MarkT

Isaiah 9: 5-6

{ 11:17 AM, 6/10/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

Isaiah 9

5. For a child has been born to us,
A son has been given us.
And authority has settled on his shoulders.
He has been named
"The Mighty God is planning grace;
The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler" -
6. In token of abundament authority
And of peace without limit
Upon David's throne and kingdom,
That it may be firmly established
In justice and in equity
Now and evermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts
Shall bring this to pass.

From the "Tanakh" (JPS:1985)

This is like naming a child Jesus / Yeshua / Joshua. It is a COMMON name with a meaning that does not indicate that the child WITH that name is God. Every person named Jesus / Yeshua / Joshua is NOT God. In the same manner, every child named "The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler" is NOT God. In the same manner, Peter means "rock" but a child called "Peter" is not a literal rock.

ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS - the ALTERNATIVE story!

{ 11:11 AM, 6/10/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

Now that very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. And it happened that as they were talking together and discussing it, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but their eyes were prevented from recognising him.

He said to them, 'What are all these things that you are discussing as you walk along?' They stopped, their faces downcast.

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, 'You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.'

He asked, 'What things?'

They answered, 'All about our god Jesus. Our god was crucified and died. We've had no-one running the universe or holding things together since he died. We kept praying to him but got no answer because the line to heaven was dead. We couldn't talk to God because we have have to go through our
dead god Jesus to do so. Our god died and we didn't give him a a decent funeral service in a church. Now we're going to either call Jesus NONImmanuel which means god ISN'T with us ... OR ... wonderful corpse, putrefying god. Hey, on the positive side, we've got a catchy little Jesus Jingle we're gonna use in church next week. It's sung to Our God Reigns:
Our god died
Our god died
Our god died
Our god died
Do you think it'll make the Top 40 Jesus Jingle Hit Parade?"

Jesus and the INCLUSION of the OUTCAST

{ 11:09 AM, 6/10/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

We should not be surprised to learn that the Jesus no-one really knows is a subverter of causes. That he tramples with disdain on our saccharine sentiments. That he contradicts the labels we pin on him. p. 18

Jesus ... encourages me to celebrate life, to suck the marrow out of existence, to explore and probe, and experiment, to venture into uncharted seas, without fear of a tyrannical and vindictive God. p.19

The gospel of Jesus came to expression in the parables and aphorisms preserved in Q, Thomas, and other gospels. The message of the parables and aphorisms is first and foremost the announcement of good news: sinners and outcasts are welcome in God's kingdom; indeed, God's domain belongs to them. ... God's domain was for Jesus something already present. It was also something to be celebrated because it embraces everyone - Jew, gentile, slave, free, male, female. ... The kingdom represents an unbrokered relationship to God: temple and priests are obsolete. p. 41

According to the gospels, Jesus was a social deviant, a charismatic teacher who attracted a consderable fo0llowing. He was apparently a nonconformist, like many of the oprophets of ancient Israel. he seems to have criticized the temple cult and subverted some purity codes. He was a trouble maker. p. 59

Jesus was a comic savant. He mixed hum,our with subversive and troubling knowledge born of direct insight. ... A comic savant is an intellectual - better, a poet - who is redefining what it means to be wise. That is the real role of a court jester: tell the king truth but tell it as a joke. ... New truth is easier to embrace if it comes wrapped in humour. p. 158

In the beginning was the parable. The parable, for Jesus, was a window on the world. .... Jesus names this new logic God's imperial rule, or, in traditional language, the kingdom of God. In that realm, in God's domain, people and things do not behave in expected ways. ... according to Jesus, the habituated world obscured the real world, where his Father, God, had absolute dominion. p. 165

1. In God's domain help comes only to those who have no right to expect it and who cannot resist it when it is offered.

2. Help always comes from the quarter from which one does not and cannot expect it. We might reduce these two statements to one: In God's domain help is perpetually a surprise. p. 180

Jesus was perceived as and probably was what we would call an urban partygoer. Jesus seems to have been given to conviviality; he apparently enjoyed an open table. He would probably have not had the means to sponsor an evening of scintillating conversation over food and drink - a symposium as it was called. Yet he did not hesitate to attend convivial gatherings sponsored by others. pp. 192-193

Those with whom Jesus ate and drank originally ... were all real sinners or outsiders - that is how they were perceived from the standpoint of those who adhered to purity codes and ate kosher. Sinners, outsiders in Jesus' society, included persons with a skin disease ("lepers"), the maimed, the halt, the bliond, gentiles, Samaritans, as well as petty tax officials, who were Roman collaborators, and women who did not observe the social proprieties. ... This paradox of Jesus - outsiders are in, insiders are out ... p. 194

There is no stronger statement of Jesus' predilection for the outsider than the parable of the good Samaritan. There is no more poignant statement of the disdain for the priests, levites, and the temple than this story. ... God has a preference for the lowly, the poor, the undeserving, the sinner, the social misfits, the marginalized, the humble. p. 196

"Whoever is not against us is on our side." (Mark) .. Jesus .. was apparently inclusive rather than exclusive. p. 199

There appeared to be no sacred places in Jesus' world: all space had become sacred. p. 203

Jesus insisted that people can only enter the kingdom if they don't deserve to. The poor, the bereaved, the hungry are welcojme there, buitb the self-righteous ahnd hypocritical are not. Those who think they belong don't; those who are afraid they don't do. The last will be first and the first last. p. 215

One may enter without permission; all that is required is boldness, confidence, the trust thatb it is acceptable to proceed. Those who need to be authorized to pass, who feel they must have permission, are not worthy of entrance. Strictly speaking, of course, arrival in the kingdom is not even possible. Arrival is by departure only. Entrance into God's domain is the same thing as exodus. It is the quest of Abraham for a new ancestral home. It is Moses leading tjhe children of Israel out of Egypt in search of the promised land. It is forsaking mother and father, wife and children, in order to acquire true relatives. For it no map is available. It is truly an immense journey. p. 216

from Robert W. Funk "Honest To Jesus" (Hodder & Stoughton:1996)

The Shema

{ 11:06 AM, 6/10/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

THE SHEMA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FUNDAMENTALIST VERSION

And one of the scholars aproached when he heard them arguing, and because he saw how spiritually Jesus answered them, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?'

