
2) Our advancement was made possible by this ability to build on our collective knowledge in a continuing progressive upward path. We name things and this name is accepted as valid my others and our knowledge is added to. Take for example the color we call red, why is it red? It is red only because we collectively decide to use this term for it and to reference it to artifacts such as color chips, vases, etc. that are that color. Could we prove anything is red apart from our collective knowledge of what is red and our artifacts? Definitely not since it is only red due to our collective knowledge and our artifacts. Without our collective knowledge and our artifacts we would be just like the lesser animals having only a here and now existence. Of course there are those among us that differ with our collective knowledge and question the obvious of what we know or have learned as a society. The Flat Earth Society (London and California) maintain that the earth is flat and not round and there are still some primitive people that believe the earth is not only flat but carried by a great turtle through the cosmos and also those who maintain man has never gone to the moon. However, are their beliefs reasonable in the light of knowledge accumulated by society and the artifacts now possessed by society, the answer is a resounding NO.
3) Also, are advancement is built on our ability to classify our knowledge. Many things are as we classify them. These classifications are not intrinsically right or wrong, but a method of ordering our collective knowledge into a coherent form for better understanding. In other words it is humanities attempt to take a group of disconnected information and put it into some order so we can better understand it. Of course one can disagree with classifications used and maintain that standard classifications are inadequate in one way or another, but he/she does thins strictly on the basis of the collective body of human knowledge. For example, take the classifications of several forms of deviant sex, pedophile, homosexual, and heterosexual deviant sex practitioner. Our collective knowledge is that a heterosexual relates to one who has sexual desires toward a member of the opposite gender; a homosexual relates to one who has sexual desires toward a member of his own gender; Pedophilia relates to a sexual perversion in which children, either sex, are the preferred sexual object. Now one could maintain that pedophilias are neither homosexual or heterosexual deviant sex practitioners as they are driven by different behavior motivations, i.e., power and control in addition to sex, than deviant sex practitioners who prefer adults. While their behavior motivations are different, they, depending on the gender of the victim and the perpetrator would be either heterosexual pedophiles or homosexual pedophiles; note, as previously mentioned this classification is apart from the differences in underlying motivation due to how we have collectively set up the classification in our collective body of knowledge.
4) Since God created us and everything else in the universe and new our makeup since he had made us, he caused men under his direction or inspiration to write a collective body of information to tell us of his requirements, laws and principles; of the history of his people with whom he had concluded a covenant with; to tell us salient items to occur in the future, prophecy; and to inspire us. For example, the history given in the Bible was intended to show how when his people kept his laws and principles all went well with them and when they disobeyed how he brought punishment on them. This history also showed how punishment was executed on wicked nations before our modern era. All this was for the purpose of adding to our collective knowledge so we could learn from it and act in an intelligent manner on it if we were so disposed. Whereas, prophecy, the foretelling of history in advance, had basically a two fold purpose of first advising us of what would happen in the future and in most cases why and the second was so we would indeed know that his addition to our collective knowledge was indeed from him and the writers of it were indeed inspired. In fact, one mathematician once took the hundred of scriptures in the old testament concerning Jesus, prophecy related to him, and calculated that the possibility of them all being fulfilled by coincidence was so great as to be mathematically impossible.
In addition to prophecy to show the Bible is inspired and from God is the many recorded eyewitness accounts recorded in the Bible and elsewhere that relate to the life and times of Jesus. For example, the accounts written by Josephus, a first century Jewish historian employed by the Romans, clearly acknowledge Jesus (see "The Jewish Antiguities" by Josephus) and many of his activities/accomplishments as do other contemporary historians such as Tacitus, a Roman historian in "The complete works of Tacitus, " and numerous others. "The New Encyclopedia Britannica states: "These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus." The Jews, however, did not accept Jesus and the "Encyclopaedia Judaica says, "The Jews of the Roman period believed [the Messiah] would be raised up by God to break the yoke of the heather..." but they did admit his existance and many of the powerful works he did.
5) Some specific examples of its inspiration were the prophecy at Jeremiah 49:17-18 17 "Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. 18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it." Note, Jeremiah's recording was finished by 580 B.C. The prophecy was fulfilled when the Edomites were driven from Palesting during the 2nd century B.C. by Judam Maccabaeus, "The New Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia. There are many more examples such as this that can be found in reference books in all major libraries for any who should care to do further research in the repository of collective knowledge of our civilization.
6) Therefore the Bible is proved as reliable by are repository of collective artifacts, many from archeological discoveries, that verify Biblical facts and details, and our collective repository of recorded knowledge external to the Bible. As previously noted this can be checked out at any major library with a little research on the part of any interested individual who wishes to do his/her homework.
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] HISTORY SHOWS THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT LOVING OUR BROTHER – SECTION 1 OF 2
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 958A]
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28 (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
By the end of the thousand years of Kingdom rule, obedient mankind will have been liberated from all enemies introduced by Adam’s disobedience. The Bible says: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-26, [AV])
Yes, death inherited from Adam will at last be done away with. “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 25:7 - 8, [AV] ).
The apostle Paul completes his inspired summary with these words: “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:28, [AV]) The purpose of the Son’s rule will have been accomplished. He will then, with deep satisfaction, return his authority to Jehovah and present to him the perfected human family
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[2] HISTORY SHOWS THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT LOVING OUR BROTHER:
It is imperative a right hearted Christian understand the difference between right and wrong. Interestingly when Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) was on earth, agents of the Sanhedrin under authority of the chief priest were sent to arrest him, but failed to do so. When asked by the chief priest and the Pharisees why they had not, they answered, “45 ¶ Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.” (John 7:45-46 AV). Was his speech eloquent? No it was down to earth and was strong due to its simplicity and clarity. For example, his Sermon on the Mount probably took less that 20 minutes to deliver, but without doubt is the most outstanding ever delivered, see Matthew 5 through 7 Chapter.
Now lets consider Ephisians where Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) stated, “1 ¶ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 ¶ With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:1-7 Av). Here he brings out that we should, “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” and that with “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love,” showing we should be forbearing and loving one another. Also, this scripture shows that we should be one in purpose and unity as there is “One God,” and that to each of us is “given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) then went on to say “ No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13 AV) which clearly shows we must serve God and not worldly interest. And he pointed out “ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” (Luke 6:37 AV) which shows we are not judges of individuals and should be forgiving. However, “ Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” (Malachi 3:18 AV) shows that Almighty God’s son will be the judge between the righteous and the wicked. Jesus stated with respect the judgment by him as the appointee of his Father (YHWH) that “ I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30 AV).
However, Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) stated, “ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20 AV) showing that we should be able to recognize the wicked from the good by their fruits, and then went on to say, “22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23 AV). Therefore quoting history is not making judgmental statements with regard to the final judgment of an individual, but only reporting reality. Even though one’s works can be extremely evil today, they can turn their life around and be acceptable to Almighty God (YHWH) and be judged worthy by his son. There is no more outstanding example of this than the Apostle Paul who had formally been known as Saul an opposer of genuine Christianity. Before turning his life around he had been an accessory to murder in the killing of the Disciple of Christ, Stephen, “57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:57-59 AV). However, the ascended Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) saw good in his heart despite of the wicked things he had done “3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.” (Acts 9:3-8 AV), and “10 ¶ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 9:10-16 AV); these scriptures clearly shows that Saul had a good heart and that the ascended Jesus discerned that and saw him worthy for use as an Apostle despite his past wicked acts. However, the wrongs of Paul while he was Saul were duly recorded in the Bible under divine inspiration “ And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” (Acts 8:1 AV), here it tells of Saul being an accessory to the murder of Stephen.
Why were these wicked acts of Paul when he was Saul recorded? The first reason was to let all know that the acts were wicked, and the second to show how one can repent, turn his life around, and be acceptable to Almighty God (YHWH) and to his Son, Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves). Therefore, it is clear that condemning historical wrongs and wickedness is in no way judging an individual, but only the acts committed by the individual. The bible is replete with individuals who were judged acceptable to God doing wrong things and these were all duly recorded as a warning to us. The Bible clearly shows that “22 ¶ Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:22-26 AV). Here he was really saying, that if I were an agent of the Devil, then the Devil would be working against his own interest and could not endure! Likewise, we need to look at the wickedness of a house divided against itself and ask if any of the acts on either side would be the acts of foot step followers of the Prince of Peace, Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves). First we will take a brief look at Catholic martyrs made so by Protestants:
“Well, there have been thousands of Catholic martyrs murdered at the hands of blood thirsty Protestants in the years following the Reformation. No serious student of history can ever dismiss this fact. Of course, many Catholic have been guilty of the same. So what does this prove? Not a heck of a lot actually.
Firstly, if by even asking the question, any Protestant wants to dismiss the Catholic Church's authority to teach, then I respectfully submit that he take the log out of his own eye.
Secondly, corporal/capital punishment by authentic ecclesiatical authority is quite biblical, actually, and to which the Old Testament (Exodus 32:24-35) and New Testament (Acts 5:5) clearly attest. If anything, it only points to the deficiency in the Protestant's ecclesiology since they must first establish that their particular denomination has that authority - which of course, they do not.
Thirdly, murder or any other vice, even by an ecclesiological one, does not annul their authority to teach. King David (murder) and the Pharisees (pride) were guilty of serious sins, but no man had the authority usurp them since they were God's anointed.
Now, to your specific question. There are a plethora of examples of Catholic martyrs throughout history at the hands of Protestant authorities. St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Edmund Campion, for instance, are the more famous ones in England.
Here are some brief remards from Dr. Art Sippo about the issue, including a few comments on Foxe's book:
"There are several Catholics murdered by prots actually. First of all, St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher, St. Robert Southworth, St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Edmund Campion, and the others comprising the 83 English and Welsh Martyrs. There were also many thousands killed in the 16th Century Western Rebellion in England when Catholics resisted the changes in the Mass forced on them by the crown. Fr. Philip Caraman, SJ recently wrote a book about this. There are numerous examples in Ireland during the penal times including St. Oliver Plunckett. And we should not forget the genocidal fury of Oliver Cromwell as he indiscriminantly slaughtered Catholics in Ireland. The controversy over prot parades through Catholic neighborhoods in Northern Ireland is linked to this. The prots are celebrating genocide. I consider those involved in such parades to be guilty of grave sin.
Recently, JPII canonized St. Jan Sarkander in Czechslovakia who was martyred by prots. The prot cults there were all upset about it but he did it anyway. There were many unsung martyrs in Deformation territories who have not been canonized.” [source = , by John Pacheco
Catholic Apologetics International ]
Now let’s take a brief look at Protestants made martyrs in the Bartholomew Massacre at Paris by Catholics:
On the twenty second day of August, 1572, commenced this diabolical act of sanguinary brutality. It was intended to destroy at one stroke the root of the Protestant tree, which had only before partially suffered in its branches. The king of France had artfully proposed a marriage, between his sister and the prince of Navarre, the captain and prince of the Protestants. This imprudent marriage was publicly celebrated at Paris, August 18, by the cardinal of Bourbon, upon a high stage erected for the purpose. They dined in great pomp with the bishop, and supped with the king at Paris. Four days after this, the prince (Coligny), as he was coming from the Council, was shot in both arms; he then said to Maure, his deceased mother's minister, "O my brother, I do now perceive that I am indeed beloved of my God, since for His most holy sake I am wounded." Although the Vidam advised him to fly, yet he abode in Paris, and was soon after slain by Bemjus; who afterward declared he never saw a man meet death more valiantly than the admiral.
The soldiers were appointed at a certain signal to burst out instantly to the slaughter in all parts of the city. When they had killed the admiral, they threw him out at a window into the street, where his head was cut off, and sent to the pope. The savage papists, still raging against him, cut off his arms and private members, and, after dragging him three days through the streets, hung him by the heels without the city. After him they slew many great and honorable persons who were Protestants; as Count Rochfoucault, Telinius, the admiral's son-in-law, Antonius, Clarimontus, marquis of Ravely, Lewes Bussius, Bandineus, Pluvialius, Burneius, etc., and falling upon the common people, they continued the slaughter for many days; in the three first they slew of all ranks and conditions to the number of ten thousand. The bodies were thrown into the rivers, and blood ran through the streets with a strong current, and the river appeared presently like a stream of blood. So furious was their hellish rage, that they slew all papists whom they suspected to be not very staunch to their diabolical religion. From Paris the destruction spread to all quarters of the realm.
At Orleans, a thousand were slain of men, women, and children, and six thousand at Rouen.
At Meldith, two hundred were put into prison, and later brought out by units, and cruelly murdered.
At Lyons, eight hundred were massacred. Here children hanging about their parents, and parents affectionately embracing their children, were pleasant food for the swords and bloodthirsty minds of those who call themselves the Catholic Church. Here three hundred were slain in the bishop's house; and the impious monks would suffer none to be buried.
At Augustobona, on the people hearing of the massacre at Paris, they shut their gates that no Protestants might escape, and searching diligently for every individual of the reformed Church, imprisoned and then barbarously murdered them. The same curelty they practiced at Avaricum, at Troys, at Toulouse, Rouen and many other places, running from city to city, towns, and villages, through the kingdom.
As a corroboration of this horrid carnage, the following interesting narrative, written by a sensible and learned Roman Catholic, appears in this place, with peculiar propriety.
"The nuptials (says he) of the young king of Navarre with the French king's sister, was solemnized with pomp; and all the endearments, all the assurances of friendship, all the oaths sacred among men, were profusely lavished by Catharine, the queen-mother, and by the king; during which, the rest of the court thought of nothing but festivities, plays, and masquerades. At last, at twelve o'clock at night, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, the signal was given. Immediately all the houses of the Protestants were forced open at once. Admiral Coligny, alarmed by the uproar jumped out of bed, when a company of assassins rushed in his chamber. They were headed by one Besme, who had been bred up as a domestic in the family of the Guises. This wretch thrust his sword into the admiral's breast, and also cut him in the face. Besme was a German, and being afterwards taken by the Protestants, the Rochellers would have brought him, in order to hang and quarter him; but he was killed by one Bretanville. Henry, the young duke of Guise, who afterwards framed the Catholic league, and was murdered at Blois, standing at the door until the horrid butchery should be completed, called aloud, 'Besme! is it done?' Immediately after this, the ruffians threw the body out of the window, and Coligny expired at Guise's feet.
