- iris89
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] STRANGE, SOME MAKE SO MUCH OVER PETTY THINGS AND IGNORE THE SUBSTANTIAL
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 981A]
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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, Genesis 1:26 – 28 (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
After preparing our beautiful planet for human habitation, Jehovah issued three decrees regarding humans: Our God would create mankind in his image, humans were to expand Paradise globally and fill the earth with righteous offspring, and humans were prohibited from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. (Genesis 2:16, 17) There was no need for anything more. After the creation of man, adherence to the other two decrees was all that was necessary to have God’s purpose fulfilled.
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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] STRANGE, SOME MAKE SO MUCH OVER PETTY THINGS AND IGNORE THE SUBSTANTIAL
It seems strange and completely unreasonable that anyone should make an issue with respect a name given by Francis David, in the book he jointly authored with Georgio Biandrata, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sanci cognition," (The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and others during the reformation to a communication style that has been used for over 2,000 years, and even by Jesus (Yeshua) and the Apostles. This especially so when the history of the reformation deals mostly with much more serious and substantial matters such as denial of religious freedom, burning of people at the stake because they do not agree with corrupt religious teachings and even worse - genocide and death by torture. It is like Jesus (Yeshua) said at Matthew 23:23-26, " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also."(American Standard Version; ASV); which if you think about it apthly applies to both sides, Catholics and Protestants in the reformation.
The Catholics of course committed terrible acts against humanity in open flaunting violation of the Word of God as any good history book or encyclopedia will show, I recommend "Fox's Book of Martyrs," by Foxe, and the world history books by Catholic historian Will Durant. However, John Calvin and his followers did likewise even though they called themselves reformers, but this was a fraud as they were NOT true reformers, just another worldly power base. They like the Catholics and Martin Luther and his gang allied themselves with the god of this system [see 2 Corinthians 4:4] and the political systems in power under the god of this system clearly giving no heed to what Jesus (Yeshua) the Prince of Peace said at John 18:36-38, " Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find no crime in him."(ASV). They allied themselves as stated with the political powers under the god of this system, Satan the Devil, as did the Catholics in direct violation of James 4:4, " Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God"(ASV); and 1 John 2:15-16, " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."(ASV).
This clearly shows that the Catholic church and the Protestant groups it gave birth to have from at least 325 A.D. continued to diverge ever further from truth with each time cycle with, now, some of these groups even appointing as bishops open practitioners of Sodomy, can you imagine; yet they have the nerve to call themselves followers of Christ, outrageous. They openly by their actions show they believe not James 4:4, previously quoted.
As to be expected, these ones who are like the PHARISEES of old as shown at Matthew 23:13-16, " But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. 14 [Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation.] 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor"(ASV).
These ones under the control of the god of this system as clearly shown by their actions in 100s of history books and encyclopedias detest those not following in their wrong path. Those who instead of ever diverging further from Bible truths are instead ever converging toward more refined truth with each time cycle. Those true Christians who are really following their leader Jesus (Yeshua) in reality and not just in name. [b]Who have never, no never, committed genocide, denied anyone religious freedom, burned anyone at the stake or committed other atrocities against humanity, even trying to give Christ's true followers a hard time over a trivial like a writing style. Utterly ridiculas, but clearly showing these opposers are NOT true followers of Christ, but really in opposition to him.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Many posters can Not distinguish between a writing style and a doctrine. Let's consider 'Sola Scriptura' or use of 50% or more only scripture as defined by Francis David in in the book he jointly authored withGeorgio Biandrata, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sanci cognition," (The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). It is a writing style that got confused with a doctrine or dogma put forth by reformers in the 14 th. And 15 th. Century of a similar name, Bible only. Why did the two get mixed together in the thinking of many? Because the reformers used the Bible only doctrine of theirs to show the excesses and wrongs of the Catholic church such as selling indulgences. But as their tool in support of their Bible only doctrine they made extensive use of a communication style that Jesus (Yeshua) and his followers had used as shown in the Bible at Matthew 4:4; 4:6-7; 4:10; Luke 24:46; etc.
Of Course the belief or doctrine of the Bible only or the Bible is the Standard is a correct doctrine as clearly shown at many places in the Bible, one being 2 Timothy 3:16-17, " All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice:"(American Standard Version; ASV), and by Acts 17:11, and elsewhere. However, many wrongly contend otherwise as they would rather believe what man says than God's (YHWH's) Word, the Bible, says. These are the same ones as a general rule that confuse the writing style in which over 50% of the writing consist of scripture arranged in a free flowing way to assist others in learning Bible truths. However, this in no way makes it the same as the doctrine - correct - of the Bible only or the Bible is the Standard as some falsely allege.
Part II:
One poster even accused me of believing what some Rabbi in North Miami Beach believes simply because I quoted him on a subject that he is an expert in. However, I quote many knowledgeable individuals on many subjects in which they are experts. That in NO way implies I believe as they do with respect other matters. For example, I often quote Will Durant, a Catholic historian, but that in no way implies I believe as he does. It implies only that I consider him an expert on the specific subject I am using this quote for, nothing else anymore than does it imply that people who read the New American Bible (Catholic) are same sex pedophiles because one of the translators was accused of being one. Let's get real. I am not an Oracle or Prophetess so I must quote works of other researchers and knowledgeable individuals, and to try an equate that to believing as they do with respect doctrine/dogma is absolutely absurd and complete nonsense.
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] INTENTIONALLY CORRUPTED BIBLE TRANSLATIONS BY BELIEVERS IN FALSE GODS
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 982A]
John 8:42 Jesus (Yeshua) said to them, " Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
Jesus (Yeshua) said he comes from God. The flesh cannot be speaking for the flesh was created. So Jesus (Yeshua)'s spiritual being came from God. Jesus (Yeshua) did not send himself, he did not come on his own, but before he was on earth, God sent him. Jesus (Yeshua) was sent by God into the world, so Jesus (Yeshua) is before the world with God. He is referred to a Pr. 8:22-31, “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: 28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: 30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
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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] Intentionally Corrupted Bible Translations By Believers in False Gods:
INTRODUCTIONS:
For many years some translators have left the true God (YHWH) out of their translations and/or used it only minimally in keeping with a Jewish superstition that it was to 'Holy' to pronounce and might be used in vain. Now insincere translators and/or their staff have gone a major step further is some cases. Translators and/or their staff that believe in false gods and/or goddesses have now started replacing the true God (YHWH) of Abraham's name with that of some local deity. Unbelievable but true. Should we be surprised at this wicked act by some insincere translators and/or their staff? No, as 2 Corinthians 4:4, "in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them." (American Standard Version; ASV).