Jesus answered: "The first is 'Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is ME, and you are to love ME with all your heart and all your soul [and all your mind] and with all your energy.'

And the scholar said to him, "That's a fine answer, Lord my God. You have correctly said that YOU are the Lord my God and there is no other beside YOU. And 'to love YOU with all one's heart and with all one's mind and with all one's energy' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself' is greater than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices put together."

And when Jesus saw that he answered him with the correct doctrine, he said to him, "You are not far from being a Trew Kristyun"

Mark 12:28-34 Fundy Version

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE REAL VERSION

And one of the scholars aproached when he heard them arguing, and because he saw how skillfully Jesus answered them, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?'

Jesus answered: "The first is 'Hear, Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord, and you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul [and all your mind] and with all your energy.'

And the scholar said to him, "That's a fine answer, Teacher. You have correctly said that God is one and there is no other beside him. And 'to love him with all one's heart and with all one's mind and with all one's energy' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself' is greater than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices put together."

And when Jesus saw that he answerwed him sensibly, he said to him, "You are not far from God's domain."

Mark 12:28-34 Scholars Version

Hebrew text

{ 11:04 AM, 6/10/2008 } { Posted in Old Testament } { 0 comments } { Link }

The Hebrew used is ancient, is written without vowels, and has neither full stops nor capital initial letters. The breaks between words are sometimes uncertain. Some sounds aere not differentiated, such as S and SH, P and PH. If we write a short essay in this form in modern English, it might look like
this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
t s(h)ntsy trd ncnth brw js(h)t rdng t s(h)qt hrd ngh p(h)ttngt nt ngls(h) s(h) mch hrdr fw trns(h)ltns(h) r nthng lk ccrt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The original piece of this gibberish was the following sentence, omitting vowels and full stops and capitals, making the sapces just a little unreliable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is not easy to read ancient Hebrew. Just reading it is quite hard enough. Putting it into English is much harder. Few translations are anything like accurate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Bernard Boas "It's Time To Rewrite The Bible" (Hudson:1994)p. 32

How should we view the bible?

{ 11:05 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Bible Authorship } { 0 comments } { Link }

HOW SHOULD WE VIEW THE BIBLE?

Accordingh to Jung , 'God stands, omnipotent and free, above his Bible." p.131

... the Fundamentalsit will never ask what lies beyond the Bible, or what sort of religious experience was possible before there was a Bible. He speaks and behaves as it is was impossible to be a Christian before there was a New Testament. He may be too self-conscious to state that he believes the Bible to have been divinely dictated, but that is really what he does believe. pp 131-132

... the Fundamentalist will forbid you to ask certain questions about the Bible ... p. 132

It is therefore much mopre honest (though it may well make life more difficult) to see the Bible as result rather than beginning. ... as a matter of historical reality the Bible is the end orf a process. First, viewed as a whole, the list of books which form the Bible was finally agreed upon only in the fourth century AD, more than two hundred years after the latest book in the New Testament was written. And, second, viewed in its component parts, each book of the Bible - or in many cases each part of a book - is
the result of a human creartive process akin to, or even identical with, the production of a work of art. ... Each has his own language, and it is his language, though the thoughts may be divine. pp. 132-133

But one of the characteristics of rthe fundamentalist is that he doesn't attach very much importance to the humanity of Christ: he is much more anxious to make it clear that Christ is God. p. 133

In fact, then, the Bible is a collection, a human collection, of very human response to the divine ... If it were literally the word of God it would be unintelligible to us, just as divine music would be meaningless to human ears. To speak or behave, therefore, as the Fundamentalist does, as if Christianity is a question of responding to the Bible, is to fail to do justice to what the Bible is - it is itself response. What the Christin is invited to do is to make his own response to what the biblical writers were responding to ... we only do justice to it, rather than simply obeyiong it or imitating the responses which it contains, we allow it to form in us the capacity to make our own unique responses. p. 134

... the Bible may be the initial impetus in the religious life of a believer, and it may be the source to which the believer constantly returns. But equally it may not: it is not necessarily so. There is no reason -
other than convention or Fundamentalist propaganda - why the Bible should have a monopoly in the area of religious experience, so that 'if it's in the Bible it must be so, and if it's not in the Bible it can't be so'. There are other sources of revelation. p. 134

... the process of establishing which books actually belonged in the bible was a human process: over a period of centuries the church gradually brought itself to regard some books as having authoritative or canonical status and to exclude others. .... There is therefore no reason in principle why flesh and blood cannot continue the process and add new sources of revelation or take away old ones (as Luther came very near doing when he dismissed the letter of James as 'an epistle of straw'). p. 135

... the Fundamentalist is more or less obliged by his own presuppositions to take a closed view of the Bible. If the Bible were not the final word then he would have to review the whole basis of his religion. ... to insist that God was behind the formation of the cana is both to assume what you are trying to prove and to legislate on God's subsequent freedom to act and reveal himself in any way he choses. p. 135

... if the Bible is the necessary and exclusive precondition for a Christian's religious experience, it must logically follow that none of the New Testament writers were themselves Christians, since by definition the canonical Bible was not available to them. p. 135

We are entirely free, therefore, to explore the possibility that there are indeed ways of approaching or understanding or questioning God which are alternative to those contained in the Bible and which may have nothing at all to do with the Bible and may even contradict it. p. 136

The Bible was something like 1500 years in the making .... the Bible throughout its development was constantly changing its character, widening its repertoire, breaking its own bounds. p. 136

... a religion which considers itself bound exclusively and finally by an arbitrary collection of documents, abruptly and artificially sealed up in the fourth century AD, is misunderstanding its own essence and indeed closing itself off from the God whom it professes to reveal. p. 137

... for many people music provides the nearest thing to religious experience, or rather for many people religious experience takes the form of music. p.139

... an approach which seeks to legislate on what can and cannot be called religious experience or revelation, according to whether or not it takes its point of departure from the Bible, is simply closing its eyes to what actually happens. pp. 139-140

The Bible in fact, if it is approached in accordance with the spirit which permeates it, cries out to us to use our imagination, free from all constraints, in our search for, or response to, God. p. 140

From Peter Cameron's "Fundamentalism and Freedom" (Doubleday; Sydney: 1995.)

