I just posted an article on my other blog, Unifying the Faith, and I simply had to share it on here since most of my readers are on this blog which is the oldest of the two. The post is not directly related to apologetics per se; however, it is based on an extremely important topic for me, so I really hope you enjoy reading it. The link to the article is below. Blessings!
Unifying the Faith: The Vatican and US Cuba Relations
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Interesting Timelines in the Bible
God spoke to Abraham, and one of the things God told him is
found in Genesis 22:18 which reads: "...and by your descendants shall all
the nations of the earth bless themselves (RSV Bible)..."
Many centuries later or about 1300 years later, to be more
accurate, the Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 61:11,
"For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a
garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause
righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations (RSV
Bible)."
The JPS Tanakh in English reads as follows for this same
previous verse:
"For as the earth bringeth forth her growth, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD
will cause victory and glory to spring forth before all the nations (JPS
Tanakh)."
Actually, the foregoing Chapter begins in Isaiah 61:1, which
reads:
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the
LORD has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,
(RSV Bible)."
A little over 700 years later, Jesus went to the synagogue
in Nazareth, and read from this same portion of Isaiah, and this is documented
in Luke 4: 16-19 which reads:
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up;
and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he
stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He
opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord (RSV Bible).’"
References:
JPS Tanakh
RSV Bible
Friday, November 14, 2014
My Counter-Argument to Rabbi Shraga Simmons
I need to explain why I chose this title for this post.
Recently, someone shared an article by Rabbi Shraga Simmons which is titled: Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus, For 2,000
years Jews have rejected the Christian idea of Jesus as messiah. Why? The article was published March 6th,
2004 on aish.com. I suppose that my argument or case is not
so much from a fundamentalist perspective in which I will present direct text
that opposes line by line what Rabbi Shraga Simmons is saying; however, I think
that I do counter some of the points he makes which I believe are well made.
Obviously, the Rabbi’s post was made over ten years ago; however, I only
recently discovered it existed. The post by the Rabbi caught my attention
because I recently wrote something on my blog that sounds a bit like the
opposite of what the Rabbi is saying to an extent, although I will not argue
that he makes great points, indeed. Anyhow, my blog is Arango's Apologetics
Page, and the article which I wrote on Friday, August 1st, 2014 is
titled: Why Many Believed Jesus was the
Messiah since the Very Beginning. I am sure; it is understandable why I say
they sound like opposites.
The thing that perhaps needs to be cleared up in my view is
that many Jews very early on did believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of
God, the Second Adam, and perhaps many other things. In the Book of Acts there is documentation of more than 3000 conversions in one day alone. Indeed, some thought he was
divine, and some just human. Honestly, the debate over the humanity and
divinity of Christ is still going on among some Christian factions, possibly. Jesus was considered the new Adam. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 15:45-47, St.
Paul said: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the
physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of
dust; the second man is from heaven (RSV Bible)." This previous text was
written by Paul around between 53 AD and 57 AD. Jesus was considered a new
covenant from God. Paul was a Jew, and would attend both synagogue, and the
many churches he planted when visiting the cities in which they were found. At one point, in early Christianity the debate
was whether new converts needed to be circumcised. Anyhow, I don’t really want
to dwell in excessive detail to be brief in this reflection. Now, please allow
me to get started making some points.
To start my case, the reason I am a Christian, and believe
that Jesus was the Messiah and/or the Son of God, perhaps, is not primarily
because of any Old Testament text that seems to refer to Jesus as such. I try
to avoid the fundamentalist approach to this argument, as I said previously…lol.
Jesus resurrected and we have this documented very well in thousands upon
thousands of manuscripts in Greek, Coptic, Syriac, and in Latin, for starters.
The RESURRECTION of Jesus is a huge deal in Christianity regardless of whether
anyone really knows who Jesus really was. Furthermore, Paul makes the case about
the resurrection of Jesus very well in 1 Corinthians 15:1-12. In fact, the Bishops that came up with the
Nicene Creed in 325 AD accepted that Jesus was both human and divine, but in my
opinion they probably limited their statements about him greatly. Yes, one can
say that "for 2,000 years Jews have rejected the Christian idea of Jesus
as messiah." but this is really a half truth because the first Christians
were Jews; in fact, Christianity is simply another branch of Judaism…. Peter
(Cephas, Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples) made arguments using the Old
Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) in our New Testament. Moreover, if you read my
blog post which I aforementioned, I illustrate this directly quoting from the Book
of Acts 3:12-26. The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament begins by saying: “In
many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all
things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of
power (RSV Bible).” Jesus himself used Hebrew Scriptures to explain who he was
in the New Testament: "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he
interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27)."
But, let me move on to other ideas….
I personally have nothing against Judaism, if anything, and
think it can coexist extremely well with its own sibling, Christianity. I have
even heard many people make ignorant arguments such as Paul said things Jesus didn’t
say. Okay, just in case you didn’t’ know, the oldest Christian writing is 1st
Thessalonians which was written by Paul, and not the Gospels which contain the
words of Jesus. Mark is the oldest Gospel, and he was a student of Paul along
with Luke, so trust me, Paul knew what Jesus said…lol. The other two Gospels in
our modern canon are Mathew and John, both were supposedly Jesus’ disciples,
and were eye witnesses to what he said, although all Scholars may not agree,
and say John was the only eyewitness. Ironically, John is the last Gospel
written. All the Gospels were written for different audiences, but they are
still included in the canon most Christians use today.
