Results 21 - 35 of 35
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Jehonadab Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | Is the sin nature substance or mind set? | Phil 3:9 | Jehonadab | 100513 | ||
Sin is anything not in harmony with, hence contrary to, God's personality, standards, ways, and will; anything marring one's relationship with God. It may be in word (Job 2:10; Ps 39:1), in deed (doing wrong acts [Le 20:20; 2Co 12:21] or failing to do what should be done [Nu 9:13; Jas 4:17]), or in mind or heart attitude (Pr 21:4; compare also Ro 3:9-18; 2Pe 2:12-15). Lack of faith in God is a major sin, showing, as it does, distrust of him or lack of confidence in his ability to perform. (Heb 3:12, 13, 18, 19) A consideration of the use of the original-language terms and examples associated with them illustrates this. The common Hebrew term translated "sin" is chat·ta´th´; in Greek the usual word is ha·mar·ti´a. In both languages the verb forms (Heb., cha·ta´´; Gr., ha·mar·ta´no) mean "miss," in the sense of missing or not reaching a goal, way, mark, or right point. Both of these words were used to mean missing or failing to reach not merely physical objects or goals (Job 5:24) but also moral or intellectual goals or marks. Proverbs 8:35, 36 says the one finding godly wisdom finds life, but the 'one missing [from Heb., cha·ta´´] wisdom is doing violence to his soul,' leading to death. In the Scriptures both the Hebrew and Greek terms refer mainly to sinning on the part of God's intelligent creatures, their missing the mark with regard to their Creator. Man was created in "God's image." (Ge 1:26, 27) He, like all other created things, existed and was created because of God's will. (Re 4:11) God's assigning work to him showed that man was to serve God's purpose on earth. (Ge 1:28; 2:8, 15) According to the inspired apostle, man was created to be both "God's image and glory" (1Co 11:7), hence to reflect the qualities of his Creator, conducting himself so as to reflect the glory of God. As God's earthly son, man should resemble, or be like, his heavenly Father. To be otherwise would be to contradict and reproach the divine parenthood of God.-Compare Mal 1:6. Jesus showed this when encouraging his disciples to manifest goodness and love in a way surpassing that done by "sinners," persons known to practice sinful acts. He stated that only by following God's example in mercy and love could his disciples 'prove themselves sons of their Father who is in the heavens.' (Mt 5:43-48; Lu 6:32-36) Paul ties in God's glory with the matter of human sin in saying that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Ro 3:23; compare Ro 1:21-23; Ho 4:7. Sin occurred first in the spirit realm before its introduction on earth. For unknown ages full harmony with God prevailed in the universe. Disruption came through a spirit creature referred to simply as the Resister, Adversary (Heb., Sa·tan´; Gr., Sa·ta·nas´; Job 1:6; Ro 16:20), the principal False Accuser or Slanderer (Gr., Di·a´bo·los) of God. (Heb 2:14; Re 12:9) Hence, the apostle John says: "He who carries on sin originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning."-1Jo 3:8. By "the beginning" John clearly means the beginning of Satan's career of opposition. The conduct of the first human pair,Adam and Eve, immediately revealed this disharmony. Their covering portions of their divinely made bodies and thereafter their attempting to hide themselves from God were clear evidences of the alienation that had taken place within their minds and hearts. (Ge 3:7, 8) Sin thus caused them to feel guilt, anxiety, insecurity, shame. This illustrates the point made by the apostle at Romans 2:15, that God's law was 'written on man's heart'; hence a violation of that law now produced an internal upheaval within man, his conscience accusing him of wrongdoing. In effect, man had a built-in lie detector that made impossible his concealing his sinful state from his Creator; and God, responding to the man's excuse for his changed attitude toward his heavenly Father, promptly inquired: "From the tree from which I commanded you not to eat have you eaten?"-Ge 3:9-11. |
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22 | How do we preach the Gospel? | 1 John 2:2 | Jehonadab | 100506 | ||
One must first show convincing evidence that the Bible is indeed God's word, whether it be from a historical, scientific or factual viewpoint.Here are some examples: For instance, according to the book of Daniel, the last ruler in Babylon before it fell to the Persians was named Belshazzar. (Daniel 5:1-30) Since there appeared to be no mention of Belshazzar outside the Bible, the charge was made that the Bible was wrong and that this man never existed. But during the 19th century, several small cylinders inscribed in cuneiform were discovered in some ruins in southern Iraq. They were found to include a prayer for the health of the eldest son of Nabonidus, king of Babylon. The name of this son? Belshazzar. So there was a Belshazzar! Was he a king, though, when Babylon fell? Most documents subsequently found referred to him as the son of the king, the crown prince. But a cuneiform document described