Showing posts with label new testament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new testament. Show all posts

Wednesday 4 April 2018

Revealing books

Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Jude and Peter were writers who by the power of inspiration each wrote their part independently of the others, but they all were empowered by the same one Spirit. It was that Superforce Which enabled them to make known to men the mind of God in history, precept and prophecy, so that the Bible though composed of many books and parts would be known as the one Word of God.

The writings of those men were bundled into two parts; the Old and New Testaments. But in the days of Christ, the Scriptures were known as "Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms." The Old Testament was written by Moses and the Prophets, who came after him. The New Testament was written by the Apostles.
The Old Testament was begun by Moses about 1450 [1,600] years before Christ, and finished by Malachi a little over 1,000 [1200] years afterwards. (Before Christ 397.) The New Testament was written during the lifetime of the Apostles, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, over nearly 2000 years ago.

By wonder those writing survived the time and still today we can say that
The Bible, given by inspiration of God, reveals to us the Truth concerning God and concerning man.


  Find also to read:
  1. Getting to know the Truth
  2. Where to learn the truth (available from 2018 April 4, 2.31 pm)
  3. Put on the whole armor of God
  4. To be established in the present truth
  5. Determined To Stick With Truth.
  6. Challenging claim
  7. Challenging claim 1 Whose word
  8. Challenging claim 2 Inspired by God 1 Simple words
  9. Challenging claim 3 Inspired by God 2 Inerrant Word of God
  10. Challenging claim 4 Inspired by God 3 Self-consistent Word of God
  11. Unread bestseller
  12. Book of books and great masterpiece
  13. Colour-blindness and road code
  14. Inspired Word
  15. The Word of God in print
  16. God’s forgotten Word 4 Lost Lawbook 3 Early digressions and Constantinic revolution
  17. God’s forgotten Word 5 Lost Lawbook 4 The ‘Catholic’ church
  18. Absolute Basics to Reading the Bible
  19. Bible guide
  20. Bible, Word of God, inspired and infallible
  21. Authority of the Bible

Thursday 10 July 2014

Flowing out from a genuine spiritual “heart”

True religion must flow out from a genuine spiritual “heart”.
English: Illumination of Christ before Pilate ...
Illumination of Christ before Pilate Deutsch: Jesus vor Pilatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much of the New Testament illustrates the endeavour of Christ and the Apostles to make this happen. Yet in the centuries that followed the purity of the “new wine” has so often been diluted and polluted. We must recapture the purity of the “new wine” if we are to be wondrously blessed in participating at the return of Jesus in “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9)

Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness

What can be the truth and what do we understand under ‘the truth’? Are we speaking of man made sets of concepts and beliefs, or the accumulation of scientific knowledge, or mathematical certainties?

How can we find the truth and do we need to examine only all the NT writings or do we have to look at the OT writings also?

How can we get the full story of early Christianity and how much interest do we have to have for theological writings or to church letters and books written after the gospels and epistles?

Are you not curious what those Christians in the Old Times believed and how believes changed and churches found ways to grow? But those growing churches did they keep to the Truth? Did they not bring in teachings to become more popular and to have more people who could find their traditional events integrated in the church?

With education, we are able to discern between right and wrong, good and evil, and make what we might term moral choices. The human being is privileged that it has a brain which can be used to get such an insight. We as human beings can have a level of awareness and with it an ability to come to a natural expression of our physical organisation or being, and that it is an innate capacity or potential that we are uniquely born with.

The 21st century has brought us to an age of increasing complexity and sophistication, which is being driven by scientific advancements on a scale never seen before. These advancements are coupled in a strange way with a veneer of rationality that is difficult to reconcile with the advances in science. As science seeks to explain and explore every detail of the material world, the media and entertainment industries bombard us with increasingly puerile levels of information, often delivered in oversimplified sound-bites backed by expertly crafted graphic imagery for easy acceptance. The outcome is a society which has generally lost the ability to think and reason critically on the deeper questions of life.
On the net you shall be able to find a new website which shall look at the way how we can look and interpret the Bible. There are numerous teachings in the Bible, but it can be good to now and then just to look at some basic elements which are not so hidden in that book that it would be to difficult to find.

In any case are there 5 teachings in the Bible which stand out and upon which all the others are based. Each of these are intimately connected, and none stands fully alone or independent. Other important teachings such as Law, sin, righteousness, faith, grace and salvation are all connected to these central themes and in some measure they are built upon them. These core teachings stand therefore in some measure as a foundation, and upon them and around them can be built a fuller understanding of the ways of God.

