Secular Christianity

Vista House, Oregon

This last week I rejected four comments for this blog. I support the notion that persons are free to challenge me on this blog and on satire and theology. That is fair and I enjoy discussion. I however, via blogs or email will not allow blog troll personal attacks and also grow very tired of 'dripping faucet' like cumulative snide remarks that are attempting to cut me down personally or cut down how I do business. I also strongly dislike arguing on and on in circles with someone that is not seriously considering the material I work hard to produce. Please consider that I have sleep apnea and will not take a lot of nonsense! So if you disagree with me, feel free to comment, but please do not attack me personally, or expect to beat me into submission...it will not happen, and I do not want to attempt to beat someone else into submission. I also aim to protect my commenters from abuse.

I desire to show the love of Christ.

Sometimes comments are not published due to Blogger error, and for that I am not responsible. If that happens, please email your comments to me and I will publish them on your behalf.

In regard to discussions, I do change my mind at times, and so I remain open-minded. I do not expect commenters to simply rubber stamp my material.

Most of you are wonderful, and SO I AM NOT WRITING TO YOU!

I have posted these two pages from religionfacts.com previously on satire and theology. But, I have a few more readers now and I plan on interacting slightly more with the material.

I like providing some articles primarily for the purposes of historical information. It reacquaints me with some data which I have not dealt with in awhile, which I need, as I am dealing with a lot of Biblical, theological, and philosophical material and need to refresh my mind with much of it at times. Also, I think it is generally very good information for my readers.

I should note I would rather use the scholarly material of a honest liberal secularist than a Christian that is blinded by agenda and not objective. Most of the scholars I quote are likely Biblical Christians, but I quote liberal scholars that provide beneficial information.

I will discuss one item on the list, but there others we could discuss in comments:

1822 Schleiermacher writes Christian Faith

I had to write about Friedrich Schleiermacher within my PhD.

Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) writes in his work of systematic theology, The Christian Faith that God’s original perfect creation was based on the environment being made suitable for human beings to have self-consciousness. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 234). The human experience of God-consciousness and self-consciousness are fulfilled through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and the related religious emotions. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 76). For Schleiermacher, Christian theology is not a systemization of revelation of God but rather a coherent understanding of Christian religious experience related to the redemptive work of Christ. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 125).

From a Biblical Christian worldview, God through prophets, apostles, and scribes, and Christ himself, revealed the Scriptures and God's plans for humanity, with the gospel message being the central focus.

Religious experience is an aspect of the Christian life.

As experiences are evaluated through Scripture, one can have a reasonable idea that his or her religious experience is of the Holy Spirit, and not of primarily human origin and even possibly from the influence of demonic spirits.

There is Biblical theology. Christian Scriptural revelation and Biblical theology can be systematized for understanding. Systematic theology when done properly, is therefore accurate theology.

In On Religion, Schleiermacher expresses the belief that dogma is not part of religion but arises out of religion. Schleiermacher in Kedourie (1799)(1961: 26). Religion is essentially intuitive and consists of the experience of feeling. Schleiermacher in Kedourie (1799)(1961: 26).

One that states that there is no room for dogma in religion, it at risk of casting out one type of dogma, some of it perhaps Biblical, and replacing it with philosophical and theological theories and new dogma, perhaps more popular within a time period.

This is a way of avoiding the truth of the word of God.

Biblical doctrine is not essentially and primarily intuitive, but requires God to guide persons through the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible and doctrines correctly.

He writes that Christian theology was not dictated by a direct human encounter with God but by concepts of religious experience. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 125). Schleiermacher understands original human perfection as not primarily a condition, but rather the ability through both good and evil experiences to have the consciousness of God stimulating and influencing humanity. God would draw all humanity to himself through an awareness of God-consciousness. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 303). He rejects the concept of hell because he postulates that those living in heavenly bliss could not do so in good conscience without sympathy for those in hell. This makes the universal efficacy of Christ’s redemptive work more likely, because hell would have to be nonexistent for heaven to truly be a place of peace and happiness. Schleiermacher (1821)(1976: 721).

John Ankerberg and John Weldon explain is the theological idea that salvation is universal and therefore as a result each person will eventually be redeemed in heaven in God’s presence. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 503). John Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli explain that universalism is universal salvation and has been considered by some well known orthodox Christians over the centuries as a viable alternative to hell, although Kreeft and Tacelli reject this concept. Kreeft and Tacelli (1994: 286). D.B. Eller writes that universalism affirms the idea that eventually all souls will be released from penalties of sin and restored to God. Eller (1996: 1128).

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus uses an illustration relating to the ultimate destiny of individuals and explains that few persons enter by the narrow gate, and the wide and broad way of destruction is found by many. William Barclay points out, that Luke 13:24 is presenting a similar idea which may have come from the same original source, but reached the author of Luke from a different tradition. Barclay (1975: 97). In Luke, Jesus explains that many will strive to enter by the narrow gate, but shall not be able to. Barclay (1975: 97).