as the "Verse Account of Nabonidus" shed more light on Belshazzar's true position. It reported: "He [Nabonidus] entrusted the 'Camp' to his oldest (son), the firstborn, the troops everywhere in the country he ordered under his (command). He let (everything) go, he entrusted the kingship to him." So Belshazzar was entrusted with the kingship. Surely, to all intents and purposes that made him a king! This relationship between Belshazzar and his father, Nabonidus, explains why Belshazzar, during that final banquet in Babylon, offered to make Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom. (Daniel 5:16) Since Nabonidus was the first ruler, Belshazzar himself was only the second ruler of Babylon. Indeed, many archaeological discoveries have demonstrated the historical accuracy of the Bible. When Israel and Judah became two nations,later Israel conquered the neighboring land of Moab. At one time Moab, under King Mesha, revolted, and Israel formed an alliance with Judah and the neighboring kingdom of Edom to war against Moab. (2 Kings 3:4-27) Remarkably, in 1868 in Jordan, a stela (a carved stone slab) was discovered that was inscribed in the Moabite language with Mesha's own account of this conflict. Furthermore, another example, in the year 740 B.C.E., God allowed the rebellious northern kingdom of Israel to be destroyed by the Assyrians. (2 Kings 17:6-18) Speaking of the Bible account of this event, archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon comments: "One might have a suspicion that some of this is hyperbole." But is it? She adds: "The archaeological evidence of the fall of the kingdom of Israel is almost more vivid than that of the Biblical record. . . . The complete obliteration of the Israelite towns of Samaria and Hazor and the accompanying destruction of Megiddo is the factual archaeological evidence that the [Bible] writer was not exaggerating."11 Later still, the Bible tells us that Jerusalem under King Jehoiachin was besieged by the Babylonians and was defeated. This event is recorded on the Babylonian Chronicle, a cuneiform tablet discovered by archaeologists. On this, we read: "The king of Akkad [Babylon] . . . laid siege to the city of Judah (iahudu) and the king took the city on the second day of the month of Addaru." Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon and imprisoned. But later, according to the Bible, he was released from prison and given an allowance of food. (2 Kings 24:8-15; 25:27-30) This is supported by administrative documents found in Babylon, which list the rations given to "Yaukîn, king of Judah." These few archaeological examples give evidence that the Bible is indeed accurate and inspired of God. Then,going forward to the first century C.E.,the Jewish historian Josephus also mentions James, the half brother of Jesus, who, the Bible tells us, did not initially follow Jesus but later became a prominent elder in Jerusalem. (John 7:3-5; Galatians 1:18, 19) He documents James' arrest in these words: "[The high priest Ananus] convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others." In writing these words, Josephus additionally confirms that "Jesus, who was called the Christ" was a real, historical person. In Luke's Gospel, we read that John the Baptizer began his ministry "when . . . Lysanias was district ruler of Abilene." (Luke 3:1) Some doubted that statement because the Jewish historian Josephus mentioned a Lysanias who ruled Abilene and who died in 34 B.C.E., long before the birth of John. However, archaeologists have uncovered an inscription in Abilene mentioning another Lysanias who was tetrarch (district ruler) during the reign of Tiberius, who was ruling as Caesar in Rome when John began his ministry. This could easily have been the Lysanias to whom Luke was referring. Again,these are but a few of the numerous examples that give convincing evidence of the Bible as being a book we can put our trust into, yes to clearly recognize it as being Jehovah God's Word. |
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23 | Prophetic perfect tense in other verses? | Ps 102:16 | Jehonadab | 99860 | ||
Hi Tara1, While many translators favor the pronunciation “Yahweh,” the New World Translation continues to use the form “Jehovah” because of people’s familiarity with it for centuries. Moreover, it preserves, equally with other forms, the four letters of the divine name, YHWH or JHVH. The greatest indignity that modern translators render to the Divine Author of the Holy Scriptures is the removal or the concealing of his peculiar personal name. Actually his name occurs in the Hebrew text 6,828 times as (ha·wah´, "to become", YHWH or JHVH, [the Hebrew letters cannot be processed by this website]), generally referred to as the Tetragrammaton (literally meaning “having four letters”). By using the name “Jehovah,” the New World Translation has held closely to the original-language texts and have not followed the practice of substituting titles such as “Lord,” “the Lord,” “Adonai” or “God” for the divine name, the Tetragrammaton.The divine name is a verb, the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb (ha wah, "to become"). Therefore, the divine name