The religious group that wakes me up in the morning

Greece: trekeath.com

The religious group that wakes me up in the morning

Yes, wakes is a proper English word.

wakes

From the rate my blog vote in the previous article. The winners:

Wunderbar 4

This blog is better than running from Chuck Norris 4 (From Rick)

This post is dedicated to the friendly Jehovah's Witnesses that leave a message on my phone at least once a month. They call in the morning and wake me up temporarily from my CPAP assisted sleep. They invite me to a Bible study. I had a phone discussion with a nice lady representative one day and turned the tables on her and gave her a short lecture on why her version of a free will theodicy does not work. She invited me to meet with her elders and I assured her that although I would be nice, I was quite busy and in the end her elders would not want me to be part of their church.

I am not a prophet, but I would be being willing to predict that event. I am not a gambler, but I am willing to bet on that taking place.

I hope the Jehovah's Witnesses are calling some Latter-day Saints and leave a message on their answering machines. The Jehovah's Witnesses should call some local LDS churches and then the Mormons can send some missionaries down to the Kingdom Hall and talk shop.

But first...some short humour.

Jeff Jenkins from Thoughts and Theology

Presents in my links this film several weeks ago. I did not produce the video and I am not vouching 100% for its historical accuracy, but it does present an interesting historical review of an important non-Christian religious movement.

The video is produced by this group:

Good News

Walter Martin was one of the top scholars in regard to the Jehovah's Witnesses as a non-Christian movement.

He writes that Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The name Jehovah's Witnesses was taken in 1931 to differentiate from the Watchtower organization run by Russell's successor Judge Rutherford. Martin (1965)(1997: 79). The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was founded in 1896. Martin (1965)(1997: 80). Russell had been teaching previously.

John Ankerberg and John Weldon state Charles Taze Russell's dates of birth and death (1852-1916). The Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be the only organization in the world through which Jehovah God operates and supplies a true Biblical interpretation. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 127).

Jesus described his church in Matthew 16: 18. In Acts, Peter initially was the primary Apostle, but the primary focus soon moved to Paul in the latter part of Acts. Paul also wrote and/or had scribes write more books of the New Testament than did Peter.

The true church Jesus described in Matthew 16: 18 is the Church of Jesus Christ. In the early stages it could be stated that both Peter and Paul led aspects of the early Church, which was one Church. Today there is still one Church that is led through various persons and denominations. Where there is essential Christian doctrine taught, believed and lived with persons indwelled with the Holy Spirit, there is the Church of Jesus Christ. There is sin and error present in the Church in this present realm, and there is no one faultless Christian leader or faultless Christian movement as sin influences all.

There is also no one true denomination at the expense of all others. There may possibly be one Christian denomination with better Biblical and systematic theology than others, but this does not make it the true Church and all the others false.

From:http://www.waltermartin.com/cults.html
The Deity of Jesus Christ

Throughout the entire content of inspired Scripture the fact of Christ’s identity is clearly taught. He is revealed as Jehovah God in human form (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14; 8:58; 17:5 [cf. Exodus 3:14]; Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:11; Colossians 2:9; and Revelation 1:8, 17–18; etc.). The deity of Jesus Christ is one of the cornerstones of Christianity, and as such has been attacked more vigorously throughout the ages than any other single doctrine of the Christian faith. Adhering to the old Arian heresy of the fourth century A.D., which Athanasius the great church Father refuted in his famous essay “On the Incarnation of the Word,” many individuals and all cults steadfastly deny the equality of Jesus Christ with God the Father, and, consequently, the Triune deity. Jehovah’s Witnesses, as has been observed, are no exception to this infamous rule. However, the testimony of the Scriptures stands sure, and the above mentioned references alone put to silence forever this blasphemous heresy, which in the power of Satan himself deceives many with its “deceitful handling of the Word of God.”

The deity of Christ, then, is a prime answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses, for if the Trinity is a reality, which it is, if Jesus and Jehovah are “One” and the same, then the whole framework of the cult collapses into a heap of shattered, disconnected doctrines incapable of even a semblance of congruity. We will now consider the verses in question, and their bearing on the matter.

Refutation of Watchtower Theology in Regard to the Triune Deity

One of the greatest doctrines of the Scriptures is that of the Triune Godhead or the nature of God himself. To say that this doctrine is a “mystery” is indeed inconclusive, and no informed minister would explain the implications of the doctrine in such abstract terms. Jehovah’s Witnesses accuse “the clergy” of doing just that, however, and it is unfortunate to note that they are, as usual, guilty of misstatement in the presentation of the facts and even in their definition of what Christian clergymen believe the Deity to be.

First of all, Christian ministers and Christian laypersons do not believe that there are “three gods in one” (Let God Be True, 100), but do believe that there are three Persons all of the same Substance—coequal, coexistent, and coeternal. There is ample ground for this belief in the Scriptures, where plurality in the Godhead is very strongly intimated if not expressly declared.

