This blog is all about bringing information to your ears (and to your mind) that you might never have heard (or understood) before.
If you ever wondered "What is the Bible all about, anyway?", "What's the big deal over it?", or "How can any person dedicate themselves to a religion?" then you will have all those basic questions answered.
Also on this page will be certain perspectives on a few serious problems in the world that people rarely see or get to understand.
(-news2urears)
Whoops, I lied. THIS is the final blog post to cap off everything I've typed. :)
Look around the internet and you'll find all kinds of examples of people hating on Christians. My anonymous internet response to those people would be this: "You've got a negative perception of them, but look into the Bible itself. It contains the greatest example of love; and it's not a touchy-feely or flimsy example, either, if that's what you think that statement means. If you say you've studied it, can you tell me what the gospel is? What the terms mercy and grace mean? Stop having preconceived notions."
Read my post dealing with preconceived notions & hypocrisy.
Well, it's not exactly the #1 example of love anywhere in the world... If there was a positive integer before 1, the Bible would be THAT number of an example of love. So, if it's true, the gospel is simply the most wonderful news ever.
If I haven't been changed by the God of the Gospel, then all of my video gathering and information posting is just rooted in a cerebral pursuit and humanism: theology, Hebrew history, and the continuity of the Bible being genuinely interesting to me and fun to learn about, and then spreading the gospel online just in case it is true. Like I said, that's more of a humanitarian/humanist motivation than one of worship and obedience, the main drive for spreading the Gospel.
On the other hand, if I just happen to be such a new-born spiritually that I don't have assurance about the truth yet, then my online Good News spreading is something being caused by the spirit of God inside me.
If the first is true and the Bible is true, then that's more confirmation that God will even use the mouth of a donkey. But if the first is true and the Bible isn't true, then more people will just have the hugest example of sacrificial love as something to follow and learn from. (But if there is no theistic God then why would feelings and actions, such as love and sacrifice, logically matter at all? What's the grounding? See my post below dealing with the deistic god and Ravi Zacharias' lectures on worldviews, morality, and the origin of human worth.)
_____
Getting a full understanding of the Gospel out there would hopefully get rid of most of what I like to call "unicorn objections." Those are objections people make to the Bible's validity that are easily debunked. Like the fact that the Bible mentions unicorns. That's only because of English translation in the 1600s; the ancient Hebrews were writing about rhinos or some other creature and had no idea about the mythical European one-horned horse (source). Another example is when people pull out verses without the cultural, spiritual, and/or textual context:
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matt. 10:34
Look at the rest of the passage; immediately afterwards, Jesus continues:
"For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law..."
speaking about the persecution of believers – not the advocation of slaughtering unbelievers, which would be murder. Elsewhere, he says "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name..." And don't forget "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword."
The Bible wasn't written in verses! Those were added for easy reference. That little piece of information should also help out all those heath & wealth preachers. (Speaking of those verse-twisting televangelist teachings, probably about 80% of TBN's content is anti-Bible or non-Christian: www.bit.ly/love-truth).
With all of that said, there are even some really good and sound answers to the hard questions. Check out the quote from James MacDonald in my "Skepticism" post and John Dickson's lecture on Theocratic Judgement and other violence in the Old Testament. (Scattered in various nations and under various governments, Christians have no authority to carry out any form of sentencing – they are to be simply Gospel preachers and walking descriptions of the beatitudes.)
So, let me end with a couple of GREAT Gospel-themed videos and an encouragement to study everything I posted. Be sure to double-check, triple-check, and centuple-check my stuff for accuracy using quality sources.
"Crucifixion" by Nikolai Ge -public domain For many, this would lead to death by asphyxiation. According to the video above, it was more than just physical in this case.
All your children (you're married/with kids in this scenario) – who you actually like – and your spouse – who's not too bad either – were shot dead in your living room.
As you open the door you see the guy starting to cut up their bodies. Your jaw and grocery bags hit the floor and police rush in from behind you to arrest the murderer.
As they're exiting the room you say "Wait!" and have them uncuff the criminal, cuff you, and bring you to prison in the back of the cop car. Then you sit in the electric chair and are waiting to be shocked to death.