means "He Causes to Become." This reveals Jehovah as the One who, with progressive action, causes himself to become the Fulfiller of promises, the One who always brings his purposes to realization. The practice of substituting titles for the divine name that developed among the Jews was applied in later copies of the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and many other translations, ancient and modern.Therefore, A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott (LS), p. 1013, states: “o Ky ri·os,(equals)Hebr. Yahweh, LXX Ge. 11.5, al.” Also, the Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, by E. A. Sophocles, Cambridge, U.S.A., and Leipzig, 1914, p. 699, says under (Ky´ri·os): “Lord, the representative of the (Tetragrammaton). Sept. passim [scattered throughout]." Moreover, Dictionnaire de la Bible, by F. Vigouroux, Paris, 1926, col. 223, says that "the Septuagint and the Vulgate contain Ky´ri·os and Dominus, "Lord," where the original contains Jehovah." Regarding the divine name, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, edited by J. Payne Smith, Oxford, 1979 reprint, p. 298, says that Mar·ya´ "in the [Syriac] Peshita Version of the O. T. represents the Tetragrammaton." Jehovah’s name was first restored to the English Bible by William Tyndale. In 1530 he published a translation of the first five books of the Bible into English. He included Jehovah’s name once, in Ex 6:3. In a note in this edition Tyndale wrote: “Iehovah is God’s name . . . Moreover, as oft as thou seist LORD in great letters (except there be any error in the printing) it is in Hebrew Iehovah.” From this the practice arose among translators to use Jehovah’s name in just a few places, but to write “LORD” or “GOD” in most places where the Tetragrammaton occurs in Hebrew. This practice was adopted by the translators of the King James Version in 1611, where Jehovah’s name occurs only four times, namely, in Ex 6:3; Ps 83:18; Isa 12:2; 26:4. |
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24 | Prophetic perfect tense in other verses? | Ps 102:16 | Jehonadab | 99753 | ||
The New World Translation reads, "For Jehovah will certainly build up Zion; He must appear in his glory." In 607 B.C.E., after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian World Power, they, the nation of Israel, were deported to Babylonia. For 70 years their God-given homeland, the land of Judah, lay desolate according to the decree of Jehovah God. His earthly arrangement for true worship seemed to be out of existence. But there was a faithful remnant that longed for such a true worship to emerge again. The psalmist expressed their feelings in the 102nd Psalm, looking forward to the time when God will "build up Zion" again, the nation of natural Israel being restored to their homeland in 537 B.C.E.,so that true worship can once again be reinstituted. |
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25 | fornication is sin,amen. | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99747 | ||
A single person who commits fornication with a prostitute makes himself "one body" with that person. Similarly, the adulterer makes himself "one body," not with his legal wife, but with the immoral person with whom he has sexual relations. The adulterer thus sins not only against his own personal flesh but also against his legal wife who until then has been "one flesh" with him. (1Co 6:16-18) For that reason adultery provides a true basis for breaking the marital bond in accord with divine principles, and where such ground exists, a divorce obtained brings about the formal and final dissolution of the legal marriage union, freeing the innocent partner to remarry with honor.-Heb 13:4.The apostle explains that a Christian committing fornication sins against his own body, using reproductive members for a perverted purpose. He is greatly affected spiritually in an adverse way, brings defilement into God's congregation, and lays himself open to the danger of deadly sexually transmitted diseases. (1Co 6:18, 19) He encroaches on the rights of his Christian brothers (1Th 4:3-7) by (1) bringing uncleanness and disgraceful folly, with reproach, into the congregation (Heb 12:15, 16), (2) depriving the one with whom he commits fornication of a clean moral standing and, if that one is single, of being clean when entering into marriage, (3) depriving his own family of a clean moral record, as well as (4) wronging the parents, husband, or fiancé of the one with whom he commits fornication. He disregards, not man, whose laws may or may not condone fornication, but God, who will exact punishment for his sin.-1Th 4:8. |
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26 | Specifying sexual sin in 1 Cor 6:18 | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99745 | ||