Fundamentalism is a RECENT human invention

{ 11:04 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Fundamentalism } { 0 comments } { Link }

      c. 4 BC Birth of Jesus
...
      70 Fall of Jerusalem
...
      202 Christians persecuted under Septimus Severus
      211 Christians tolerated under Emperor Antoninus Caracalla
      222 Christians favored Emperor Alexander Severus
      230 Origen's On First Principles
      235 Christians persecuted under Emperor Maximin the Thracian
      238 Christians tolerated under Emperor Gordian III
      244 Christians favored under Emperor Philip the Arabian
      251 Cyprian's Unity of the Catholic Church
      254 Death of Origen
      303 Diocletian orders burning of Christian books and churches
      312 Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity
      313 Edict of Milan establishes official toleration of Christianity
      325 Council of Nicea
      336 Death of Constantine
      354 Birth of Augustine
      367 Athanasius lists all 27 books of NT
      379 Basil the Great dies
      380 Christianity made official religion of Roman Empire
      381 Council of Constantinople
      386 Augustine converts to Christianity
      389 Gregory of Nazianzus dies
      395 Gregory of Nyssa dies
      c. 400 Jerome's Vulgate (translation of the Greek Bible into Latin)
      407 John Chrysostom dies
      411 Council of Carthage condemns Donatists
      417 Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism
      420 Death of Jerome
      430 Death of Augustine
      431 Council of Ephesus
      451 Council of Chalcedon
      787 Second Council of Nicea
      950 Olga of Russia converts to Christianity
      1054 Great Schism between East and West
      1093 Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
      1095 Council of Clermont: Pope Urban II proclaims First Crusade
      1098 Crusaders take Antioch from Turks
      1099 Crusaders recapture Jerusalem from Turks
      1122 Concordat of Worms
      1141 Peter Abelard condemned
      1144 Fall of Edessa (crusader state)
      1187 Fall of Jerusalem to Turks
      1215 Fourth Lateran Council
      1309 "Babylonian Captivity" (until 1377)
      1337 Hundred Years' War (until 1453)
      1378 Great Western Schism (until 1423)
      1409 Council of Pisa
      1413-14 Lollard rebellion
      1415 Council of Constance. Martyrdom of Jan Hus.
      1420 Crusade against Hussites
      1431 Joan of Arc martyred
      1431-49 Council of Basel
      1438-45 Council of Ferrara-Florence
      1453 Fall of Constantinople to Turks
      1478 Spanish Inquisition founded by Ferdinand and Isabella
      1483 Birth of Martin Luther
      1492 Expulsion of Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella
      1505 Luther becomes a monk

#############################
PROTESTANTISM BEGINS
#############################

1517 Luther posts 95 Theses
      1521 Luther excommunicated
      1530 Augsburg Confession
      1534 Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy
      1536 Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
      1541 Colloquy of Regensburg
      1555 Peace of Augsburg
      1559 Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity
      1590 Michelangelo completes the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
      1609 Baptist Church founded by John Smyth
      1611 King James (Authorized) Version of the Bible produced
      1729 Beginnings of Methodism, led by John Wesley
      1738 John Wesley feels his "heart strangely warmed" during a reading of Luther's preface to Romans on Aldersgate Street in London
      1775 American Wars of Independence begin
      1783 America wins independence from Britain
      1793 Louis XVI executed
      1797 Second Awakening begins
      1798 Pope Pius VI is prisoner of France
      1799 Schleiermacher writes Speeches
      1801 Cane Ridge Revival
      1804 Napoleon becomes emperor
      1807 Hegel writes Phenomenology of the Spirit
      1808 French occupy Rome
      1810 Mexico wins independence
      1812-14 British-American War
      1814 Reorganization of the Jesuits
      1816 American Bible Society established
      1822 Schleiermacher writes Christian Faith
      1826 American Society for the Promotion of Temperance founded
      1830 Joseph Smith produces Book of Mormon
      1834 Spanish Inquisition officially abolished
      1838 Abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean
      1841 David Livingstone to Africa
      1845 Methodists and Baptists split over the issue of slavery
      1846 Pope Pius IX (until 1878)
      1854 Dogma of Immaculate Conception of Mary
      1859 Darwin publishes Origin of the Species
      1861-65 American Civil War
      1861 Presbyterians divide over the issue of slavery
      1869 First Vatican Council
      1870 Dogma of Papal Infallibility
      1872 Moody begins preaching
      1875 Mary Baker Eddy writes Science and Health
      1882 Neitzsche declares "God is dead"

#######################################
FUNDAMENTALISM BEGINS
######################################

   1895 Five Fundamentals
      1900 Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
      1906 Azusa Street revival
      1908 Henry Ford introduces the Model T
      1910 World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh
      1914 Assemblies of God founded
      1914-18 World War I
      1917 Russian Revolution
      1919 Prohibition passed into law
      1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial
      1932 Barth's Church Dogmatics
      1939 Hitler invades Poland and sparks WWI
      1945 Nag Hammadi Library discovered in Egypt;
      US drops atomic bombs on Japan
      1947 India wins independence from U.K.
      1948 World Council of Churches founded
      1950 Papal encyclical Humani generis
      1956 First issue of Christianity Today
      1960 Birth control pill approved by FDA
      1961 First human in space
      Papal encyclical Mater et Magistra
      1962-65 Second Vatican Council
      1963 MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech
      1968 Papal encyclical Humanae vitae
      1969 First man on the moon
      1971 Intel introduces the microprocessor
      1973 Roe vs. Wade
      1987-88 Televangelist scandals
      1989 First woman ordained in an apostolic-succession church (the
Protestant Episcopal church). Fall of the Berlin Wall.
      1997 Birth of the internet

from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/timeline.htm

How We Got Our Bible

{ 10:59 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Bible Authorship } { 0 comments } { Link }

HOW WE GOT TODAY'S BIBLE
- FROM 3000 BCE TO NOW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3000 BCE
- Egyptian songs written that were the source of many of the Psalms

2000 BCE
- Eclessiastes written

1900 BCE
- Abraham comes to Palestine
- Beginning of oral tradition later recorded in the bible

1375 - 1358 BCE
- Reign of Egyptian Pharoah Amenhotep IV ( later called Ikhnaton)
inspiration of much of Moses' writing.