EXAMPLES OF INTENTIONAL CORRUPTIONS BY BELIEVERS IN FALSE DEITIES:
Here are some actual examples of the false mythical local gods of Satan the Devil actually being substituted for the name of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham in some Bibles by insincere translators and/or their staff to usurp his position and give deference to local deities - false puppet gods of the ruler of this system per Ephesians 2:2, "wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;" (ASV). These wicked ones of course have not given attention to Ephesians 2:2, just quoted; nor to John 14:30, "I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me;" (ASV); nor John 16:11, "of judgment, because the prince [Satan the Devil] of this world hath been judged." (ASV).
A translation, the Chickewa Bible - 'Buku Loyera' - used in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, renders the Tetragrammation (YHWH) - the name of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham's as "Chauta," the name of a tribal god meaning 'Great One of the Bow.' But the wicked translators of this version claim to be worshipping true God (YHWH) of Abraham when they are not. Their justification for using "chauta" is the fact that most local people use this term to mean god, but in fact this is wrong as there is actually another term for god strictly as a title. Also, they could have and should have used the Tetragrammation (YHWH) - the name of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham.
One notable intentional corruption of one version of the Bible, The Authentic New Testament by Hugh J. Schonfield occurred because an evil member of his staff substituted the name of an Arabian tribal mythical Moon god, "Allah," in place of the name of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham by one of his staff who was a member of Islam. However, proofreaders quickly caught this and later editions of this Bible, The Authentic New Testament by Hugh J. Schonfield (Sd) have no such ungodly error. Unfortunately, 'game play' by evil ones such as that just mentioned occur from time to time.
Of course intentional evil corruption's with respect the name of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham are not the only intentional corruption's that occur. One African translation, for example, refers to the Apostle Luke as a witch doctor. And the 'Tuvaluan Bible takes evil liberties with Jude 23, saying, "Show intense love for sodomites: just be careful you are not affected by their sodomy." However, the original text of Jude 23, "and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (ASV) never even mention sodomites nor sodomy; whereas, sodomy is condemned at Romans 1:24-29, "Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: 25 for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due. 28 And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers," (ASV). Now let's look at the reality with respect false gods and goddesses.
FALSE GODS, OF COURSE, ARE NOTHING BUT FIGMENTS OF THE IMAGINATION
There exist many false gods which are figments of the imagination and some of these such as Molech, Ashtoreth, Baal, Dagon Merodach, Zeus, Hermes, Artemis, etc. are mentioned in the Bible. Let's look at a few instances, Leviticus 18:21, "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD." (AV); Judges 2:13, "And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth." (AV); Judges 16:23, "Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand." (AV); Jeremiah 50:2, "Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces." (AV); Acts 14:12, "And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker." (AV). Some of these gods exist until today, usually under new names.
The old middle eastern Moon god who has gone by many names is still well venerated. This is shown by "The Archeology of The Middle East" which states, "The religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of "Allah." The Muslims claim that Allah in pre-Islamic times was the biblical God of the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The issue is thus one of continuity. Was "Allah" the biblical God or a pagan god in Arabia during pre-Islamic times? The Muslim's claim of continuity is essential to their attempt to convert Jews and Christians for if "Allah" is part of the flow of divine revelation in Scripture, then it is the next step in biblical religion. Thus we should all become Muslims. But, on the other hand, if Allah was a pre-Islamic pagan deity, then its core claim is refuted. Religious claims often fall before the results of hard sciences such as archeology. We can endlessly speculate about the past or go and dig it up and see what the evidence reveals. This is the only way to find out the truth concerning the origins of Allah. As we shall see, the hard evidence demonstrates that the god Allah was a pagan deity. In fact, he was the Moon-god who was married to the sun goddess and the stars were his daughters.
Archaeologists have uncovered temples to the Moon-god throughout the Middle East. From the mountains of Turkey to the banks of the Nile, the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world was the worship of the Moon-god. In the first literate civilization, the Sumerians have left us thousands of clay tablets in which they described their religious beliefs. As demonstrated by Sjoberg and Hall, the ancient Sumerians worshipped a Moon-god who was called many different names. The most popular names were Nanna, Suen and Asimbabbar. His symbol was the crescent moon. Given the amount of artifacts concerning the worship of this Moon-god, it is clear that this was the dominant religion in Sumeria. The cult of the Moon-god was the most popular religion throughout ancient Mesopotamia. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Akkadians took the word Suen and transformed it into the word Sin as their favorite name for the Moon-god. As Prof. Potts pointed out, "Sin is a name essentially Sumerian in origin which had been borrowed by the Semites." [source - The Archeology of the Middle East]"[additional references - "South Arabia's stellar religion has always been dominated by the Moon-god in various variations" (Berta Segall, The Iconography of Cosmic Kingship, the Art Bulletin, vol.xxxviii, 1956, p.77).; Isaac Rabinowitz, Aramaic Inscriptions of the Fifth Century, JNES, XV, 1956, pp.1-9; Edward Linski, The Goddess Atirat in Ancient Arabia, in Babylon and in Ugarit: Her Relation to the Moon-god and the Sun-goddess, Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica, 3:101-9; H.J.Drivers, Iconography and Character of the Arab Goddess Allat, found in Études Preliminaries Aux Religions Orientales Dans L'Empire Roman, ed. Maarten J. Verseren, Leiden, Brill, 1978, pp.331-51); Richard Le Baron Bower Jr. and Frank P. Albright, Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1958, p.78ff; Ray Cleveland, An Ancient South Arabian Necropolis, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1965; Nelson Gleuck, Deities and Dolphins, New York, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1965).; Another Aramaic Record of the North Arabian goddess Han'Llat, JNES, XVIII, 1959, pp.154-55.
All these mythical gods are not merely inferior to Almighty God (YHWH). In most cases they are nenexistent - strictly figments of human imagination. The Bible refers to these gods at Deuteronomy 4:28, " And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell." (AV). The Bible clearly teaches that God (YHWH) is the only true God (YHWH).
Therefore it is no wonder that the scriptures sternely warn against worshipping any other deith other than Almighty God (YHWH) Exodus 20:3, the first of the Ten Commandments states, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (AV), and the second of the Ten Commandments states, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:" (AV).
CONCLUSION:
As can be seen from the foregoing, evil and wicked ones have intentionally tried to corrupt some Bible translations. This is being done by evil translators or in some cases by wicked members of their staff in order to try and justify the worship of false gods and/or to make wicked practices such as sodomy seem acceptable to the true God (YHWH) of Abraham when it is NOT. All must be on guard and not let themselves be tricked by these evil machinations being directed by none other than Satan the Devil.
Let's remember, to venerate a god that does not even exist is a great insult to the Creator (YHWH), and worshippers of false gods are described at Romans 1:25, "for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.." (ASV).
