Christians can you be certain your bible is trust worthy?

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

I'm not sure precisely what you mean. Perhaps you mean that the language of scripture is vague and subject to personal interpretation. If so, how useful is that?

I don't know what honor thy father and mother means. Honor could mean to speak well of them, toast them at parties, give them an award - perhaps at a banquet thrown in their honor, or maybe just obey them. If it's obedience that's being commanded, why not use that language? And if it is obedience that is being called for, why isn't it qualified obedience. Certainly one should not obey some parents and their parental commands. Does the Bible command us to go out and rob, kill, or deal drugs if a parent orders us to? That's up to each individual to decide. Some will say yes, some no. What can one do with such an idea? Vague language simply isn't useful.

When I read scripture, I find mostly poetry with no clear meaning, poetry that no two readers read the same way. The words mean what the reader wants it to mean, meaning that the words are functioning as a verbal Rorschach test onto which the reader projects himself.

And of course this fact undermines any claim of there being a proper understanding of what scripture says. Perhaps this is what you mean by subjective.

I'm looking for clear language and useful ideas in any resource, especially one purporting to tell others how to live.



So you read scripture and see a perfect match between Old Testament messianic prophecy and Jesus? I don't. I see that Jesus cannot possibly be the Hebrews' messiah. nPeace reads scripture and finds no contradictions anywhere, calling claims to the contrary opinion and air. From the outside, we call that a confirmation bias - seeing what one wants to see or expects to see rather than what is there.

WHY WERE PEOPLE WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH?

3, 4. How did the prophecy at Daniel 9:24, 25 come true?

3 Many years later, John the Baptist started his preaching work. Because of what he said and did, some people began to think that maybe he was the Messiah. (Read Luke 3:15.) But in the Bible, there is a prophecy that talks about 70 weeks, and it helped people to know when the Messiah would appear. The prophecy says: “There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people . . . From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.” (Daniel 9:24, 25) Bible experts agree that these are not weeks of days but weeks of years. So each of these weeks is seven years long. The Revised Standard Version Bible says at Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks of years are decreed.”

4 Today, Jehovah’s people understand that the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:25 are equal to 483 years and that they began in the year 455 before Christ. This was when King Artaxerxes of Persia told Nehemiah to repair and rebuild Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:1-8) Those 483 years ended in the year 29 when Jesus was baptized. At that time, Jehovah anointed him with holy spirit and he became the Messiah.—Matthew 3:13-17.*—See footnote.

5. What prophecies are we going to learn about?

5 In the Bible, there are many other prophecies about the Messiah. We will learn about some of them in this article. They are prophecies about his birth, his life as a child and as an adult, and his ministry. We will learn about how these prophecies came true during the life of Jesus. This will make our faith in the Bible stronger and also prove that Jesus was the Messiah whom people were waiting for.

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

I'm not sure precisely what you mean. Perhaps you mean that the language of scripture is vague and subject to personal interpretation. If so, how useful is that?

I don't know what honor thy father and mother means. Honor could mean to speak well of them, toast them at parties, give them an award - perhaps at a banquet thrown in their honor, or maybe just obey them. If it's obedience that's being commanded, why not use that language? And if it is obedience that is being called for, why isn't it qualified obedience. Certainly one should not obey some parents and their parental commands. Does the Bible command us to go out and rob, kill, or deal drugs if a parent orders us to? That's up to each individual to decide. Some will say yes, some no. What can one do with such an idea? Vague language simply isn't useful.

When I read scripture, I find mostly poetry with no clear meaning, poetry that no two readers read the same way. The words mean what the reader wants it to mean, meaning that the words are functioning as a verbal Rorschach test onto which the reader projects himself.

And of course this fact undermines any claim of there being a proper understanding of what scripture says. Perhaps this is what you mean by subjective.

I'm looking for clear language and useful ideas in any resource, especially one purporting to tell others how to live.



So you read scripture and see a perfect match between Old Testament messianic prophecy and Jesus? I don't. I see that Jesus cannot possibly be the Hebrews' messiah. nPeace reads scripture and finds no contradictions anywhere, calling claims to the contrary opinion and air. From the outside, we call that a confirmation bias - seeing what one wants to see or expects to see rather than what is there.