1000 BCE
- Bible begins to be written with Job (fiction)

960 BCE - The YAHWIST editor

850 BCE - The ELOHIST editor

621 BCE - The DEUTERONOMIST editor

596 BCE - The PRIESTLY editors

200 BCE
- Daniel written (fiction)

275 - 100 BCE
- Septuagint Greek Manuscripts

50 - 60 CE
- 1 Thessalonians (Paul)
- Philippians (Paul)
- Galatians (Paul)
- 1 Corinthians (Paul)
- 2 Corinthians (Paul)
- Romans (Paul)
- Philemon (Paul)

50 - 80 CE
- Colossians (May not be Paul)

50 - 95 CE
- Hebrews (Not Paul)

65 - 80 CE
- Mark's gospel

70 - 100 CE
- James

80 -100 CE
- 2 Thessalonians (May not be Paul)
- Ephesians (May not be Paul)
- Matthew's gospel

80 -110 CE
- 1 Peter

80 CE - 130 CE
- Luke's gospel, Acts

90 - 95 CE
- Revelation of John (Not the apostle John)

90 -120 CE.
- I John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
- John's Gospel

100 -150 CE
-1 Timothy (Not Paul)
- 2 Timothy (Not Paul)
- Titus (Not Paul)

100 -160 CE
- 2 Peter (Not Peter)

382 CE: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts

397 CE: Athanasius heads a council to canonize the Bible.

600 CE: Latin the only language allowed for scripture.

995 CE: Anglo-Saxon translations of the New Testament.

1384 CE: Wycliffe hand-written manuscript of Bible

1455 CE: Gutenberg invents the printing press. Bible in Latin.

1516 CE: Erasmus produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.

1522 CE: Martin Luther's German New Testament.

1526 CE: William Tyndale's New Testament in English.

1535 CE: Myles Coverdale's Bible in English.

1539 CE: The "Great Bible". First English language Bible authorized for public use.

1560 CE: Geneva Bible. First English language Bible to add numbered verses to each chapter.

1568 CE: Bishops Bible

1582 CE: Rheims New Testament

1609 CE: Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament. First complete English Catholic Bible. Translated from the Latin Vulgate.

1611 CE: King James Bible. Originally with all 80 books. The Apocrypha was officially removed in 1885 leaving only 66 books.

1841 CE: English Hexapla New Testament. Early textual comparison showing the Greek and 6 famous English translations in parallel columns.

1885 CE: English Revised Version. First major English revision of the KJV.

1901 CE: American Standard Version. First major American revision of the KJV.

1973 CE: New International Version

1982 CE: New King James Version

2002 CE: English Standard Version

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VERSIONS

a.. The Targums

After the return from the Captivity, the Jews, no longer familiar with the old Hebrew, required that their Scriptures should be translated for them into the Chaldaic or Aramaic language and interpreted. These translations and paraphrases were at first oral, but they were afterwards reduced to writing, and thus targums, i.e., "versions" or "translations", have come down to us. The chief of these are,

    a.. (1.) The Onkelos Targum, ...
    b.. (2.) The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel

The Greek Versions

    a.. (1.) The oldest of these is the Septuagint, usually quoted as the
LXX. ...

This version, with all its defects, must be of the greatest interest:

(a) as preserving evidence for the text far more ancient than the oldest Hebrew manuscripts;
(b) as the means by which the Greek Language was wedded to Hebrew thought;
(c) as the source of the great majority of quotations from the Old Testament by writers of the New Testament.

(2.) Aquila, called Aquila of Pontus (flourished about 130), translated the Old Testament into Greek. ...

(3.) The New Testament manuscripts fall into two divisions,

a.. Uncials, written in Greek capitals, with no distinction at all between the different words, and very little even between the different lines; and

b.. Cursives, in small Greek letters, were a "running hand" script form where the letters were connected as in our longhand. This script was continuous scriptio continua, without breaks for words or lines or verses. Also called Minuscule writing.

The change between the two kinds of Greek writing took place about the tenth century AD.

Only five manuscripts of the New Testament approaching to completeness are more ancient than this dividing date.

a.. The first, numbered A, is the Alexandrian manuscript. ... dated in the fifth century A.D. Also called Codex Alexandrinus. It contains almost the entire Bible.

b.. The second, known as B, is the Vatican manuscript. ...

c.. The Third, C, or the Ephraem manuscript, ....belongs to the fifth century, and perhaps a slightly earlier period of it than the manuscript A. Also called Codex Ephraemi. ...

d.. The fourth, D, or the manuscript of Beza, ... belonged to the reformer Beza, who found it in the monastery of St. Irenaeus at Lyons in 1562 A.D. It is imperfect, and is dated in the sixth century. Also called Codex Bezae.

e.. The fifth (called Aleph) is the Sinaitic manuscrip...

The Syriac Versions

    a.. Old Syriac Version. ... the fourth century.
    b.. Syriac Peshitta. ... created about 150-250 AD.
    c.. Palestinian Syriac. About 400-450 AD.
    d.. Philoxenian. 508 AD.
    e.. Harkleian Syriac. 616 AD

from
http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church/Research%20History%20and%20Great%20Links/History_of_the_bible.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although the "New Testament" contains the same twenty-seven books for almost all Christians, there are some major and important differences between the "Hebrew Bible" (HB) used by Jews and various versions of the "Old Testament" (OT) used by different Christian churches and denominations:

The foundational texts are different:

a.. Jewish Bibles are based on the HB;

b.. the OT section in Christian Bibles is arranged according to the order of books in the "Septuagint" (LXX), the ancient Greek version of the Jewish scriptures;

c.. however, the translations of individual OT books in Christian Bibles are now usually based on the texts of the HB.

The total number of biblical books is different:

a.. Jews count 24, Protestants 39, Catholics 46, Orthodox Christians up to 53;

b.. certain books of the HB are subdivided in the LXX e.g., "The Twelve" minor prophets are considered one book in the HB, while the LXX and Christian Bibles count these as twelve separate books;

c.. the LXX contains several additional books not found in the HB; Orthodox and Catholic Christians regard these additional books as part of the OT canon (calling them the "Deuterocanonical Books"), while Jews and most Protestant Christians do not (calling them the "Apocrypha").

The arrangement of the categories of books is different:

e.g. the "Latter Prophets" come before the "Writings" in the HB, but all the "Prophets" come after the "Wisdom" literature in the Christian OT. The order of the "Prophets" is also different between the LXX and the Catholic and Protestant OT.