P.S. A little information is left in the public Google Doc that I didn't carry over into this blog. (This blog is an expansion of what I typed there.) It includes stuff on Manuscript Veracity and a hand-full of really good links (articles and podcasts).
The field of Textual Criticism helps get to the
original writings and the original claims of the writers.
P.P.S. This should be my final blog post. Dig in to all the linked and embedded information. Enjoy!
The conclusion of all my studying:
The only worldviews that I see as tenable are the Biblical one and Deism.
In my mind, the only way Deism could make sense is if its god is free of moral attributes (is neither good or bad) and just fabricated feelings of morality as a novelty to install in humankind. In that case, although you might not prefer murder to happen you can't logically say it's bad or wrong for someone to do it. You can't if there's no absolute standard.*
How can you account for the reasonability of any of YOUR moral pronouncements without an objective standard? With moral relativity there can only be preferences – no real right & no real wrong. But you know that’s not right. There are moral absolutes. What is their source?
In the Biblical worldview, our sense of morality comes from God. That's the origin. "Being in God's image" means we naturally have some of God's character (although it's twisted by sin). And that would be why we have court systems.
As humans we make moral pronouncements and place value on humanity and the idea of non-violence. Although societies do just carry things on, where did all of these values begin in the first place? The God presented by the Bible (or the God who presents Itself to people nowadays primarily through the Bible) would say that the source of all our different individual and imperfect moralities is a real objective and absolute standard. We all just inherently recognize and then borrow from that ultimate standard – altering it to fit ourselves. Making deviations in certain points. If you're still siding with moral relativity, why is it that you criticize anything? We've got consciences. And Justice can't be just an illusion, right?
As an aside, Genesis 1-11 doesn't weaken the tenability of the Biblical worldview. In my mind, that alone does not shatter everything with a single, crushing blow. Here's why. There are basically two groups of people who say they've been actually changed by the gospel: those who believe those first few chapters are figuratively/spiritually true and those who believe it is literally/historically true – the former group saying that most people aren't reading it the way the author intended (more on that throughout this episode of Stand to Reason), and the latter group saying that many scientists are getting the science wrong. Other theories exist in-between those two. (Have all the scientific questions been answered? Here are John MacArthur and Stephen Meyer on unanswered questions.)
And regarding miracles: wouldn't the Power that created matter and organized all life and existence be able to interfere with the natural order of things?
Regardless of your amount or lack of study, the root cause of your objections to the Bible might be that you don't want moral accountability (being held responsible for certain things you've done). An emotional reaction and not an intellectual argument.
Another edit/addition:
Deism and Theism are the only tenable options, as long as it's a logical form of it. Just listen to some of Dr. Ravi Zacharias' lectures. :)
My paraphrase: "No matter how much you section down physical reality, you find a quantity that doesn't account for its own origin." No object is self-existent. Its cause is OUTSIDE of itself. (See the Kalam Cosmological Argument.) There's one other argument I've seen that seems to reveal a high probability of a Creator (which shows that faith in a deity may be entirely reasonable and not a totally blind step): There can't be an infinite regression of time or else we would have never reached this current moment right now. So time had a beginning.
To illustrate: If you have an infinite number of black dominoes before a white domino – each falling, one after the other – the white one will never fall.And for there to be something existing in time there had to be a First Cause that's outside the bounds, or "dimension," of time.
And if something timeless can't be bounded by the spacial restrictions we live with, this first cause has to be immaterial and omnipresent. In addition to all this, some people put forward good arguments that DNA must have its origin in intelligence – not an unguided process.
"Well then who created God?" From a human perspective, everything MUST have a beginning. That's just logical to us since we have to deal with causes, effects, and time everyday. But for there to be any effect (time, matter, the universe) there had to be a cause. One that's timeless (eternal) and self-existent without being an effect of something, itself.
One might say, "The universe happened by chance."
But let me show ya somethin':
Flip a coin and see the result. Is it heads or tails? Okay.
What was the chance that it came out the way it did?
50%
Here's a question: How much influence did chance have on the outcome of the coin toss? Read that again. Chance didn't exert any power on the coin. Chance isn't a force. It doesn't DO things.