The Resurrection of Christ

Jehovah’s Witnesses, as has been observed, deny the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and claim instead that He was raised a “divine spirit being” or as an “invisible spirit creature.” They answer the objection that He appeared in human form by asserting that He simply took human forms as He needed them, which enabled Him to be seen, for as the Logos He would have been invisible to the human eye. In short, Jesus did not appear in the same form that hung upon the cross since that body either “dissolved into gases or is preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love”. This, in spite of Paul’s direct refutation in 1 Timothy 2:5, where he calls “the man Christ Jesus” our only mediator—some thirty years after the resurrection!

The Scriptures, however, tell a completely different story, as will be evident when their testimony is considered. Christ himself prophesied His own bodily resurrection, and John tells us “He spake of the temple of His body” (John 2:21).

What can be understood from reading the material from the site where Martin's family presents portions of his work, and the Martin and Ankerberg and Weldon texts are that Jehovah's Witnesses deny the deity of Christ, the Trinity, and the resurrection of Christ. There are other errors as well.

For one to truly know God he or she must believe in the deity of Christ. Christ as infinite God and perfect finite man, outlasted human finite sin, covered sins and paid the penalty for the sins of fallen humanity. This is the atonement.

To accept Christ as deity, the Holy Spirit as deity (Matthew 28: 19-20, Acts 5) and the Father as deity is to understand the New Testament nature of God is basic terms.

One God, one nature and substance with three distinctions.

To accept the Biblical resurrection of Christ, is to accept the predictive resurrection teaching of Christ in John 2: 19, descriptions of Jesus resurrection in the Gospels, and to accept Paul's teaching on resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Note, I stated the Gospels, but even if the ending of Mark (16: 9-20) is viewed as questionable because it is missing in two of the oldest minority Alexandrian texts, Codex Vaticanus (B) and Codex Sinaiticus (Sin.), Mark 16: 1-8, makes it clear Christ was risen. The ending is present in the majority Byzantine texts, and it is possible that Mark did indeed write it or it was written by another inspired scribe.

As noted in comments the description of the minority Alexandrian texts and majority Byzantine texts is in general terms, please see comments.

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

MARTIN, WALTER (1965)(1997) The Kingdom of The Cults, Minneapolis, Bethany House Publishers.

Kairos and Kenosis

Location? It reminds me of the Oregon/California coast.

καιρὸς

Kairos according to Alan Richardson is an important word in the Greek New Testament and means an appointed time in the purpose of God, for example in Mark 1:15 the kairos is fulfilled. Richardson (1999: 316).

Browning points out that kairos is an opportune time or moment for a decision, the term chronos is used for a length of time, and aion, in broad terms is era and makes the distinction between the present era, age, and coming era. Browning (1997: 371).

chronos/χρόνος
aion/αἰών

Mark 1: 15

Bible Hub

καιρὸς is time noun, nominative, masculine, singular

Parsing Nominative Singular Masculine 

Greek

καιρὸς: Noun a point or fixed period of time; season; the right time; due measure or fitness; advantage

κενόω

ἐκένωσεν

Kenosis is Greek for 'self-emptying'. Browning (1997: 215). George Newlands mentions that Paul uses this concept in Philippians 2:7, as Christ emptied himself regarding the incarnation. Kenotic love is in God's being, expressed through the divine self-giving of Christ, as God's love overcomes evil through the death and resurrection of Christ. Newlands (1999: 316). S.M. Smith notes that Kenotic theology focuses on the person of Christ in terms of some form of self-limitation by the preexistent Son in his becoming human. Smith (1996: 601). It theoretically looks at the incarnation in history.

Thiessen writes that Kenotic theologians have incorrectly concluded that Christ emptied himself of his divine attributes, and instead surrendered the independent use of some of his attributes. Thiessen (1956: 295-296). Thiessen sees Christ as using these powers as the Father granted them. He gave up glory and became a servant. Thiessen (1956: 296). Christ gave up glory as a servant, but could not, and did not give up being God. Erickson suggests that it was equality with God and not the form of God that Christ gave up. He still shared the same nature as the Father but subordinated himself to the Father in the incarnation. These limitations were in no way due to a loss of divine attributes, but due to the addition of human ones. Erickson (1994: 735).

Christ was fully human.

Christ subjected himself to the Father

Christ was fully God.

God the Son's (divine) attributes cannot change.

Philippians 2: 7

From:

Bible Hub 

ἐκένωσεν: Verb to empty out, emptied

Parsing 3rd Person Aorist Active Indicative Singular

Bible Hub

κενόω: Root word, to empty out, emptied

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

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

NEWLANDS, GEORGE (1999) ‘Kenosis’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.

RICHARDSON, ALAN (1999) ‘Kairos’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.

SMITH, S.M. (1996) ‘Kenosis, Kenotic Theology’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

THIESSEN, HENRY C. (1956) Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

PLEASE RATE MY BLOG (As seen on other blogs)

Please place the choice in comments, and I will change the amounts.

Votes are allowed per comment.

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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