"Count de Teligny also fell a sacrifice. He had married, about ten months before, Coligny's daughter. His countenance was so engaging, that the ruffians, when they advanced in order to kill him, were struck with compassion; but others, more barbarous, rushing forward, murdered him.
"In the meantime, all the friends of Coligny were assassinated throughout Paris; men, women, and children were promiscuously slaughtered and every street was strewed with expiring bodies. Some priests, holding up a crucifix in one hand, and a dagger in the other, ran to the chiefs of the murderers, and strongly exhorted them to spare neither relations nor friends.
"Tavannes, marshal of France, an ignorant, superstitious soldier, who joined the fury of religion to the rage of party, rode on horseback through the streets of Paris, crying to his men, 'Let blood! let blood! bleeding is as wholesome in August as in May.' In the memories of the life of this enthusiastic, written by his son, we are told that the father, being on his deathbed, and making a general confession of his actions, the priest said to him, with surprise, 'What! no mention of St. Bartholomew's massacre?' to which Tavannes replied, 'I consider it as a meritorious action, that will wash away all my sins.' Such horrid sentiments can a false spirit of religion inspire!
"The king's palace was one of the chief scenes of the butchery; the king of Navarre had his lodgings in the Louvre, and all his domestics were Protestants. Many of these were killed in bed with their wives; others, running away naked, were pursued by the soldiers through the several rooms of the palace, even to the king's antichamber. The young wife of Henry of Navarre, awaked by the dreadful uproar, being afraid for her consort, and for her own life, seized with horror, and half dead, flew from her bed, in order to throw herself at the feet of the king her brother. But scarce had she opened her chamber door, when some of her Protestant domestics rushed in for refuge. The soldiers immediately followed, pursued them in sight of the princess, and killed one who crept under her bed. Two others, being wounded with halberds, fell at the queen's feet, so that she was covered with blood.
"Some days after this horrid transaction, the French court endeavored to palliate it by forms of law. They pretended to justify the massacre by a calumny, and accused the admiral of a conspiracy, which no one believed. The parliament was commended to proceed against the memory of Coligny; and his dead body was hanged in chains on Montfaucon gallows. The king himself went to view this shocking spectacle. So one of his courtiers advised him to retire, and complaining of the stench of the corpse, he replied, 'A dead enemuy smells well.' The massacres on St. Bartholomew's day are painted in the royal saloon of the Vatican at Rome, with the following inscription: Pontifex, Coligny necem probat, i.e., 'The pope approves of Coligny's death.'
At Rome the horrid joy was so great, that they appointed a day of high festival, and a jubilee, with great indulgence to all who kept it and showed every expression of gladness they could devise! and the man who first carried the news received 1000 crowns of the cardinal of Lorraine for his ungodly message. The king also commanded the day to be kept with every demonstration of joy, concluding now that the whole race of Huguenots was extinct.
Many who gave great sums of money for their ransom were immediately after slain; and several towns, which were under the king's promise of protection and safety, were cut off as soon as they delivered themselves up, on those promises, to his generals or captains.
At Bordeaux, at the instigation of a villainous monk, who used to urge the papists to slaughter in his sermons, two hundred and sixty-four were cruelly murdered; some of them senators. Another of the same pious fraternity produced a similar slaughter at Agendicum, in Maine, where the populace at the holy inquisitors' satanical suggestion, ran upon the Protestants, slew them, plundered their houses, and pulled down their church.
The duke of Guise, entering into Blois, suffered his soldiers to fly upon the spoil, and slay or drown all the Protestants they could find. In this they spared neither age nor sex; defiling the women, and then murdering them; from whence he went to Mere, and committed the same outrages for many days together. Here they found a minister named Cassebonius, and threw him into the river.
At Anjou, they slew Albiacus, a minister; and many women were defiled and murdered there; among whom were two sisters, abused before their father, whom the assassins bound to a wall to see them, and then slew them and him.
The president of Turin, after giving a large sum for his life, was cruelly beaten with clubs, stripped of his clothes, and hung feet upwards, with his head and breast in the river: before he was dead, they opened his belly, plucked out his entrails, and threw them into the river; and then carried his heart about the city upon a spear.
At Barre great cruelty was used, even to young children, whom they cut open, pulled out their entrails, which through very rage they gnawed with their teeth. Those who had fled to the castle, when they yielded, were almost hanged. Thus they did at the city of Matiscon; counting it sport to cut off their arms and legs and afterward kill them; and for the entertainment of their visitors, they often threw the Protestants from a high bridge into the river, saying, "Did you ever see men leap so well?"
The tragical sufferings of the Protestants are too numerous to detail; but the treatment of Philip de Deux will give an idea of the rest. After the miscreants had slain this martyr in his bed, they went to his wife, who was then attended by the midwife, expecting every moment to be delivered. The midwife entreated them to stay the murder, at least till the child, which was the twentieth, should be born. Notwithstanding this, they thrust a dagger up to the hilt into the poor woman. Anxious to be delivered, she ran into a corn loft; but hither they pursued her, stabbed her in the belly, and then threw her into the street. By the fall, the child came from the dying mother, and being caught up by one of the Catholic ruffians, he stabbed the infant, and then threw it into the river. [source = Fox’s book of Martyrs, 4 Chapter, The Bartholomew Massacre at Paris, etc.]
Now, the question is once more, can a house divided against itself stand? Obviously, there is plenty of blame on both sides, but in their terrible actions, neither was following the Prince of Peace that both claimed to be foot step followers of, Jesus (Jeshua or YHWH saves) the Son of Almighty God (YHWH). This is really a lesson in why we should be loving our neighbor and remember he gave “ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34 AV), “ This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12 AV). He brought how we should be “ Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16 AV). And drives the point home that we can not be hating whom we can see and be loving God whom we can not see “ If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20 AV). The Bible clearly shows that we can tell the difference “7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 11 ¶ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (1 John 3:7-11 AV). This is further emphasized at “1 ¶ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 4 ¶ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:1-5 AV). Last but not least “13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14 ¶ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:13-16 AV) clearly shows that the world would hate genuine Christians and who ever hates his brother [sister] is a murderer. Therefore, we need to look at history and learn from it and not avoid it as an unpleasant thing of the past to be avoided, but a warning to us not to fall into hating our brother [sister] as was done in the past. To summarize, Sincerity alone does not determine whether one's form of worship is valid in God's eyes “ Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14 AV), “ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8 AV). God sets the standard for acceptable worship of Him “13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 AV), “ If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” (James 1:26 AV), we do not. So we can be very sincere and still be rejected by God. The Bible says he rejects even the prayers of those not serving him “ The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” (Proverbs 15:29 AV), “ Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.” (Micah 3:4 AV). Remember, as one writer wrote, “We make different choices based on what our conscience permits” so we need to train them well.