Rather, the flick of a thumb and physics cause the result. The proper definition of the word "chance" is just simply the probability of an effect occurring.
"Chance is only our ignorance of real causes."
— David Hume
If you've never studied a book of the Bible such as Romans or Hebrews, or studied the smallest bit of systematic-theology, then you probably have a preconceived notion of Christianity.* A version of it in your mind which you are either rejecting or just aren't that fond of. If that describes you, then the interesting thing is that the God of the Bible also rejects it. God's right along with you on that one. Learn what the real thing is.**
Watch a portrayal of Jesus teaching against hypocrisy: Jewish Humor
So Christianity-rejecters are right when they point out that hypocrisy is a sin. But if you feel like you're superior to a hypocrite (whether they are a real christian or not), aren't you being self-righteous?
And here's an interesting question: Would you take a bullet for a self-righteous person?
In the Bible, imputation is the opposite of self-righteousness. Once someone's really a Christian they will live a life of obedience and desire to sin less. But they're not doing that do look good to people or to God; God gets all the credit for saving them. (See the second footnote to get what that means.)
* It's really easy to slide into that – even for people who grow up in religious environments for years (that was me, kind of). And it's especially easy to stay in that mindset if you've seen crazy things like this and this on TV.
[See my previous posts to learn what the "gospel message" (good news message) is.]
The books known as Gospels were written by some of Jesus' twelve closest disciples (Latin word for "students") and/or their associates. Luke may have been the only Gentile among the Bible authors – but he was a doctor, so who knows? [ Joke by David Brickner ]
I take it Luke and the other associates conducted a lot of interviews. If you do the same sort of thing today, it is obvious that the truth can be seen and conveyed through many different perspectives. That's observable in news reporting and court testimony: even if all the people have the right facts, it won't come out identically the same through everyone's mouth.
Let's do an Activity! Well, I've actually done it already, but I'll give you all the tools to do it yourself:
A Link to download the four resurrection accounts -- here
A Printer and scissors -- umm...supply those yourself
I've formatted the resurrection accounts in a Word document table in such a way that you can cut out each verse and rearrange them at your will.
After you go about it for some time on your own, you can check out my outcome / solution.
Another edit/addition:
I just got the book One Perfect Life by John MacArthur. The whole thing is basically this sort of "activity" that we just did – but with a lot more of the New Testament. Fitting verses and passages together to make a single narrative layout, it's totally clear that the resurrection accounts work together. You can clearly see that Mary of Magdala first came to the tomb alone when it was still dark and the other women arrived with their spices when the sun was up. And some point after "Mary M." came back to the tomb with Peter and John (and met Jesus), they all met up on the way back to the eleven.
We've seen that the record isn't contradictory – but did any of it really happen?
Listen to Dr. William Craig talk about Evidence for the Resurrection.
The desert-dwelling, tent-living, sheep-herding, camel trading, and market place visiting of Bible people shouldn't conjure up a storybook/fairytale feeling in our mind when seeing movies and other artistic representations of Bible passages. People live like that nowadays, too, all over the world! It's their daily life – just set in a different environment from ours with its own system of habitation & business.
And also, people in or near those types of settings in ancient times had economies to deal with, studied things like astronomy, put together armies, and constructed great architecture.
Dry, emotionless, or Shakespearean-like readings don't help either. These movies (as well as the highly dramaticized "The Prince of Egypt" and this live-action Moses film) help put the humanity back in focus. And of course, making sense of the Bible greatly helps solidify seemingly nebulous passages/scenes; read more and study the main point – the "gospel message."