PROPHECIES ABOUT HIS EARLY LIFE

6. How did the prophecy at Genesis 49:10 come true?

6 The Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah in Israel. Just before Jacob died, he blessed his sons, and to Judah he said: “The scepter will not turn aside from Judah, neither the commander’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him the obedience of the peoples will belong.” (Genesis 49:10) Jewish teachers always believed that Jacob’s words to Judah were about the Messiah. But what do Jacob’s words mean? We know that he is talking about a king because the scepter and commander’s staff were rods carried by a king to show that he had the right to rule and to give commands. So this prophecy shows that the king, the one with the right to rule, had to come from the tribe of Judah. The first king from Judah was King David, and Zedekiah was the last king from Judah on earth. But Jacob’s prophecy talked aboutanother king after Zedekiah. That king would be king forever. He is called Shiloh, which means he is “the one to whom it belongs.” God told Zedekiah that this king is the one who has the legal right. (Ezekiel 21:26, 27) Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel told Mary: “Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.” (Luke 1:32, 33) Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and from the family of David. And after Zedekiah, Jesus was the only person in the family of David to whom Jehovah promised the right to be king. So Shiloh must be Jesus Christ.—Matthew 1:1-3, 6; Luke 3:23, 31-34.

7. How did the prophecy about the birth of the Messiah come true?

7 The Messiah would be born in a place called Bethlehem. The prophet Micah wrote: “You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.” (Micah 5:2) The prophecy tells us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. This was a town in Judah that was once called Ephrathah. But Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her husband, Joseph, lived in a different town called Nazareth. When it was close to the time for Jesus to be born, the ruler of Rome told people to return to the city where their father was born to register their names. So Mary and Joseph went back to Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth to Jesus. (Matthew 2:1, 5, 6) So the birth of Jesus happened exactly as the prophecy said!

8, 9. What does the prophecy say about the birth of the Messiah? What would happen after the Messiah was born?

8 A virgin, or maiden, would give birth to the Messiah. (Read Isaiah 7:14.) This verse says that the maiden would give birth to a son. The word for virgin in Hebrew is bethulah. This verse uses almah, a word that means “maiden.” But we know that almah also means “virgin” because the Bible calls Rebekah a maiden (almah) before her marriage. (Genesis 24:16, 43) God’s holy spirit directed Matthew to write that Isaiah 7:14 came true when Jesus was born. In this verse, he did not use the Greek word for “maiden.” He used the Greek word for “virgin,” parthenos. The Gospel writers Matthew and Luke both say that Mary was a virgin and that she became pregnant through God’s holy spirit.—Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35.

9 After the Messiah was born, children would be murdered. This is similar to what happened hundreds of years before the Messiah was born. Pharaoh of Egypt ordered the people to throw all the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River. (Exodus 1:22) A prophecy at Jeremiah 31:15, 16 talks about “Rachel weeping over her sons” because enemies took them away. People heard the sound of her crying far away in Ramah, which was in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. Matthew tells us that this prophecy came true when King Herod ordered the murder of all the baby boys in Bethlehem. (Read Matthew 2:16-18.) Imagine the grief that the people felt!

10. How did the prophecy at Hosea 11:1 come true?

10 The Messiah would be brought out of Egypt. (Hosea 11:1) To save Jesus from King Herod, an angel told Joseph and Mary to leave Israel and take Jesus to Egypt. They stayed there until Herod died. After Herod died, Joseph brought Jesus back to Israel. What Jehovah said to Hosea came true: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:13-15) Of course, it was impossible for Jesus to control the things that happened at his birth and in his early life.

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

I'm not sure precisely what you mean. Perhaps you mean that the language of scripture is vague and subject to personal interpretation. If so, how useful is that?

I don't know what honor thy father and mother means. Honor could mean to speak well of them, toast them at parties, give them an award - perhaps at a banquet thrown in their honor, or maybe just obey them. If it's obedience that's being commanded, why not use that language? And if it is obedience that is being called for, why isn't it qualified obedience. Certainly one should not obey some parents and their parental commands. Does the Bible command us to go out and rob, kill, or deal drugs if a parent orders us to? That's up to each individual to decide. Some will say yes, some no. What can one do with such an idea? Vague language simply isn't useful.

When I read scripture, I find mostly poetry with no clear meaning, poetry that no two readers read the same way. The words mean what the reader wants it to mean, meaning that the words are functioning as a verbal Rorschach test onto which the reader projects himself.