SEE SECTION 2 IN COMBINATION OF THE VOL 959A
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] CONSTRUCTS OF JOHN 1:1, READ AND LEARN
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 967A]
For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. 21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: 22 For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. Ecclesiastes 7:20 – 22, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
In truth we are all under inherited sin and today there is no perfect man as clearly shown by Psalms 51:5 - 11, [AV] “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Here the writer of this Psalm is asking for Almighty God’S (YHWH’s)forgiveness and to be counted righteous in His sight.
[2] CONSTRUCTS OF JOHN 1:1, READ AND LEARN:
Let's look at the 10 possible constructs of John 1:1 that do NOT violate any rule of Koine Greek grammar with the exception of the fact is that THEOS (=God) is a count noun, not a mass noun or an adjective. As a count noun it MUST BE countable, i.e. either definite or indefinite (i.e. either "a god" or "the God") for two of the constructs:
<1> "and a god was the Logos." [example of Bible using, Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jurgen Becker Harwood, 1979]
<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. }
<6> "and the Word was God" [example of Bible using, American Standard Version, ASV] [note, this construct violates the count noun rule of Koine Greek]
<7> "He was the same as God" example of Bible using, Today's English Version.]
<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, 198
As we can see, here are ten different constructs possible without violating any rule of Koine Greek grammar except the count Noun rule. So, now, let's look at what follows in context in general format at John 1:2:
"The Word, then, was with God at the beginning," (The New English Bible, NEB)
"The same was in the beginning with God." (American Standard Version, ASB)
"The same was in the beginning with God." (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
"He was in the beginning with God." (Revised Standard Version; RSV)
"He was in the beginning with God." (The Confraternity Edition of the New Testament - Catholic)
As is easily seen, John 1:2 is substantially the same in all translations. However, in context it does not harmonize with some of the constructs used which do not violate any rule of Koine Greek grammar with the exception of the count Noun rule to be explained later.
However clearly some of the ten (10) or more basic constructs agree in context with John 1:2 and some do NOT. Let's look at the point where some do not agree or harmonize with the context of John 1:2:
John 1:2 plainly says that the Word, or Logos, who is Jesus (Yeshua) was with God in the beginning which would be impossible if Jesus (Yeshua) was Almighty God (YHWH) himself. This rules out constructs 6, 7, and 10, represented below, as impossible as they do NOT harmonize with context.
<6> "and the Word was God" [example of Bible using, American Standard Version, ASV] [note, this construct violates the count noun rule of Koine Greek]
<7> "He was the same as God" example of Bible using, Today's English Version.]
<10> "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] [example of Bible using, Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch, 198
And two of these constructs do violate the count Noun rule of Koine Greek; to wit, constructs 6 and 7.
Now exactly what is the count Noun rule of Koine Greek? It is as follows:
The fact is that THEOS (=God) is a count noun, not a mass noun or an adjective. As a count noun it MUST BE countable, i.e. either definite or indefinite (i.e. either "a god" or "the God"). The trinitarian argument hinges on stripping THEOS of its count-ability, so that it is purely qualitative. However, if a noun is PURELY qualitative, it is not a count noun. An adjective or a mass noun may fit their requirement for emphasizing qualitativness only, but a count noun MUST BE countable, for that is what *count* means when describing a count noun. If he accepts this rather elementary rule of English grammar, you can demonstrate that, as a count noun, THEOS may be translated either "the Word was God" (="the Word was The God", which is Sabellianism), or "the Word was a god". Since orthodox trinitarians reject "the Word was The God" (=Sabellianism), they are left with "the Word was a god" -- that is, if they remain true to English syntax (and English syntax is what ENGLISH translations are supposed to follow!). If one argues the point, let them provide an example of a non-countable *count noun* that is not used in a contrary-to-fact situation, such as a metaphor. I have yet to find anyone, trinitarian or otherwise, who is able to meet this challenge. Rolf Furuli, one of the two best living Koine Greek scholars, discusses this in his book, THE ROLE OF THEOLOGY AND BIAS IN BIBLE TRANSLATION, as does Greg Stafford, in his, JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DEFENDED: AN ANSWER TO SCHOLARS AND CRITICS. There are also some very good posts by Wes Williams on greektheology that discuss this issue. I suppose if you search the greektheology archives using the word "count" or the name "Wes" you will find much helpful information. [source Kats]
"To preserve in English the different nuance of theos [god] with and without the article, some (Moffat) would translate 'The Word was divine.'"
Notice a literal translation of John 1:1,2:
"In the beginning was the world and the word was toward the god and god was the word. This (one) was in beginning toward the god."
In these two verses we see six nouns, three referring to the Greek word logos (word, which most recognize to be Jesus) and three referring to the Greek word theos (god). We notic each reference to logos (word) is preceded by the definite article "the", while two of the three times the word theos (god) occurs, it too is preceded by the definite article "the". For some reason, John does not provide the definite article with theos when it is associated with "The Word". We thus see two definite individuals mentioned in this verse. "The Word", Jesus Christ, and "The God", who is Almighty God Jehovah. John does not say "The Word" is "The God". (In fact, most Trinitarian scholars would argue that if John had said the word was "ho theos" (The God), it would amount to sabellianism (the belief that Jesus is both the Father and the Son). As such, it is commonly agreed upon that John was not identifying Jesus as God but rather, was describing him as deity.) But if John did not say "The Word" is "The God", then what did he mean by saying, "the word was god"?
In Greek, it is possible for a noun to act as an adjective when it is not accompanied by the definite article. Consider a Biblical example of this in John 6:70. "Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (NIV)
Here the noun (devil) is not proceeded by the efinite article (the). To reflect this most Bibles place the indefinite article (a) in front of it. Thus, Jesus was not identifying Judas as "THE Devil", he was saying Judas had the qualities of the devil. He was acting like the devil so he was A devil though not THE devil. This example helps us to see how the lack of the definite article can cause a noun to act as a predication rather than an identification.
Regarding this point, noted Bible scholar William Barclay writes:
"When in Greek two nouns are joined by the verb to be and when both have the definite article, then the one is fully identified with the other; but when one of them is without the article, it become more an adjective than a noun, and describes rather the class of the sphere to which the other belongs...
"John has no definte article before theos, God. The Logos, therefore, is not identified as God or with God; the word theos has become adjectival and describes the sphere to which the logos belongs...
"This passage then [John 1:1] does not identify the Logos and God; it does not say that Jesus was God, nor doesit call him God; but it does say that in his nature and being he belongs to the same class as God."
Mr. Barclay's observations are duly noted in the example we considered with Judas Iscariot being "a devil".