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] IS THE BIBLE THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD?
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 983A]
for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 1 Corinthians 14:33 [American Standard Version; ASV]
Like the righteous spirit creatures in heaven, the physical heavens are superbly organized, per Isaiah 40:26, “Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking.” [ASV]. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that Jehovah would organize his servants on earth. He wants them to maintain good order, and that is vitally important because they have so much important work to do. The splendid record of faithful service established by Jehovah’s worshippers past and present provides powerful evidence that he has been with them and that he is “a God not of disorder but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO,
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2)
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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] Is the Bible the Inspired Word of God?
By Jason Carlson and Ron Carlson, 5/25/11 [source - retrieved from on 9/23/2012]
During a question and answer session at a recent speaking engagement, a university student asked me, "Why do you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God?" Now this is a very interesting question; and probably one of the most important questions any Christian could ask them selves. What is so special, so unique about the Bible that Christians believe it is literally the inspired word of God?
In answering this student's question, I encouraged him to consider the following facts about the Bible: First, the Bible is not just one single book. This is a more common misconception than many people realize, especially with people who do not come from a Judeo-Christian background. Rather than being a single book, the Bible is actually a collection of 66 books, which is called the canon of scriptures. These 66 books contain a variety of genres: history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters, and apocalyptic, just to name a few.
Second, these 66 books were written by 40 different authors. These authors came from a variety of backgrounds: shepherds, fishermen, doctors, kings, prophets, and others. And most of these authors never knew one another personally.
Third, these 66 books were written over a period of 1500 years. Yet again, this is another reminder that many of these authors never knew or collaborated with one another in writing these books.
Fourth, the 66 books of the Bible were written in 3 different languages. In the Bible we have books that were written in the ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic; a reflection of the historical and cultural circumstances in which each of these books were written.
And finally, these 66 books were written on 3 different continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe . Once again, this is a testament to the varied historical and cultural circumstances of God's people. Think about the above realities: 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents. What's more, this collection of books shares a common storyline- the creation, fall, and redemption of God's people; a common theme- God's universal love for all of humanity; and a common message- salvation is available to all who repent of their sins and commit to following God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength.
In addition to sharing these commonalities, these 66 books contain no historical errors or contradictions. God's word truly is an amazing collection of writings! After I had shared the above facts with this student, I offered him the following challenge: I said to him, "If you do not believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, if you do not believe that the Bible is of a supernatural origin, then I challenge you to a test." I said to the student, "I challenge you to go to any library in the world; you can choose any library you like, and find 66 books which match the characteristics of the 66 books in the Bible. You must choose 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, written on 3 different continents. However, they must share a common storyline, a common theme, and a common message, with no historical errors or contradictions." I went on to say, "If you can produce such a collection of
books, I will admit that the Bible is not the inspired word of God."
The student's reply was almost instantaneous, he emphatically stated," But that's impossible!" It truly is impossible, for any collection of human writings. However, the Bible passes this test. The Bible contains 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents, with no historical errors or contradictions. The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, bears the mark of Divine inspiration.
The next time you encounter someone who asks you why you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, try sharing this challenge with them. Better yet, don't wait until you're asked, just go ahead and share this challenge with a friend today. You don't even have to mention the Bible up front, just ask them if they think it would be realistic to assemble such a collection of books. After they say, "But that's impossible!" you've got a ready-made opportunity for sharing the truth of God's word with somebody!
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] LEARN ABOUT THE AUTHORIZED KING JAMES BIBLE
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 984A]
“No single witness may convict another for any error or any sin that he may commit. On the testimony of two witnesses or on the testimony of three witnesses the matter should be established. Deuteronomy 19:15 [New World Translation Revised: NWTr]
Hear the testimony of witnesses. The statements of witnesses were vital to an investigation. God’s Law stipulated that there be adequate witnesses and/or evidence so as to avoid errors. To the witnesses, God’s Law commanded: “You must not spread a report that is not true. Do not cooperate with a wicked one by becoming a malicious witness” (Exodus 23:1, [NWTr])
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] LEARN ABOUT THE AUTHORIZED KING JAMES BIBLE:
The King James and the American Standard Versions of the New
Testament
by
Clarence T. Craig
(The following is the first in a series of five articles to be
reprinted in successive issues of The Bible Translator by
permission of the International Council of Religious Education,
which first *Issued these articles, together with certain others,
under the title "An Introduction to the Revised Standard Version of
the New Testament". The Revised Standard Version has met with
unusually wide acceptance, and these explanatory articles should be
of help to those who wish to understand more fully the nature of the
revision and what underlies it. - Ed.)
The King James Version was not the first English Bible. It is
difficult to realize that it had to fight its way for general
recognition for fifty years. It was charged with "bad theology, bad
scholarship, and bad English". To this day the form of the Lord's
Prayer most widely used is not that of the King James Version. The
Psalter and some other parts of the Book of Common Prayer were never
made to conform to this translation. But the noble language of the
King James Version so endeared it to generations of English-speaking
people that it has become the most widely used translation of the
Bible. and by far the most widely read English book.
It is needless to join here in the praise which has been heaped upon
this English classic. It will never be dislodged from its high place
in the history of our literature. But the Christian Church has more
than a literary interest in the Bible. It believes that the Bible is
the record of a divine revelation. Is this version of the New
Testament an accurate and understandable translation of the original
Greek? That is the vital question for religion.. During the
nineteenth century it became increasingly clear to all scholars that
such was not the case, The many and serious faults of the King James
Version finally led to the setting up in England of an official
committee for revision. These men in turn solicited co-operation
from an American committee. After more than ten years of exacting
labor, they published the New Testament in 1881, The American
preferences were inserted in the American Standard Version of 1901.
The first and most important improvement made by the revisers was in
the Greek text which was made the basis for their translation. The
King James Version was based essentially upon the Greek text of
Beza, printed in 1598. Though he had available what we know to be
much better manuscripts, Beza had followed the text of Erasmus,
which was based on late and corrupt medieval manuscripts. The
tremendous advance in textual criticism during the nineteenth
century made it clear that it was indefensible to follow this so-
called "Received Text". The revisers, following the principles used
by Westcott and Hort for recovering the original text. found
correction to be necessary at more than five thousand points.