And of course this fact undermines any claim of there being a proper understanding of what scripture says. Perhaps this is what you mean by subjective.

I'm looking for clear language and useful ideas in any resource, especially one purporting to tell others how to live.



So you read scripture and see a perfect match between Old Testament messianic prophecy and Jesus? I don't. I see that Jesus cannot possibly be the Hebrews' messiah. nPeace reads scripture and finds no contradictions anywhere, calling claims to the contrary opinion and air. From the outside, we call that a confirmation bias - seeing what one wants to see or expects to see rather than what is there.

THE MESSIAH BEGINS HIS MINISTRY!

11. Who prepared the way for the Messiah?

11 A messenger would prepare the way for the Messiah. Malachi said that someone would come before the Messiah to prepare the way for him. He would help people to be ready to accept the Messiah when he appeared. Malachi calls him Elijah the prophet. (Read Malachi 4:5, 6.) Jesus said that John the Baptist was the one who was like Elijah. (Matthew 11:12-14) Mark said that John prepared the way. This is exactly what Isaiah had prophesied. (Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:1-4) Jesus did not tell John to prepare the way for him. God wanted people to know who the Messiah was. So it was God who chose John to do a work that was like the work of Elijah and prepare the people to welcome the Messiah.

12. What special work did God give the Messiah to do?

12 God would give the Messiah a special work to do. One day Jesus was in the synagogue in Nazareth, the town where he grew up. Jesusopened a scroll and read the words of Isaiah. This is what he read: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor, he sent me forth to preach a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind, to send the crushed ones away with a release, to preach Jehovah’s acceptable year.” Jesus said that this prophecy was about him. He really was the Messiah. That is why Jesus had the right to say: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.”—Luke 4:16-21.

13. What did Isaiah say about Jesus’ ministry in Galilee?

13 One prophecy tells us about the Messiah’s ministry in Galilee. Isaiah prophesied about“Zebulun” and “Naphtali” and “Galilee of the nations.” He wrote: “The people that were walking in the darkness have seen a great light. As for those dwelling in the land of deep shadow, light itself has shone upon them.” (Isaiah 9:1, 2) Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, in the town called Capernaum. He also taught in the areas of Zebulun and Naphtali. Jesus helped the people in these places by teaching them truths that shone like a great light. (Matthew 4:12-16) It was in Galilee that Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, chose his apostles, and performed his first miracle. It was also here in Galilee that Jesus appeared to more than 500 disciples after his resurrection. (Matthew 5:1–7:27;28:16-20; Mark 3:13, 14; John 2:8-11; 1 Corinthians 15:6) So Isaiah’s prophecy came true when Jesuspreached in “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.” Jesus also preached the good news about the Kingdom in other places in Israel.

MORE PROPHECIES ABOUT THE MESSIAH

14. How did Psalm 78:2 come true?

14 The Messiah would use stories and illustrations to teach people. In one of the psalms, Asaph sang: “In a proverbial saying I will open my mouth.” (Psalm 78:2) Matthew tells us about how this prophecycame true. Jesus always used illustrations, or examples, to teach. Matthew wrote about the time when Jesus used a mustard seed and yeast as illustrations to teach people about the Kingdom of God. He wrote: “Without an illustration he would not speak to them; that there might be fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet who said: ‘I will open my mouth with illustrations, I will publish things hidden since the founding.’” (Matthew 13:31-35) The stories and illustrations that Jesus used helped many people to understand the truth aboutJehovah.

15. How did the prophecy at Isaiah 53:4 come true?

15 The Messiah would heal people. Isaiah prophesied: “Truly our sicknesses were what he himself carried; and as for our pains, he bore them.” (Isaiah 53:4) When the mother-in-law of Peter was sick, Jesus healed her. After that, many other people came to the house of Peter, and Jesus healed them too. Matthew said that this fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He himself took our sicknesses and carried our diseases.” (Matthew 8:14-17) But this was not the only time that Jesus healed people. The Bible talks about many other times when Jesus made people well again.

16. What did the apostle John write that proves that Isaiah 53:1was about Jesus?

16 Many people would not believe that Jesus was the Messiah even though he did good things. (Read Isaiah 53:1.) The apostle John said that this prophecy came true. He wrote: “Although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled which he said: ‘Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard by us? And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?’” (John 12:37, 38) Even years later, when the apostle Paul preached the good news, not many people believed that Jesus was the Messiah.—Romans 10:16, 17.