Now let's consider what the Greek Scholar Jason BeDuhn from the Northern Arizona University has to say: "The Greek phrase is theos en ho logos, which translated word for word is "a god was the word." Greek has only a definite article, like our the, it does not have an indefeinite article, like our a or an. If a noun is definite, it has the definite article ho. If a noun is indefinite, no article is used. In the phrase from John 1:1, ho logos is "the word." If it was written simply logos, without the definite article ho, we would have to translate it as "a word". So we are not really "inserting" an indefinite article when we translate Greek nouns without the definite article into English, we are simply obeying rules of English grammar that tell us that we cannot say "Snoopy is dog," but must say "Snoopy is a dog."
Now in English we simply say "God"; we do not say "The God." But in Greek, when you mean to refer to the one supreme God, instead of one of the many other beings that were called "gods," you would have to say "The God": ho theos. Even a monotheistic Christian, who beleives there is only one God and no others, would be forced to say in Greek "The God," as John and Paul and the other writers of the New Testament normally do. If you leave off the article in a phrase like John 1:1, then you are saying "a god." (There are some exceptions to this rule: Greek has what are called noun cases, which means the nouns change form depending on how they are used in a sentence. So, if you want to say "of God," which is theou, you don't need the article. But in the nominative case, which is the one in John 1:1, you have to have the article.) So what does John mean by saying "the word was a god"? He is classifying Jesus in a specific category of beings. There are plants and animals and humans and gods, and so on. By calling the Word "a god," John wants to tell his readers that the Word(which becomes Jesus when it takes flesh) belongs to the divine class of things. Notice the word order: "a god was the word." We can't say it like this in English, but you can in Greek. The subject can be after the verb and the object before the verb, the opposite of how we do it in English (subject-verb-object). Research has shown that when ancient Greek writers put a object-noun first in a sentence like John 1:1 (a be-verb sentence: x is y), without the definite article, they are telling us that the subject belongs to the class represented by the object-noun: :"The car is a Volkswagen." In English we would accomplish the same thing by using what we call predicate adjectives. "John is a smart person" = "John is smart." So we would tend to say "The word was divine," rather than "The word was a god." That is how I would translate this phrase. "The word was a god" is more literal, and an improvement over "The word was God," but it raises more problems, since to a modern reader it implies polytheism. No one in John's day would have understood the phrase to mean "The word was God" - the language does not convey that sense, and conceptually it is difficult to grasp such an idea, especially since that author has just said that the word was with God. Someone is not with himself, he is with some other. John clearly differentiates between God from the Word. The latter becomes flesh and is seen; the former cannot be seen. What is the Word? John says it was the agent through whom God made the world. He starts his gospel "In the beginning..." to remind us of Genesis 1. How does God create in Genesis? He speaks words that make things come into existence. So the Word is God's creative power and plan and activity. It is not God himself, but it is not really totally separate from God either. It occupies a kind of ambiguous status. That is why a monotheist like John can get away with calling it "a god" or "divine" without becoming a polytheist. This divine thing does not act on its own, however, does take on a kind of distinct identity, and in becoming flesh brings God's will and plan right down face to face with humans.
APPENDIX:
(1) How some Bible translators who did not have bias translated, i.e., were striving for translation fidelity and NOT to support this or that perception:
1928: "and the Word was a divine being." La Bible du Centenaire, L'Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel.
1935: "and the Word was divine." The Bible-An American Translation, by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed.
1946: "and of a divine kind was the Word." Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig Thimme. 1958: "and the Word was a God." The New Testament, by James L. Tomanek.
1975: "and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz.
1978: "and godlike kind was the Logos." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider.
1979: "and a god was the Logos." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jurgen Becker Harwood,
1768, "and was himself a divine person" Thompson,
1829, "the Logos was a god Torrey,
1961, "what God was,the Word was" Moffatt,
1972, "the Logos was divine Translator's NT,
1973, "The Word was with God and shared his nature Barclay,
1976, "the nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God" Schonfield,
1985, "the Word was divine Revised English,
1989, "what God was, the Word was Scholar's Version,
1993, "The Divine word and wisdom was there with God, and it was what God was" Madsen,
1994, "the Word was <EM>a divine Being" Becker,
1979, "ein Gott war das Logos" [a God/god was the Logos/logos] Stage,
1907, "Das Wort war selbst gttlichen Wesens" [The Word/word was itself a divine Being/being]. Bhmer,
1910, "Es war fest mit Gott verbunden, ja selbst gttlichen Wesens" [It was strongly linked to God, yes itself divine Being/being] Thimme,
1919, "Gott von Art war das Wort" [God of Kind/kind was the Word/word] Baumgarten et al,
1920, "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] Holzmann,
1926, "ein Gott war der Gedanke" [a God/god was the Thought/thought] Rittenlmeyer, 1938, "selbst ein Gott war das Wort" [itself a God/god was the Word/word] Lyder Brun (Norw. professor of NT theology),
1945, "Ordet var av guddomsart" [the Word was of divine kind] Pffflin,
1949, "war von gttlicher Wucht [was of divine Kind/kind] Albrecht,
1957, "gttlichen Wesen hatte das Wort" [godlike Being/being had the Word/word] Smit, 1960, "verdensordet var et guddommelig vesen" [the word of the world was a divine being] Menge,
1961, "Gott (= gttlichen Wesens) war das Wort"[God(=godlike Being/being) was the Word/word) Haenchen,
1980, "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch,
1982, "r war bei Gott und in allem Gott gleich"[He was with God and in all like God] Haenchen (tr. By R. Funk),
1984, "divine (of the category divinity)was the Logos" Schultz,
1987, "ein Gott (oder: Gott von Art) war das Wort" [a God/god (or: God/god of Kind/kind) was the Word/word]
(2) Amplification on How Some Bible Translators Translated John 1:1 And Why:
"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.
"and a god was the Word" - The Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson.
"and the Word was divine" - The Bible: An American Translation, by J.M.P. Smith and E.J. Goodspeed.
"the Logos was divine" - The New Testament: A New Translation, by James Moffat.
"what God was, the Word was" - The New English Bible.
"He was the same as God" - Today's English Version.
"And the Word was a god" - New World Translation
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] DISCOURSE ON CANDOR PROVES BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD (YHWH)
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 968A]
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31 – 32, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Yes, Almighty God (YHWH) is merciful and forgiving as clearly shown by Psalms 103:8 – 11, [AV] “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” He is very forgiving of those earnestly seeking him.
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[2] Discourse on Candor Proves Bible the Word of God (YHWH):
FIRST, The Bible unlike other so called 'holy books' was inspired by God (YHWH) who is NOT a liar or obfuscator so his inspired scribes unlike human writers with their own agenda wrote exactly what happened including their own short comings. This candor is actually one of the things that clearly shows the Bible to be truly the only book ever inspired by God (YHWH). The prophets even wrote their own shortcomings/weaknesses down under divine inspiration; this is quite unlike all other ancient writers who always built up themselves and never recorded their own shortcomings.