The titles of some of the books are different:

e.g. "Samuel" of the HB is split up into "1 Kingdoms" and "2 Kingdoms" in the LXX, which are renamed "1 Samuel" and "2 Samuel" in most Christian Bibles.

The categorization of some books is different:

e.g. several of the books categorized as "Writings" in the HB are placed among the "Historical Books" or the "Prophets" in LXX and the Christian OT

from
http://www.spiritrestoration.org/Church/Research%20History%20and%20Great%20Links/Comparison_of_Jewish_and_Christian_Bibles.htm

The search for the authentic words of Jesus

{ 9:48 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Bible Authorship } { 0 comments } { Link }

"SEVEN PILLARS" OF CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARLY WISDOM

1. The distinction between the historical Jesus (uncovered by historical excavation) and the Christ of Faith (encapsulated in the first creeds).

2. Recognising that the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew & Luke) are much closer to the historical Jesus than John's gospel which presents a "spiritual" Jesus.

3. The recogintion of Mark's gospel as prior to Matthew's and Luke's and their basis.

4. The identification of the hypothetical source Q as the explanation for the "double tradition" (The material Matthew & Luke have in common beyond their dependence on Mark.)

5. The liberation of the non-eschatological Jesus of the aphorisms and parables from Albert Schweitzer's eschatological Jesus

6. Recognition of the fundamental contrast between the oral culture (in which Jesus was at home) and a print culture (like our own). (The Jesus whom historians seek will be found in those fragments of tradition that bear the imprint of orality: short, provocative, memorable, oft-repeated phrases,
sentences, and stories.)

7. The reversal regarding who bears the burden of proof. The gospels are now assumed to be narratives in which the memory of Jesus is embellished by mythic elements that express the church's faith in him, and by plausible fictions that enhance the telling of the gospel for 1st century listeners
who knew about divine men and miracle woprkers first hand. Supposedly historical elements in these narratives must be proved so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TWO DIFFERING PORTRAITS OF JESUS:

1. The Synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew & Luke)
- Jesus speaks in parables and aphorisms
- God's imperial rule is the theme of Jesus' teaching

2. John's Gospel
- Jesus speaks in long, involved discourses
- Jesus is the theme of his own teaching

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE FOUR SOURCE THEORY:

Matthew used Mark, Q, and is own special source called M.

Luke also used Mark and Q, but had another source called L, which Mathew did not have.

The material in M & L probably comes from oral tradition.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RULES OF WRITTEN EVIDENCE:

CLUSTERING & CONTEXTING

1. The evangelists frequently group sayings and parables in clusters and complexes that did not originate with Jesus.

2. The evangelists frequently relocate sayings and parables or invent new narrative contexts for them.

REVISION & COMMENTARY

3. The evangelists frequently expand sayings or parables, or provide them with an interpretive overlay or comment.

4. The evangelists often revide or edit sayigs to make them conform to their own individual language, styleor viewpoint.

FALSE ATTRIBUTION

5. Words borrowed from the fund of common lore or the Greek sriptures are often put on the lips of Jesus.

DIFFICULT SAYINGS

6. Hard sayings are frequently softened in the process of transmission to adapt them to the conditions of daily living.

7. Variations in difficult sayings often betray the struggle of the early Christian community to interpret or adpat sayings to its own situation.

CHRISTIANISING JESUS

8. Sayings and parables expressed in "Christian" language are the creation of the evangelists or their Christian predecessors.

9. Saying or parables that contrast with the language or viewpoint of the gospel in which they are embedded reflect older tradition (but not necessarily tradition that originated with Jesus).

10. The Christian community develops apologetic statements to defend its claims and sometimes attributes such statements to Jesus.

11. Sayings and narratives that reflect knowledge of events that took place after Jesus' death are the creation of the evangelists or the oral tradition before them.

FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS: THE RULES OF ORAL EVIDENCE

12. Only sayings and parables that can be traced back to the oral period, 30-50 CE, can possibly have orginated with Jesus.

13. Sayings or parables that are attested to in two or more independent sources are older than the sources in which they are embedded.

14. Sayings or parables that are attested in two different contexts probably circulated independently at an earlier time.

15. The same or similar content attested in two or more different forms has had a life of its own and therefore may stem from old tradition.

16. Unwritten tradition that is captured by the written gospels relatively late may preserve very old memories.

ORALITY & MEMORY (STORY TELLER'S LICENSE)

17. The oral memory best retains sayings and anecdotes that are short, provocative, memorable - and oft-repeated.

18. The most frequently recorded words of Jesus in the surving gospels take the form of aphorisms and parables.

19. The earliest layer of teh gospel tradition is made up of single aphorisms and parables that circulated by word of mouth prior to the written gospels.

20. Jesus' disciples remembered the core or gist of his sayings and parables, not his precise words, except in rare cases.

DISTINCTIVE DISCOURSE

21. Jesus' characteristic talk was distinctive - it can usually be distinguished from common lore. otherwise it is futuile to search for the authentic words of Jesus.

22. Jesus' sayings and parables cut against the social and religious grain.

23. Jesus' sayings and parables surprise and shock: they characteristically call for a reversal of roles or frustrate ordinary, everyday expectations.

24. Jesus' sayings and prables are often characterised by exaggeration, humour, and paradox.

25. Jesus' images are concrete nd vivid, his sayings and parables customarily metaphorical and without explicit application.

THE LACONIC SAGE

26. Jesus does not as a rule initiate dialogue or debate, nor does he offer to cure people.

27. Jesus rarely makes pronouncements or speaks about himself in the first person.

28. Jesus makes no claim to be the Anointed, the messiah.

AGENDA

29. Canonical boundaries are irrelevant in critical assessments of the various sources of information about Jesus.

Adapted from Funk et al's "Five Gospels: The search for the authentic words of Jesus" (Polebridge:1993) pp. 1-38, Introduction.

JOHN 1:1-18

{ 9:46 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

JOHN 1:1-18

In the beginning there was the divine word and wisdom.

The divine word and wisdom was there with God,
and it was what God was.
It was there with God fgrom the beginning.
Everything came to be by means of it;
nothing exists came to be without its agency.
In it was life,
and this life was the light of humanity.
Light was shining in darkness, and darkness did not master it.