1 Corinthians 6:18 according to The Emphatic Diaglott(1942 edition), under the Greek.reads literally, "Flee you the fornication. All sins which if may do a man,outside of the body is; he but committing fornication against the own body sins." Also The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, which used "The New Testament in the Original Greek---The Text Revised by Brooke Foss Westcott D.D. and Fenton John Anthony Hort D.D.(1948 Reprint)reads literally,"Be you fleeing from the fornication; every sinful (thing) which if ever might do man outside of the body it is, the (one) but committing fornication into the own body is sinning." The New World Translation reads, "Flee from fornication. Every other sin that a man may commit is outside his body, but he that practices fornication is sinning against his own body." The Greek word translated "fornication" is por·nei´a. Regarding the meanings of por·nei´a, B. F. Westcott in his book Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (1906, p. 76) says: "This is a general term for all unlawful intercourse, (I) adultery: Hos. ii. 2, 4 (LXX.); Matt. v. 32; xix. 9; (2) unlawful marriage, I Cor. v. I; (3) fornication, the common sense as here [Eph 5:3]." Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (revised by F. W. Gingrich and F. Danker, 1979, p. 693) defines por·nei´a as "prostitution, unchastity, fornication, of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse." Porneia is understood to involve the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human; also there must have been two or more parties (including another consenting human or a beast), whether of the same sex or the opposite sex. (Jude 7) The unlawful act of a rapist is fornication, but, of course, that does not make the person who is forcibly raped also a fornicator. | ||||||
27 | where to look next time? | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99665 | ||
Yes, I am. | ||||||
28 | where to look next time? | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99637 | ||
Dr. Jason BeDuhn, who teaches at the University of Indiana, made this comment concerning The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures,"I have just recently completed teaching a course for the Religious Studies Department of Indiana University, Bloomington, ...This is primarily a course in the Gospels. Your help came in the form of copies of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures which my students used as one of the textbooks for the class. These small volumes were invaluable to the course and very popular with my students...Simply put, it is the best interlinear New Testament available. I am a trained scholar of the Bible, familiar with the texts and tools in use in modern biblical studies, and by the way, not a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses. But I know a quality publication when I see one, and your 'New World Bible Translation Committee' has done its job well. Your interlinear English rendering is accurate and consistent to an extreme that forces the reader to come to terms with the linguistic, cultural, and conceptual gaps between the Greek-speaking world and our own. Your 'New World Translation' is a high quality, literal translation that avoids traditional glosses in its faithfulness to the Greek. It is, in many ways, superior to the most successful translations in use today." |
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29 | Who created Evil? | Gen 3:1 | Jehonadab | 99574 | ||
At the end of the sixth creative day,after having created Adam and then Eve,our Creator Jehovah God said to them,"Here I have given to you all vegetation bearing seed which is on the surface of the whole earth and every tree on which there is the fruit of a tree bearing seed. To you let it serve as food. And to every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food." Then the account continues, saying,"After that God saw everything he had made and, look! [it was] very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a sixth day."(Gen 1:29-31) The original sin started in the Garden of Eden,after God's pronouncement of "good", when Satan told a lie to Eve. In using a serpent, he slyly asked her,"Is it really so that God said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?" She replied,"Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But as for [eating] of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it that you do not die.'" This now wicked angel told her,"You positively will not die. For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad." Hence, Satan told the first lie, for just as Jesus said concerning him,in speaking to some opposers, "You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of [the lie]."(John 8:44) Therefore, Jesus clearly identified "the Devil" as the one who spoke the first "lie" and was "in the truth" prior to his deceiving Eve. Too, the term "Lucifer" is a translation of the Hebrew word heh·lel´,meaning "shining one." Heh·lel´ is not a name or a title but, rather, a term describing the boastful position taken by Babylon's dynasty of kings of the line of Nebuchadnezzar.) (Isa 14:4-21) Since Babylon was a tool of Satan, its "king" reflected Satan's own ambitious desire. And concerning Beelzebub, this is a designation applied to Satan the prince, or ruler, of the demons. The religious leaders blasphemously accused Jesus Christ of expelling demons by means of Beelzebub.-Mt 10:25; 12:24-29. Be·el´ze·bub,is possibly an alteration of Baal-zebub, meaning "Owner of the Flies," the Baal worshiped by the Philistines at Ekron. Alternately, Beelzeboul and Beezeboul, possibly meaning, "Owner of the Lofty Abode (Habitation)"; or, if a play on the non-Biblical Heb. word ze´vel (dung), "Owner of the Dung". Whichever name or title is used, it only brings to the fore, that he is the archenemy of Jehovah God,wishing to thwart God's everlasting purpose for the earth. | ||||||