I wish to reiterate that it's not accurate to say that
Judaism has rejected Jesus as the messiah for 2000 years because Christianity
is a branch of Judaism and everything written in the New Testament was written
by Jewish people moreover that claims made about Jesus were first made by
Jewish people. The person that took Christianity to the gentiles was Paul in
the very beginning of the Faith. However, one should not assume that the Hebrew
texts are the sole reason for accepting Jesus as Messiah. The Old Testament is
one form of apologetics, but probably not the best method if you ask me. In
Genesis 22:18, God did tell Abraham "and in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice (JPS Tanakh)."
Many of the 2.18 billion Christians on the planet believe that Jesus is part of
that seed from Abraham, and feel very blessed to believe in Jesus and his
words, and all of which this entails.
One could say that the Nicene Creed from 325 AD, which is
really an affirmation of our faith, perhaps best explains what we basically
believe as Christians, and it does not need support of the Hebrew text, but I
am sure that perhaps those same Hebrew text are a big deal to some “Sola
Scriptura” Evangelicals which do not in any way represent the majority of
Christians, only a small faction, and I myself was one once, so I am not being
critical of them either, nor the Hebrew text which I also enjoy reading often.
Christians, do not really need to question why some scriptures seem attributed
to Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures, although they could if they wish. I do
strongly believe that Jews should read the New Testament, however, whether they
believe Jesus is anything that people have claimed he was throughout history or
not, simply because it shows them a great deal within its texts of where
Judaism was 2000 years ago, and what they believed, as opposed to modern day
Judaism.
In closing, many Christians and I included also do not
believe in “replacement theology” with relevance to Jews, so truthfully we
should all probably just move on, and get along because this is similar to
kicking a dead horse. No one has to convert to anything in my opinion; Jews do
not need to become Christians. The book
of Romans chapters 9 to 11 makes this case, perhaps. Let's stop and get in and
out of the box of the Scriptures and view Christianity from several
perspectives, from all of its variations, and versions, as it has always been. Christianity
could even seem psychotic at times but it doesn't mean that it's wrong; for
instance, John 6:44 and John 12:32 to me seem to contradict each other, but can
actually work together if one thinks about it enough or doesn’t think about
it…lol. The accurate statement to make with relevance to Christianity and
Judaism would probably be that Judaism and Christianity split up and went in two
different directions by comparison to what modern Judaism is today and what
modern Christianity is today, but who really knows? As I said before also, I
actually think that modern Jews should read the New Testament to have a better
understanding of where Judaism was 2000 years ago because you're getting input
from a lot of Jews who were living during the first century. Whoever Jesus was,
whether the Messiah or anything else we may desire to believe, was obviously
pretty amazing. I hope you have enjoyed my arguments. I personally do not know Rabbi
Shraga Simmons, but if he is ever in South Florida and wants to get together
for breakfast or something, assuming he eats Kosher, I know some amazing Kosher
places near my house that we could both enjoy, so Shalom, and blessings to all!
References:
JPS Tanakh
RSV Bible
Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus, why Jews reject Jesus
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Brief Thoughts on Hell, Part 6- Letting Go Of Hell Series
Benjamin L. Corey has written an entire series about Hell on patheos.com, The Official Blog of Benjamin L. Corey. I simply wanted to share the link to his blog with my readers because I have enjoyed reading his posts, and I am almost sure that you will all also enjoy them. I pray that everyone is having a fantastic month of November as we start to get ready for the holidays. The link to the series is below. Blessings!
Letting Go Of Hell Series
Letting Go Of Hell Series
Monday, November 3, 2014
Six Years Old
Happy Birthday to Arango's Apologetics Page on it's sixth birthday...yay! I hope everyone has enjoyed what has been written on here so far. I know that only five followers show, and they are bold, but I get to see the stats, and know that thousands have read at least one post. Anyway, Happy Birthday! Blessings to all!
Saturday, October 18, 2014
A Former Atheist Professor Now Believes Faith is For Smart People
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. October has
been a busy month for me. I really haven’t had much time to post or think about
anything I wanted to share. I did, however, just read an article in the
Christian Science Monitor that is relevant to apologetics, and thought I would
share with you the readers. The article is titled: Why a former atheist professor now believes faith is for smart people.
The article is about Holly Ordway. Her new book is: Not God's Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms. In the book
she explains why she believes that atheists are not smarter than Christians,
but this is simply what the article says, and I have yet to read the book.
However, since I know the Christian Science Monitor has some of the highest
standards in journalism, I trust what they say with the utmost credibility.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the article, and I think that perhaps we should all
get a copy of Holly’s book. Blessings and I hope you enjoy reading! The link to
the article is below.
Why a former atheist professor now believes faith is for smart people
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Mario Joseph, a Former Muslim Imam that Converted to Christianity by Studying the Quran
I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer for us all here in the northern hemisphere of the planet. I wanted to share this video I ran into because someone
shared it on facebook. The video appears on a video program that is called Changing
Tracks which seems to be from Toledo, Spain and is hosted by Cristina Casado, although I am not sure it is an actual broadcast.
In the video, a man named Mario Joseph is interviewed. Supposedly his Muslim
name was Imam Sulaiman ibn Ahmad. During the interview, Mario explains how he
became a Christian while studying the Quran. Moreover, he even makes the claim
that Jesus is God due to his discovery of the historical Jesus via the Quran. I
am personally not an expert on the Quran, although I have owned an English
translation copy for many years now, and have briefly read it every now and
then. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the video which is the first I have ever shared in almost six years of Arango's Apologetics Page. Blessings!