[If this is the first post of mine you came to, it's a good one to start with. Be to check out and learn from the others as well. Looking up all the references below gives you the gospel and the fair reason for judgement.] If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8
Do you pass the test? Exodus 20*, Matthew 5:21-22, Matthew 5:27-28, Romans 1:28-32, Romans 2-3 ( see the text here )
It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the Judgment. Hebrews 9:27b ...all have sinned and fall short of the glory/reputation of God... Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through ChristJesus our Lord (Mashiach Yeshua our Master). Romans 6:23
Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me.Isaiah 43:10a-11 I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11b Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Hebrews 9:22b
Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.” Isaiah 44:6 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. Isaiah 46:10a Jesus said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44
Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 1 Corinthians 5:7
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isaiah 1:18a(about Israel in context, yet can apply to all) For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
Exodus 12 THE PASSOVER LAMB
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send [it] away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:21-22
The next day [John the Baptizer] saw Jesus coming to him andsaid, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29
It pleased the LORD to crush him. He has caused him to suffer. If he would make himself an offering for sin, he will see His seed; He will prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53:10
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:11-15
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,not a result of works, so that no one may boast.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16)
For we maintain that a person is justified (declared innocent) by faith apart from works of the Law. Romans 3:28
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration...through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3:5-6
[Jesus speaking] He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me... He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. John 14:21a, 24a
The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4
...but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear thesins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. Hebrews 9:26b-28
Re: John 3:16
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. Numbers 21:9
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already..." John 3:14-18a
[ also translated] ...God loved the world in this way: He gave His One Unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
[The disciples praying] For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holyservant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. Acts 4:27-28
[Peter preaching] ...delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Acts 2:23-24
[Saul/Paul preaching] Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission/forgiveness of sins, and through Him everyone who believes/trusts is justified from all things... Acts 13:38-39a
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins/misses the mark. Ecclesiastes 7:20
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God...
1 Peter 3:18a
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. John 1:12
...they refused to love the truth that would save them. 2 Thessalonians 2:10b
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:15
[ also translated ]
“The time has come, God’s Kingdom is near! Turn to God from your sins and believe the Good News!” Mark 1:15
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25
A woman came to [Jesus] with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table..."When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." Matthew 26:7,12-13
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:1-10
Theophany/Incarnation texts:
God is not a man, lest He lie. Numbers 23:19a
God is spirit. John 4:24a
...A spirit does not have flesh and bones... Luke 24:39b
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 And the Word became flesh, anddwelt among us... John 1:14 Jesus said to them,"...for I came out (emanated) and have come from God..." John 8:42
"...You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews..." John 4:22
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:24
[ also translated ]
"God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is."
John 4:24
Now do some leg work (or see the summary below first):
Matthew 27:50-51 with Hebrews 10:19-22 Isaiah 49, 52, 53, Romans 3, and Romans 4 (whole chapters)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Matthew 26:28 & Mark 14:24 & Hebrews 10:29
Ephesians 2:11-13 with Romans 11:17-18
1 Corinthians 15, Luke 10, Isaiah 43:10 Ezekiel 33, Daniel 9:26, John 1:10-12
Put simply: we broke the law and Jesus paid our fine. A good judge can't look the other way or accept any bribes; a full dispensing of justice is the only acceptable thing. Jesus took our punishment in our place. That's what "He died for our sins" means. I never understood that nebulous phrase until 3 years ago, when I heard the gospel explained. Previously I had assumed that the Bible either said it doesn't matter what you believe – you're good enough already (which is self-righteousness) – or that someone has to be worthy or good enough to "enter heaven" by obeying commandments. There's also the idea of someone's goodness and badness being weighed out on the two sides of a balance scale regardless of any faith or lack of faith they had in life. We don't do that in court (set robbers free because they happen to also give to charity), so how could the highest court do that?
With a Being that never sins, deception and lies have to look as bad to It as murder looks to us. Only that Being can execute judgements, and all those judgements are fair. He offers to take the bullet: Jesus can take the punishment for you; God's wrath poured out on Him. His substitutionary sacrifice satisfies God's justice and makes way for mercy.
Grace is unmerited favor; that word refers to God's mercy through forgiveness. Along with that forgiveness comes a transformation resulting in a person no longer wanting to stay in sin; they actually want to obey God. And they're given the ability to battle with their sins on a daily basis, knowing that they already have God's love and full forgiveness. (See this article – obedience isn't about earning favor).
You can look at an elevator and think it'll take you to the top floor – but nothing will happen until you step in and trust yourself to it. And a truly changed nature comes with being truly saved: hating sin (what you once loved to do) & having the enablement and overarching desire to do what's right. Perfection isn't in view here, but moving in that direction is. Diving into sin and swimming there is different from losing balance, falling in, and always turning back to the ladder. That joyful obedience stems from gratitude – the gratitude from having been rescued – and not from anything else.