Laurence E. Porter describes a scenario in Luke 13:24-28 where some religious persons are rejected by God. Porter (1986: 1211). Jesus did not accept the theology that a sincere religious devotion alone would lead one to God’s presence in the culminated Kingdom of God. Let me point out that everlasting existence apart from God is absolutely and positively, not my hope for any individual person, but my theological findings are driven by research and not sentiment. I see no good reason to believe that human beings that have rejected the Biblical God throughout their lives with a corrupt nature and the resulting sinful thoughts and actions would ever in post-mortem existence come to Christ, unless guided by God to do so. Biblically, there appears to be no salvation for those outside of Christ upon death.

Hebrews 9:27, from the New American Standard Bible states:

As inasmuch as it is appointed for man to die once and after this comes judgment.

Persons suffer in hell.

Saints do not suffer in the Kingdom of Heaven/God.

As resurrected saints, we will have an understanding and acceptance of God's justice and human rebellion against God, that I reason will enable us to see hell as just even while we live in the culminated Kingdom by God's grace as we are guided and filled by the Holy Spirit.

ANKERBERG, JOHN AND JOHN WELDON (1999) Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Eugene, Oregon, Harvest House Publishers.

BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1975) Introduction to the First Three Gospels, Philadelphia, The Westminster Press.

ELLER, D.B. (1996) ‘Universalism’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

KREEFT, PETER and RONALD K. TACELLI (1994) Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press.

PORTER, LAURENCE.E. (1986) ‘Luke’, in F.F. Bruce (gen.ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/ Zondervan.

SCHLEIERMACHER, FRIEDRICH (1799)(1961) On Religion, in Elie Kedourie, Nationalism, New York, Praeger University Series.

SCHLEIERMACHER, FRIEDRICH (1821)(1976) The Christian Faith, Edited by H.R. Mackintosh and J.S. Stewart, Philadelphia, Fortress Press.

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/timeline.htm

Timeline of Christianity

The following timeline of Christianity summarizes some of the most important events in Christianity since its founding about 2,000 years ago. (Events in light grey are non-religious events included for historical context.)
c. 4 BC Birth of Jesus
c. 26 AD John the Baptist begins ministry
c. 27 AD Jesus begins ministry
c. 30 AD Crucifixion of Jesus
c. 35 Conversion of Paul
c. 44 Martyrdom of James
c. 46-48 Paul's first missionary journey
c. 49 Council of Jerusalem
c. 50-52 Paul's second missionary journey
c. 51-52 First and Second Thessalonians written
c. 53-57 Paul's third missionary journey
c. 57 Letter to the Romans written
c. 59-62 Paul imprisoned in Rome
c. 60 Andrew martyred by crucifixion in Achaia (Greece).
c. 66-67 Second Timothy written
c. 68 Martyrdom of Paul
70 Fall of Jerusalem
c. 90-95 John exiled on island of Patmos
c. 95 Book of Revelation written
c. 96 Clement of Rome's Letter to the Corinthians written
c. 120 Didache written
202 Christians persecuted under Septimus Severus
211 Christians tolerated under Emperor Antoninus Caracalla
222 Christians favored Emperor Alexander Severus
230 Origen's On First Principles
235 Christians persecuted under Emperor Maximin the Thracian
238 Christians tolerated under Emperor Gordian III
244 Christians favored under Emperor Philip the Arabian
251 Cyprian's Unity of the Catholic Church
254 Death of Origen
303 Diocletian orders burning of Christian books and churches
312 Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity
313 Edict of Milan establishes official toleration of Christianity
325 Council of Nicea
336 Death of Constantine
354 Birth of Augustine

367 Athanasius lists all 27 books of NT

379 Basil the Great dies
380 Christianity made official religion of Roman Empire
381 Council of Constantinople
386 Augustine converts to Christianity

389 Gregory of Nazianzus dies
395 Gregory of Nyssa dies
c. 400 Jerome's Vulgate (translation of the Greek Bible into Latin)
407 John Chrysostom dies
411 Council of Carthage condemns Donatists
417 Pope Innocent I condemns Pelagianism

420 Death of Jerome
430 Death of Augustine

431 Council of Ephesus
451 Council of Chalcedon
787 Second Council of Nicea
950 Olga of Russia converts to Christianity
1054 Great Schism between East and West
1093 Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
1095 Council of Clermont: Pope Urban II proclaims First Crusade
1098 Crusaders take Antioch from Turks
1099 Crusaders recapture Jerusalem from Turks
1122 Concordat of Worms
1141 Peter Abelard condemned

1144 Fall of Edessa (crusader state)
1187 Fall of Jerusalem to Turks
1215 Fourth Lateran Council
1309 "Babylonian Captivity" (until 1377)
1337 Hundred Years' War (until 1453)
1378 Great Western Schism (until 1423)
1409 Council of Pisa
1413-14 Lollard rebellion
1415 Council of Constance. Martyrdom of Jan Hus.
1420 Crusade against Hussites
1431 Joan of Arc martyred
1431-49 Council of Basel
1438-45 Council of Ferrara-Florence
1453 Fall of Constantinople to Turks
1478 Spanish Inquisition founded by Ferdinand and Isabella
1483 Birth of Martin Luther