SECOND, Genesis 19:30-38 is a special case under a very unusual circumstance which when taken out of context could leave the wrong impression so let's look at Genesis 19:19-38 and learn the facts, " behold now, thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy lovingkindness, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die: 20 behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape thither (is it not a little one?), and my soul shall live. 21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar. 24 Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven; 25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah: 28 and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. 30 [b]And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the first-born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32 come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 37 And the first-born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. (American Standard Version; ASV). Clearly we see here a special circumstance and that Lot was NOT aware of what he was doing as he had been made drunk; but the fact that this was ever recorded once more speaks to the candor and truthfulness of the Bible in that the prophets even recorded their own short comings and wrong doings. This candor is NOT seen in other so called 'holy books' that were not inspired by God (YHWH).
THIRD, One individual said, "In Genesis 38:15-18, Judah, a son of Jacob, is supposed to have engaged in sexual relations with his daughter-in-law."
This is another special circumstance showing the short coming of a prophet honestly recorded with honesty and candor in the Bible; whereas, in so called 'holy books' that were not divinely inspired something of this nature would never have been recorded. Let's look at the circumstances under which this wrong doing took place as circumstances make a major difference in most cases, at Genesis 38:1-30, "And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. And he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she yet again bare a son, and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah slew him. 8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and he slew him also. 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house. 12 And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee: for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17 And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There hath been no prostitute here. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be put to shame: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. 24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. 7 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself? Therefore his name was called Perez. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zerah." (ASV). Once again we see special circumstances where one of the prophet's son would NOT perform his duty under the ancient Jewish law. This is made plain when Judah said, "And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more." So once more we see the honesty and candor of the Bible that clearly show it to be the inspired word of God (YHWH).
FOURTH, One individual clearly showed that this honesty and candor is NOT found in other so called 'holy books' as follows, "Neither the sons of Jacob, whom the Qur'an mentions as "grandchildren" whose ways should be followed, nor his wives could have engaged such a behavior. Our Prophet explicitly declared that there is not a single case of fornication in his lineage back to Adam, [1] and that all Prophets are brothers descended from the same father. [2] Our Prophet is a descendant of Abraham, as were Judah and the other Israelite Prophets. Thus, how could any of them be the result of an improper sexual alliance?"
Speaks for itself as we all well know there has only been one perfect man who never sinned who walked this earth.
FIFTH, This honesty and candor that differentiates the Bible from other so called 'holy books' and 'knockoffs' is once more shown with respect to King David who under divine inspiration actually wrote part of the Bible, let's look at this candor at 2 Samuel 11:1-27, "And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out [to battle], that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3 And David send and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house. 5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child. 6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. 8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess [of food] from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Art thou not come from a journey? wherefore didst thou not go down unto thy house? 11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. 14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 16 And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 19 and he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling all the things concerning the war unto the king, 20 it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore went ye so nigh unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? 21 who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? why went ye so nigh the wall? then shalt thou say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. 23 And the messenger said unto David, The men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entrance of the gate. 24 And the shooters shot at thy servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another; make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. 26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. 27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Jehovah" (ASV). So we can plainly see the Bible is clearly differentiated from other so called 'holy books' in that it is the only one with honesty and candor in reporting the very BAD things done by prophets; none other do as their authors are men who write the thoughts of men and never write about their wrongs. One individual actually said the following over this bad happening, "David is a Prophet who was given a Divine Scripture (the Psalms) and who is praised in the Qur'an for his sincere and profound devotion to God:
Be patient with them, and remember Our servant David, the man of strength and abilities, who always turned to God in sincere devotion and submission. We made the mountains declare, in unison with him, Our praises, at eventide and at the break of day, and the birds gathered (in assemblies): all with him did turn to Him (in profound devotion). We strengthened his kingdom and gave him wisdom and sound judgment (in speech and decision). (38:17-20)
Though a king, he lived a simple life by his own labor. He had such a great awareness of God that he cried a great deal and fasted every other day. Our Prophet recommended this type of fast to some Companions who asked about the most rewarding type of supererogatory fasting. [3] Could such a noble Prophet ever commit adultery with a married woman, plot her husband's death, and then marry her?"
SIXTH, One individual said the following about the king/prophet Solomon, and the fact that it was actually written down in the Bible under divine inspiration by one God (YHWH) used as a scribe to put his thoughts into the words of men. This clearly shows once more the Bible is the only book ever inspired by Almighty God (YHWH) as no other so called 'holy book' ever showed such honesty and candor. One individual actually said, "In I Kings 11:1-8, despite God's command: "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods," Prophet Solomon is accused of marrying many foreign women belonging to pagan nations and following their gods and goddesses (idols). Would a Prophet be able to commit such a grievous sin as following the idols and deities of other tribes?"
Here a king/prophet is actually shown violating God's (YHWH's) decree given at Deuteronomy 17:15-17, "thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." (ASV).
MANY other examples of the outstanding honesty and candor could be sited, but this sampling should be more than sufficient to show that unlike other so called 'holy books' it is the only one ever divinely inspired by God (YHWH) as it is the only one with such honesty and candor. The following clearly amplify this truth, There are many different writings and books that various groups have considered/believed to be holy books, but why so. Many have been considered holy books based on human tradition such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Rig Veda, etc., and others for which divine inspiration are claimed, but which are actually just knockoffs from the Bible such as the writings of David Korash, the Book of Morman, the Quran (Koran), etc. However, there is only one book, actually a book of books, the Bible which actually was written by man acting as scribes who were given the thoughts of God (YHWH) and put them into the words of men.
Specifically, 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.
To wit, the Bible is the ONLY book God (YHWH) ever inspired men to write as his scribes. In other words, God is its author and men only put his thoughts given to them by divine inspiration into their own words, the words of men. Not only that, all the other writers of later so called religious guidance books borrowed from it and made changes in accord with their strong man or so called prophet. Take the example of Joseph Smith who borrowed from it to write the Book of Mormon, but failed to give credit or source to the Bible and twisted some borrowed things into bizarre distortions. Other examples are of course the bizarre writings of David Koresh the Prophet of the Branch Dividians of Waco, Texas; and the Quran, and the Book of Wiccim.
Truly, the Bible id differentiated from all other so called 'holy books' by its candor and honesty which are not found in those ones that were NOT divinely inspired by God (YHWH).
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] DISCOURSE ON A LOST BOOK OF THE BIBLE
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 969A]
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalms 51:5, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
Yes, all of human kind inherited sin from the original human’s disobedience and this was made plain at Genesis 3:16 – 17, [AV] “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” And this is specifically stated at Romans 1:12, [AV] “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:” And at Romans 3:23, [AV] “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO,
1) WWW.JW.ORG
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,
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 a Lost Book of the Bible:
INTRODUCTION:
There have been many claims for lost books of the Bible, but in reality all but one of these claims is just plain spurious. What is usually being referred to are books that were not divinely inspired nor legitimate, but not actually lost. These will be dealt with in three sections, (1) The Aprocypha or deuterocanonical books, (2) The external books actually quoted in the Bible by inspired writers, (3) History books that some count as part of the Aprocypha, i.e., the 4 Books of Maccabees, the strangest case of all!
But there actually is one lost book, although obviously very short, that we do NOT have today, and I call it 4 th. John.