There appeared a man sent from God named John. he came to testify - to
testify to the light - so everyone would believe through him. He was not
the light; he came only to attest to the light.

Genuine light - the kind that provides light for everyone
- was coming into the world.
Although it was in the world,
and the world came about through its agency,
the world did not recognize it.
It came to its own place,
but its own people were not receptive to it.
But to all who did embrace it,
to those who believed in it,
it gave the right to become children of God.
They were not born from a sexual union,
not from physical desire,
and not from male willfulness:
they were born of God.

The divine word and wisdom became human
and made itself at home among us.
We have seen its majesty,
majesty appropriate
to a father's only son,
brimming with generosity and truth.

John testifies on his behalf and has called out, "This is the one I was
talking about when I said, 'He who is to come after me is actually my
superior, because he was there before me.'"

From his richness
all of us benefited -
one gift after another.
Law was given through Moses;
mercy and truth came through Jesus the Anointed.
No-one has ever seen God;
the only son, an intimate of the Father - he has disclosed (him).

From Funk, Hoover and the Jesus Seminar "The Five Gospels" (Macmillan: 1993) pp. 401 - 402

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note "it" not "He".

The text doesn't indicate that Jesus is God but that Jesus had the "divine word and wisdom" OF God within him.

This is in line with Islam, Judaism and the early Jewish Christians pre 70CE.

PSALM 110:1

{ 9:45 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

PSALM 110:1

The LORD said to my lord,
"Sit at my right hand
while I make your enemies your footstool."

(JPS Tanakh: 1985)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Psalm is about God speaking to David, king / lord of Israel.

It doesn't mention Jesus of Nazareth anywhere in the text.

Two approaches to discourse about God: Apophatic / Catophatic

{ 9:43 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in God } { 0 comments } { Link }

1. The apophatic approach acknowledges the unknowability, transcendence and inexpressibility of God and of all experience of God.

2. The catophatic approach is based on what can be said about God but always as metaphor or analogy.

The two approaches compliment each other.

Exodus 3:14-15 (JPS Tanakh: 1985)

{ 9:40 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in God } { 0 comments } { Link }

And God said to Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh". *[a] He continued, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites, 'Ehyeh' *[b] sent me to you. And God said further to Moses, "Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: the LORD, *[c] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
has sent me to you.

This shall be My name forever.

This My appellation for all eternity.

*[a] Meaning of Hebrew uncertain; variously translated: "I Am That I Am"; "I
Am Who I Am"; "I Will Be What I Will Be"; etc.
*[b] Others "I Am" or "I Will Be."
*[c] The name YHWH (traditionally read Adomnai "the LORD") is here
associated with the root hayah "to be".

Exodus 3:14-15 (JPS Tanakh: 1985)

Domitian: "Lord and god"

{ 9:38 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Prophecy } { 0 comments } { Link }

Domitian
(TITUS FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS).

Roman emperor and persecutor of the Church, son of Vespasian and younger brother and successor of the Emperor Titus; b. 24 Oct., A.D. 51, and reigned from 81 to 96. In spite of his private vices he set himself up as a reformer of morals and religion. He was the first of the emperors to deify himself during his lifetime by assuming the title of "Lord and God". After the revolt of Saturninus (93) he organized a series of bloodthirsty proscriptions against all the wealthy and noble families. A conspiracy, in which his wife joined, was formed against him, and he was murdered, 18 Sept., 96.

When the Acts of Nero's reign were reversed after his death, an exception was made as to the persecution of the Christians (Tertullian, Ad Nat., i, 7). The Jewish revolt brought upon them fresh unpopularity, and the subsequent destruction of the Holy City deprived them of the last shreds of
protection afforded them by being confounded with the Jews. Hence Domitian in his attack upon the aristocratic party found little difficulty in condemning such as were Christians. To observe Jewish practices was no longer lawful; to reject the national religion, without being able to plead the excuse of being a Jew, was atheism. On one count or the other, as Jews or as atheists, the Christians were liable to punishment. Among the more famous martyrs in this Second Persecution were Domitian's cousin, Flavius Clemens, the consul, and M' Acilius Glabrio who had also been consul. Flavia Domitilla, the wife of Flavius, was banished to Pandataria. But the persecution was not confined to such noble victims. We read of many others who suffered death or the loss of their goods (Dio Cassius, LXVII, iv). The book of the Apocalypse was written in the midst of this storm, when many of the Christians had already perished and more were to follow them (St. Irenæus, Adv. Hæres., V, xxx). Rome, "the great Babylon", "was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Revelation 17:5, 6; 2:10, 13; 6:11; 13:15; 20:4). It would seem that participation in the feasts held in honour of the divinity of the tyrant was made the test for the Christians of the East. Those who did not adore the "image of the beast" were slain. The writer joins to his sharp denunciation of the persecutors' words of encouragement for the faithful by foretelling the downfall of the great harlot "who made drunk the earth with the wine of her whoredom", and steeped her robe in their blood. St. Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians was also writtens about this time; here, while the terrible trials of the Christians are spoken of, we do not find the same denunciations of the persecutors. The Roman Church continued loyal to the
empire, and sent up its prayers to God that He would direct the rulers and magistrates in the exercise of the power committed to their hands (Clem., Ep. ad Cor., c. lxi; cf. St. Paul, Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13). Before the end of his reign Domitian ceased to persecute.

from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05114b.htm

What IS the "Holy Spirit" ?????

{ 9:37 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in Holy Spirit } { 0 comments } { Link }

God is holy. (Hebrew: hakkadosh; Isaiah 5:16, 40:25; I Samuel 6:20; Hab 1:12)

God is Spirit. (John 4:24)

THEREFORE: God is holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit is:
- Shekinah
- the felt presence of God
- the abiding glory of God
- the all embracing presence that is perceptable in all forms of human
experience an encounters.

This is NOT a "being" that is part of a "trinity" of the One God.

ONE GOD - What does that mean?