17. How did the prophecy at Psalm 69:4 come true?

17 People would hate the Messiah for no reason. (Psalm 69:4) Jesus said: “If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have both seen and hated me as well as my Father. But it is that the word written in their Law may be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’” (John 15:24, 25) The “Law” mentioned here means all the Scriptures that existed at that time. (John 10:34; 12:34) What we read about Jesus in the Gospels proves that many people hated Jesus, especially the Jewish religious leaders. Also, Jesus said: “The world has no reason to hate you, but it hates me, because I bear witness concerning it that its works are wicked.”—John 7:7.

 

[metis]

WHY WERE PEOPLE WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH?

3, 4. How did the prophecy at Daniel 9:24, 25 come true?

3 Many years later, John the Baptist started his preaching work. Because of what he said and did, some people began to think that maybe he was the Messiah. (Read Luke 3:15.) But in the Bible, there is a prophecy that talks about 70 weeks, and it helped people to know when the Messiah would appear. The prophecy says: “There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people . . . From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.” (Daniel 9:24, 25) Bible experts agree that these are not weeks of days but weeks of years. So each of these weeks is seven years long. The Revised Standard Version Bible says at Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks of years are decreed.”

4 Today, Jehovah’s people understand that the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:25 are equal to 483 years and that they began in the year 455 before Christ. This was when King Artaxerxes of Persia told Nehemiah to repair and rebuild Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:1-8) Those 483 years ended in the year 29 when Jesus was baptized. At that time, Jehovah anointed him with holy spirit and he became the Messiah.—Matthew 3:13-17.*—See footnote.

5. What prophecies are we going to learn about?

5 In the Bible, there are many other prophecies about the Messiah. We will learn about some of them in this article. They are prophecies about his birth, his life as a child and as an adult, and his ministry. We will learn about how these prophecies came true during the life of Jesus. This will make our faith in the Bible stronger and also prove that Jesus was the Messiah whom people were waiting for.

Just let me mention that cut & paste essays simply ain't gonna make it here at RF as most people will just ignore your posts.

BTW, welcome.

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

Just let me mention that cut & paste essays simply ain't gonna make it here at RF as most people will just ignore your posts.

BTW, welcome.

I will not deny the cut and paste but is it not specific to what he's asking for? I can write in my opinion all day but why not just give accurate reasoning with scripture and hand and plus my grammar trash lol I won't always do this but this is a topic that has a lot of information

 

[PuerAzaelis]

tl;dr?

 

[nPeace]

Not really.

I was the one who explained to you where "unicorn" and "cockatrice" appear, in widely used versions of the bible, and that unicorn is translated as wild oxen in the Jerusalem bible.

I think you would be better advised to help people learn about the subtleties involved in interpreting the bible than accusing them of being wolves and vipers, when they may simply not be as familiar with it as you and I are.

My approach in these discussions is, where possible, to try to show that the bible need not make unreasonable demands on our intelligence and critical faculties, if sensibly interpreted. I commend that approach to you.

Yes, Thanks.
Fair enough. Translating one language to another can be challenging, especially an ancient one, I suppose.

I don't find that "accusing them of being wolves and vipers" have anything to do with one simply not being as familiar with the Bible, as another might be. I'll explain.
Wolves and vipers are not the same as lambs and doves. One can easily tell the difference in behavior.

When Jesus and his apostles said what they did, they were speaking the truth, I believe. Do you believe they were? So I believe a true Christian would identify with their words, and agree with them. Do you?

Many who call themselves Christians, do not really believe the Bible to be the word of God. I'm not saying this because I can say it, or as an opinion.
I have heard it "straight from the horses' mouth". Yes, I have spoken to some who will tell you up front that they don't believe that these "stories" are real historical events, and some go even further to say that the men who wrote these things wrote from their own ideas and understanding, and so these writings are not relevant to our time. Many of my friends relate the same, or similar experiences.
These persons therefore - according to scripture, put themselves in opposition to the foundation of the Christian congregation - Jesus Christ, and the true body of Christ.