THE APROCYPHA OR DEUTERCANONICAL BOOKS:
First, let's consider what they are as defined by the Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, by Columbia University Press. This encyclopedia defines the Apocrypha as, "(pk´rf) (KEY) [Gr.,=hidden things], term signifying a collection of early Jewish writings excluded from the canon of the Hebrew scriptures. It is not clear why the term was chosen." In reality they were nothing but uninspired writings, many purporting to be written by other than who was actually their author, or basically illegitimate and lacking credence. In fact, the real author of only one of the Apocrypha is actually known. Some religions, unfortunately, have included some of the Apocrypha in their Bibles, but even these were few in number. A list of most of the Apocrypha follows:
1 Clement, 1st Apocalypse of James, 2 Clement, 2nd Apocalypse of James, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Acts of Andrew, Acts of Apollonius, Acts of Carpus, Acts of John,Acts of Paul, Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas, Acts of Peter, Acts of Peter and the Twelve, Acts of Pilate, Acts of the Apostles, Acts of Thomas, Additions to the Book of Esther, Anonymous Anti-Montanist. Anti-Marcionite Prologues, Apelles, Apocalypse of John, Apocalypse of Peter, Apocryphon of John, Apollonius, Apology of Aristides, Aristo of Pella, Ascension of Isaiah, Athenagoras of Athens, Authoritative Teaching, Bardesanes, Baruch, Basilides, Eel and the Dragon, Book of Elchasai, Book of Thomas the Contender, Books of Jeu, Caius, Celsus, Christian Sibyllines, Claudius Apollinaris, Clement of Alexandria, Colossians, Coptic Apocalypse of Paul, Coptic Apocalypse of Peter, Dialogue of the Savior, Diatessaron, Didache, Didascalia, Dionysius of Corinth, Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth, Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony, Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, Egerton Gospel, Epiphanes On Righteousness, Epistle of Barnabas, Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus, Epistula Apostolorum, Excerpts of Theodotus, Fayyum Fragment, Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra, Fronto, Galen, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of the Ebionite, Gospel of the Egyptians, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of the Nazoreans, Gospel of the Savior, Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Truth, Hegesippus, Heracleon, Hippolytus of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Infancy Gospel of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Inscription of Abercius, Irenaeus of Lyons, Isidore, Judith, Julius Cassianus, Justin Martyr, Kerygmata Petrou, Letter from Vienna and Lyons, Letter of Jeremiah, Letter of Peter to Philip, Lost Sayings Gospel Q, Lucian of Samosata, Mara Bar Serapion, Marcion, Marcus Aurelius, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Maximus of Jerusalem, Melchizedek, Melito of Sardis, Muratorian Canon, Naassene Fragment, Octavius of Minucius Felix, Odes of Solomon, Ophite Diagrams, Origen, Oxyrhynchus 1224 Gospel, Oxyrhynchus 840 Gospel, Pantaenus, Papias, Passion Narrative, Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs , Philostratus, Pistis Sophia, Pliny the Younger, Polycarp to the Philippians, Polycrates of Ephesus, Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Prayer of Manasseh, Preaching of Peter, Ptolemy, Quadratus of Athens, Rhodon, Secret Book of James, Secret Mark, Serapion of Antioch, Shepherd of Hermas, Signs Gospel, Sophia of Jesus Christ, Suetonius, Susanna, Tacitus, Tatian's Address to the Greeks, The Additions to the Book of Daniel, Tertullian, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Theophilus of Antioch, Theophilus of Caesarea, Tobit, Traditions of Matthias, Treatise on the Resurrection, Trimorphic Protennoia, Valentinus, Victor I, Wisdom of Solomon, etc.
As can be seen many of these none illegitimate books try to give themselves credence by closely mimicking the names of actual legitimate canonical books of the Bible. These books are often called the pseudepigrapha? The term is a transliteration of the Greek plural noun that literally means "with false superscription". According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary (p. 1830), the term can be defined as, "spurious works purporting to emanate from biblical characters". The Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language defines the term as, "Certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character, but not considered canonical or inspired. These are NOT lost books, just NOT legitimate books of Bible cannon.
THE EXTERNAL BOOKS QUOTED IN THE BIBLE:
There are many external books quoted by inspired Bible writers as references. Many are, "not aware that the Old Testament authors depended upon other writings as their sources which they freely admit. Among these are: the Book of the Wars of Yahweh (Num. 21:14), the Book of the Jashar (Josh 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18), the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Ki 14:19; 2 Chr 33:18), the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah (1 Ki 14:29, 15:7), the Annals of Samuel the Seer (1 Chr 29:29), the History of Nathan the Prophet (2 Chr 9:29), the Annals of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer (2 Chr. 12:15), the Annals of Jehu the Son of Hanani (2 Chr. 20:34), and others. Some teach that Moses compiled the Book of Genesis from other writings that surely had to have been handed down and preserved by his forefathers. Genesis can be broken down into eleven separate history books, each being separated by colophons at the conclusion of the books. This is known to have been a popular style for such ancient writings. ...According to this theory we have eleven separate books having the following authors: Adam, Noah, and eight other authors which Moses merely compiled into one book. [source= Ronald G. Fanter Cutting Edge Ministries].
One of these books is still existent today, the Book of Jashar or as it is sometimes called the Book of the Just, and another, the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, is actually thought my most scholars to actually be the Book of Jashar. The Book of Jashar is quite interesting, but one must be careful in obtaining a copy as there are counterfeit books masquerading as the Book of Jashar which are not. Also, there is a counterfeit Book of the Wars of Yahweh which is of course a fake since as previously said, this book is thought to just be another name for the Book of Jashar.
THE 4 BOOKS OF MACCABEES:
This is by far the strangest case of all. The 4 Books of Maccabees are ranked by many as part of the Apocrypha; however, they should be ranked as history books of the 1 st. and 2 nd. Century roughly before the incarnation of our leader and savior, Jesus (Yeshua) Christ. Very strange is the fact that the Catholic church accepted only two of them into their Canon of Bible Books; whereas, there are four of them. The Greek Orthodox, however, accepted three of them, and only the Cathars accepted the fourth. Strange to say the least, but none should have been accepted as canonical as they are history books, and one would NOT THINK of accepting H. G. Wells, 'Outline of History," into the Bible cannon; we are getting into the absurd. However, they make excellent reading as history books that fill in the history of these two centuries.
THE REAL LOST BOOK OF 4 JOHN:
However as testified to in the Bible there is a book that is totally legitimate having been written by none other than the Apostle John as a letter to a congregation just as were The First Epistle of John, The Second Epistle of John, and The Third Epistle of John. It is the lost Fourth Epistle of John referred to in The Third Epistle of John that the Revised Standard Version states at 3 John 9, "have written something to the church; but Diot'rephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority." (Revised Standard Version; RSV).