30 | where to look next time? | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99570 | ||
Yes, it is published by Jehovah's Witnesses. | ||||||
31 | where to look next time? | 1 Cor 6:18 | Jehonadab | 99564 | ||
An excellent publication is the The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, which has the modern-language translation of the Westcott and Hort Greek Text, first published by them in the year 1881 C.E. | ||||||
32 | WHAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF HALLOWEEN... | 1 Thess 5:22 | Jehonadab | 99562 | ||
Halloween has also been called All Hallows' Eve, the eve of All Saints' Day. This supposedly Christian name, however, hides origins that are far from hallowed. In fact, scholars say that Halloween's roots go back to a time long before Christianity-the era when the ancient Celts inhabited Britain and Ireland. Using a lunar calendar, the Celts divided the year into two seasons-the dark winter months and the light summer months. On the full moon nearest November 1, the Celts celebrated the festival of Samhain, meaning "Summer's End." Samhain may not be, as is often said, the name of the Celtic god of death but, rather, the name of the festival. According to Jean Markale, French specialist on the Celts, it was probably Lug, the god of light, who was honored during Samhain This festival, which marked the beginning of the Celtic new year, came at the end of summer, when the harvest had been gathered and the flocks and herds had been brought down from pasture into shelter. The Celts believed that as the days shortened, it was necessary to reinvigorate the sun through various rites and sacrifices. In symbolism of the dying old year, all fires were put out, and the new year was inaugurated with sacred bonfires from which all members of the community rekindled their hearths. These bonfires-an echo of which can be found today in Britain on Guy Fawkes Night and in Brazil in the June festivals-were also thought to frighten away evil spirits. It was believed that on the festival of Samhain, the veil between the human and the supernatural worlds was parted and spirits, both good and evil, roamed the earth. The souls of the dead were thought to return to their homes, and families would put out food and drink for their ghostly visitors in hopes of appeasing them and warding off misfortune. Thus, today when children dressed as ghosts or witches go from house to house demanding a Halloween treat or threatening a mischievous trick, they unwittingly perpetuate the ancient rituals of Samhain. Jean Markale comments in his book Halloween, histoire et traditions (Halloween-History and Traditions): "In receiving something in their hands, they establish, on a symbolic level that they do not understand, a brotherly exchange between the visible and the invisible worlds. That is why the Halloween masquerades . . . are in fact sacred ceremonies." Since people believed that the barriers between the physical and supernatural realms were down, they thought that humans were able to cross over into the spirit world with ease. Samhain was therefore a particularly auspicious time to unlock the secrets of the future. Apples or hazelnuts, both viewed as products of sacred trees, were used to divine information concerning marriage, sickness, and death. For example, apples with identifying marks were placed in a tub of water. By seizing an apple using only the mouth, a young man or woman was supposed to be able to identify his or her future spouse. This divination practice survives today in the Halloween game of bobbing for apples. Samhain was also characterized by drunken revelry and a casting aside of inhibitions. "Traditional values, if not flouted, were reversed," states Markale. "What was forbidden was allowed, and what was allowed was forbidden." Halloween still reflects this spirit today, which no doubt accounts to a great extent for its increasing popularity. Commenting on this, The Encyclopedia of Religion describes Halloween nowadays as "a time when adults can also cross cultural boundaries and shed their identities by indulging in an uninhibited evening of frivolity. Thus, the basic Celtic quality of the festival as an evening of annual escape from normal realities and expectations has remained into the twentieth century." Of great concern to Christians, however, is the fact that Halloween and celebrations like it are steeped in paganism. The apostle Paul wrote: "I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:20-22, New International Version) He also asked: "What common interest can there be between goodness and evil? How can light and darkness share life together? How can there be harmony between Christ and the devil? What can a believer have in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-16, Phillips) The Bible thus condemns the whole idea of putting a Christian mask on a pagan practice! Also, the Bible warns against the practice of spiritism. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) While it is true that the vast majority of those who celebrate Halloween would claim to spurn Satanic practices, we should, nevertheless, be aware that historically this holiday has close connections with the occult. Thus, it can serve as a door leading to spiritism |