1492 Expulsion of Jews from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella
1505 Luther becomes a monk
1517 Luther posts 95 Theses
1521 Luther excommunicated
1530 Augsburg Confession
1534 Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy
1536 Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
1541 Colloquy of Regensburg
1555 Peace of Augsburg
1559 Elizabeth I's Act of Uniformity
1590 Michelangelo completes the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
1609 Baptist Church founded by John Smyth
1611 King James (Authorized) Version of the Bible produced
1729 Beginnings of Methodism, led by John Wesley
1738 John Wesley feels his "heart strangely warmed" during a reading of Luther's preface to Romans on Aldersgate Street in London
1775 American Wars of Independence begin
1783 America wins independence from Britain
1793 Louis XVI executed
1797 Second Awakening begins
1798 Pope Pius VI is prisoner of France
1799 Schleiermacher writes Speeches
1801 Cane Ridge Revival
1804 Napoleon becomes emperor
1807 Hegel writes Phenomenology of the Spirit
1808 French occupy Rome
1810 Mexico wins independence
1812-14 British-American War
1814 Reorganization of the Jesuits
1816 American Bible Society established
1822 Schleiermacher writes Christian Faith
1826 American Society for the Promotion of Temperance founded
1830 Joseph Smith produces Book of Mormon
1834 Spanish Inquisition officially abolished
1838 Abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean
1841 David Livingstone to Africa
1845 Methodists and Baptists split over the issue of slavery
1846 Pope Pius IX (until 1878)
1854 Dogma of Immaculate Conception of Mary
1859 Darwin publishes Origin of the Species
1861-65 American Civil War
1861 Presbyterians divide over the issue of slavery
1869 First Vatican Council
1870 Dogma of Papal Infallibility
1872 Moody begins preaching
1875 Mary Baker Eddy writes Science and Health
1882 Neitzsche declares "God is dead"
1895 Five Fundamentals
1900 Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
1906 Azusa Street revival
1908 Henry Ford introduces the Model T
1910 World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh
1914 Assemblies of God founded
1914-18 World War I
1917 Russian Revolution
1919 Prohibition passed into law
1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial
1932 Barth's Church Dogmatics
1939 Hitler invades Poland and sparks WWI
1945 Nag Hammadi Library discovered in Egypt;
US drops atomic bombs on Japan
1947 India wins independence from U.K.
1948 World Council of Churches founded
1950 Papal encyclical Humani generis
1956 First issue of Christianity Today
1960 Birth control pill approved by FDA
1961 First human in space
Papal encyclical Mater et Magistra
1962-65 Second Vatican Council
1963 MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech
1968 Papal encyclical Humanae vitae
1969 First man on the moon
1971 Intel introduces the microprocessor
1973 Roe vs. Wade
1987-88 Televangelist scandals
1989 First woman ordained in an apostolic-succession church (the Protestant Episcopal church). Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1997 Birth of the internet

Sources
1. Earle E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries (Zondervan, 1996).
2. Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity (Prince Press, 1999).
3. Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity, Vol. I: to A.D. 1500 (4th ed., Prince Press, 2000).
4. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service, 2004.
« Glossary of Christianity

Timeline of Christianity Christian History »

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/timeline.htm

Fast Facts on Christianity

This section provides basic facts on Christianity in a quick, at-a-glance format. Here you can get a general sense of the Christian faith before exploring it in greater depth, get the basics in order to compare Christianity to other religions, study for a test on Christianity, play a Christian trivia game, or just learn something new.

Date founded:
c. 33 AD
Place founded:
Palestine
Founder:
Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish carpenter
Adherents:
2 billion {1}
US adherents:
159 million in 2001 {2}
UK adherents:
51 million in 1997 {3}
Size rank:
largest world religion
Main location:
Europe
North America
South America
Major sects (denominations):
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant
Sacred texts:
The Bible, comprised of the Old Testament and New Testament
Original languages:
Aramaic, Greek, Latin
Religious professionals:
Priest; bishop; archbishop; patriarch; pope; pastor; minister; preacher; deacon
House of worship:
Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall
Type of theism:
Trinitarian Monotheism
Ultimate reality:
One God (a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
Human nature:
Created good but now born sinful
Purpose of life:
Know, love and serve God
How to live:
Have faith in the true God and Christ's resurrection, do good works, participate in sacraments
Afterlife:
Resurrection of body and soul, purgatory (Catholic and Orthodox), and eternal heaven or hell
Symbols:
Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho
Major holidays:
Advent (Nov. 30 - Dec. 24)
Christmas (Dec. 25)
Epiphany (Jan. 6)
Lent (40-day period prior to Easter)
Good Friday (last Friday before Easter)
Easter (date varies)
All Saint's Day (Nov. 1)
Books of the New Testament :
Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Luke
Gospel of John
Acts of the Apostles
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
Two Greatest Commandments
1. Love God with your heart, soul and mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. {4}
Four Last Things
1. second coming
2. judgment
3. heaven
4. hell
Seven Deadly Sins
1. pride
2. greed
3. lust
4. envy
5. gluttony
6. anger
7. sloth
Seven Ecumenical Councils
1. Council of Nicea (325 AD)
2. Council of Constantinople (381)
3. Council of Ephesus (431)
4. Council of Chalcedon (451)
5. Second Council of Constantinople (553)
6. Third Council of Constantinople (681)
7. Second Council of Nicea (787)
Twelve Apostles
1. James, son of Zebedee
2. John, son of Zebedee
3. Philip
4. Bartholomew
5. Thomas
6. Andrew (Peter's brother)
7. Simon Peter
8. Matthew the tax collector
9. James, son of Alphaeus
10. Simon the Zealot
11. Judas Iscariot
12. Thaddaeus {5}
Fourteen Stations of the Cross
1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. The cross is laid upon him
3. Jesus' first fall
4. Jesus meets Mary
5. Simon of Cyrene bears the cross
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face
7. Jesus' second fall
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus' third fall
10. Jesus is stripped of his garments
11. Jesus is crucified
12. Jesus dies
13. Jesus' body is taken down
14. Jesus's body is laid in the tomb
References
1. adherents.com
2. adherents.com
3. adherents.com
4. Mark 12:28-31.
5. Matthew 10:2.