By the way, just repenting doesn't do anything because it doesn't take care of justice. Without the first Pesach, Israel's history would have been pretty short! Just as those Israelites were physically delivered from death and from bondage through faith in God's provision and promise, many were spiritually delivered the same way – through faith in the covenant. (Romans 4)
*Exodus 20 Explanations & Some Tidbits
The "Ten Commandments" or Ten Words are a summary of God's law/instructions.
Included in those ten statements is a summary of God's moral standard (something which most people have a basic sense of in their conscience – see my "Worldviews" post). The rest of the Torah shows the full standard of "goodness" for all people along with the rest of the laws – sacrificial and governmental rules for God's chosen nation. Jesus takes all the guilt as the temple system foreshadowed, gathers people from various nations from the starting point of Israel, and enables His people to actually walk in true "goodness", which brings real joy.
On Jealousy: If something rightfully belongs to you and you alone (and cannot be shared), you should be jealous over it when it's not in your possession. Spouses belong to each other; and if one of them was caught cheating, the other one would rightly feel both anger and jealousy. ("I am a jealous God...") Only YHWH was worthy of Israel's admiration – not pieces of wood or metal which didn't rescue or create them. It is in the context of wanting what's not yours that jealousy is bad.
On Slavery: First off, it was an invention of man only allowed by God insofar as it was voluntary servitude (for survival – food and housing), in a POW/inmate sort of situation, or for paying off debt. Kidnapping, cruelty, and unwarranted beating were always forbidden. http://bible.cc/exodus/21-16.htm
(Speaking of different people having different roles, what's the problem with that? In order for an office environment to function, the manager has to do the job of the manager, the people in sales need to be working the sales calls, and the janitors – well let's just say the whole world would be a worse place to live in without them. And you wouldn't be happy if someone hired for front counter service spent all their time working in a cubicle away from the customers. The creation and assignment of different roles is not the same as advocating an upstairs-downstairs divide – a Downton Abbey-esque superiority and stigma.
Cultures develop that on their own, and wrongly.)
On the Iniquity of the Fathers: Everyone is accountable for their own sin only, and not for anyone else's. But sin can have horrible consequences here and now that ruin things for multiple people – not just for the one who committed the sin (source). On a slightly related note, no one deserves good things; one Christian radio host said once that he deserves to die in a hurricane. Yet so many of us get unspeakable pleasures in life: the ability to taste good food...pick your favorite thing. And look at the cross. (Romans 2:4)
On Pronouns: There’s no gender with God but we gotta use some sort of personal pronoun rather than the word “it”. I'd just go crazy if we didn't. Plus "it" carries the idea of something inanimate. The majority of pronouns used for God in the Bible are masculine, and that’s probably to get the idea of “His” power across to our human minds – since men are the biologically stockier of the two genders.
Look into this information. Don't think "religion" but rather "truth claims." I think that labels, such as "Christianity," can sometimes be limiting. One single word doesn't do justice as to what it indicates: the massive body of information behind it. It's actually a very Jewish thing to be a Christian. And that label itself is just as limiting: it's not about a culture at the very center, but rather about a being – God Himself – and what it means to have overwhelming peace with God.
[First off, if you don't know the main point of the Bible, learn that from my last two posts. Then come back here for some more "ed-jew-kay-shun."]
You might be wondering "What the heck is Baptism and Church all about?" Well, I'll tell ya.
The word "baptism" comes from the Greek baptizō and literally means “dipping.” The reason Christians do it is because of ancient Jewish ritual baths called mikvehs. Even now, in modern times, dipping oneself in the mikveh is a symbol of purification. John the Baptist didn’t invent it – it was a common practice in Ancient Israel. *see embedded video*
Once people started claiming faith in Jesus as the anointed redeemer (Christ / Messiah), God-appointed sacrifice – voluntarily killed in their place to satisfy justice, for the forgiveness of their sins – they used “baptism” or the mikveh as an extra special symbol: as a public declaration of their faith, they showed outwardly what had happened to them on the inside. Going down into the water and coming up out of it also gave an interesting parallel in identifying with Jesus – dying to self and rising up to new life with Him (the resurrection being the sign that Jesus' sacrifice was accepted).
