(This article started as a part of a previous post, Indoctrination, Brainwashing, and Deception in Everything from Santa Clause to Christianity Part 1.) Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of what is falsely called knowledge; (1Ti 6:20 WEB) The word “knowledge” in the above verse …
I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius… (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.) (1Co 1:14,16 WEB) I have heard people explain this verse to mean that Paul just didn’t remember baptizing anybody but those few including Stephanas and …
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12 WEB) In these articles as well as others all over this website we are going to …
If there is a theme verse to this website it may be this: So then, brothers, stand firm, and hold the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by word, or by letter. (2Th 2:15 WEB) This website is focused on original Christianity and the standards that were set there. Specifically, the apostles charged …
Scripture on Determining which Writings are Scripture Read More »
I have written a number of articles that talk about different rules and principles important to Scriptural Interpretation and I am putting them together here. This will highlight the major points that have been discussed in articles and you can go to the referenced article for more insight. Those rules include: sticking to what God …
Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, (2Ti 3:16 WEB) Scripture is the Greek word graphe (Strong’s G1124) which just means writing. Of course, this verse is not saying that everything that has been written in the world is God-breathed. That would be ridiculous, everything …
Previous posts have declared that Unitarianism was the belief in Original Christianity including the last post, T 1.10 Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 10, The Apostles taught the Father alone was God, one of the Most Hidden Truths in Christianity Today. We have looked at references that admit that Unitarianism predated Trinitarianism. We looked at …
This is a rewrite of an article published a dozen or so years ago with more insight hopefully to make clearer what the beginning of the Gospel of John actually says. As John 1:1-14 is not literal the original article focused on how languages are imprecise and could be misleading if someone tried to take …
I have many times heard a preacher or teacher substitute one word for another in a verse or set of verses. For example because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved[emphasis added]. (Rom 10:9 ESV) The …
The Importance Of Each Word, More on Word Studies Read More »
This particular word study is very personal to me, and it may be to you because it has to do with the origin of the Gospels. I was raised a Roman Catholic and had twelve years of religion classes in Catholic schools. However, my mother’s side called themselves Protestant and believed in the Bible as …
Doing a Word Study To Determine a Word’s Meaning in the Original language Read More »
Christianity is about love. And we are in the administration of grace. So surely no persons or churches should be reproved, rebuked, or corrected, right? There should be no criticism of any kind, constructive or destructive, right? Terms I hear expressed are to be loving, forgiving, “giving grace” and “endeavoring to keep the unity of …
Here is a picture of an ancient Greek manuscript page from the Digital Walters (link opens new tab to view page) which are released for free under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (link opens new tab to view page) license for anyone who wants to use them: This page is somewhere in Acts or …
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deu 29:29 ESV) This verse is fairly plain but let’s just look at some of the words …
The Not Enough Information Rule – Sticking to What is Revealed; Context Read More »
In T 0.1 Introduction to Tradition in the Church, we discussed that a tradition is a set of beliefs and customs that gets passed from one generation to another. We also looked at the verses that charged believers to follow the tradition that was handed down by the Apostles: So then, brothers, stand firm and hold …
T 1 Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 1, Rightly Dividing the Word of God Read More »
The teaching in church this week centered on the inspiring story of Esther. In a nutshell when Xerxes was king of Persia the Queen was named Vashti. And in a moment of defiance Vashti refused the command of the King. After consulting with his advisers the king decided on a process to find a new …
The Marvelous Story of Esther, Absent From Early Canons of Scripture Read More »
I have heard people say they are suspicious about the accuracy of traditions that are passed down by word-of-mouth. Anyone familiar with the “telephone” game knows that in any given crowd if one person passes a sentence to another person and so forth, that the resulting sentence by the 10th or 20th person sometimes bears …
Oral Transmissions of Religious Accounts Have Safeguards to Ensure Accuracy Read More »
Would it surprise you to know that the bible read in the fourth century was not the same as the modern bible? Most of it is the same, but there are some surprising differences. Codex Sinaiticus is called the world’s oldest bible (earlier manuscripts were probably burned by persecuting Romans, or simply didn’t survive the …
Codex Sinaiticus, World’s Oldest Bible, Available Online Read More »
In More Manuscript Basics; Using a Textual Commentary, I discussed how the bible was transmitted up to the point where Greek New Testament editions were created, starting with Erasmus up until recent editions by the United Bible Society. We finished by looking at an example of a textual variant in a textual commentary. Next we …
In There are Numerous Variations in the Texts From Which We Get The Bible; Using an Interlinear Text To See Them, I give a very simple overview of the problems of transmission of Bible text over the ages. The process of biblical textual study is actually more complex. The Introduction to Bruce M. Metzger’s A …
More Manuscript Basics; Using a Textual Commentary Read More »
In the previous articles we have been talking about textual variations and we looked at a particular number of them. In those articles we looked at how fasting was inserted into verses declaring a need for fasting to deliver some from a devil. We looked at the inserted verses saying an angel “troubled” the water …
It is called “the Great Commission”, is cited as a proof of the Trinity, and is a standard verse used in many a sermon: Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe …
Critics of Christianity point to the variations, discrepancies, and even forgeries in the bible as one of their points to disprove Christianity. Unfortunately, some of their criticisms are true. There are verses in the bible that are deliberately inserted, omitted, and/or changed. But, the point of the critic that finding errors in biblical texts absolutely …
Most of us are aware that we don’t have any original texts of the books of the bible. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is that there were book destructions, i.e., book burnings done by governments who wanted to remove what they considered offensive religions from their society. One such destruction …
There are not as many tools for working with the Septuagint as with the KJV or the NIV. There is a concordance listed on Amazon, but it is expensive and written in Greek. If you want to search for a word in the LXX you can use the excellent free resource, the E-Sword program. The …
How to Use the E-Sword Program to Search the Septuagint Read More »
The concept of witness was important in OT times. Witnesses served to verify facts, agreements, deals, and guilt or innocence. This verification can be seen in Genesis 31: And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, …