An incredible near miss from Surrey, BC.

Manuscripts supporting the New Testament

Manuscripts supporting the New Testament

Published August 18, 2008, revised on May 13, 2023 and a version placed on academia.edu.

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Magic Island, Hawaii (photo from trekearth.com)

Fiji (photo from trekearth.com)

Not the same place...

2008 text, revised in 2023

H.D. McDonald explains that God is considered the authority behind the New Testament. God has revealed himself, and therefore the revelation is a key to the Biblical authority. McDonald (1996: 139). J.R. McRay notes that the earliest list of New Testament books with the current twenty-seven appeared in A.D. 367, in a letter to Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. McRay (1996: 141).

McRay writes that the formation of the New Testament canon did not come from a council. The council of Nicea in 325 did not discuss canon. McRay (1996: 141). At Carthage in 397 the council deemed the twenty-seven books canon, and that nothing else would be considered New Testament divine Scripture. These twenty-seven books were regarded by consensus as canon. McRay (1996: 141).

W.R.F. Browning explains that canon comes from the Greek word for 'rule' or 'standard'. In both the Old and New Testaments canon formation was gradual and controversial. Browning (1996: 57). Browning notes some New Testament era books were quoted by Church Fathers, although the texts were not canonized. Browning (1996: 57). Jesus Christ's teachings and story was passed along in oral tradition and then eventually written down in the Four Gospels, and sidelined rival versions. Browning (1996: 57). The Epistles from Apostles and their scribes were preserved by the churches and soon formed a collection along with the Gospels. Browning (1996: 57).

Am I overly concerned with the possibility that some inspired texts have been excluded from the New Testament canon? No. The twenty-seven books contain the same core Gospel and theology. Contrary texts have been weeded out by Church Fathers.

Even if an inspired text is missing from the canon, and God has willingly allowed this, which I doubt, the current canon, along with the Hebrew Bible, provides correct history and teaching concerning the Old Testament, the Gospel, primary theological issues, and in my view, with key secondary theological issues.

From:

religion facts

The Importance of Ancient Manuscripts
As seen in the section on Christian texts, the New Testament plays a very central role in Christianity. For most Christians, the New Testament is not only a precious record of the life of Jesus and the apostles, but a divine revelation to mankind on matters of salvation. Christians of all denominations consider the Bible to be the primary authority in determining doctrine, ethics, church structure, and all other religious issues.

This strong reliance on the New Testament is based in part on the religious belief that it was divinely inspired. But it also based on the belief that it is an accurate historical record written by eyewitnesses (and associates of eyewitnesses) who experienced the lives of Jesus and the apostles firsthand. But some have challenged this traditional view, arguing that it was written much later, long after Jesus' original followers were dead and Christianity had transformed into a different religion than the one taught by Jesus of Nazareth.

The debate really comes down to the question: When was the New Testament originally written? And this question leads to another important question: Even if it was written at an early date, how do we know the New Testament that exists today is the same as the original? How do we know the modern translations aren't full of human errors, additional content, or the interpretations of countless human scribes?

Both of these questions are answered within the fields of paleography and textual criticism, which seek to analyze ancient manuscripts of the New Testament to determine their date and accuracy.

The article that follows provides an overview of the most important New Testament manuscripts that have been discovered and outlines the process used to analyze those manuscripts.

The Role of Textual Criticism

No original manuscripts of the original Greek New Testament have been found. However, a large number of ancient manuscript copies have been discovered, and modern translations of the New Testament are based on these copies. As one would expect, they contain some scribal errors. In fact, "there is not a single copy wholly free from mistakes."

It is the task of textual criticism, therefore, to study and compare the available manuscripts in order to discern which of the variations conforms the closest to the original. Bruce Metzger of Princeton University, a prominent modern textual critic, describes the role of textual criticism this way:

The necessity of applying textual criticism to the books of the New Testament arises from two circumstances: (a) none of the original documents is extant, and (b) the existing copies differ from one another. The textual critic seeks to ascertain from the divergent copies which form of the text should be regarded as most nearly conforming to the original. In some cases the evidence will be found to be so evenly divided that it is extremely difficult to decide between two variant readings. In other instances, however, the critic can arrive at a decision based on more or less compelling reasons for preferring one reading and rejecting another.