The vast majority of these corrections are hardly noticed by the
average reader, but the attentive reader will find interesting
differences. A beginning student in Greek was translating I John 4 :
19, "We love him because he first loved us." I stopped him with the
query, "Where is the word for him?" He confessed that there was
none: but he was so familiar with the King James Version that he
took for granted that it must be correct. Yet John bad not said that
it I's our love of God that depends on his prior love for us, As the
text followed by the American Standard Version has it, all Christian
love depend, on that When a class comes to Acts 8, 1 usually ask a
student to read verse 37. Either he cannot find it, or finally
locates the footnote which tells him that it is not found in the
best manuscripts. An early scribe had thought it improper for Philip
to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch without a confession of faith,
Hence, he supplied the deficiency. The King James Version was based
on this corrupted text. Once I was comparing the version of the
Great Commandments as given in a modern hymnal with the true Greek
text and I was shocked at the inaccuracies. While the substance was
the same, within four verses there were four important deviations
from the correct text. Then I realized that the hymnal had used the
version of King James rather than the American Standard Version. A
slight textual change may be siqnificant as in 2 Corinthians 5: 14.
There the Received Text called for the translation. "If one died for
all then were all dead". But Paul did not think that there was
anything hypothetical about the representative death of Christ. The
apostle wrote, as the American Standard Version translates. "One
died for all".
A second need for the revision lay in the fact that many words used
in the King
James Version had become obsolete or had changed their meaning, What
modern reader would imagine that the "carriages " which Paul took
tip on his trip to Jerusalem were in fact "baqgage" (Acts 21 - 15)?
Or, when Paul beheld the "devotions" of the Athenians, that it
was "the objects of your worship" (Acts 17 : 23). He would hardly
know that "scrip" meant a "wallet" or "bag" (Mark 6 : 8) unless he
consulted his dictionary. Certainly a schoolboy would be forgiven
some perplexity if he should remember the date of the invention of
the compass and then read in the description of Paul's sea
voyage, "We fetched a compass" (Acts 28 : 13), "Made a circuit" is
more intelligible even if it is not particularly nautical. He could
probably guess the meaning of some words. When he read in Matthew
13: 21 of the seed which did not have root that it "dureth for a
while" he in might understand that as -endureth-, Or when I Peter 3 -
11 said, "Seek peace and ensue it", he might think the
word "pursue" instead. But in other
the reader would have an entirely false certainty. Flow, could he
know that the "nephews" of certain widows in I Timothy 5 , 4 were in
fact their "grandchildren"? He would assume that Mark was perfectly
clear in speaking of -tbe coasts of Tyre and !Sidon", for these
cities stood on the Mediterranean. But, as a matter of fact, the
word was used as a synonym for "borders" (Mark 7:24,31).
A great many words have changed their meaning in the last three
hundred years. We still use the word "let", but that does not help
us understand that "he who now letteth" really means "one that
restraineth" now (2 Thess. 2 : 7). Unless a reader remembers his
Latin he is likely to be misled by the words, "We which... remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep
(I Thess. 4 - 15). Since we use "prevent" for "hinder", the revisers
wisely substituted "precede". Many people have charged Jesus with
qiving impractical advice when he said. "Take no thought for your
life" (Matthew 6 - 25). They welcomed the revision which read, "Be
not anxious", But that was exactly what the word "thought" meant to
our Elizabethan forefathers. We may speak of a "charger", but we
think of a prancing horse rather than a "platter" on which the head
of John the Baptist might be laid (Mark 6 - 25). We may use the
adjective "lively", but never when what we mean is "living" (I Peter
2 : 4-5). We may refer to a man's "conversation", but we never mean
by that his "conduct" (James 3 : 13) : yet that is the way the word
was used over and over again in the King James Version. No matter
what kind of "room" we eat in, we would never refer to higher and
lower rooms at a dinner table (Luke 14 .7-10). We know what
an "estate" is, but that does not help us to see how "chief estates"
could be invited to a birthday supper (Mark 6: 21). The Revised
Versions of 1881 and 1901 put all of these passages into words which
we use today.
It was in the use of prepositions that the King James Version was
most misleading.The famous "strain at a gnat' (Matthew 23 - 24) was
simply a misprint for "strain out a gnat", but the misprint was not
corrected. In some cases the reader might guess what the passage
really means. He may recognize that "Make to yourselves friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness" means in fact "by means of the mammon
of unrighteousness (Luke 16 : 9). When Jesus says. "against the day
of my burying hath she kept this", the meaning is "for the day"
(John 12 : 7), Other cases are probably too absurd to be misleading,
Pilate could not possibly have said about Jesus, "Nothing worthy of
death is done unto him" (Luke 23 : 15), It must mean "done by him",
as the revisers made it. But the average reader was left totally in
the dark when Pats] was made to write, "I know nothing by myself" (I
Cor. 4 - 4). The apostle certainly believed that he owed everythinq
to Christ, but what he actually wrote here was. "I know nothing
against myself". Among the significant points obscured by the King
James use of prepositions was the distinction between source and
mediation. In the prologue of John they said of the Word, "All
things were made by him" (I : 3). The American revisers properly
corrected it to "through him". The same change was made in I
Corinthians 8 - 6 where Christ is called the mediator rather than
the absolute source of creation.
Actual mistranslations are numerous, Paul did not write to the
Thessalonians, "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thess,
5 :22). He meant that they should keep from "every form of evil."
When the Pharisee was made to say in the parable of Jesus, "I give
tithes of all that I possess", this ascribed to Jesus a
misconception of the law of the tithe. It was not on property but on
income. Hence the revisers properly wrote, "All that I get" (Luke
18 : 12). In I Timothy 6 : 5 the subject was mistaken for the
predicate. "Supposing that gain is godliness" had to be corrected
to "supposinq that godliness is, a way of gain". What Herod did with
John the Baptist when be put him in prison was not to "observe him"
but "keep him safe- (Mark 6 :20).
Some wrong translations were due to the influence of the Latin
Vulgate, In Luke 23 : 33 the 1611 Bible kept the word "Calvary",
which had been used since Tyndale for "the place which is called The
Skull", The Latin word for skull was calvaria. There is no reason
for its use in the English translation of a Greek book. The mistake
in John 10:16 has a pertinent bearing on the question of Christian
unity. The King James Version reads, "Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold... and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd",
But in the Greek there are two different words. both of which are
translated here fold". as in the Vulgate, What the gospel says is
that there are sheep who do not belong to this fold, but that all
belong to one flock.
For its own time the 1611 version did not contain many mistakes in
Enqlish grammar. But our usage in the gender of pronouns has become
entirely different. Any student who turned in a composition with
such sentences as "salt has lost his savour", (Matthew 5 - 13),
or "my messenger. .. which shall prepare thy way" (Mark I : 2),
would have his work blue-penciled rather severely. "Cherubims"
(Hebrews 9 :5) is a false plural, for the Hebrew word "cherubim" is
itself the plural of cherub. When they wrote in Hebrews 5 :
8 "though he were a Son", it was a false use of the subjunctive for
any period of our lanquaqe. Since there is nothing hypothetical
involved, the revisers properly made it read "though he was a Son".
