DID YOU KNOW THIS about the BIBLE?

by Terry 79 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  hmike

  Well-written, Terry. Yes, I did know this, and actually, Terry, none of it invalidates the Bible. From a Biblical perspective, while man may work to subvert the will of God, or apparently derail it by his clumsy attempts to help it along, the will of God survives it all intact. All the political intrigue and wrangling that surrounded the formation and survival of the canon, all the disputes and controversies that have followed the Bible over the centuries, all of the human mismanagement of the church--the Biblical perspective of all this is that God’s will is being accomplished anyway.

  The Bible doesn’t hide the follies committed by its heroes--Abraham, David, Peter, etc.--no, it’s not afraid to expose them because it shows how God did what he intended in spite of their failures. If the canon were still open, the writers wouldn’t be afraid to mention what you wrote because they would see God’s will being accomplished in spite of, and even because of, the fumbling efforts of people.
• 

  Terry

  the Biblical perspective of all this is that God’s will is being accomplished anyway.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  It must be the best of all possible worlds.

  To say God wants it otherwise and will make it otherwise "someday" is to make him a procrastinator. The cause of God's procrastination has never been addressed.

  Justice delayed is Justice denied.

  A God of Justice who makes promises and insists that his allowance of continued evil stems from his own inestimable good is the sort of god the rational man soon abandons. Who does that leave to embrace him?

  The True Believer accepts the god he gets by sanctioning the evil in the world as part of "God's Will." Is this a strong moral motive to better this world or to sit back and let God do the driving to the Promised Land?

  The Jehovah's Witness mentality is such. They themselves sell books and magazines and count it as a charitable act. They labor not to mend this fabric of a world and lift not one finger in actual good deeds toward its healing. Why? They are not rational. The god they embrace is the default vacuum in their own values that has allowed all evil to rush in. They embrace this as the "will of god".

  Is this your idea of morality too?

  Terry

  
  (edited to add: This world is a world of VICTIMS whose victimhood is made possible by the generous support of Good people who abandon their ability to make it better by merely relying on the will of God. The Good people have sanctioned every last body bag by their choice.)
• 

  hmike

  The chaos and inhumanity of the world is our doing. God works in the midst of that without removing it. To some extent, he lets us have our way, even if it is contrary to his, but He figures it into the plan.
• 

  myelaine

  sorry, I put this in the wrong thread! I'm moving it now...
• 

  inquirer

  Terry. I went to the Catholic New Advent site. It only talks about no 2 Latin text that are alike.
  
  
  
  http://www.newadvent.org
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  make it seem that every Bible manuscript is disputed! Obviously they
  are only talking about Old Latin texts! They weren't talking about the
  Hebrew texts, or the Septuagint texts. Obviously the Greek Scriptures
  (NT) were translated into Greek first and THEN came all the faults when
  it came into Latin!
  
  Notice
  how they say that some texts are better than others. It just so happens
  to be the European on is the best out of the lot of them.40 manuscripts is not that much anyway. There are 5000 Greek Scripture manuscripts that are in existence today!
  
  
  T his
  is like that interesting site http://www.bible.ca (anti JW, which is largely quite a good site you should check it out if you don't already know about it!!!) site quotes in full
  the texts that supposedly don't support the trinity! The Watctower
  takes it out of context and lie to all the JW's in that "Should you
  believe in a trinity" brochure! I am not saying you are
  like them, because you probably made a mistake. But it's amazing what
  harm can be done when you take something or someone out of context! We all do that at times.
• 

  inquirer

  Sorry about the weird formatting! Don't know what went wrong then! ... :(
• 

  Terry

  You
  
  make it seem that every Bible manuscript is disputed! Obviously they
  
  are only talking about Old Latin texts! They weren't talking about the
  
  Hebrew texts, or the Septuagint texts. Obviously the Greek Scriptures
  
  (NT) were translated into Greek first and THEN came all the faults when
  
  it came into Latin!

  The Rabbinical view is that ALL translations are lies!

  The translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek is the first set of lies. Then, all subsequent translations from the Septuigent are lies based on lies, if you will. (The rabbis, after all, are the caretakers of the word. Their opinion should carry the most weight. Christianity hijacks the Hebrew scriptures for their own purposes.)

  T.
• 

  the_classicist

  The translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek is the first set of lies. Then, all subsequent translations from the Septuigent are lies based on lies, if you will. (The rabbis, after all, are the caretakers of the word. Their opinion should carry the most weight. Christianity hijacks the Hebrew scriptures for their own purposes.)

  They say the Septuagint is more reliable than the Masoretic Text as it tends to agree with the Qumran scrolls a lot more.

  I believe there's an Italian proverb too exactly like the Jewish one, "to translate is to betray"
• 

  talesin

  It gives me a windmill to tilt at: the Watchtower Society and enslavement of wonderful people victimized by conmen disguised as human beings in love with God.

  Terry, this is an admirable sentiment. I'm sure we will clash at times, as we have in the past , but I admire your search for truth.

  tal
• 

  toreador

  Very interesting list. Some good some not so good. ;)