Paleography: Dating Ancient Manuscripts

Of course, the reliability of a given manuscript is based in large part on its age: earlier manuscripts are more likely to be accurate reflections of the original, so they are given more weight than later copies. It is therefore important for textual critics to know the dates of the manuscripts they are analyzing.

Interestingly, carbon dating and other chemical methods are rarely used in determining the age of manuscripts. Instead, a paleographer analyzes the handwriting of the text, which yields a much more precise date than carbon dating would. A paleographer "cannot establish the exact date but he can confidently place one handwriting in the 30's and another in the 80's."

The Earliest Extant Manuscripts

Fortunately, textual critics and paleographers have a large number of ancient manuscripts at their disposal, many of which have been found within the last century. Nearly the entire New Testament exists in manuscripts dated to before 300 AD. Other important manuscripts date to the fourth and fifth centuries.

The manuscripts dating from 100 to 300 AD are almost entirely papyrus fragments. These fragments are named with a "P" followed by a number. The vast majority of them were found in Egypt in the twentieth century, and are now kept in various museums and libraries throughout the world, including at Dublin, Ann Arbor, Cologny (Switzerland), the Vatican and Vienna.

The earliest manuscript of the New Testament was discovered about 50 years ago. P52 is a small papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John (18:31-33 on the front; 18:37-38 on the back), and it has been dated to about 125 AD. This makes it a very important little manuscript, because John has been almost unanimously held by scholars to be the latest of the four gospels. So if copies of John were in circulation by 125, the others must have been written considerably earlier. Moreover, the Gospel of John's greater theological development when compared with the other three gospels has led some scholars to conclude it was written as late as 120 or even 150 AD. The P52 fragment seems to make such late dates impossible.

In addition to the early papyrus fragments, a large number of parchment manuscripts have been found that date from 300 AD onward. These are usually named for the place in which they were discovered and are abbreviated by a letter or sometimes a number. The manuscripts A/02 (Codex Alexandrinus), B/03 (Codex Vaticanus), and Sin./01 (Codex Sinaiticus) contain nearly complete sets of the New Testament. By comparing these to the earlier papyrus fragments, they have been shown to be quite reliable.

Codex Vaticanus (B), the earliest of the great parchment manuscripts at about 300 AD, has resided in the Vatican since the middle ages and remains there today. It is one of the most important manuscripts for textual criticism.

Codex Sinaiticus (Sin.) dates to about 350 AD. It was discovered in 1844 in a monastery on Mount Sinai by a Russian. After some resistance, he persuaded the resident monks to allow him to take it to St. Petersburg. On Christmas Eve, 1933, the Soviet government sold it to the British Museum for 100,000 pounds. It was put on permanent display in the British Library, where it still resides, along with other early biblical manuscripts.

Codex Alexandrinus (A), dating to circa 450 AD, was transferred from the Christian library in Alexandria to the British Library in the seventeenth century, where it still resides today. The Catholic Encyclopedia details its history:

Codex A was the first of the great uncials to become known to the learned world. When Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Alexandria, was transferred in 1621 to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he is believed to have brought the codex with him. Later he sent it as a present to King James I of England; James died before the gift was presented, and Charles I, in 1627, accepted it in his stead. It is now the chief glory of the British Museum in its manuscript department and is on exhibition there.

British Museum Pamphlet on the Codex Sinaiticus
Philip W. Comfort, The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts.
C.C. Edgar, Select Papyri.
Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (1992). Full text is available online at Questia Online Library.
Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Paleography.
E.G. Turner, Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World (1987).
G. Cavallo & H. Maehler, Greek bookhands of the early Byzantine period, A.D. 300-800 (1987).
Leighton Reynolds, Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature.
C.H. Roberts, Greek Literary Hands (1956). On the dating of manuscripts with the aid of contemporary documents.
J. Finegan, Encountering New Testament Manuscripts: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism (1974). W.H.P. Hatch, The Principal Uncial Manuscripts of the New Testament (1939).
H.J.M. Milne & T.C. Skeat, Scribes and Correctors of the Codex Sinaiticus (1938).
D.C. Parker, Codex Bezae: An Early Christian Manuscript and its Text (1992). On the idiosyncratic manuscript D.
C.H. Roberts, Manuscript Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt (1979).
G. Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles (1956): on P46

The divine inspiration of Scripture was noted as important. God revealed the Gospel message. The New Testament is not full of mythological stories of clearly fictional characters, but actual people that existed. Some of these received revelation from God, and some knew Jesus Christ personally.

The same group of people discussed within the New Testament, is also the group that produced the Scripture, and therefore New Testament is historically grounded on eyewitness testimony, and associates of eyewitnesses.

Since every manuscript contains scribal errors, we can conclude the copies are not equal to the original inspired letters. This does not mean that we have to abandon the Biblical idea of inspired Scripture. I hold to the concept of 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is inspired by God for teaching, and training.

Scribal errors do not equate with theological errors, and therefore they do not eradicate or change the New Testament’s essential doctrines.

There are enough New Testament documents extant that scholars would know if certain schools of manuscripts contained serious differences in theology from other schools. This is why as Christians we do not need to take seriously the claims of critics that state that lost or hidden New Testament era documents from the group of eyewitnesses contradict the ones found in the New Testament.