Probably the most notorious grammatical slip was in the story of
Peter's confession. They must have been thinking in Greek, where the
subject of an infinitive is in the accusative case, when they
wrote, "Whom do men say that I am". (Mark 8 : 27). Naturally the
revisers restored it to English syntax with the nominative "who".
The King James Version introduced many distinctions which have no
basis in the original, In their famous preface, the translators
affirmed that they did not feel bound to a single rendering for the
same word. It is true that a translator must consider the
differences of context, and give attention to the literary
possibilities of the language in which he is writing. A Greek verb
like katargeo must be rendered in English in a wide variety of ways,
but when Paul deliberately used it three times in the same paragraph
with the same meaning they were not justified in using three
different expressions (I Cor. 13 : 8-10). What was to be gained by
calling the same Old Testament character by three different names,
Jeremiah, Jeremias, and Jeremy? The result of this carelessness or
freedom (whichever we prefer to call it) is that, the King James
Version gives an inaccurate picture of the underlying Greek text,
For instance, in Acts 17:11 are told that Paul was brought to the
Areopagus. Then in 17 : 22 he stands "in the midst of Mars' Hill".
How is the reader to know that both translate the same Greek word
and are really alternative possibilities as to its meaning? It was
most unfortunate that in I Corinthians 13 and a few other places
they forsook the Anglo-Saxon word "love" for the Latin "charity" as
a translation for agape. Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva Bible had
all been uniform in their use of "love". If Paul used one and the
same word, why should not we?
In the Synoptic Gospels, where the parallels are so important, the
King James Version does not give any indication of the literary
dependence revealed by the Greek text.
Matthew 18 - 33 reads, "Shouldest not thou also have compassion on
thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?" Why should the same
Greek word be "compassion" in one half of the sentence and "pity" in
the other? The revisers chose "mercy" in both cases. In Matthew
20,20 the King James Version reads. "Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with her sons**. Zebedee may have had daughters
as well as sons, but the Greek word is "son" in each case.
On the other hand, the translators of the King James Version
obliterated many distinctions which are in the Greek, They
used "bell" indiscriminately for "Hades" (Matt, II : 23) and for -
Gehenna" (Matt. 5: 22). One meant the abode of the dead. the other,
a place of punishment. But how could the English reader know which
Greek word stood in any individual passage? The revisers of 1881
were very careful at this point, Again, the King James Version used
the word "beast" both for the four "living creatures" who stood
round about the throne singing praises to God (Rev. 4:6) and for the
diabolical monsters who were the opponents of God and his servants
(Rev. II :7: 13 - I). In the original, entirely different words are
used and the, revisers made this clear. To mention one more point,
the distinctions in Greek tenses were often not observed, even when
it was important for the meaning.
Two illustrations will suffice of the anachronisms which slipped
into the King James Version. The resurrection of Jesus is central in
the New
Testament, but that does not mean that apostolic Christianity had a
festival which they called "Easter" (Acts 12 : 4) Our Easter may be
close to the Jewish Passover, but that is hardly a justification for
translating the latter word as "Easter' , . It seemed perfectly
natural in
Elizabethan England that a woman should light a candle and sweep
the house to find a lost coin (Luke 15:8). But in first-century
Palestine
it was a little lamp which gave light to the room. The more exact
knowledge of the revisers made possible these corrections.
Examples might be extended almost indefinitely. but enough have been
given to indicate why so many changes were made by the revisers. In
their desire to remove inaccuracies, they may be accused of having
dropped into other pitfalls. A later chapter will deal with what
they failed to do and some of the points on which their judgment
proved faulty, But no one can, successfully deny that the English
Revised Version, and the American Standard Version provided the most
faithful and accurate translation of the New Testament which had yet
been produced. An advance to a more perfect translation could only
begin by building on their achievements.
LAST, I wish to make a comment. The King James Bible was an excellent translation in its day, but many thousands of manuscripts and parts of ancient manuscripts have been uncovered/found since then and our understanding of Koine Greek has improved since then very much. Also, the KJB was influenced by the biases of the day, and also contained some unauthorized additions in violation of Revelation 22:18-19.
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] THE RARE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - Antidesma
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 985A]
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 1 Thessalonians 1:3 [authorized King James Bible; AV]
THE apostle Paul remembered those who worked hard in behalf of the good news. : Indeed, Almighty God (YHWH) himself remembers the loving labors of all who faithfully serve him, whether their circumstances in life permit them to do much or little.—Heb. 6:10.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RELIGION AND THE BIBLE, GO TO,
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2)
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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] Antidesma is a genus of tropical plant in the Phyllanthaceae formally described by Linnaeus in 1753.[3][1] It is native to tropical Africa, S + E + SE Asia, Australia, and various oceanic islands. The greatest diversity occurs in Southeast Asia
Description
Antidesma is a variable genus which may be short and shrubby or tall and erect, approaching 30 metres in height.It has large oval shaped leathery evergreen leaves up to about 20 centimetres long and seven wide. The flowers have a strong, somewhat unpleasant scent. The staminate flowers are arranged in small bunches and the pistillate flowers grow on long racemes which will become the long strands of fruit. The fruits are spherical and just under a centimeter wide, hanging singly or paired in long, heavy bunches. They are white when immature and gradually turn red, then black.When they are still white they have sour and astringent taste, sour taste when they are red and have sweet and sour taste when they are black.
The evergreen (sometimes deciduous) simple leaves have fine hairs and show no glands. They grow in an alternate arrangement, with entire, symmetrical blades. They are connected to the stem with a petiole (leaf stalk) and stipules (appendage at the base of a leaf stalk).
The flowers grow in a raceme, with 1 bract per flower, on a short pedicel (tiny stalk, supporting a single flower). Their color is light yellowish green, but may turn red when mature. These plants are dioecious, i.e. unisexual, with male and female flowers on separate plants. There are 3 to 8 fused sepals, but no petals. The male flowers have 2 to 8 stamens, but no pistils. The female flowers have 2 to 6 stigmas. They have a 1-locular ovary with 2 ovules.
The globose to ellipsoid fruits resemble a drupe. Their color varies from green to white, red and black. The fleshy and juicy fruits are edible with a sour to bitter sweet taste. Some individuals find Antidesma bunius berries to have a bitter taste. Those who detect this bitter taste (about 15% of subjects tested) cannot taste PTC, and similarly those who can taste PTC (about 68% of the subjects) cannot taste any bitterness in Antidesma bunius, while a minority of people cannot taste bitterness in either.[7][8]
References
1. ^ b c Tropicos, Antidesma L.
2. ^ b c Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1027 in Latin
4. Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
5. Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 209 ???? wu yue cha shu Antidesma Burman ex Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1027. 1753.