This is not an idea from my head. It's Biblical.
Anyone who reads the Bible, should be able to see that Jesus and the disciples viewed all of the Hebrew scriptures, which they quoted, as true historical events.

It is written in scripture that false prophets, and apostates would lead away many, and they would parade as Jesus disciples, but the scriptures makes it plain that they are imitations - not real; false.
This is written throughout the Greek scriptures. I won't bother to reference them. Those who have thoroughly read these books, know this to be a fact.

To say that the Bible

need not make unreasonable demands on our intelligence and critical faculties, if sensibly interpreted

to me seems the same as saying that the Bible is rather flawed (I used flawed, but maybe that might not be the word you would use, so perhaps you can say what you would rather use, or correct me if my interpretation is flawed), therefore it is unreasonable to expect that it would not be misinterpreted.

Let me say, in behalf of my fellow brothers (that means sisters too), We know that it is highly likely the Bible - in some areas, can be misinterpreted, even misunderstood, and we don't claim to understand it perfectly. In fact, we don't expect that anyone alive today will be able to get everything perfect - In the future... maybe; In the new world... for sure.
Nor do we feel that people should not use their intelligence, and examine it with an open mind - which I think is different to being critical with a closed judgmental mindset.

That said, I think everyone has that obligation to choose to examine things for themselves, and choose their own path. My fellow brothers believe this. We don't believe one should follow something blindly.
We want and hope for people to make informed decisions. It doesn't please us for someone to get involved in religion for which they have little or no knowledge about.

So in conclusion...
I can understand that a person that is uncertain about religion, or whether or not the Bible contains the truth, might find it hard to agree to things it says, including what Jesus and his apostles said. They would also find it difficult to understand or accept what his true followers today say and do, and that's understandable, because the person isn't clear on the Bible's teachings, and message.
So for example, they may find it hard to accept that there can only be one right way to worship God, and may feel that various ways are also acceptable, but this is because they do not accept that the Bible is truth, or the word of God.

However, for one to identify as a Christian, one must identify as a follower of Christ - his teachings and example, according to what Christian meant to Jesus' first century followers.
To represent the Bible, one must be able to teach and live by the Bible's message.
I don't see how it works otherwise.

When the Bible for example says...
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? 15 Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I will reside among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 “‘Therefore, get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’”; “‘and I will take you in.’” 18 “‘And I will become a father to you, and you will become sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah, the Almighty.”
Do we understand clearly what we are being commanded to do, so as to act in harmony with it, or do we feel that any interpretation is fine?

I believe when Jesus acts, on that day, none of us can use interpretation as an excuse for not knowing and obeying. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
For me, it comes down to one thing, how honest at heart we are. If we are truly honest at heart, then we will understand, because we will humbly learn and obey, what can be seen as the truth.

 

[nPeace]

Are you unaware of where science contradicts the Christian Bible? Here's a place to start :

Biblical scientific errors - RationalWiki

I and many others been through that numerous times.
If I had saved the information, I would have copied and pasted it here, but I haven't.
I remember when I landed on RF, these were the first things I came across, so I know the history has been erased.
Those have all been shown to be misinterpretations, and just plain childish nitpicking at frivolous things, which were all false hopes on the part of evolutionist - not science. Science proves nothing.

It's from a story in Genesis about a Great Flood.

No it's not.

 

[shmogie]

So you say what is written is not what you want it to mean so you interpret it differently than how it is written. Thats your prerogative.

The KJV was written a little over 4 centuries ago. The scholars selected to craft the KJV used (i believe) 6 versions of older bibles. It has been through several revisions, the book in use today was last majorly revised in 1769.

OK, compare Matthew 17:21 in the KJV and NIV
Or Mark 7:16
John 5:4
Acts 24:7

Don't attest I said something, when I didn't. I don't decide what a passage means.I ensure I have the clearest understanding of what it means.

What you point out re your texts as a problem or a change, is neither.
\
When the KJV was compiled, the scholars did not have complete access to all of the extant Koine Greek foundation documents ( called witnesses) throughout the world.

Every translation comes from these, it is not a re statement of a previous translation, except, perhaps, the NKJV.

Most, if not all study Bibles identify scriptures like you listed. For example, the NEB has footnotes for these scriptures that will say ¨absent in some witnesses¨ Other study Bibles will footnote the verses, and identify the specific witness document and itś details, including itś location.