Let's look at this text in context in the Douay Rheims Catholic Bible, 3 John 9-14, and get a better understanding of the circumstances that existed at the time that the Apostle John wrote this letter (epistle):
9 I had written perhaps to the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, doth not receive us. 10 11 Dearly beloved, follow not that which is evil: but that which is good. He that doth good is of God: he that doth evil hath not seen God. 12 To Demetrius, testimony is given by all, and by the truth itself: yea and we also give testimony. And thou knowest that our testimony is true. 13 I had many things to write unto thee: but I would not by ink and pen write to thee. 14 But I hope speedily to see thee: and we will speak mouth to mouth. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Salute the friends by name.
Let's also look at this text in context in the Good News Translation, 3 John 9-14:
I wrote a short letter to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to be their leader, will not pay any attention to what I say. 10 When I come, then, I will bring up everything he has done: the terrible things he says about us and the lies he tells! But that is not enough for him; he will not receive the Christians when they come, and even stops those who want to receive them and tries to drive them out of the church! 11 My dear friend, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God. 12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true. 13 I have so much to tell you, but I do not want to do it with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk personally. 15 Peace be with you.
This letter was directed to the church (congregation) of which Gaius was a member as shown at 3 John 1-2, "To my dear Gaius, whom I truly love. 2 My dear friend, I pray that everything may go well with you and that you may be in good health-as I know you are well in spirit." (the Good News Translation; GNT), but due to Diotrephes it failed in its purpose since Diotrephes loved to be pre-eminent in the congregation and not a servant as a minister should be according to Matthew 20:25-26, " But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister;" (American Standard Version; ASV). The facts presented are affirmed in 100s of different translations. A. Plummer, in the book, "The Epistles of Saint John," made the following comment, "Perhaps the meaning is that Diotrephes meant to make his Church independent; hitherto it had been governed by Saint John from Ephesus, but Diotrephes wished to make it autonomous to his own glorification." [source="The Epistles of Saint John," by A. Plummer, Cambridge: The University Press, 1886, page 149].
As all can see, this is really a lost book that should be in our Bible, but is not due to the fact that it was not preserved. Whereas, all the so called other lost books of the Bible are not lost; they exist, but have no place in the Word of God (YHWH), the Bible, as they were NOT written under divine inspiration, hence not legitimate with respect belonging to Bible canon.
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COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] THE RARE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - Argania
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 970A]
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26 (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
WHEN they were created, Adam and Eve had no enemies whatsoever. They were perfect humans who lived in a paradise. They enjoyed a close relationship with their Creator as his son and daughter. (Gen. 2:7-9; Luke 3:38) Their life prospects were indicated in the very commission God gave them. At Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” [AV] could be accomplished in a certain amount of time. But to continue to ‘have in subjection every living creature that is moving on the earth,’ Adam and Eve would need to live forever, Adam never having to abdicate his oversight by dying.
However, unfortunately Adam did not get the opportunity to carry out this commission as he disobeyed by braking the command given to him at Genesis 2:16 – 17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” [AV] .
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO,
1) WWW.JW.ORG
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
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[2] Argania (Berber: ????? Argan) is a genus of flowering plants containing the sole species Argania spinosa, known as argan, a tree endemic to the calcareous semidesert Sous valley of southwestern Morocco. Argan trees grow to 8–10 m (26–33 ft) high and live up to approximately 200 years. They are thorny, with gnarled trunks and wide spreading crown. The crown has a circumference of about 70 m (230 ft) and the branches lean towards the ground.
The leaves are small, 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) long, and oval with a rounded apex. The flowers are small, with five pale yellow-green petals; flowering is in April. The fruit is 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) long and 1.5–3 cm (0.59–1.18 in) broad, with a thick, bitter peel surrounding a sweet-smelling but unpleasantly flavored layer of pulpy pericarp. This surrounds the very hard nut, which contains one (occasionally two or three) small, oil-rich seeds. The fruit takes over a year to mature, ripening in June to July of the following year.
Name
The scientific name argania is derived from argan, the name of the tree in Tasussit, the Berber language which is spoken by the majority of the people living in the areas where the tree is endemic. Tasussit has a rich vocabulary for the various parts of the fruit, its stages of ripeness, and its harvesting and processing. The oil is also called argan. In medieval Arabic pharmacological sources, the tree is known as harj?n, a name which is also derived from Tasussit argan.
Cultivation
In Morocco, arganeraie forests now cover some 8,280 km2 (3,200 sq mi) and are designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Their area has shrunk by about half during the last 100 years, due to charcoal-making, grazing, and increasingly intensive cultivation. The best hope for the conservation of the trees may lie in the recent development of a thriving export market for argan oil as a high-value product. However, the wealth brought by argan oil export has also created threats to argan trees in the form of increased goat population. Locals use the newfound wealth to buy more goats and the goats stunt the growth of the argan trees by climbing up and eating their leaves and fruit.[3]
Argan is grown in Israel, in the Arabah, and Negev.[4][5][6]
Uses
In some parts of Morocco, argan takes the place of the olive as a source of forage, oil, timber, and fuel in Berber society. Especially near Essaouira, the argan tree is frequently climbed by goats.[7]
Fruit
Argan fruit falls in July, when black and dry. Until this happens, goats are kept out of the argan woodlands by wardens. Rights to collect the fruit are controlled by law and village traditions. The leftover nuts are gathered after consumption and spit out by ruminating goats. Seeds spat out by the goats constitute an overlooked mechanism of seed dispersal.[8]
Argan oil
Main article: Argan oil
Argan oil is produced by several women's co-operatives in the southwestern parts of Morocco. The most labor-intensive part of oil-extraction is removal of the soft pulp (used to feed animals) and the cracking by hand, between two stones, of the hard nut. The seeds are then removed and gently roasted. This roasting accounts for part of the oil's distinctive, nutty flavor.[9]
The traditional technique for oil extraction is to grind the roasted seeds to paste, with a little water, in a stone rotary quern. The paste is then squeezed by hand to extract the oil. The extracted paste is still oil-rich and is used as animal feed. Oil produced this way can be stored and used for 3–6 months, and will be produced as needed in a family, from a store of the kernels, which will keep for 20 years unopened. Dry-pressing is becoming increasingly important for oil produced for sale, as this method allows for faster extraction, and the oil produced can be used for 12–18 months after extraction.[10]
The oil contains 80% unsaturated fatty acids, is rich in essential fatty acids, and is more resistant to oxidation than olive oil. Argan oil is used for dipping bread, on couscous, salads, and similar uses. A dip for bread known as amlou is made from argan oil, almonds, and peanuts, sometimes sweetened by honey or sugar. The unroasted oil is traditionally used as a treatment for skin diseases, and has become favoured by European cosmetics manufacturers.[11][12][13]
Argan oil is sold in Morocco as a luxury item. The product is of increasing interest to cosmetics companies in Europe. It used to be difficult to buy the oil outside Morocco, but since 2001–2002, it has become a fashionable product in Europe and North America.[citation needed] It is now widely available in specialist shops and occasionally in supermarkets. Its price (US$40–50 for 500 ml) is notable compared to other oils.[14]
Argan oil contains:[15]
• 46% Oleic acid
• 32% Linoleic acid
• 12% Palmitic acid
• 6% Stearidonic acid
[SOURCE - retrieved from on 10/8/2018]
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