6. Hoffmann, P. 1999. The genus Antidesma (Euphorbiaceae) in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Kew Bull. 54(4): 877–885
7. Henkin, R.I> and W.T. Gillis. (1977). Divergent taste responsiveness to fruit of the tree Antidesma bunius Nature:265:536 - 537.
8. [1][permanent dead link]
9. "Antidesma pulvinatum". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2009-11-20. [source - retrieved from on 10/8/2018]
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Re: Scripture of the Day
HERE IS VOL 986A -- COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] A DISCOURSE ON MATTHEW 24:21
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 986A]
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 1 Thessalonians 1:3 [authorized King James Bible; AV]
THE apostle Paul remembered those who worked hard in behalf of the good news. : Indeed, Almighty God (YHWH) himself remembers the loving labors of all who faithfully serve him, whether their circumstances in life permit them to do much or little.—Heb. 6:10.
[2] Learn The Facts on Matthew 24:21 In Context:
With respect Matthew 24:21 you can get a better comprehension by looking at it in context as clearly it has both a minor and a major fulfillment. Its minor fulfillment was when the Romans destroyed the temple app. 70 AD, but the greater fulfillment of that which Jesus (Yeshua) spoke of in Matthew 24:4-36 was for the future. Let's look at the scripture in context with appropriate comments to assist your comprehension. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.[we have seen many being lead astray by Jimmy Jones, Osama bin Ladin, David Korash, and many others in our time] 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for [these things] must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places.[we have been seeing this in our time, wars and wars, famines in various places, etc.] 8 But all these things are the beginning of travail.[note, all these things are just the beginning, which by its nature implies there will also be an end, i.e., the culmination of the end times] 9 Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake.[this started to happen in a large scale during the Second World War when A. Hitler went after people because of their religion. This did NOT occur in the First World War] 10 And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.[at the moment we see a world filled with hate, examples in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, etc.] 11 And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray.[some of these are Jimmy Jones, Osama bin Ladin, and many many others] 12 And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold.[we see this today, many care not for their neighbors and have become fed up with all religion as they have seen too much wrong is many so called religious groups such as the TV evangelist whose main pitch is for more money] 13 But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.[we must keep are faith as faith that becomes dead is worthless] 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.[the Gospel about Christ must first be preached in every nation of the world, not necessarily to every person, and only then can the culmination of the end times we are living in actually occur. This has not yet occurred as later shown by Jesus (Yeshua)] 15 When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand), 16 then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: [this was speaking of the minor fulfillment that occurred as an example for all of us today. It happened in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple]17 let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house: [this refers to when the Roman armies temporarily left off their siege of Jerusalem thus giving opportunity for all who believed Jesus' (Yeshua's) word an opportunity to get out before the next siege and the cities' and temple's destruction]18 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 19 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days![when the final seige occurred in 70 AD it was a terrifying thing for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and serves as an example for us who are living in the time of the end of this old system of things which will be replaced by Christ's Kingdom] 20 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath: 21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.[here we can clearly see that Jesus (Yeshua) is talking about the end times and its culmination and not the minor fulfillment and/or example of what occurred in 70 AD as he said, "such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be" clearly showing a time that would effect the entire earth and not just Jerusalem alone and the time for this is near at hand, i.e., the culmination of the end times] 22 And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.[clearly we are living in the end times as things continue to get ever worse around the world; to wit, who ever thought we would see the World Trade Center destroyed in New York by an evil false messiah from the desert, Osama bin Ladin.] 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe [it] not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.[we see this type of false prophet everywhere, in fact David Korash even said once that he was the messiah and he was NOT alone as there have been in recent times many like him.] 25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26 If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe [it] not. 27 For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. [there would be many trying to mislead even the elect, but we should not be fooled by these self-aggrandizers]28 Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:[this scripture shows that immediately after the tribulation that Satan and his angels will be abyssesed and no longer able to trouble the world which then will be under the rule of Christ as King.] 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.[All will see the change occurring due to the events occurring] 31 And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. [Here Jesus (Yeshua) gives the orders to his angels to gather his faithful followers together under his command.]
32 Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh; 33 even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, [even] at the doors.[Here Jesus (Yeshua) is giving an illustration to show that his true followers must stay alert and be aware of the signs of the times.] 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. [Here he is letting us know that this tribulation and ever worsening world conditions will not continue on without letup, but will be short lived to the time of one generation]35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. [Here he states that his word is true and these things will come to pass; this is an assurance for all of his faithful followers]36 But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.[However, even Jesus (Yeshua) did NOT know the exact day and hour for the culmination of the end times; yet today we have seen some so called prophets even predict it. They are frauds.]
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] LET'S HAVE REALITY IN TRANSLATION
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 987A]
I will give you insight and instruct you in the way you should go. I will give you advice with my eye upon you. Psalms 32:8 [New World Translation Revised: NWTr]
When parents watch their children play, they are often amazed by the inborn abilities the young ones have. Can you confirm that from your personal experience? One child may appear to have natural agility or athletic ability, while a sibling seems more at ease with board games or some art or craft. But regardless of their children’s gifts, parents find pleasure in discovering their potential.
Jehovah too takes a keen interest in his earthly children. He sees his modern-day servants as ‘And I will shake all the nations, and the precious things of all the nations will come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ says Jehovah of armies. (Hag. 2:7, [NWTr] ) They are precious particularly because of their faith and devotion.
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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] LET'S HAVE REALITY IN TRANSLATION:
INTRODUCTION:
The understanding with respect some scriptures in the Bible is badly clouded by translational errors caused either by the translator's bias, lack of understanding of idiomatic expressions, or lack of understanding of ancient writing styles. Many of these can readily be seen by careful readers as they do NOT jive with the remainder of the Bible and/or do not make any sense upon close examination. Some of these scriptures are those whose meaning is the most questioned and argued by Bible translators and/or scholars. Yet most show flawed meaning when they are closely examined in lack of agreement within themselves and/or with near by scriptures. To better grasp the subject we will examine the case of John 1:1 whose meaning is perhaps the most disputed of any in the entire Bible due to biased translational renderings in most Bibles in common usage.
THE CONSTRUCTS:
Let's first examine the most common constructs used for translating this scripture and then consider the facts and last some advanced translational items dealing with this scripture.
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 THE-OS' (=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 THE-OS' (=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 THE-OS' 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, THE-OS' 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 the-os' [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 the-os' (god). We notice each reference to logos (word) is preceded by the definite article "the", while two of the three times the word the-os' (god) occurs, it too is preceded by the definite article "the". For some reason, John does not provide the definite article with the-os' 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 the-os'" (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 finite 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 indefinite 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 believes 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.
