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IFISEEUS
"There are a thousand hacking at the
branches of evil |
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REVELATION vs INSPIRATION WORD OF GOD: The Bible is not the word of God, never has been, never will or can be. The 'Word of God' was the messenger of reason manifested or revealed in the human being called by John the Logos, which means the basis for logic, the voice of reason, and the source of wisdom. The Old Testament (OT) is valuable only in pointing to Christ and substantiating him as the Messiah. The New Testament (NT), except for the gospels, has merit or worth only as it substantiates the historicity of the resurrection and as a record for wrong ideas that do not work, as a track record for failure of theology differing from that of Jesus. Neither Jesus nor the Father ever authorized the writing of the NT nor had anything to do with it, nor has God, time or history validated it. GOSPELS: The synoptic Gospels, especially Matthew, are written within the anticipation of Jesus setting up a theocracy on the earth, something totally out of harmony with his character and purpose. The Gospels of the NT are revelation only in so far as they faithfully report the spirit of what Jesus said and did, that is, the Trinity giving us THEIR theology. Even the author's commentary within the gospels is not ultimately trustworthy, especially in the synoptic gospels. The rest of the NT in contrast is other men who died giving us their theology and is purely about what these men thought at the time they wrote and is surely untrustworthy, even though they were 'inspired'. CANONS: The word 'canon' means measurer or ruler. Both the OT canon and the NT canon came to be regarded as special through a historical process, involving only the collective wisdom of the Hebrews over some 1200 years for the OT, involving only the collective 'wisdom' of the errant Christian community over some 335 years for the NT. Evidently, since Jesus disagreed with part of the OT scriptures and quoted authoritatively from literature outside the canon, the process to canon was an earthly one only approximate in validity at best, and apparently God was not directly involved. OT CANON: The OT canon was solidified by approx. 400 BC and consisted of three categories of books. The Pentateuch, represented by Moses on the mount of transfiguration, were the foundation of Torah and were considered to be authoritative and infallible. The Prophets, represented by Elijah on the mount, were considered to be 'inspirational' but not infallible. The Writings were included as significant romantic and cultural literature. Strangely enough, Christ fulfilled more carefully and specifically some prophetic sections (note Psalm 22) of the Writings than of the other two categories. NT CANON: The NT canon was solidified by 370 CE primarily by Roman 'Christians' who were firmly entrenched in the major concepts of Zoroastrianism, who were firmly allied with the civil, political and military authorities, and who were beginning at that time to literally slaughter the other more spiritual followers of Jesus, the Gnostics. The NT writers are not presenting the same message as Jesus did and we should have no concern for the NT canon because Jesus presents himself as the voice of reason and last revelation of the Supreme Being, and HE told and showed us everything we need to know. EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN ENGLISH BIBLE: Out of reaction
to the religious authority of Rome and its commensurate political
influence and meddling, King James I of England in 1604 commissioned 54
men to produce the Authorized King James Version of the Bible. This
version was not really a new translation but was purposely designed to
pander to the Church of England and to especially not offend prevailing
medieval religious sentiments. Indeed the commission reported that, "A door that seems to stand open must be of a man's size, or it is not the door that providence means for him." -- Henry Ward Beecher |
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