Reference:
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUXd4qW9mg#t=172
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Pope Francis' Message “You cannot hate in the name of God”
In light of all the horrific and terrible things happening
in our world, I wanted to close out the month of August with a video message
from Pope Francis. Pope Francis is not the leader of all Christians around the
world. He is the leader of Roman Catholics (Western Church) which is the largest
denomination in Christianity, but regardless I believe that this message should
be the focus of all Christians around the world at this moment in time with any
and all support possible, especially our prayers. Consequently, I am sharing
this post on both Arango’s Apologetics Page and on Unifying the Faith.
ROMEREPORTS.COM wrote as follows:
"Pope Francis expressed his concern for the situation
in Iraq during the Angelus prayer. He firmly assured that these crimes gravely
offend God (http://en.romereports.com)."
Pope Francis said the following in his message:
"Children dead from thirst and hunger during the
escape; women who are abducted; people slaughtered; violence of every kind;
destruction everywhere, destruction of homes, destruction of religious,
historical and cultural patrimonies. All this greatly offends God and greatly
offends humanity. You cannot bring hatred in the name of God! You cannot make
war in the name of God (http://en.romereports.com)!"
The link to the video is below.
Pope Francis: “You cannot hate in the name of God”
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Demand Religious Freedom
Christians and Jews are indeed being persecuted around the world. It is time to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves as Proverbs 31:8 states. The religious right is starting to raise awareness which is strange since they are usually busy politicizing issues that normally should not be politicized.
My problem with people like Ralph Reed is that they will most likely make millions in income politicizing things like this issue of persecution as a "God business." Credits to Frank Schaffer on the "God business" phrase I just used. I am just surprised that they are showing concern for Assyrian Christians in Iraq, and Coptic Christians in Egypt, and such because honestly many on the religious right did not consider that these brothers and sisters where actually Christian based on the limited worldview on that same religious right. Unless this is just some new scheme to help the Republican party. I personally do not think that our Faith needs to be supporting any one political party, but instead leave that up to the individual as a choice. Our job is to follow Christ. But, I do think the religious right is right on this one or at least on the right track for now. So, the link below is one way of communicating the injustices and human rights abuses being experienced by our brothers and sisters around the world. If anyone comes up with a better idea, please share, and I will try to promote it.
Demand Religious Freedom
My problem with people like Ralph Reed is that they will most likely make millions in income politicizing things like this issue of persecution as a "God business." Credits to Frank Schaffer on the "God business" phrase I just used. I am just surprised that they are showing concern for Assyrian Christians in Iraq, and Coptic Christians in Egypt, and such because honestly many on the religious right did not consider that these brothers and sisters where actually Christian based on the limited worldview on that same religious right. Unless this is just some new scheme to help the Republican party. I personally do not think that our Faith needs to be supporting any one political party, but instead leave that up to the individual as a choice. Our job is to follow Christ. But, I do think the religious right is right on this one or at least on the right track for now. So, the link below is one way of communicating the injustices and human rights abuses being experienced by our brothers and sisters around the world. If anyone comes up with a better idea, please share, and I will try to promote it.
Demand Religious Freedom
Friday, August 1, 2014
Why Many Believed Jesus was the Messiah since the Very Beginning
I must warn everyone that perhaps it is possible that I am
writing this post from my previously evangelical “sola scriptura” side of the
brain, so please be patient if you disagree with what I say...lol. Moreover, I
think that part of the brain if it really exists hinders and limits
understanding what Jesus is and was really about, but that is just my opinion. Oh
well, it is what it is...I just felt like posting this…feel free to comment
after reading! I just wanted to share some thoughts on why Christianity has
always believed that Jesus was The Messiah, and why that is what the very first
Christians (a branch of Judaism) believed based on some of the Old Testament
(Tanakh) Scriptures or verses which I will provide on here. One of the earliest
documented cases of what I am saying is found in the Book of Acts in which Peter
(Cephas) the disciple of Jesus explains. However, if you have read my post
titled: The Road to Emmaus from
December 30, 2010, you would find that Jesus himself also explained,
"beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all
the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27)."
The passage I was previously referencing in the Book of Acts
in which Peter was using the Old Testament as apologetics for Jesus being The
Messiah is found in Acts 3, and it reads as follows:
"Act 3:12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the
people: "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at
us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
Act 3:13 The God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers,
glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence
of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
Act 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and
asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Act 3:15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised
from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
Act 3:16 And his
name--by faith in his name--has made this man strong whom you see and know, and
the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the
presence of you all.
Act 3:17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in
ignorance, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the
prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins
may be blotted out,
Act 3:20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for
restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy
prophets long ago.
Act 3:22 Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he
tells you.
Act 3:23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen
to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.'
Act 3:24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel
and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
Act 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the
covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your
offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
Act 3:26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you
first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness (ESV Bible)."
Well, Peter was definitely referencing the Old Testament.
So, did Moses really say: "The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet
like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you?"