{ 9:34 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in God } { 0 comments } { Link }

Trinitarianism ... the belief that there are three to the essence of God, is a belief accepted by all contemporary Christians. Judaism strongly disagrees. It stands firm in maintaining that God is One - without partners, self-sufficient, and indivisible. ... One is not Three and Three is not One. ... Judaism has serious difficulties with a number of trinitarian major premises:

- God is not human. Man is not God. The Christian doctrine of the Incarnation ... goes against the fundamental Jewish belief that God is incorporeal - that He has no body and cannot be affected by any of the weaknesses of the flesh. To say that God died then died on the cross seems incomprehensible. God cannot die - just as He does not "live" in human form.

- To worship Jesus as God is to violate the commandment that "You shall have no other gods before Me." ... "And the man Moses ..." (Numbers 12:3). God was careful to delineate the difference between Himself and human beings. Jews can't accept that a man or woman could possibly be God.

- Most disturbing of all to the Jewish idea of monotheism in the Trinity is that Judaism recognises no intermediary between God and man. The first of the Ten Commandments, "I am the LORD your God," is written with a Hebrew word that implies a singular "your." God speaks to every person directly
and says, "I am accessible to you without any middle man." For the Jew, this means that he has an open line to God Himself. Praying to the Son to get to the Father goes against one of the major beliefs of Judaism, as later codified by Maimonides: "To Him and to Him alone shall you pray directly."
A Jew belives that no-one else is supposed to talk for him, live for him - and certainly not die for him.

from Rabbi Benjamin Blech "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Understanding Judaism" (Alpha:2003) pp. 9-10

LORD & GOD - The Jewish View

{ 9:32 AM, 20/9/2008 } { Posted in God } { 0 comments } { Link }

TWO NAMES: TOUGH LOVE

There ae times when God is referred to as Adonay - the word usually translated as "Lord." Other times, He is called Elohim - the word translators render as God.

Stranger still, the very quote from the Bible that Judaism requires to be recited twice a day as an affirmation of monotheism mentions both names in the very same sentence. ...

Sh'ma Yisroel Adonay Elohenu Adonay Echod - Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord is One. ...

God has two main ways in which He relates to the world, He is either Adonay or Elohim - Lord or God. When we perceive Him as kind, merciful and compassionate, we say, "Thank the good Lord." ... In Hebrew you would praise Adonay. But let something bad happen ... and you exclaim, "Oh my
God!" The name Elohim, God, is used to describe moments when God relates to us in ways we consider strict, harsh, judgememntal, and perhaps even cruel.
..

FATHER AND MOTHER

... in Hebrew the name for Lord, Adonay, has a femine ending. A merciful God is more like a Mother. The Hebrew for God, Elohim, has a masculine ending. it suggests that God is also a father. The Jewish concept of Lord / God is a combination of male and female attributes. The Almighty is a He
and a She, harmonising the best of both sexes so that human beings can be blessed not only with a Father, but also a Mother, in Heaven.

from Rabbi Benjamin Blech "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Understanding Judaism" (Alpha:2003) pp.14-15

Text & Archeology from the Ist Century ON JESUS OF NAZARETH

{ 1:33 PM, 30/8/2008 } { Posted in Jesus of Nazareth } { 0 comments } { Link }

Why did Jesus happen when and where he happened? Why then? Why there? Sharpen the question a little. Why did two popular movements, the baptism movement of John and the Kingdom movement of Jesus, happen in territories ruled by Herod Antipas in the 20s of that first common-era century? Why not another time? Why not another place? Imagine two ways of answering those questions: by stone or text, by ground or gospel, by material remains or scribal remains, by the work of the archaeologist or the work of the exegete. Imagine, next, every one of those four ... ors replaced by equally emphasised ands. It is not a case of archaeology or exegesis, but of archaeology and exegesis. p. xvii

The Top Ten Discoveries for Excavating Jesus

This book is about digging for Jesus, digging down archeologically amidst the stones to reconstruct his world and digging down exegetically amidst the texts to reconstruct his life. It is, above all else, about integrating those twin excavations in order to locate his life in its world, to place his vision and his program in its time and place. Both types of digs involved inspection and identification, reconstruction and interpretation. Especially interpretation. We know that the stones cannot speak to us without our interpretation. But neither can the texts. p. 1

ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

1. The James Ossuary ... November 2002 *[ Now proven to be a hoax]
...
2. The Caiaphas Ossuary
...
3. The Pilate Inscription
...
4. The Crucified man
...
5. The Lake of Tiberius
...
6. Caesarea Maritima and Jerusalem
...
7. Sepphoris and Tiberias
...
8. Masada and Qumran
...
9. Jodefat and Gamla
...
10. Stone Vessels and Ritual Pools pp. 1-6

EXEGETICAL DISCOVERIES

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls
2. The Nag Hammadi Codices
3. The dependence of Matthew and Luke on Mark
4. The dependence of Matthew and Luke on the Q gospel
5. The dependence of John on Mark, Matthew and Luke.
6. The independence of the Gospel of Thomas from the canonical gospels.
7. The common saying tradition in the Q gospel and the Gospel of Thomas
8. The independence of The Teaching (Didache) from the gospels
9. The existence of an independent source in the Gospel of Peter
10. The clash between James and Paul as reflected back on the historical
Jesus. p. 7

The Layers Of Gospel. ... Gospel layering has several components. Form criticism establishes the earliest formats used in transmitting the tradition ( a parable, an aphorism, a dialogue, a law, etc.). Source criticism establishes who is copying from whom. Redaction criticism builds on such copying to establish the purpose for the copyist's omission, addition, or alteration. Tradition criticism uses all of the above to establish successive layers of the tradition's development. .... On the one hand, the farther removed the layers are from the time of Jesus, the more
Christian they become. Unlike earlier gospel layers, later ones tend to distance from Judaism and "the Jews" (so John) or use Jewish texts and interpretative devices to reinvent Judaism as Christianity (so Matthew). And later archaeological layers commemorating Jesus' life tend to efface signs of his Jewishness in the earlier ones and replace them with features
from Rome or Byzantium. On the other hand, the farther removed Jesus is from his first-century Galilean context, the more elite and regal he becomes. Unlike earlier gospel layers, later ones portray him as a leisurely phil;osopher (so John) or a literate interpreter of scrolls and erudite partner at banquets (so Luke). And later shrines and churches in Galilee and Jerusalem efface his humble peasant beginnings in archaeological layers and replace them with imperial and monumental architecture. In Excavating Jesus, we want to return to that earliest layer of both earth and text. pp. 12-15