These extremely minor and few variations in documents many centuries old do not effect the meaning of the text in any fashion.

 

[shmogie]

So are the Geek documents pretty similar to the Greek ones?

Can you recommend a good parallel Bible?

What a typo ! My utterly discombobulated typing skills strike again.

I use ¨ The Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible ¨ By the Oxford Press, which contains the NKJV, ESV, NLT, The Message. I also use a variety of others, like the Harper Study Bible. my goal is to some day own all English translations. even own a copy of the JW Bible, it is the only example of a Bible reworked to reflect all the biases and error of a cultish denomination That I know of.

 

[shmogie]

When we read scripture, we are reading various people's take on supposed events even though they usually weren't there themselves. Plus, we shouldn't expect objectivity as these were "true believers" pushing a true believer's agenda.

For my personal use, I don't much get into the "Did this really happen?"-approach. Instead, I pretty much deal with all narratives as allegory, try to decipher what the message(s) is/are, and then use that which seems to be reasonable. Needless to say, admittedly an imprecise art.

You concede, of course, that your first paragraph is just your opinion, not fact, correct ?

 

[shmogie]

All scriptures in all religions are subjective in nature, and the minute we accept that is when we sorta start our own "enlightenment".

Opinion, correct ?

 

[nPeace]

What a typo ! My utterly discombobulated typing skills strike again.

I use ¨ The Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible ¨ By the Oxford Press, which contains the NKJV, ESV, NLT, The Message. I also use a variety of others, like the Harper Study Bible. my goal is to some day own all English translations. even own a copy of the JW Bible, it is the only example of a Bible reworked to reflect all the biases and error of a cultish denomination That I know of.

Wow.
You seem to be a serious student of the Bible.

If you want an NWT, you should be able to do so right away, without charge. Just look out for a JW, and let them know you would like a copy.
I guess you know you can also request a free Bible study also.
Find out why it's important, and how it's done.

If I may suggest... Why not first compare translations online first, before stacking up on all those Bible, which you may not need. I think having a few - like 3 or 4 is good. You can get one terrible one , and 3 good ones.
A paraphrase might come in handy at time, but there is a need for great caution there, but with others to compare, no harm is done.

I find a Greek interlinear helpful too, but I find having an app makes your life so much easier, or online research tool.

Good job though on studying the Bible.

 

[Salvador]

I'm no longer a Christian, but I'm very familiar with Christian beliefs.

As I've noted elsewhere in some other discussions about Christianity, Jesus's family tree has a time span of 77 generations listed between his generation and Adam whom the Bible claims was the "first man". Reference: (Luke 3:23-38)

However, the Australian aborigines have evidently been in Australia for over a thousand consecutive generations. Reference: Aboriginal Australians - Wikipedia

There have been hundreds of generations of Native Americans between the time their common ancestry migrated from Asia until the time of Christ.
Reference: Native Americans in the United States - Wikipedia

The Bible falsely claims there were only 77 generations between Christ and the first man; when people have indeed actually existed for thousands of generations, which proves the Bible and Christianity as being false.

Adam as being the first man and perpetrator of "original sin" is an important premise of Christianity. If Adam wasn't the first man, then there isn't actually any "origin sin". Jesus supposedly died on the Cross to save humankind from "original sin". If there isn't any "original sin" from which to be saved, then Jesus Christ's death on the Cross is pretty pointless and meaningless. Evidently, there were many generations of people prior to the 76th generation before Christ spawned by Adam. So then, Adam, Eve and original sin are mythological. There is neither any "first man" nor "original sin" throughout human evolution. Thus, Jesus Christ having died on the cross to save mankind from "original sin" is not reality but is rather quite mythological.

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

Wow.
You seem to be a serious student of the Bible.

If you want an NWT, you should be able to do so right away, without charge. Just look out for a JW, and let them know you would like a copy.
I guess you know you can also request a free Bible study also.
Find out why it's important, and how it's done.

If I may suggest... Why not first compare translations online first, before stacking up on all those Bible, which you may not need. I think having a few - like 3 or 4 is good. You can get one terrible one , and 3 good ones.
A paraphrase might come in handy at time, but there is a need for great caution there, but with others to compare, no harm is done.

I find a Greek interlinear helpful too, but I find having an app makes your life so much easier, or online research tool.