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33 | Evidence against authenticity 1 John 5:7 | 1 John 5:7 | Jehonadab | 99555 | ||
It may first be noted that the words "in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (KJ) found in older translations at 1 John 5:7 are actually spurious additions to the original text. A footnote in The Jerusalem Bible, a Catholic translation, says that these words are "not in any of the early Greek MSS [manuscripts], or any of the early translations, or in the best MSS of the Vulg[ate] itself." A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, by Bruce Metzger (1975, pp. 716-718), traces in detail the history of the spurious passage. It states that the passage is first found in a treatise entitled Liber Apologeticus, of the fourth century, and that it appears in Old Latin and Vulgate manuscripts of the Scriptures, beginning in the sixth century. Modern translations as a whole, both Catholic and Protestant, do not include them in the main body of the text, because of recognizing their spurious nature.-RS, NE, NAB. For example, when the 16th-century scholar Erasmus translated his Greek "New Testament," he appealed to the authority of the Vatican Codex (called CODEX Vaticanus 1209) to omit the spurious words from 1 John chapter 5, verses 7 and 8. Erasmus was right, yet as late as 1897 Pope Leo XIII upheld the corrupted Latin text of the Vulgate. For the Roman Catholic Church, the Latin Vulgate version of the Holy Scriptures remains its "pre-eminent authority." According to the encyclical letter Divino Afflante Spiritu of Pius XII, published in the year 1943, this fourth-century Latin translation by Jerome is also viewed as being "entirely immune from any error in matters of faith and morals." This addition,"the Father, the Word and the holy spirit; and these three are one." known technically as the "Johannine Comma," was protected by the Vatican until 1927, in spite of the fact that even some Catholic scholars had raised doubts about its authenticity as early as the sixth century. Only with the publication of modern Roman Catholic translations has this textual error been acknowledged. |
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34 | Who created Evil? | Gen 3:1 | Jehonadab | 99533 | ||
Evil or wickedness did not at one exist in the universe. However, after Jehovah God had made Adam and then later Eve, one of God's angels deviated from His holy commands. This spirit creature came to be called Satan the Devil by Jehovah God.He is called "Satan," or "resister," because he has opposed and resisted Jehovah God. This criminal is also called "Devil," meaning "slanderer," for he has blasphemously misrepresented God.The Scriptures indicate that the creature known as Satan did not always have that name. Rather, this descriptive name was given to him because of his taking a course of opposition and resistance to God. The name he had before this is not given. God is the only Creator, and 'his activity is perfect,' with no injustice or unrighteousness. (De 32:4) Therefore, the one becoming Satan was, when created, a perfect, righteous creature of God. He is a spirit person, for he appeared in heaven in the presence of God. (Job chaps 1, 2; Re 12:9) Jesus Christ said of him: "That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him." (Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:8) Jesus here shows that Satan was once in the truth, but forsook it. Beginning with his first overt act in turning Adam and Eve away from God, he was a manslayer, for he thereby brought about the death of Adam and Eve, which, in turn, brought sin and death to their offspring. (Ro 5:12) Throughout the Scriptures the qualities and actions attributed to him could be attributed only to a person, not to an abstract principle of evil. It is clear that the Jews, and Jesus and his disciples, knew that Satan existed as a person. So, from a righteous, perfect start, this spirit person deviated into sin and degradation. The process bringing this about is described by James when he writes: "Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn, sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death." (Jas 1:14, 15) In the course that Satan took, there seems to be, in some respects, a parallel with that of the king of Tyre as described in Ezekiel 28:11-19. The Scriptural account, therefore, makes it plain that it was Satan who spoke through the medium of a serpent, seducing Eve into disobedience to God's command. In turn, Eve induced Adam to take the same rebellious course. (Ge 3:1-7; 2Co 11:3) As a consequence of Satan's use of the serpent, the Bible gives Satan the title "Serpent," which came to signify "deceiver"; he also became "the Tempter" (Mt 4:3) and a liar, "the father of the lie."