Yes, Moses did say this, and the quote is found in Deuteronomy 18:15. Did Samuel
and other prophets say what Peter said he said? Well, yes you can look up II
Samuel 7:11-16 and it does seem to make a Messianic reference. But, what is “the
restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy
prophets long ago?” I would imagine that
maybe it is what Daniel said in Ch 12:9, but others make similar comments as
well. I really do not do too much of this Messianic type of apologetics, but
when one reads many of the verses they do seem to direct one in that
destination. Below is a list of some of the Old Testament verses that are
considered Messianic by many, although to me when they are read out of context
they do not seem as such, but that is just me.
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 9:26
Genesis 12:2
Genesis 22:18
Deuteronomy 18:15
II Samuel 7: 11-16
Psalms 22
Psalms 110:1
Isaiah 9: 6-7
Isaiah 53
Micah 5:2
Well, I am sure that there are plenty of more verses that
are seemingly Messianic, but I will leave that up to you for personal research.
I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this post, and I hope you spend some time
going over some of the verses and decide for yourself what you believe.
Blessings!
Reference:
ESV Bible
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Craig Evans interviewed by Apologetics 315 - YouTube
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. I haven't posted much lately, but I do always try to have something at least once a month. In this post I wanted to share a recent interview with Craig Evans on Apologetics 315 that is very much related to the purpose of this blog. I hope you enjoy this thorough interview and find it fascinating. The link to the interview is just below. Blessings!
Craig Evans interviewed by Apologetics 315 - YouTube
Craig Evans interviewed by Apologetics 315 - YouTube
Saturday, June 21, 2014
It is Known as The Gospel of John, but Did John Write it?
The first four books of the New Testament are known as the
Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John). All four tell us the story of Jesus
Christ; however, the only one that is supposedly an eyewitness account is John's
Gospel. Many theologians throughout history have believed that this Gospel was
without a doubt written by John, Jesus' disciple, although this is not proven.
Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How Historical is It? – Biblical Archaeology Society
Friday, May 23, 2014
Brief Thoughts on Hell, Part 5 - Is the Hell we Have Come to Know a Myth?
For part 5 of this series on Hell, I just wanted to share the link to this post I read recently that was published on Huff Post Religion, and is written by Jon M. Sweeney. The article is titled: Hell Is a Myth -- Actually, a Bunch of Myths. Anyhow, I really do not want to comment much about the article, and prefer that you read it and decide for yourself what you think. I know that I enjoyed reading it, and I hope you do as well. The link to the article is found below. Blessings!
Hell Is a Myth -- Actually, a Bunch of Myths | Jon M. Sweeney
Hell Is a Myth -- Actually, a Bunch of Myths | Jon M. Sweeney
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Who was the First to Recognize Jesus as the Messiah?
This is another one of those posts where you will not read
too much of what I am thinking about as in other articles like the one titled, About the Previous Post, the Codex and
Satan, On Doubt, On Scriptures like Daniel 10, and On Struggles, in which
you probably are burdened with reading about too many of my thoughts all at
once…lol. Well, taking a break from my ideas, I wanted to share this article by
Ben Witherington III which I read in the Bible History Daily from the Biblical
Archeology Review. The article is titled: Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First
Recognized Jesus as Messiah? Enough introductions, the link to the article is
below, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Blessings!
Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First Recognized Jesus as Messiah? – Biblical Archaeology Society
References:
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/mary-simeon-or-anna-who-first-recognized-jesus-as-messiah/
Witherington, Ben, III. “Mary, Simeon or Anna.” Bible
Review, Winter 2005, 12-14, 51. All Bible Review articles are available in the
BAS Library, as well as on the Bible Review Archive CD.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Bart Ehrman, Jesus being God, Theology, and Related Issues
Bart D. Ehrman's is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina. He probably has one of the most extensive Curriculum Vitae's that I have seen. He obtained his P.H.D and M. Div from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his B.A. from Wheaton College in Illinois. His teaching experience is vast, and he has written several books and publications. This writer has a great deal of respect for Dr. Ehrman and one of the things that I find fascinating is that he is agnostic. Although, I have not yet arrived at a similar worldview, and I hope I never do, I still admire his sincerity and knowledge of theology. Well, I could probably go on and on with credits and compliments, but you can also view them yourself at his very own website if desired. The websites is found at the following link: http://www.bartdehrman.com/.
I recently heard an interview with Dr. Ehrman on NPR's FRESH AIR which is hosted by Terry Gross in which he discussed his new book which is titled: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. The interview was very interesting with relevance to the research Dr. Ehrman did for the book. The following is part of the interview that I obtained from a transcript of the program.
“GROSS: OK, so one of the things you look at is typically what happened to the bodies of men who were crucified. And when you try to answer that question, what answers do you come up with?
EHRMAN: You know, this is one of the things that really startled me in doing my research for this. I actually changed my views about this question about whether there was an empty tomb three days after Jesus' death, and the reason I changed my mind about it is because I started to look into what we know about Roman practices of crucifixion. Now it's interesting that we never have any literary descriptions in any writing at all. These no description of how exactly crucifixion was performed. But there are references in ancient Greek and Latin texts that refer to people who have been crucified, and what is striking is that in virtually every instance, we're told that the person was left on the cross in order to rot away and to be eaten by scavengers so that the punishment of crucifixion wasn't simply the torture involved, it also was the horrible effect of not being given a proper burial.
GROSS: The desecration of the body after death.
EHRMAN: Absolutely, the body was to desecrated, and this was scandalous to ancient people. But the Romans did it this was as a disincentive for crime. So it's not just that you're going to go through a horrible death; your body is going to rot in the cross, and scavengers are going to eat it. And this is the typical procedure for crucifixion in the ancient world, and so I ask in my book is it likely that there was an exception in the case of Jesus. So in the Gospels, of course, Joseph of Arimathea asks for Jesus' body, and Pontius Pilate gives it to him, and then Joseph puts it in his tomb, and three days later that tomb is found empty.