The manuscript evidence supports the fact that there are scribal errors in the documents, but does not support the idea of major theological differences between different groups of manuscripts.

My theory of inspiration would include the idea that God inspired the original New Testament documents written by those within the group of Christ and the Apostles. Since the documents would eventually physically disintegrate, God would have to use supernatural means to maintain the original documents. The idea of God using some kind of supernatural force field to maintain the documents as good as new does not seem in line with how God works in our world over a long period. God allowed the originals to be destroyed or lost, and instead maintained his Scripture through copying.

2023 text

In other words, there is no ancient, perfectly maintained, divinely or otherwise, set of  ancient religious manuscripts based on the missing autographs, i.e. contrary to the views of some within the King James Only movement, and by many within Orthodox Islam.

Wikipedia: King James Only movement

Cited

The King James Only movement (also known as King James Onlyism) asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible.

Cited

Sometimes these beliefs are also based on the view that the King James translation itself was inspired by God.

Bible-Qur'an

I snipped my citations from this website as I could not copy and paste...

There is no perfect, original version of the Quran extant...

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BROWNING, W.R.F. (1997) Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic. 

MCDONALD, H.D. (1996) ‘Bible, Authority of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

MCRAY, J.R. (1996) ‘Bible, Canon of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.


Ronald McJoker

Religious Labels

The University Wales, Lampeter

God willing, I shall be in Wales, Lampeter in October for my PhD defence.

This is my first posting with my new computer.

I am recovering from either food poisoning (fish), or stomach flue. This article is short and sweet and edited from my PhD. If you would like to make me feel better, please comment.

Please do not get fishy with me.;)

Russ:)

Religious Labels

From my PhD questionnaire, I asked respondents that attended Christian churches to choose from a list of provided religious labels. I purposely sampled many mainline Protestants, and so not only conservative evangelicals.

The label ‘Evangelical’ has 69 (32.4%) respondents for primary label, for the secondary label it has 54 (25.4%) respondents. As a tertiary religious label it features 12 (5.6%) respondents. Overall 63.4% of respondents chose evangelical as an option. ‘Conservative’ is the primary preference of 45 (21.1%) respondents, 45 (21.1%) respondents for a secondary preference with a leading frequency for tertiary preference at 25 (11.7%) respondents. The conservative label was chosen by 53.9% of respondents and this is an indicator of my efforts to have those within liberal, progressive Christianity specifically in my project, since although a majority of respondents chose conservative as a label, it is not an overwhelming majority. ‘Charismatic’ is the primary preference of 18 (8.5%) respondents, a secondary preference of 12 (5.6%) respondents, and 10 (4.7%) respondents as a tertiary preference. So 18.8% of respondents chose this as a religious label. ‘Catholic’ is the primary religious label of 16 (7.5%) respondents, secondary preference frequency of 12 (5.6%), and tertiary preference of 10 (4.7%).

Bishop James Judd (2003) explains within ‘Short History of the Old Catholic Church’ that the term ‘catholic’ equates with the term ‘universal.’ Judd (2003: 1). The term catholic literally means ‘universal’ or ‘worldwide.’ Grenz, Guretski and Nordling (1999: 24). Since the term ‘catholic’ is not defined in my questionnaire, some respondents who state they are catholic are not necessarily Roman Catholic. Thirty-eight respondents state they are catholic for religious label, but only 9 respondents at 4.2% are part of the Roman Catholic denomination. A total of 17.8% chose the catholic option. This is not necessarily an indicator that they are members of the Roman Catholic Church, but they consider themselves catholic Christians. Judd (2003: 1).

A quick note, concerning my previous article on causation:

I would like to add, that I understand we are discussing human choices and actions and morally significant choices and actions. My heart pumping or not is in a sense a human action, but does not require my choice to work. If I was foolish I could choose to try and terminate my heart, and would perhaps die. I suppose one could argue that involuntary human actions are a form of hard determinism, but it is not morally significant or very relevant to the previous discussion on causality, but I admit that within compatibilism it is possible that some human actions could possibly in a sense fall outside of the category.

GRENZ, STANLEY J., DAVID GURETZKI and CHERITH FEE NORDLING (1999) Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity Press.

JUDD, BISHOP JAMES (2003) ‘Short History of the Old Catholic Church’, in American Apostolic Catholic Church, Diocese of Michigan-Georgia-Minnesota, Greenville, Michigan. American Apostolic Catholic Church, Diocese of Michigan-Georgia-Minnesota, An Old Catholic Jurisdiction.
http://www.americanchurch.org/history.htm



http://satireandtheology.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-told-you-so.html

Causation and Causality

Durham, England

http://satireandtheology.blogspot.com/2008/08/annihilation.html

This short posting will present another example of how similar words are used differently in my related PhD/MPhil theses fields, of philosophy of religion, and empirical theology and social research methods/statistics. As usual with my blog postings I am mixing it up between the various academic disciplines I am studying. My last post dealt more with Biblical studies with some philosophical theology.