1 Peter 3:21 "Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..."
The meaning of the word "church" is assembly. Really any kind of assembly – or gathering of people – called out for whatever reason. One of the more specific uses of that word in the Bible is for all of the believers/Christians in a local area or the total population of believers worldwide. The word is pretty much synonymous with the term synagogue – see James 2:2.
The purpose of coming together is to learn from and teach each other. There is the opportunity to make really purposeful relationships in which people build each other up, have accountability with each other in terms of sin, and help each other in their spiritual gifts; iron sharpens iron. And it is all centered on worshiping the God that rescued them. *see embedded video*
People don't go to church – they are the church. And then there are false-yet-professing "believers" sitting among and worshiping with the church (False Converts).
And the only reason the Church exists on Earth at all is so that its people will be equipped to go out and spread the Good News.
Euaggelion is the Biblical Greek term for “good news.” That would be basar/besorah in Hebrew (see Isaiah 61:1), evangel in Latin, and gospel in Old English. All those terms are calques for you linguistic types. :]
Evangelism, gospelism – whatever you want to call it – the purpose for the people of God’s church here and now is to spread the message: explaining why it’s a terrifying thought that God is good (as Paul Washer says) and explaining the great gifts of mercy and grace through the cross – the penal substitutionary atonement. Forgiveness available through repentance and faith (which are two sides of the same coin).
"I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20:20-21
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10
Names
While I'm on the subject of word meanings and word origins, I'll add in a little about names. I'm no expert on this subject, but I'll tell you the information I do know (possible errors and all).
God's epicenter for revealing Himself to humanity – and the epicenter of redemption – was the Middle/Near East among people of a certain culture and mindset (John 4:22). In what became the Hebrew culture, names were more than a simple identifier. They weren't chosen for children simply based on how they sounded. Meaning was master. A person could be named based on circumstances:
Abraham fell on his face and he laughed ויצחק (vayitsachaq), and said in his heart, "...will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" ... God said, "...Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac יצחק (Yitschaq); and I will establish My covenant (legal alliance/pledge/promise) with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him."-from Genesis 17
Or based on a quality: Gabriel means "warrior of God" or "man of God."
Giving a name that denoted character may have been hit and miss for many parents, but the God of scripture knows His own character for sure.
With that explained, let's go to the names and words associated with God and Jesus (the radiance of His glory...the image of the invisible God...in who all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form – as Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:15, and Colossians 2:9 state).
English "Jesus” = Greek "Iesous" = Hebrew “Yehoshua” or "Yeshua" (Joshua). The meaning is "YHWH (God) SAVES."
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Germanic “God” (called-upon one) = Greek "Theos" (deity) = Hebrew “Elohim” (ruler). Elohim is used a few times throughout the Hebrew Bible to refer to various kinds of authorities and powers, but has its supreme meaning when referring to the creator of the universe and ruler of all existence. This noun also happens to be used with both singular verbs and plural verbs, based on which Being or group of beings a sentence is referring to. (source)
When English Bibles use the phrases "the LORD" and "Lord GOD" with small caps it is referring to the name YHWH יהוה. A little over 2000 years ago, when people stopped saying that name out of reverence, its accurate pronunciation was lost to history since written vowels were not in use at the time. They didn’t need to do that, seeing as everyone in the Tanakh/Old Testament had no problem saying the name. But anyway, they used the word “lord” (master) in its place. In Hebrew, adon, and in Greek, kyrios.
So when Jewish people today open up a scroll – or a Bible printed in Hebrew – and see יהוה, they say either Adonai (“My Lord”) or Hashem (“the Name”) instead. Some English translations frequently employ those words, too.