Well, I ask the question in my book is Pilate, from what we know about him from other sources, likely to have made an exception with Jesus or with anyone else? Is Pilate likely to have said, well, OK, in this one case, we'll actually take the carcass off the cross and put it in, and give him a decent burial? I think it's highly unlikely, for reasons that I lay out in the book, given what we know about Pilate from other sources.
GROSS: What are some of the reasons you think Pilate would not have made an exception?
EHRMAN: Well, what we know about Pilate comes to us from various sources, including the Jewish historian Josephus and the philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt, named Philo, what we learn about Pilate from these sources is that Pilate was not a nice fellow. He was not concerned about the people that he ruled. He was ruthless. He was hard-hearted. He was mean-spirited, and he simply did not care about the religious sensibilities of the Jews in Palestine as we learn from several episodes in both Josephus and Philo. And so even if the Jewish authorities who had arranged for Jesus to be crucified with Pilate, even if they decided, well, let's give him a decent burial, there's nothing in the record to suggest that Pilate would ever do that, and we have no record of any governor of any province in the entire Roman Empire who would bow to the religious sensibilities of their people in order to give somebody a decent burial. And so it seems unlikely to me that the exception was made in the case of Jesus.
GROSS: Say an exception was made...? (http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=300246095).”
Well, I decided to stop after this question because I wanted to simply interject with something from the Gospel of Mathew. In the RSV translation, Mathew 27: 54-66 reads as follows:
“[54] When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
[55]There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him;
[56] among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee.
[57]When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathe'a, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
[58] He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
[59] And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud,
[60] and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
[61] Mary Mag'dalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.
[62]Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
[63] and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.'
[64] Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first."
[65] Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can."
[66] So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard (RSV Bible).”
Even if Jesus didn’t say that he was the son of God, it is certainly clear that the centurion and those who were with him…saw the earthquake and what took place during the crucifixion, and were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" Moreover, the chief priests and the Pharisees asked Pilate to guard the Tomb because they feared that Jesus would indeed resurrect; consequently, according to the Gospels “an exception was made” for Jesus and he was buried. Now, it is known that Jesus did say that he and the father were one. In fact, in John 17: 21 he said: "I pray that they may all be one…."Perhaps, these things I say do not make a case for many, but they do to me. In conclusion, my suggestion for a new book that Dr. Ehrman can write in order to convince me a bit more, and perhaps the other 2.2 billion Christians on the planet is to write a book in which he proves that the Gospels and the New Testament are a complete lie and hoax. I hope you enjoyed reading. Blessings!
Reference:
Bible, Revised Standard Version
http://www.bartdehrman.com/
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=300246095
I recently heard an interview with Dr. Ehrman on NPR's FRESH AIR which is hosted by Terry Gross in which he discussed his new book which is titled: How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. The interview was very interesting with relevance to the research Dr. Ehrman did for the book. The following is part of the interview that I obtained from a transcript of the program.
“GROSS: OK, so one of the things you look at is typically what happened to the bodies of men who were crucified. And when you try to answer that question, what answers do you come up with?
EHRMAN: You know, this is one of the things that really startled me in doing my research for this. I actually changed my views about this question about whether there was an empty tomb three days after Jesus' death, and the reason I changed my mind about it is because I started to look into what we know about Roman practices of crucifixion. Now it's interesting that we never have any literary descriptions in any writing at all. These no description of how exactly crucifixion was performed. But there are references in ancient Greek and Latin texts that refer to people who have been crucified, and what is striking is that in virtually every instance, we're told that the person was left on the cross in order to rot away and to be eaten by scavengers so that the punishment of crucifixion wasn't simply the torture involved, it also was the horrible effect of not being given a proper burial.
GROSS: The desecration of the body after death.
EHRMAN: Absolutely, the body was to desecrated, and this was scandalous to ancient people. But the Romans did it this was as a disincentive for crime. So it's not just that you're going to go through a horrible death; your body is going to rot in the cross, and scavengers are going to eat it. And this is the typical procedure for crucifixion in the ancient world, and so I ask in my book is it likely that there was an exception in the case of Jesus. So in the Gospels, of course, Joseph of Arimathea asks for Jesus' body, and Pontius Pilate gives it to him, and then Joseph puts it in his tomb, and three days later that tomb is found empty.
Well, I ask the question in my book is Pilate, from what we know about him from other sources, likely to have made an exception with Jesus or with anyone else? Is Pilate likely to have said, well, OK, in this one case, we'll actually take the carcass off the cross and put it in, and give him a decent burial? I think it's highly unlikely, for reasons that I lay out in the book, given what we know about Pilate from other sources.
GROSS: What are some of the reasons you think Pilate would not have made an exception?
EHRMAN: Well, what we know about Pilate comes to us from various sources, including the Jewish historian Josephus and the philosopher from Alexandria, Egypt, named Philo, what we learn about Pilate from these sources is that Pilate was not a nice fellow. He was not concerned about the people that he ruled. He was ruthless. He was hard-hearted. He was mean-spirited, and he simply did not care about the religious sensibilities of the Jews in Palestine as we learn from several episodes in both Josephus and Philo. And so even if the Jewish authorities who had arranged for Jesus to be crucified with Pilate, even if they decided, well, let's give him a decent burial, there's nothing in the record to suggest that Pilate would ever do that, and we have no record of any governor of any province in the entire Roman Empire who would bow to the religious sensibilities of their people in order to give somebody a decent burial. And so it seems unlikely to me that the exception was made in the case of Jesus.