DEEPER TECHNICAL FACTS ON JOHN 1:1:
For those who like to know the technical facts behind the translation, correct, of John 1:1, here they are:
But, first a definition, Jesus (Yeshua)-A Godlike One; Divine
Some salient Bible editions on the subject,
1808 ; "and the word was a god" , --- TheNew Testament, in An ImprQved Version, Upon , the Basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation:
With a Corrected Text; London,
1829, , "and the I,.ogos was a,gqd" -- The Monotessaron; or,The Gospel History, ,According to the Four Evangelists, , by John S. Thompson,
Baltimore. ,
1864 -- "and a god wasth~,Word" -- TheEmphaticDiagiott (.)'2\ lrlteriinear r.eading), by Benjamin V{ilsorl, New York an<;lLondon.
'
1935 "q,nd the ,Word was divine" -- 'l'he Bible-An American .Translation" by " J. M. P. Smith andE. J. Goodspeed, Chicago.
1950 "and the Word was a god" -- New World Translation of the Christian Greek , Scriptures, Brooklyn.
1975 "and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word"* -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz, GOttingen, Germany.*
1978 "and godlike sort was 'the Logos"" -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes
Schneider, Berlin.*
1979 . "and a god was the Logos"" -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, Jurgen Becker,
Wirzburg, Germany.*
* Translated from German.
These translations use such words 'as "a god," "divine," or "godlike" because the Greek word eEO<; (the-os') is a singular predicate noun occurring before the verb and is 'riot preceded by the definite article. This is an anarthrous "the-os'". The God with whom the Word, or Logos, .was originally is designated here by the Greek expression Qedz, that is, "the-os'". ,proceded by the definite article ho. .This'is an articular, "the-os'". . The articular construction of the noun 'points' to an identity, a personality,; whereas a singular ,anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb points to,a quality about someone., Therefore, John's statement that the Word, or Logos,--was "a god" or "divine" or "godlike" does not mean that he was the God with whom he was. It merely expresses a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it does not identify his as one and the same as God himself..
In the Greek text there, are many cases of a singular antarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, such as those listed in the accompanying chart. In these places translators insert the indefinite article "a" before the predicate noun in order to bring out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since the indefinite article is inserted before the predicate noun in such texts, with equal justification the indefinite article "a" is inserted before the anarthrous "the-os'", in the predicate of John 1:1 to make it read "a" god. The Sacred Scriptures Confirm the correctness of this rendering.
In his article "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15: 39 and John 1:1," published in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 92, Philadelphia, 1973, on p. 85 Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as the one in John l:1, "with an arthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the nature of "the-os'". There is no basis for regarding the predicate "the-os'" as definite." On p. 87 of his article, Dr. Harner concluded: "In John 1:1 I think that the qualitative force of the predicate is so prominent that the noun cannot be regarded as definite."
Following is a list of instances in the gospels of Mark and John where various translators have rendered singular anarthrous predicate nouns occurring. before the verb with an indefinite article to denote the indefinite and qualitative status of the subject nouns, check the following Bibles for the following scriptures:
Scriptures, Mark 6:49, Mark 11:32, John 4:19, John 6:70, John 8:44, John 9:17,John 10:1, John 10:13, John 10:33, John 12:6, John 18:37 in the following translations, New World Translation (NWT), Authorized King James Bible (AV), New International Version (NIV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), and Today's English Version (TEV).
CONCLUSION:
Now many so called Christians point to John 1:1 to try and prove that Jesus (Yeshua) and his Father, Almighty God (YHWH) are one spirit being, an impossibility as one can NOT both be the son and the father at the same time as we all know. They use things to cloud the issue such as things are different in heaven or those are the words of men. In doing so they clearly forget that God (YHWH) used over 40 faithful man through divine inspiration to write the Bible as scribes that took the thoughts of men under divine inspiration and put them in the words of men so we could understand. Yet many biased translations say Jesus (Yeshua) is God (YHWH)such as the Authorized King James Bible (AV), "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But even the translational constructs clearly show the bias and the error in translating John 1:1 this way. How so? Well as a starter, one can NOT be with someone and also be that someone, that is an impossibility. But getting past that, even if one is to accept this error there is yet another impossibility. What is it? To have a Trinity, one must have three of a kind, and no matter how you translate John 1:1 there is NO three of a kind, nor for that matter three of anything.
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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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] THE BIBLE'S HISTORICITY AND CORRECTNESS TESTIFIED TO BY A "PIM"
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 988A]
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2 [authorized King James Bible; AV]
The first-century Christian congregation in Colossae was under attack! Some within the congregation were creating divisions by promoting adherence to the Mosaic Law. Others were advocating the pagan philosophy of asceticism, which involved extreme self-denial. In counteracting these false teachings, the apostle Paul wrote an encouraging letter, cautioning the Colossians: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, [AV]).
If those anointed Christians focused their minds on “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,” (Colossians 2:20, [AV]) they would be turning their backs on Jehovah’s provision for salvation. (Colossians 2:21-23) In order to help them safeguard their precious relationship with God, Paul admonished them: “Keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2, [AV]) Yes, Christ’s brothers were to keep in mind their hope of receiving the incorruptible inheritance that was ‘reserved for them in the heavens.’—Colossians. 1:4, 5.
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[2] THE BIBLE'S HISTORICITY AND CORRECTNESS TESTIFIED TO BY A "PIM"
Many claim the Bible has errors, but what they claim are errors are in reality errors with respect to our understanding and NOT God's word. Here is one example of something many claimed to be an error, but later archeological findings proved it was only an error in our understanding and not the Bible.
Although the word "pim" occurs only once in the Bible. In the days of King Saul, the Israelites had to get their metal tools sharpened by Philistine smiths. "The price for sharpening proved to be a pim for the plowshares and for the mattocks and for the threetoothed instruments and for the axes and for fixing fast the oxgoad," states the Bible. -1 Samuel 13:21.
What was a pim? The .answer to that question remained a mystery until 1907 C.E. when the first pim weight stone was excavated at the ancient city of Gezer. Bible translators of earlier dates had difficulty translating the word "pim." The King James Version, for example, rendered 1 Samuel 13:21: "Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads."
. .
Scholars today know that a" pim was a weight measure averaging 7.82 grams, or approximately two thirds of a shekel, the basic Hebrew unit of weight. A pim measure of silver scrap was the price the Philistines charged the Israelites for sharpening their tools. The shekel weight system went out of use with the fall of the kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem, in 607 B.C.E. So how does the pim measure testify to the historicity of the Hebrew text?
Some scholars, Muslim and pseudo Christians infidels of the past to whom truth was of no importance, hence unbelievers, used to argue that the texts of the Hebrew Scriptures, including the book of I First Samuel, dated to the Hellenistic-Roman era, even as late as from the second to the first century B.C.E. They falsely claimed, therefore, that "they are. . . 'unhistorical,' of little or no value for reconstructing a 'biblical' or an 'ancient Israel,' both of which are simply modern Jewish and Christian literary constructs."