At the new website you may find core concepts for your investigation.

  1. God’s revealed purpose with both mankind and with the earth: God's Plan
  2. The revealed Creator of heaven and earth: the Elohim Allah God: Jehovah
  3. God His Revelation – God has spoken and revealed Himself and His ways. This is in His Word, in the book we commonly call the Bible.
  4. Human being, animals and plants, the elements in the universe.
  5. Jesus Christ – God’s son, whom God raised up to be a saviour. He is the completion of God’s purpose, the very image of the invisible God.  The Nazarene man whom was called Jeshua, but of whom people changed his name in Jesus 'Hail Zeus' and made him a god of a threesome.
  6. Self-Awareness – and the Choices this Awareness Brings?
 Most of us don’t really seek for answers but are somewhat satisfied by the consensus of opinions advanced by the experts and thought leaders we follow, whether consciously or subconsciously. The added complexity to the question of existence is the self-evident fact that total objectivity is rarely possible, since every one of us has prejudices that colour our reasoning and conclusions. This often works in ways that we are not even aware of. This is a peculiar quirk of the human condition. Our ability to be totally objective is often challenged by our education, culture, peer group or simply our preferred group’s prejudices. Most of us have an innate bias or need to conform to the consensus position of the particular group that we most closely identify with. This causes most people to rely upon the conclusions of those they respect and identify with, and who are often experts at articulating their positions. We rationalise, that if they cannot get it right and tell us the answers, who really can? 
Many may be looking for a long time in their life for true knowledge and wisdom. Do you have any idea where you or others can find it?
Where is the source of true meaning? Is it found in the world; in its philosophy, science, education, religions, or worldly wisdom?

While all of these fields are capable of helping us in our day to day struggles, they are not able to give us an answer to the larger question of purpose. They certainly may be treasured, but they are not that which really counts, which is more valuable than the sum total of all else. The Bible informs us many times that this treasure can only come from above, i.e. from God.  
 


Find more about it in:

  1. Chapter 1 - General Introduction to the Blog Basic Bible Teaching: The Core Teachings of the Bible.
  2. 1.The Core Teachings of the Bible 1.      TheCore Teachings of the Bible
  3. The Core Teachings of the Bible Chapter 2 - Self-Awareness – and the Choices this Awareness Brings?
  4. The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
  5. The Core Teachings of the Bible Chapter 2 - The Common Human Experience: 1.      The Common Human Experience
  6. Is There a Greater Purpose to Life?
  7. Yes – Purpose and Wisdom can be found.

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Friday 17 January 2014

Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible

Richard Schultz's recent book "Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible" as one would infer from the title collates exegetical crimes, and gives help on how to avoid them. One section which caught my eye was on the abuse of typology:

"We already mentioned a fifth approach, finding Jesus under every textual leaf...This approach is experiencing growing support today and is based on the twin convictions that (1) Jesus is the central theme of the Bible and (2) all of Scripture points to him. The former is true to a degree, although Old Testament scholar Gerhard Hasel is probably more accurate in declaring that “God is the center of the OT as its central subject.” The second conviction is based on an overinterpretation of Luke 24: 27—“ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” This led a pastor to declare in a sermon I heard recently, “If you don’t find Jesus on the page of Scripture you are reading, keep reading it until you find him there.”

"This goes well beyond finding Jesus in predictive prophecy; it turns all Old Testament texts into predictions of or, more precisely, pictures foreshadowing the coming of Jesus. Accordingly, in Numbers 11: 8 (“ The people went around gathering it [the manna], and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil”), the manna represents Jesus. After all, John 6: 33– 35, 48 teaches that he is the Bread of Life. Moreover, the grinding, crushing, and cooking in Numbers 11: 8 represent Jesus’s sufferings on our behalf. But what does the olive oil taste represent in the case of Jesus? And how did the people gather him up? The book of Hebrews and other New Testament texts give a warrant for some degree of christological (that is, Christ-centered) interpretation of Old Testament texts. This is usually called typology (see chapter 5 for further explanation). But there appear to be no limits on the creative and speculative interpretation to which this can lead.

"What exactly does Luke 24: 27 claim? A similar verse later in the same chapter may help to clarify the point Jesus was making: “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24: 44). Jesus points here to the scope of the Old Testament’s anticipation of the Messiah’s coming: all three major subdivisions of the Hebrew canon look forward to him. In Jesus’s postresurrection Bible study, he was not asserting that every biblical text is “about” or “pointing to” him. Instead, he was explaining to his disciples those passages throughout the Scriptures that spoke of him in order to clarify the world-altering nature of the prior week’s events. [1]

No one is of course arguing that typology has no legitimacy. As Shultz notes however, it is easily abused. If typology is the only exegetical tool one has, then the temptation is to see types everywhere, and without any controls on this approach, eisegesis results.