GROSS: Say an exception was made...? (http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=300246095).”
Well, I decided to stop after this question because I wanted to simply interject with something from the Gospel of Mathew. In the RSV translation, Mathew 27: 54-66 reads as follows:
“[54] When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
[55]There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him;
[56] among whom were Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee.
[57]When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathe'a, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
[58] He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
[59] And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud,
[60] and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
[61] Mary Mag'dalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.
[62]Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
[63] and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.'
[64] Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first."
[65] Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can."
[66] So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard (RSV Bible).”
Even if Jesus didn’t say that he was the son of God, it is certainly clear that the centurion and those who were with him…saw the earthquake and what took place during the crucifixion, and were filled with awe, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" Moreover, the chief priests and the Pharisees asked Pilate to guard the Tomb because they feared that Jesus would indeed resurrect; consequently, according to the Gospels “an exception was made” for Jesus and he was buried. Now, it is known that Jesus did say that he and the father were one. In fact, in John 17: 21 he said: "I pray that they may all be one…."Perhaps, these things I say do not make a case for many, but they do to me. In conclusion, my suggestion for a new book that Dr. Ehrman can write in order to convince me a bit more, and perhaps the other 2.2 billion Christians on the planet is to write a book in which he proves that the Gospels and the New Testament are a complete lie and hoax. I hope you enjoyed reading. Blessings!
Reference:
Bible, Revised Standard Version
http://www.bartdehrman.com/
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=300246095
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Unifying the Faith: Hans Küng and the Global Ethic Foundation
I simply wanted to share an article from the sister blog, Unifying the Faith, I posted this past Thursday, March 6, 2014 that is titled: Hans Küng and the Global Ethic Foundation. I am not sure if any of you ever visit the other blog which is more about ecumenism; consequently, I am sharing this article so you also have a chance to visit and find out if perhaps you may like some of the things I have written on there. Anyhow, I don't want to bore you with fluff, so the link to the article is below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Blessings!
Unifying the Faith: Hans Küng and the Global Ethic Foundation
Unifying the Faith: Hans Küng and the Global Ethic Foundation
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Was the Image on the Shroud Really Caused by an Earthquake?
I have done at least a couple of posts on the Shroud of Turin because the subject seems to fascinate me. Moreover, if ever there was a discovery that proved once and for all that it is authentic than it would make the burial cloth the ultimate source for Christian apologetics, perhaps. The truth is that no one to date has been able to prove that it is or that it isn't the authentic burial cloth; however, it is possible that the questions being asked about it are the wrong ones, but that may be best discussed at another time. On this post I simply want to share an article written by someone else.
I always enjoy reading the latest discoveries or articles about the Shroud of Turin, and very recently I read one that I would like to share with you the readers. The article in reference was written for livescience by Megan Gannon, News Editor. The article is titled: Shroud of Turin: Could Ancient Earthquake Explain Face of Jesus? The article is about a new study of the shroud, but I will not go into many details because I will leave that up to you as you read. An initial claim about this study, according to the article is as the following: “Now, a study claims neutron emissions from an ancient earthquake that rocked Jerusalem could have created the iconic image, as well as messed up the radiocarbon levels that later suggested the shroud was a medieval forgery. But other scientists say this newly proposed premise leaves some major questions unanswered.” Now, what are these unanswered questions? Well, Christopher Ramsey, the director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit asks:
"...why the material here is affected, but other archaeological and geological material in the ground is not," Ramsey wrote in an email. "There are huge numbers of radiocarbon dates from the region for much older archaeological material, which certainly don't show this type of intense in-situ radiocarbon production (and they would be much more sensitive to any such effects)."
Indeed, this is a great question because why would neutron emissions only happen on the burial cloth and not on other archaeological artifacts from the same time period. But, I have questions I would ask as an apologetist that maybe science is overlooking.
What question would I ask? Well, the biggest phenomenon with relevance to Jesus was not that he died or was crucified because that is pretty much accepted by almost all historians. However, the reason for Christianity existing is not that Jesus died, it is that he resurrected. Now, how often do we have people that die and come back to life three days later and furthermore, ascend into heaven 40 or 50 days later which is more or less documented by Luke in his Gospel and in the Book of Acts? So, the question I would be asking is what happens during a resurrection like the one attributed to Jesus? I know that I have heard some scientists that are believers say that an Event Horizon took place inside that burial cloth and that is why this image cannot even be reproduced today with even the technology we have. Maybe science should start questioning what takes place during a resurrection…just saying. Anyhow, that is enough of me ranting, and let me share the article with you. The link to the article in reference is below and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. Blessings!
Shroud of Turin: Could Ancient Earthquake Explain Face of Jesus? | LiveScience
Reference:
http://m.livescience.com/43276-ancient-earthquake-shroud-of-turin.html
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Cornerstone
On Sunday, October 7, 2012, I made a post on here that was titled: The Link Between the Old and the New Testaments, is it the Cornerstone? I shared some verses on this post like Psalm 118:21 which reads: “The stone which the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone (JPS)," and also, Isaiah 28:16 which reads: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste (JPS).” The purpose of this post is simply to share Scripture verses that revolve around this same idea of the cornerstone, and simply let you the reader think about what these verses are saying, and if you so desire also share your thoughts in the comments section; therefore, I welcome your participation as always.