Blackburn explains that in philosophy, causation is the relation between two events. It holds that when one event will determine and necessitate the second event, it is causation. When the first event occurs, the second must occur by necessity. Blackburn (1996: 59). Jaegwon Kim writes that causation is the relation between cause and effect, which can be an event, or state of an object. Kim (1996: 110).

In Reformed theology as God is infinite, omnipotent, and omniscient, he is reasoned to be the cause of all things. Philosopher Louis P. Pojman explains that within determinism or hard determinism, an outside force causes an act and no created being is responsible for his or her moral actions, while for compatibilism or soft determinism, although an outside force causes actions, created beings are responsible where they act voluntarily. Within hard determinism an outside force would be the only cause of human actions, while with soft determinism an outside force would be the primary cause of human actions and persons the secondary cause. Pojman (1996: 596). I hold to soft determinism and therefore:

God causes all things, including human actions.

Human beings cause human actions.

Human actions are not forced or coerced by an outside force.

Theological concepts of predestination found in Ephesians 1 and Romans 8 work well with the philosophical concept of cause. God causes the elect to follow Christ, and by moulding their hearts in regeneration through the Holy Spirit, simultaneously has elected persons to freely choose God. Therefore persons although predestined, are not coerced or forced to believe.

With the unregenerate, God wills everlasting punishment by not electing persons, and the unregenerate freely choose to sin with a corrupted human nature, and therefore although caused and determined to reject God, persons are not forced or coerced by God to sin and reject God. The unregenerate are simply allowed to exist with a corrupted nature and choices and are judged and punished accordingly.

Within social research methods and statistics, causality is the concern with making causal connections between variables (the attribute in terms where cases differ), rather than the mere relationships between them. Bryman (2004: 537, 545). A relationship between variables would examine the association between two variables, where the variation in one variable coincides with the variation in another. Causality would be looking for what causes the connections between the variables. Bryman (2004: 537, 543). In a questionnaire/survey a variable could be age and another variable could be income. The connections between the statistical findings from the variables would be examined to see what has caused the similar results with the two variables.

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy Oxford, Oxford University Press.

BRYMAN, ALAN (2004) Social Research Methods, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

POJMAN, LOUIS P. (1996) Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, New York, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

KIM, JAEGWON (1996) ‘Causation’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

End

Thanks to Odd Facts in my satire and theology links for the following:

Black and white twin sisters

If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin.

Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm. When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race. But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.

For a mixed-race couple, the odds of either of these scenarios is around 100 to one. But both scenarios can occur at the same time if the woman conceives non-identical twins, another 100 to one chance.

This involves two eggs being fertilised by two sperm at the same time, which also has odds of around 100 to one.

If a sperm containing all-white genes fuses with a similar egg and a sperm coding for purely black skin fuses with a similar egg, two babies of dramatically different colours will be born.

The odds of this happening are 100 x 100 x 100 - a million to one.

Black and white twins: Daily Mail




Black and white ravens (Thanks, Mom)

Please have a look at my previous article. I spent much time on it.

Objections to Christ

I am not an expert on the Hebrew Bible or a linguist. I do take Jewish scholarship seriously. I realize that both Jewish and Christian scholars need to take verses in the Hebrew Bible in the original context. My words are in bold.

The two verses below discussed by the Rabbi cannot be fully reviewed in a short article. These could easily be a PhD dissertation, but I shall briefly present some opinions. I am also not going to deal with all the Rabbi’s objections from his article in order to keep this blog posting decently short.

Psalm 22: 17

The Rabbi states:

In Psalm 22:17 the Hebrew states "hikifuni ca'ari yaday veraglay" which means "they bound me (hikifuni) like a lion (ca-like ari-lion), my hands (yaday) and my feet (ve-and raglay-my feet). The Christians translate this as "they pierced my hands and feet". Nowhere in the entire Torah, Prophets and Writings do the words ca'ari or hikifuny mean anything remotely resembling "pierce".

Michael L. White states:

White

Christians also claim that Psalms 22:16 (or Psalms 22:17, depending on text) is a messianic prophecy. Let’s examine:

Psalms 22:17 “Dogs surround me; a pack of evil ones closes in on me, like lions [they maul] my hands and feet.” (JPS)

Psalms 22:16 “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” (KJV)

The piercing of the hands and feet is referenced by Christians as being a prophecy about Jesus’ crucifixion, where his hands and feet were pierced by nails. However, contrasting the two verses in the JPS and KJV give radically different results – the former states that the Psalmist’s hands and feet are mauled by dogs or lions. The latter states that the assembly of the wicked has pierced the Psalmist’s hands and feet. This is a translation issue, specifically over the word ari, or lion.

In Hebrew, the verse reads karah ari yad regal. Literally, mauled lion hands feet. Or, the lion mauled my hands and feet. The KJV, and virtually all Christian translations, completely ignores the word ari. It’s easy to see why they do that – because it significantly alters the context of the verse. If we’re talking about lions mauling the Psalmist rather than the Psalmist being pierced by some unknown entity, then it’s clear it doesn’t refer to Jesus. Fabricating messianic prophecy via incorrect translation is a modus operandi of Christians today and has been throughout history.