1. Schultz, Richard (2012-11-01). Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible (pp. 33-34). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
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Wednesday 1 May 2013

Armageddon, har and megiddo, an action or a place

Armageddon TimelineArmageddon:

Fact or Fiction?


What is Armageddon, when will it happen and what will happen?

Armageddon is often thought of as being a huge, violent event on a global scale, whether it be a natural disaster such as earthquakes, tidal waves, asteroids, volcanoes, or plagues, or something less natural like alien invasion or nuclear war.

In the article of 'The Bible Study' the authors look at what the Bible tells us about Armageddon, it's perhaps not quite what you think!

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The Apocalypse is a Greek transliteration of our word revelation, and apokálypsis simply means unveiling or uncovering, or as is the case of the last book of the New Testament, The Revelation.
Armageddon only appears in the Bible once. That’s in Revelation 16:16.
And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (Rev 16:16)
This word Armageddon comes from the Ancient Greek, Harmagedon and will be according to the Book of Revelation, the site of a battle during the end times, with some interpreting it as literal and others interpreting it as a symbolic location. It will be the battle when God sends Jesus and all the saints to battle against the nations that come against Israel.

There are a couple of thoughts as to where the word comes from, one of them being that it is made up of two Hebrew words, har and megiddo, meaning “mountain of Megiddo”.
Megiddo is mentioned twelve times in the Old Testament, ten times in reference to the ancient city and twice in reference to the plains of Megiddo. None of the Old Testament passages describe Megiddo as being associated with any particular prophecy which you would think likely if it was to be the scene for the battle at the end of the world. Neither is there a mountain at Megiddo, there is a range of hills, but not a mountain. Megiddo is in the north of Israel some 50 miles from Jerusalem.

Some conclude that Armageddon is symbolic place rather than a physical place because there are no mountains of Megiddo, only plains. Others think that the word is more likely to be har moed, or the mountain of assembly, which would then refer to Mount Sinai, and therefore to its replacement at Mount Zion, in Jerusalem.
But, as it was originally a Hebrew word we should perhaps we should be looking more carefully at the word in the Hebrew language. As there is only one letter ‘d’, it might be more correct to break it down in to ‘arma’ which is a heap of sheaves, ‘ge’ which is valley and ‘don’ which means judgement.
That translates as the nations will be gathered together as heaps of sheaves in the valley of judgement.

> Continue reading: 

Armageddon: Fact or Fiction?

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Monday 24 December 2012

Those who call the Christadelphians a cult

Glenn Joseph Lea was annoyed at Google for when searching for Christadelphians, the term Christadelphian Cult comes up as one of the search phrases.

He should know that shall happen with other smaller religious groups as well. But he has reasons to complain on what he can find on those websites who tell people that we are a cult. We also found that at those websites telling us that we are a cult, they often present a wrong picture of our denomination. Often they even tell gross lies which can not be rectified because there is no way to reply provided. And when there is a comment section the comments we give and the explanation we provide about what cults really are and what we do believe and do not believe, they mostly let our reply not published or send us different sorts of letters, some hate mail, others with viruses, and others saying that we have to read such and such other postings before they want to place our reply in the open.

Mostly the label “cult” is applied to the Christadelphians because they do find that because we do not accept the Trinity, we can not belong to Christianity, like Jehovah Witnesses,  Abrahamic Faith Churches can not considered Christian according to them.
Jesus cult logo
Jesus cult logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


All about Cults“  uses the term “cult” because we are a group of believers which "claims to follow Christian doctrines. Though they have a belief that there is only one God, Christadelphians’ doctrine is clearly non-Christian (James 2:19)." Strange that we, who do believe that there is only One God, which is the same God Abraham believed in and the God of Judaism, are considered to be a cult, but the Jews and Muslims not. So, why does this website not include Judaism, Islam, and a mulitude of other world religions?