Another place where this idea of the cornerstone is used is in Ephesians 2:19-22 which reads:
“[19] So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; [22] in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (RSV Bible).”
I would also like to share some readings coming from the lectionary Scripture readings from January 31, 2014 that were posted by a church that sends me readings via e-mail daily. The following are those readings I mentioned.
1Peter 1.1-2, 10-12, 2.6-10
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
For it stands in scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.” To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,” and “A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall”; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy (RSV Bible).”
Mark 12.1-12
“And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away (RSV Bible).”
I hope you have enjoyed these Scripture readings. Blessings!
References:
JPS Tanakh
RSV Bible
Another place where this idea of the cornerstone is used is in Ephesians 2:19-22 which reads:
“[19] So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; [22] in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (RSV Bible).”
I would also like to share some readings coming from the lectionary Scripture readings from January 31, 2014 that were posted by a church that sends me readings via e-mail daily. The following are those readings I mentioned.
1Peter 1.1-2, 10-12, 2.6-10
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
For it stands in scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.” To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,” and “A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall”; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy (RSV Bible).”
Mark 12.1-12
“And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away (RSV Bible).”
I hope you have enjoyed these Scripture readings. Blessings!
References:
JPS Tanakh
RSV Bible
Sunday, January 5, 2014
About the Previous Post, the Codex and Satan, On Doubt, On Scriptures like Daniel 10, and On Struggles
So, what sort of a title for a blog post is About the Previous Post, the Codex and Satan, On Doubt, On Scriptures like Daniel 10, and On Struggles? Well, I suppose I could say that they could all be things that ran through my mind today just like the many things that go through my mind other days which in silent prayer I question God about; however, I have yet to hear an audible response for those questions. Now, the title mentions several things, and perhaps I should explain them all in one way or another. I will try to explain them briefly; however, I am sure the explanations will probably be understated by comparison as to how intense some of these thoughts may actually have taken place in reality inside my brain. Let me tackle one thing at a time, and I hope it stirs up some thinking in you the reader as well.
The previous post that I wrote was titled: The Third Oldest Bible. This post was about the Codex Washingtonianus being on display in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Museum. The interesting thing about this Bible is that it contains a passage towards the end of the Gospel of Mark which reads: "And Christ replied to them, 'The term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near.'" The verse does not appear in any other known manuscripts. Well, Jesus ascended almost two thousand years ago, and most of us Christians are waiting for his return. Acts 1:10, basically, says that, Jesus, who has been taken from us into heaven, will come back in the same way he was seen go into heaven. Now, in Mathew 28:18, Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."Based, on these two verses, one can wonder why Jesus would have also said something like, “the term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near.” Well, this is a good question, but it makes me wonder why someone that has been given all authority in heaven and on earth would allow “other terrible things to draw near?” I suppose that I can say that a little doubt about the Scriptures and the possibility that there has been tampering with them seems to overwhelm me a bit when I question these type of things, but this is difficult to prove unless we find much older manuscripts, although we do have plenty of them by comparison to other literary works. Some Scripture passages I simply cannot understand.
Even in the Old Testament, I find things that make me question Scriptures, and if the events being described in them are true they certainly bring doubt to my mind. For instance, in Daniel 10 there is a story which involves Angels, but a couple of the ones mentioned are fallen Angels. One of the angels is delivering a message to Daniel about a dream. In Daniel 10, it reads as follows: “[13] The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia [14] and came to make you understand what is to befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” My question here is why are angels at war because if they are all God’s creation than why is this ongoing battle. Moreover, Daniel 10: 20 goes on to say: “[20] Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I am through with him, lo, the prince of Greece will come.” Well, the whole thing sounds crazy because the angel battled another for 21 days, and now it is going back to battle some more. Well, with relevance to all this Angelic warfare, the apostle Paul who was a learned man of Scriptures who probably had copies of manuscripts we do not even have today said the following in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I am sure that if Paul said this he knew why he said it, but still why did Jesus say: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me?" Well, it seems that I am back to square one, on doubt.
Now, the last idea on the extensively long title for this post is Struggles. Of course, I am really referring to a sort of mental struggle. I am thinking that the definition of a struggle is to make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction, so this sounds more applicable to a tangible or physical idea, but in my case I am applying it to a mental state of mine whether it fits or not because it sure does sound like how I feel in dealing with certain Biblical text. However, the fact that the Codex says in Mark: “other terrible things to draw near” make me think that these words were indeed said by Christ because without a doubt in the past two centuries we saw an American Civil War and the Holocaust in the 20th century, and they sure seem to fit the description of “terrible things” to a T, not to mention that both of those words used begin with the letter T.
In closing, I am not sure that anything mentioned in this post will be helpful to you spiritually speaking, but deal with it because other terrible things may draw near. Furthermore, I have two blogs at this time, one is this one, Arango’s Apologetics Page, and the other is Unifying the Faith. The first deals with apologetics or the defense of the Faith and the other deals with Ecumenism in the Faith which is basically the idea of bringing unity among Christians and others. Now, if we think about it, apologetics is very difficult because no matter what we say or show, we cannot prove anything, we ultimately have to apply a little bit of faith. Now, with relevance to ecumenism, we can show the need for it and how it can be beneficial for the entire world; however, to bring it about will probably require an enormous amount of faith. Now, I didn't say any of these things to make anyone laugh, but if it makes you laugh, I hope you enjoy because it has been said that “laughter is the best medicine. I hope that now you understand why I titled this post: About the Previous Post, the Codex and Satan, On Doubt, On Scriptures like Daniel 10, and On Struggle. Hope you enjoyed reading and blessings to you!