Good job though on studying the Bible.

are you a JW?

 

[nPeace]

are you a JW?

I am.
I just looked at your material, and realized where it came from.
Are you?

 

[joelr]

WHY WERE PEOPLE WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH?

3, 4. How did the prophecy at Daniel 9:24, 25 come true?

3 Many years later, John the Baptist started his preaching work. Because of what he said and did, some people began to think that maybe he was the Messiah. (Read Luke 3:15.) But in the Bible, there is a prophecy that talks about 70 weeks, and it helped people to know when the Messiah would appear. The prophecy says: “There are seventy weeks that have been determined upon your people . . . From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.” (Daniel 9:24, 25) Bible experts agree that these are not weeks of days but weeks of years. So each of these weeks is seven years long. The Revised Standard Version Bible says at Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks of years are decreed.”

4 Today, Jehovah’s people understand that the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:25 are equal to 483 years and that they began in the year 455 before Christ. This was when King Artaxerxes of Persia told Nehemiah to repair and rebuild Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:1-8) Those 483 years ended in the year 29 when Jesus was baptized. At that time, Jehovah anointed him with holy spirit and he became the Messiah.—Matthew 3:13-17.*—See footnote.

5. What prophecies are we going to learn about?

5 In the Bible, there are many other prophecies about the Messiah. We will learn about some of them in this article. They are prophecies about his birth, his life as a child and as an adult, and his ministry. We will learn about how these prophecies came true during the life of Jesus. This will make our faith in the Bible stronger and also prove that Jesus was the Messiah whom people were waiting for.

I don't see the point in pointing out these things? To a non-christian it makes perfect sense to assume the NT writers just wrote stories where the main character fulfilled prophecies written in the OT?

while you may believe them on faith why would someone outside of the religion believe them?
There are many scriptures throughout history that we all assume were written to look like the characters fulfilled prophecies. But we don't believe any other supernatural stories to be true? No matter what it says about Osirius we're not going to believe them as true. So why would a non Christian believe any of those supernatural tales?

There are over 1 million people right now in India who believe Sai Babba can perform real magic. They will tell you they have seen it directly. Forget scripture, they have seen it. Still, most outside the religion do not really believe that these eyewitnesses are actually seeing magic?
There are no historical mentions of Jesus except those that mention people following the gospels, yet there are millions of current eyewitnesses to a supernatural man in India right now so if we were going to believe in some magic person it should at least be something with better evidence?

So why would a non Christian care about ancient mythology?

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

I don't see the point in pointing out these things? To a non-christian it makes perfect sense to assume the NT writers just wrote stories where the main character fulfilled prophecies written in the OT?

while you may believe them on faith why would someone outside of the religion believe them?
There are many scriptures throughout history that we all assume were written to look like the characters fulfilled prophecies. But we don't believe any other supernatural stories to be true? No matter what it says about Osirius we're not going to believe them as true. So why would a non Christian believe any of those supernatural tales?

There are over 1 million people right now in India who believe Sai Babba can perform real magic. They will tell you they have seen it directly. Forget scripture, they have seen it. Still, most outside the religion do not really believe that these eyewitnesses are actually seeing magic?
There are no historical mentions of Jesus except those that mention people following the gospels, yet there are millions of current eyewitnesses to a supernatural man in India right now so if we were going to believe in some magic person it should at least be something with better evidence?

So why would a non Christian care about ancient mythology?

this is a great question and points made. I use scripture because he claim Hebrew text doesn't match jesus being the Christ so I used a scriptural breakdown to prove that's not the case. but when speaking to you a non Christian I'd stick to Historical Accuracy. for example The Bible prophesied Alexander the Great's reign in great detail over hundreds of years prior to it happening. It does not name Alexander by name but it gives detail to his reign how long it last how it gets broken up and who the powers were given to after Alexander's death and specific detail. that's one example I have no problem explaining in full detail I'm spit balling the information but I can send you articles that leave references and proof to back up this claim. I can also reason Jesus historical existence as well In detail. I can explain alot in reference to historical accuracy.

 

[LiveByFaithNotSight]

I am.
I just looked at your material, and realized where it came from.
Are you?

yes I am nice to meet you

 

[nPeace]

yes I am nice to meet you

Likewise. Be seeing you around.