English: Christadelphian Hall, Skircoat, Halif...
Christadelphian Hall, Skircoat, Halifax This building looks to have been a Methodist (?) chapel.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Those discussing the Christadelphians do seem either not to know so much about them or their gospelfaith and could better do some more and thorough research. Other websites with a more hating tone are written by ex-Christadelphians, who should know better. The majority of those ex-christadelphians have left faith in God totally. By ex-Jehovah Witnesses we often see the same thing happening, that they offer a lot of stories about their faith group where you can have doubts if they are really true. By them lots also become strong adherents of the Holy-Trinity or find the singing and speaking in tongues by the Pentecostals more attracting  and good fun .
But those who leave the more serious Biblestudent mouvements, their hate and distorted view from what they underwent in their community does not create a good sound review. Strangely enough very small groups are often protected as main streams. As such we can find a recurring error that the “Bereans are the most popular” (popular to whom, in what context, where?) when you look to the worldwide community of Christadelphians you would notice that they only form a small part. some would even say: "they barely exist today".

The peaceful, pacifist Christadelphians are perhaps not so quickly noticed by people, first of all because we are not with so many and secondly we never force our ideas to others. We do preach, but not often going to ring the bell from door to door like Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons. We prefer the softer way of putting leaflets in the mailboxes, where we are authorised to do so. (We always keep to the red, blue and green stickers if they are on the mailbox and never would put a leaflet in a box where is a notice on it not to put unrequested advertisements or unsolicited or non personal mail in it) We like to tell others what we believe, but always keep respecting their beliefs, and do not force to accept our beliefs or our faith.


ChristadelphiansChurchBrisbane
ChristadelphiansChurchBrisbane (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Christadelphians do not have an overall structure with one basic leader, like the Roman Catholics have their Pope. We only follow Jesus Christ, whose teachings can be found in the New Testament. All the different Christadelphian ecclesiae are independent in essence, though they may have international connections with each other and adhere certain main groups. but every Christadelphian is personally responsible for his or her actions. Nobody is tied to one or another group or institution. everybody is free to come and free to go.Not exactly the idea of a cult, where it is mostly very easy to come into but very difficult to get out.

Googling The Christadelphians leads to plenty of websites denouncing this community, but also an awareness of the reaasoning for the denouncement – soley based on a rejection of orthodox Christianity. That is very sloppy reasoning and only serves to show how little basis they have for such a derogatory term.

Please do read the article by Glenn Joseph Lea: Googling “Christadelphian”

find also:

What Christadelphians teach
Who, what are Christadlephian people
Christadelphian beliefs

Association of Christadelphians: Christadelphia

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Saturday 26 November 2011

OT prophesies and the NT fulfillment of them

Here are just some of OT prophesies and the NT fulfilment of them:
The Son of God,  Ps 2:7 Luk 1:32, 35.
The seed of the woman,  Gen 3:15 Gal 4:4.
Seed of Abraham,   Gen 17:7,  22:18 Gal 3:16.
Seed of Isaac,  Gen 21:12 Heb 11:17-19.