Bible References:
New International Version and RSV
The previous post that I wrote was titled: The Third Oldest Bible. This post was about the Codex Washingtonianus being on display in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Museum. The interesting thing about this Bible is that it contains a passage towards the end of the Gospel of Mark which reads: "And Christ replied to them, 'The term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near.'" The verse does not appear in any other known manuscripts. Well, Jesus ascended almost two thousand years ago, and most of us Christians are waiting for his return. Acts 1:10, basically, says that, Jesus, who has been taken from us into heaven, will come back in the same way he was seen go into heaven. Now, in Mathew 28:18, Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."Based, on these two verses, one can wonder why Jesus would have also said something like, “the term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near.” Well, this is a good question, but it makes me wonder why someone that has been given all authority in heaven and on earth would allow “other terrible things to draw near?” I suppose that I can say that a little doubt about the Scriptures and the possibility that there has been tampering with them seems to overwhelm me a bit when I question these type of things, but this is difficult to prove unless we find much older manuscripts, although we do have plenty of them by comparison to other literary works. Some Scripture passages I simply cannot understand.
Even in the Old Testament, I find things that make me question Scriptures, and if the events being described in them are true they certainly bring doubt to my mind. For instance, in Daniel 10 there is a story which involves Angels, but a couple of the ones mentioned are fallen Angels. One of the angels is delivering a message to Daniel about a dream. In Daniel 10, it reads as follows: “[13] The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, so I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia [14] and came to make you understand what is to befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” My question here is why are angels at war because if they are all God’s creation than why is this ongoing battle. Moreover, Daniel 10: 20 goes on to say: “[20] Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I am through with him, lo, the prince of Greece will come.” Well, the whole thing sounds crazy because the angel battled another for 21 days, and now it is going back to battle some more. Well, with relevance to all this Angelic warfare, the apostle Paul who was a learned man of Scriptures who probably had copies of manuscripts we do not even have today said the following in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I am sure that if Paul said this he knew why he said it, but still why did Jesus say: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me?" Well, it seems that I am back to square one, on doubt.
Now, the last idea on the extensively long title for this post is Struggles. Of course, I am really referring to a sort of mental struggle. I am thinking that the definition of a struggle is to make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction, so this sounds more applicable to a tangible or physical idea, but in my case I am applying it to a mental state of mine whether it fits or not because it sure does sound like how I feel in dealing with certain Biblical text. However, the fact that the Codex says in Mark: “other terrible things to draw near” make me think that these words were indeed said by Christ because without a doubt in the past two centuries we saw an American Civil War and the Holocaust in the 20th century, and they sure seem to fit the description of “terrible things” to a T, not to mention that both of those words used begin with the letter T.
In closing, I am not sure that anything mentioned in this post will be helpful to you spiritually speaking, but deal with it because other terrible things may draw near. Furthermore, I have two blogs at this time, one is this one, Arango’s Apologetics Page, and the other is Unifying the Faith. The first deals with apologetics or the defense of the Faith and the other deals with Ecumenism in the Faith which is basically the idea of bringing unity among Christians and others. Now, if we think about it, apologetics is very difficult because no matter what we say or show, we cannot prove anything, we ultimately have to apply a little bit of faith. Now, with relevance to ecumenism, we can show the need for it and how it can be beneficial for the entire world; however, to bring it about will probably require an enormous amount of faith. Now, I didn't say any of these things to make anyone laugh, but if it makes you laugh, I hope you enjoy because it has been said that “laughter is the best medicine. I hope that now you understand why I titled this post: About the Previous Post, the Codex and Satan, On Doubt, On Scriptures like Daniel 10, and On Struggle. Hope you enjoyed reading and blessings to you!
Bible References:
New International Version and RSV
Saturday, January 4, 2014
The Third Oldest Bible
Now here is a bit of Apologetics, I mean the type that is related to ancient manuscripts of the Bible. The Codex Washingtonianus will be on display in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian Museum's Freer Gallery. The ancient Bible is indeed very rare. It was transcribed in Egypt during the time of the Eastern Roman Empire, perhaps around the late fourth or early fifth century. The Codex Washingtonianus is known for an additional passage towards the end of the Gospel of Mark which reads as follows: "And Christ replied to them, 'The term of years of Satan's power has been fulfilled, but other terrible things draw near.'" This foregoing verse does not appear in any other known manuscripts of the Bible. Scholars believe that this verse deals with the question of whether God or Satan is in control on the planet for the time being. Whether any of the manuscripts attributed to Early Christianity is on display anywhere or in a lab somewhere being analyzed it is always good to know that they do exist, and perhaps one of the main reasons that I write this blog and why I am a Christian.
For more information regarding this rare display, I highly recommend reading the article titled: World's Third Oldest Bible Displayed at Smithsonian which was written by Jane J. Lee and is published by National Geographic. The link to the article is below.
Reference:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131227-ancient-bible-codex-washingtonianus-freer-logion-religion-culture/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20131231news-oldbible&utm_campaign=Content