A Christian response:

Brown

Reply to Objection: First, the verses regarding the piercing are not quoted by New Testament writers, Secondly, the translation of pierced is backed up the Septugint and the Dead Sea Scrolls. So the translation problem here is not only a Christian problem its also a Jewish problem.

Jewish interpreters claim the Christians have misinterpreted Psalm 22:16 [17] because in the Masoretic text the verse reads ka’ari followed by my hand and my feet. The word ka (like) followed by ari (lion) means like a lion. The imagery here presents the picture of “Like a lion” my hands and my feet are mauled. In the older Dead Sea Scrolls version of Psalms 22 the word is ka’aru meaning, “to dig out” or “to bore through”

So the issue of pierced is not so much a question of the King James translators, as much an issue of Jewish manuscripts. Dr. Michael Brown sums up this argument succinctly,

……….According to Rashi, the meaning is “as though they are crushed in a lion’s mouth.” While the commentary of Metsudat David states, “They crush my hands and my feet as the lion which crushes the bones of the prey in its mouth.” Thus, the imagery is clear; These lions are not licking the psalmist’s feet! They are tearing and ripping at them. Given the metaphorical language of the surrounding verses (cf. vv. 12-21 [13-22]), this vivid image of mauling lions graphically conveys the great physical agony of the sufferer…….

…Where did the King James translators come up with this idea of ‘piercing’ the hands and feet? That’s not what the Hebrew says.” …..

…..Actually, the Septuagint, the oldest existing Jewish translation of the Tanakh, was the first to translate the Hebrew as “they pierced my hands and feet” (using the verb oruxan in Greek), followed by the Syriach Peshitta version two or three centuries later (rendering with baz’u) not only so, but the oldest Hebrew copy of the Psalms we possess (from the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to the century before Yeshua) reads the verb in this verse as ka’aru (not ka’ari, “like a lion”), a reading also found in about a dozen medieval Masoretic manuscripts—recognized as the authoritative texts in traditional Jewish thought—where instead of ka’ari (found in almost all other Masoretic manuscripts) the texts say either ka’aru or karu.

In conclusion, the Dead Sea scrolls agrees with the picture of the pierced Messiah in the 22nd Psalm, verse 16.

The Rabbi also raises concerns with the Christian interpretation of Isaiah 14:7.

In Isaiah 7:14 the Hebrew states "hinei ha'almah harah veyoledet ben" "behold (hineih) the young woman (ha - the almah- young woman) is pregnant (harah) and shall give birth (ve-and yoledet-shall give birth) to a son (ben)". The Christians translate this as "behold a virgin shall give birth." They have made two mistakes (probably deliberate) in the one verse. They mistranslate "ha" as "a" instead of "the". They mistranslate "almah" as "virgin", when in fact the Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah".

John M. Frame suggests that there is a controversy surrounding the Septuagint and Matthew’s use of Isaiah 7: 14. Frame reasons that the virgin birth event influenced Mathew’s understanding of Isaiah 7:14, rather than the other way around. Frame reasons the prophecy may have been culminated in ways that Isaiah did not expect. Frame (1996: 1145).

Rev. Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, suggests:

Pent

The Septuagint, in Isaiah 7: 14 as in other instances, proves to be rather an interpretation of the Hebrew text, although the reading proposed by the Greek version, he parthenos "the virgin," does not conflict with the Hebrew text, for the meaning "virgin" is implied in the Hebrew term ha-‘almah "the concealed one" (betrothed)… In summary, while the Hebrew word betulah "virgin" (Greek parthenos) emphasizes the idea of chastity,[16] the term ‘almah [17] hints at the fact that the young woman so labeled was independent,[18] living alone or with her parents, yet separated from her fiancé or future husband, in a state of seclusion, with little or no public appearances.

The Rabbi suggests in regard to the Trinity:In Jewish law, worship of a three-part god is considered idolatry; one of the three cardinal sins for which a person should rather give up his life than transgress. The idea of the trinity is absolutely incompatible with Judaism.

In the New Testament, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of three distinctions in one nature and essence. Erickson states that each member of the Trinity is qualitatively the same, and they are divine in the same way. Erickson (1994: 337). The essence of the each member of the Trinity is the same, even if one distinction submits to the other at times. Erickson (1994: 338).

From Erickson’s point, the triune God is one God in nature and essence, represented in three distinctions and therefore is not a three-part God.

Jesus Christ is human, with a human spirit, and is resurrected as such.

Jesus Christ is fully God and God in spirit.

The natures do not mix.

God's infinite, eternal nature has never been altered, and cannot be altered.

The Rabbi states:

"You will not be able to see My face, for no human can see my face and live" (Exodus 33:18-20)

Persons viewed the incarnated Christ.

God was not viewed in his entirety.

It would be impossible for a finite being to fully experience the infinite. It is both philosophically impossible and would result in death to the finite person.

The Rabbi raised some textual issues which Jewish and Christian scholars debate. The Christian positions appear to be supported by some within Jewish scholarship. The theological objections to Christ such as to the Trinity and God being seen face-to-face can be overcome.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

FRAME, JOHN M. (1996) ‘Virgin Birth of Jesus’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.


Thanks, Jeff.

Jeff made this for his blog, Thoughts and Theology. Jeff has joined me in a Green Lantern anti-blog troll network.