Seed of DavidPs 132:11 Jer 23:5 Acts 13:23 Rom 1:3.
Coming at the appointed time,  Gen 49:10 Dan 9:24, 25 Lk 2:1.
Born of a virgin,  Is 7:14 Mat 1:22, 23 Lk 2:7. 
Called Immanuel (God with us) Is 7:14 Mat 1:22, 23.
Born in Bethlehem of Judea,  Mic 5:2 Mat 2:1 Lk 2:4-6. 
Great persons coming to adore Him,  Ps 72:10 Mat 2:1-11.
The slaying of the children of Bethlehem,  Jer 31:15 Mat 2:16-18.
Called out of Egypt,  Hos 11:1 Mat 2:15.
Preceded by John the Baptist,  Is 40:3 Mal 3:1 Mat 3:1, 3 Lk 1:17.
Anointed with the Spirit,  Ps 45:7 Is 11:2,  61:1 Mat 3:16 Jh 3:34 Acts 10:38.
Prophet like to Moses,  Deut 18:15-18 Acts 3:20-22.
Priest after the order of MelchizedekPs110:4 Heb 5:5, 6.
Entering public ministry,  Is 61:1, 2 Lk 4:16-21, 43.
Ministry in Galilee,  Is 9:1, 2 Mat 4:12-16, 23.
Entering publicly into Jerusalem,  Zec 9:9 Mat 21:1-5.
His coming into the temple, Hag 2:7, 9 Mal 3:1 Mt 21:12 Lu 2:27-32 Joh 2:13-16.
His poverty, Is 53:2 Mk 6:3 Lk 9:58.
His meekness,  Is 42:2 Mat 12:15, 16, 19.
Tenderness and compassion Is 40:11 42:3 Mat 12:15, 20  Heb 4:15.
Without guile,  Is 53:9 1Pe 2:22. 
His zeal,  Ps 69:9 Jh 2:17.
Preaching in parables, Ps 78:2 Mat 13:34, 35.
Working miracles, Is 35:5, 6 Mat 11:4-6 Jh 11:47
His bearing reproach,  Ps 22:6 69:7,9, 20 Rom 15:3.
Rejected by his brethren,  Ps 69:8 Is 63:3 Jh 1:11 7:3.
Stone of stumbling to the Jews,  Is 8:14 Rom 9:32 1Pe 2:8.
Hated by the Jews, Ps 69:4 Is 49:7 Jh 15:24, 25.
Rejected by the Jewish rulers,  Ps 118:22 Mat 21:42 Jhn 7:48.
Jews and Gentiles combine against Him,  Ps 2:1, 2 Lk 23:12 Acts 4:27.
Betrayed by a friend,  Ps 41:9 55:12-14 Jhn 13:18, 21
Disciples forsake Him Zec 13:7 Mat 26:31, 56.
Sold for thirty pieces silver  Zec 11:12 Mat 26:15.
His price being given for the potter’s field  Zec 11:13 Mat 27:7.
Agony of his sufferings  Ps 22:14, 15 Lk 22:42, 44.
Sufferings for others Is 53:4-6, 12 Dan 9:26 Mat 20:28.
Patience and silence under suffering,  Is 53:7 Mat 26:63 27:12-14.
Smitten on the cheek, Mic 5:1 Mat 27:30.
Visage being marred,  Is 52:14 53:3 Jhn 19:5.
Spit on and scourged,  Is 50:6 Mk 14:65 Jhn 19:1.
Hands and feet being nailed to the wooden stake,  Ps 22:16 Jhn 19:18 20:25.
Forsaken by God, Ps 22:1 Mat 27:46.
Being mocked,  Ps 22:7, 8 Mat 27:39-44.
Gall and vinegar being given Him to drink,  Ps 69:21 Mat 27:34.
Garments being parted, and lots cast for His clothing,  Ps 22:18 Mat 27:35.
Numbered with the transgressors, Is 53:12 Mk 15:28. 
Intercession for His murderers, Is 53:12 Lk 23:34. 
His Death,  Is 53:12 Mat 27:50.
No bones would be broken,  Ex12:46  Ps 34:20 Jhn 19:33, 36.
Pierced,  Zec 12:10 Jhn 19:34, 37. 
Buried with the rich,  Is 53:9 Mat 27:57-60.
Flesh not seeing corruption, Ps 16:10 Acts 2:31.
His resurrection,  Ps 16:10 Is 26:19 Lk 24:6, 31, 34.
His ascension, Ps 68:18 Lk 24:51 Acts 1:9.
Sitting on the right hand of God, Ps 110:1 Heb 1:3. 
Exercising the priestly office in heaven,  Zec 6:13 Rom 8:34.
The chief cornerstone,  Is 28:16 1Pe 2:6, 7. 
King in Zion Ps 2:6 Lk 1:32 Jhn 18:33-37.
Conversion of the Gentiles to Him,  Is11:10 42:1 Mat 1:17, 21 Jhn 10:16 Acts 10:45, 47.
His righteous government,  Ps 45:6, 7 Jhn 5:30 Rev 19:11. 
Universal dominion, Ps 72:8 Dan 7:14 Phl 2:9, 11. 
Perpetuity of His kingdom,  Is 9:7 Dan 7:14 Lk 1:32, 33.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Not able to ignore The New Testament





" ... whatever the ultimate truth may be,
Jewish history remains incomplete without including the full breadth of interpretive discussion and discord that arose out of First Century Israel. 

Even if we were to deny every word, indeed every possible interpretation of those words in its pages, we cannot ignore it.  If we cannot ignore it then we need to understand these perspectives apart from any faith-based decisions regarding its message.
  The fact of the matter is, in order to do this effectively
we must restore its original message."

Andrew Gabriel Roth
in his 'Open Letter to the Jewish People regarding the New Testament'

Thursday 23 December 2010

Invitation to all who believe

Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contain...
Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels contains the incipit Liber generationis of the Gospel of Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the gospel there is an invitation to all who believe what God has  promised, to share with Christ in his kingdom, glory, and joy, which invitation is given on certain conditions well defined (1 Thess. 2:12; ; Matt. 25:21) faith in the things covenanted to Abraham and David, and in those taught concerning Jesus, in the Old and New Testaments; immersion into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and thenceforth a life of without which no one will be approved and promoted to the honour and glory of the kingdom ().

John Thomas. (1990; 2002). Comments from Brother Thomas (Pagina 2). Logos Publications.


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2013 update:
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