To remember all the phrases simply, here are the English presentations alongside the original manuscript presentations and their meanings:
lord = adon / kyrios = master
my lord = adonai
the LORD = Yahweh
Lord GOD = adon Yahweh = master Yahweh
God = El, Elohim = ruler
my God = Eli, Ehohei
the LORD God = Yahweh Elohim = the existing/true supreme ruler (see below)
The meaning of Yahweh/Yehovah/Jehovah is connected with the I AM* statement in Exodus 3:14-15
"I AM THAT/WHO I AM אהיה אשר אהיה (ehyeh asher ehyeh) ... Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD יהוה, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations."
Based on stuff I've read, my little paraphrase of that passage has God basically telling Moses "I exist because I exist (I am the self-existing one) ... say to the Israelites 'He Exists' has sent me to you." http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_Yahweh_mean
Now back to the name “Jesus.” How did we get that from Yehoshua? Well, another given name in the Bible is Yeshua – a shortened form of Yehoshua. And when transferred over into the Greek language letter by letter (transliteration) it became Iesous, pronounced Yay-soos. Greek has no “sh” sound and the “s” added at the end has to do with grammar. http://jesusisajew.org/YESHUA.php
“Iesous” rendered with Latin letters is IESUS, and about 500 years ago in the English language the letters I and J sounded identical. French influence gave us the hard J sound, so printings of “Jesus” gradually lost that I/Y sound at the beginning. That’s where the name “Jesus” comes from. It is equivalent to Joshua. The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible calls Joshua, Moses’ successor, Iesous. *see embedded video*
There is a Hebrew word, yeshu'ah, which means “salvation/deliverance.” Sounds pretty similar to "Yeshua.” Click the link and scroll down to read the verses and passages that used that word.
There also might be a prophesy about the name Joshua in relation to the coming Messiah (“anointed one” or “Christ” in Anglicized Greek) in Zechariah 3:8-10, 6:11-13. It was written around 500BC. The branch and the vine were phrases some prophets used to refer to a promised coming deliverer.
*Jesus applied the title "I AM" to himself on a few occasions:
A John 8 audio dramatization: Before Abraham was...
Another edit/addition:
The word angel – which mistakenly conjures up images of European dudes in bathrobes or naked babies with two wings – simply means messenger. Particular humans and solely spiritual beings are both referred to as angels. The "messengers from Heaven" have no physical or material form, but were manifested to people in various ways. Check out this message on the encounters with Abraham, Lot, Isaiah, and Ezekiel: part one & part two.
The word "Lucifer" just means "morning star" and was not specifically the name of Satan before he fell. It is only in the Latin Vulgate translation, and only in the 14th chapter of Isaiah, that the word lucifer is used in the Bible – and not everyone agrees that that passage is partially about Satan. But whether it is or not, lucifer is not exactly used there as a name. Even Jesus is referred to as a morning star of sorts in the Book of Revelation. What is true about Satan is that "he" is a rebellious angelic being who stirs up evil in the world. He isn't big and powerful like God but just evil, like a negative version of God. Satan is limited. He is incomparable to God like any other created thing and will be punished along with his fellow rebels and unforgiven humanity, after the resurrection, in Gehenna. The Bible doesn't teach "pitchfork theology." Oh, and by the way, the word "Satan" simply means enemy and "devil" means liar/accuser/slanderer.
One last side note, in regards to the often twisted verse in John chapter ten where Jesus says "you are gods"...
During a confrontation at the time of Hanukkah (The Feast of the Dedication) some Judeans picked up stones to stone Jesus for claiming to be God. (The Greek word is rendered "Jews" in most translations, but it's probably used as a locative term here rather than an ethnic term – Jesus and his disciples being Jews from Galilee in the north and these Jews being natives of Judea in the south.) His response to them is a little confusing, but the commentaries on verse 34 here help a lot. Since another meaning of the word Elohim is "earthly ruler," Jesus may have been basically saying to them in that moment: "Wait a second, you have no problems calling each other rulers, so why bar me from using that term?"
It looks like, to some, that it wasn't until the Festival of Lights (symbolic of Revelation) that Jesus chose to finally let the cat completely out of the bag. Although he did make the big John 8:58 statement previously, he had also been telling people whom he healed not to say anything openly about him. So once the John 10 confrontation rolled around he held back for a while until verse 38. The big reveal! Either that or He just didn't want politically-minded people raising Him up in some of those earlier instances.