-Joh 8:44; Re 12:9. Too the term "Lucifer" is not correctly applied to Satan. Rather, this descriptive designation applied to the "king of Babylon." (Isa 14:4, 12) The Hebrew expression thus translated (NW, Ro, Yg) comes from a root meaning "shine." (Job 29:3) The rendering "Lucifer" (KJ, Da) is derived from the Latin Vulgate. The "shining one" is represented as saying in his heart: "Above the stars of God I shall lift up my throne, and I shall sit down upon the mountain of meeting." (Isa 14:13) Biblical evidence points to Mount Zion as the "mountain of meeting." Hence, since stars can refer to kings (Nu 24:17; Re 22:16), "the stars of God" must be the kings of the Davidic line who ruled from Mount Zion. The "king of Babylon" (the dynasty of Babylonian kings), reflecting the attitude of Satan the god of this system of things, indicated his ambition to lift up his throne "above the stars of God" by desiring to make the kings of the line of David mere vassals and then finally to dethrone them. Like stars that shed light, the "king of Babylon" shone brightly in the ancient world and could be termed "shining one." |
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35 | Forbidden fruit represents sex? | Gen 3:1 | Jehonadab | 99530 | ||
Eden's fruit trees were all there for man to eat from "to satisfaction." (Ge 2:16) But one tree, that "of the knowledge of good and bad," was placed off limits for the human pair. Eve quoted Jehovah God's prohibition given to her husband as including even the 'touching' of the tree, with the penalty of death to result from disrespect for and violation of the divine law. (Ge 2:17; 3:3) Traditional teachings have attempted to explain the prohibited fruit in a variety of ways: as a symbol of sexual intercourse, represented by an "apple"; as standing for the mere cognizance of right and wrong; and as the knowledge attained upon reaching maturity and also through experience, which knowledge can be put to a good or a bad use. Yet, in view of the Creator's command to "be fruitful and become many and fill the earth" (Ge 1:28), sexual intercourse could not be what the tree's fruit represented, for in what other way could procreation and multiplication have been effected? The mere ability to recognize right and wrong most certainly cannot be meant, for obedience to God's command required of sinless man that he be able to exercise such moral discrimination. Nor could the knowledge attained upon reaching maturity be meant, for it would not be sin on man's part to reach this state, nor would his Creator logically obligate him to remain in an immature state. As to the genus of the tree, the Scriptural record is silent. But it becomes apparent that the tree of the knowledge of good and bad symbolized the divine right, which man's Creator retains, to designate to his creatures what is "good" and what is "bad," thereafter requiring the practice of that which is declared good and the abstaining from that which is pronounced bad in order to remain approved by God as Sovereign Ruler. Both the prohibition and the subsequent pronouncement of the sentence passed upon the disobedient pair emphasize the fact that it was the act of disobedience in eating the prohibited fruit that constituted the original sin.-Ge 3:3. While some modern critics may balk at the very simplicity of the Edenic account, it should be obvious that the actual circumstances made a simple test most fitting. The life of the newly created man and woman was simple, not complicated and encumbered with all the complex problems, predicaments, and perplexity that disobedience to God has since brought to the human race. Nonetheless, for all its simplicity, the test expressed the universal truth of God's sovereignty as well as man's dependence upon God and his duty toward God. The simplicity of the test in Eden illustrates the principle stated millenniums later by God's Son, that "the person faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and the person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much."-Lu 16:10. Eden's having this "tree of the knowledge of good and bad" within it, however, was clearly not intended to serve as a thorn in the flesh of the human pair, nor was it so designated in order to raise an issue, or to serve as the subject for debate. If Adam and Eve had acknowledged God's will in the matter and had respected his instructions, their garden home would have continued unmarred as a place of pleasure and delight. The record shows that the issue and debate over the tree, along with the temptation to violate God's ordinance, were put upon mankind by God's Adversary, Satan the Devil. (Ge 3:1-6; compare Re 12:9.) Adam and Eve's exercise of their will, as free moral agents, in rebellion against God's rightful sovereignty led to their loss of Paradise and it's blessings. Of even graver consequence, they lost the opportunity to partake of another of Eden's trees, this one representing the right to life everlasting. Thus the account says that Jehovah God "drove the man out and posted at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life."-Ge 3:22-24. |
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