Referring to the pim measure mentioned at 1 Samuel 13:21, however, William G. Dever, professor of Near Eastern archaeology and anthropology, says: "[It] cannot possibly have been 'invented' by writers living in the Hellenistic-Roman period several centuries after these weights had disappeared and had been forgotten. In fact, this bit of biblical text. . . would not be understood until the early 20th century A.D., when the first actual archaeological examples turned up, reading pim in Hebrew." The professor continues: "If the biblical stories are all 'literary inventions' of the Hellenistic-Roman era, how did this particular story come to be in the Hebrew Bible? One may object, of course, that the pim incident is 'only a detail.' To be sure; but as is well known, 'history is in the details.'" .
Therefore, though many critics of all flavors have tried to discredit the Bible through items like the pim which was not really understood until archeological findings revealed the facts, the Bible, being the inspired word of God (YHWH) creator of heaven and earth is always correct even if our understanding may be incomplete and regardless of what infidel critics may say.
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] MANY PLAY LOGOMACHY WITH "PRO-SKY-NE'O' IN TRANSLATION
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 989A]
The judges will thoroughly investigate, and if the man who testified is a false witness and has brought a false charge against his brother, 19 you should do to him just as he had schemed to do to his brother, and you must remove what is bad from your midst. Deuteronomy 19:18 – 19 [New World Translation Revised: NWTr]
Require honesty in court proceedings. The penalty for lying in court in Biblical times, gave pause to all involved: So if a man lied in court to take another’s inheritance, he stood to lose an equal amount. If he lied to have someone that he knew was innocent put to death, he would forfeit his own life. This guideline was a strong motivation to speak the truth.
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[2] MANY PLAY LOGOMACHY WITH "PRO-SKY-NE'O' IN TRANSLATION
INTRODUCTION:
Many play games with translation as the Koine Greek word, 'pro-sky-ne'o' can be translated various ways into English. The correct way of course is to let content govern how it is translated, but many translators translate it per their personal belief bias. Let's consider the facts by first looking at Matthew 14:33 from the Revised Standard Version (RSV), "And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
But Matthew 4:10clearly says, "Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" (RSV). Here we have an apparent contradiction as Matthew 16:16, "Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (RSV) clearly identifies Jesus (Yeshua) as the Son of the true God (YHWH) of Abraham and NOT as his Father, the true God (YHWH) of Abraham.
Why this apparent contradiction, simple, because Trinitarian biased translators want to make it appear that the Father, true God (YHWH) of Abraham, and the Son, Jesus (Yeshua), are one and the same which they are NOT.
PRO-SKY-NE'O TECHNICAL MEANING:
The Koine Greek word, pro-sky-ne'o, can be rendered "worship" or "obeisance to" depending on context. This is clearly shown in "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature" which says, "used to designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground." [Source - A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker; Second English Edition, Page 716, pub. 1979 in Chicago].
Now, this is the term used at Matthew 14:33, previously quoted, to show what the disciples did toward Jesus (Yeshua). At Hebrews 1:6, "And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." (RSV); whereas, it is readily apparent that this scripture refers to rendering deference to Jesus (Yeshua) and NOT worship of the type that should only go to his Father, the true God (YHWH) of Abraham. So we can see how some translators rendered this in accordance to their bias and not to give a clear and accurate rendering.
However the Greek Septuagint at Genesis 22:5, In Koine Greek, "LXX, kai. Ei=pen Abraam toi/j paisi.n auvtou/ kaqi,sate auvtou/ meta. th/j o;nou evgw. de. kai. To. Paida,rion dieleuso,meqa e[wj w-de kai. Proskunh,santej avnastre,ywmen pro.j u`ma/j " (Greek Septuagint, LXX), and translated into English, "And Abraham said to his servants: "remain here with the donkey; the boy and I, will go over till there and after having prostrated ourselves we will return to you". Which shows the most common ancient usage of the word, but modern translations most often fail to capture the original meaning the writer gave to it as clearly shown due to their bias. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) renders it, "Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." (RSV).
This is the same meaning, in context, ascribed to it at Genesis 23:7, and an Orthodox Church item says, "BOWING AND KISSING
a. In the Eastern cultures bowing is sign of humility before someone, or paying respect to someone. This is known to all from movies about Japanese customs. What about Scripture? Does the Bible have anything to say about bowing to people or objects and kissing things?
b. WWJD: What would Jesus do? If one reads the Babylonian Talmud (contemporary to Christ) it describes the feast of tabernacles and says the Jews prostrated to the ground and kissed the court floor of the Temple. Pious Jews still kiss the mezuzah (scroll containing shema and Shaddai on doorposts), fringe of prayer shawl, and phylacteries, the weeping wall, and the LAW during worship, (now we kiss the Gospel). We all know that Christianity grew out of Judaism. What was/is the Jewish practice regarding kissing "holy objects"? Jesus, as a Jew, practiced these same things, especially in the context of the Temple and Synagogue worship. We see parallels within the Orthodox practices toward sacred things. [source - Our Life In Christ, on 05/01/2006]
Also at 1 Kings 1:23 in the Greek Septuagint it discribes what the prophet Nathan did on approaching King David, "And they told the king, "Here is Nathan the prophet." And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground." (RSV) where even the biased translator rendered, 'pro-sky-ne'o,' correct to context, since no doctrinal bias was here involved.
CONCLUSION:
As Matthew 4:10, previously quoted, clearly shows in this context, we must understand that it is 'pro-sky-ne'o' with a particular attitude of heart and mind that should be exclusively directed only toward the true God (YHWH) of Abraham as clearly stated by his Son, Jesus (Yeshua). Therefore, be not deceived by biased translations and/or plays on logomachy made by some who are followers of false doctrines. Interestingly, other translations render Matthew 14:33 more correctly such as New English Bible (NEB); "They then climbed into the boat; and the wind dropped. And the men in the boat fell at his feet, exclaiming, "Truly you are the Son of God." (NEB); and the New American Bible, ""Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God." (NAB); The Jerusalem Bible, (JB),"The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, "Truly, you are the Son of God."" (JB). As can be seen this contrast greatly with the biased rendering in the Revised Standard Version (RSV), "And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (RSV) so now all can see the bias translation of this scripture as found in most Bibles is just a bad translation.
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MANY PLAY LOGOMACHY WITH PRO-SKY-NEO IN TRANSLATION
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Re: Scripture of the Day
COMBINATION OF [1] THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2] THE RARE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES - Argania
[1] SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 990A]
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] .
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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]
Pictures and more information can be viewed at
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