... the continuity from Jewish Torah to Jewish Jesus is most clearly seen ... in the first century, "the Kingdom" meant simply the Roman Empire. Theirs was the kingdom, the power, and the glory. When, therefore, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he chose the one expression most calculated to draw Roman attention to what he was doing. Not the "people" or the "community" of God but the "Kingdom" of God. That very phrase was an immediate confrontation with the Kingdom of Rome, which had arrive forcibly with Herod The Great in Judea and Caesarea Maritima in the generation before Jesus and then arrived with Herod Antipas in Lower Galilee at Sepphoris by 4 BCE and at Tiberias by 19-20 CE in the generation of Jesus. .... Pilate got it exactly right, from the point of view of his imperial responsibilities: Jesus and his Kingdom were a threat to Roman law and order, and his Jewish God was a threat to the roman God. ... To accept divine ownership in all its radical implications meant a new creation. ... The Kingdom of God, in other
words, was not just a vision but a program, not just an idea but a lifestyle, not just about heaven hereafter but about earth here and now, and not just about one person but about many others as well. pp. 318-319

In that first century it was absolutely impossible to separate religion and politics and economics. Coinage, the only mass medium of antiquity, said that Caesar was divi filius, Son of God, and supremus pontifex, the supreme bridge builder between heaven and earth, the high priest of the Roman state religion. p. 320

JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

The Cities.

Within a few years of Jesus' execution most of the followers of Jesus whose names we know left the rural surroundings and village environs of Galilee to live in Jerusalem. ....

The Pagans.

... The nations, or the Gentiles, meant those great empires that one after another had conquered, oppressed, and persecuted them over half a millennium. .... What would God do with those evil empires? .... extermination or conversion ... most important, conversion was not to
Judaism but to God ....At Jerusalem, James, Peter, and the others clearly chose that second option since they accepted male pagan converts into the community without circumcision. ... pp. 321-322

The Wars

There was a time when it was easy to expl;ain why "Christianity" broke away from and / or was rejected by "Judaism". Christians believed Jesus was messiah, Lord, Son of God, and Jews did not. Those were the reasons. Or again: Christians refused Sabbath, circumcision, kosher, and Jews did not. Those were the reasons ... They now, however, seem totally anachronistic.
... Christian Jews took ... their place alongside Pharisaic Jews, Sadducean Jews, and Essene Jews, Fourth-Philosophy Jews, Sicarii Jews, and Zealot Jews, as well as many other types, options, visions, and programs. They were no more and no less than one group disputing against other groups, but within the same politico-religious community, that is, within Judaism and
not against Judaism. pp 322-323

The Parting of the Ways

... Why did all the other Jewish groups slowly but surely reject the Christian Jewish option? ... The Christian Jewish group maintained that pagans and Jews could now live together under God in Christ. They maintained that belief despite three terrible wars in which pagans looked
exactly like they always had and behaved exactly as they always did. The parting of the ways arose because, for most other Jews, that Christian Jewish claim was incredible. The inclusion of pagans and the devastation by pagans was irreconcilable. pp. 323-324

from John Dominic Crossan & Jonathan L Reed "Excavating Jesus: Beneath the stones, Behind the texts" ( HarperSanFrancisco: 2001).

"Horror show for the whole family" - Alice Cooper, Christian

{ 10:27 AM, 29/8/2008 } { Posted in The Arts } { 0 comments } { Link }

Kelsey Munro
August 29, 2008 - 8:48AM

If you want a barometer of how much popular culture has changed in the past three decades, consider this: now even Alice Cooper considers his act family entertainment. ....

"To me, now, Alice Cooper hasbecome sort of family entertainment," he says. "When we come to town, we'll do state fairs and things like that, and grandma and grandad, mum and dad and the kids all come to see Alice Cooper."

He chuckles. "I think they tell [the kids] up front, 'Well, you know they are going to hang him, and there's going to be a lot of blood up there!' But I don't think any more blood than is in Macbeth or any Shakespeare play."

....

The urbane Cooper, 60, draws the Shakespeare comparison afew times during our conversation about his latest album, Along Came A Spider. These days also known as a family man, golfer, restaurateur, radio DJ and unlikely Christian, Cooper is a complex figure, far removed from his hammy image as a
heritage rock star with a penchant for bleeding eyeliner and boa constrictors. He sees no contradiction between his faith and, say, the storyline of his 25th album. In it, he sings from the perspective of an
imaginary serial killer, an "arachnophobic psychopath" who wraps his victims in silk and souvenirs a leg from each. ("I thought that was a nice touch," he says drily.)

"As human beings we hate real serial killers, we hate the Charles Mansons and people like that," Cooper says. "But we kind of like the fictional ones. We like our Hannibal Lecters and our Jokers and our Jasons, because we know that they can't hurt us."

Cooper says neither his album nor his act is anti-Christian and he avoids satanic themes.

"When I think 'satanic' I think a lot of Shakespeare - Macbeth, having to do with the occult and witches - whereas I never really touch on that stuff," he says. "The stuff I usually touch on is mental illness. I always tried to keep Alice as a character that is not earthly as all, doesn't apply to our rules. He's insane ... but he's not satanic. I don't think there's anything about him that is anti-Christian at all."

These days the Alice Cooperstage show is the wholefamily's business. His wife of 32 years, Sheryl, was theoriginal ballerina on the Welcome To My Nightmare tour in the mid-'70s and still plays roles in the show. Their two daughters, Calico, 27, and Sonora, 15, both ballerinas, are also part of the
show. (His son, Dashiel, 23, is in a band, making their first album with Cooper's record producer.)

"It's fun to tour," Cooper says. "We just leave the house and go out for five months or so. Sheryl says, 'I feel like I ran away and joined the circus."'

....

Along Came A Spider is out now.

from
http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/horror-show-for-the-whole-family/2008/08/29/1219516704509.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

God doesn't require a human sacrifice

{ 10:25 AM, 29/8/2008 } { Posted in God } { 0 comments } { Link }

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go and learn what this means, 'It's mercy I desire instead of sacrifice.' Matthew 9:13 (Scholars Version)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Obviously, God doesn't require a human sacrifice of a bloke called Jesus in order to forgive sin ... or is Jesus lying in this verse?

{ Last Page } { Page 1 of 24 } { Next Page }