tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77143788439509098002024-03-06T03:24:28.110+05:30ALIVE APOLOGETICSAlive Apologetics is dedicated to the promotion and defense of the Christian Gospel, Doctrine, and Theology. We analyze faiths such as Oneness Pentecostalism, Paganism, Unitarianism etc and secular ideas such as abortion, atheism and evolution and compares them to the Bible. In all our analyses we use logic and evidence to defend Christianity and promote the truth of the Bible which is the inspired word of God.Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-63230171295258031162018-03-12T16:17:00.001+05:302018-03-12T17:01:20.777+05:30How is Christianity different from Islam? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 10)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsf0RnX7DeMnwwhyH4zcxAgoDmZ-yq3UXZ3D3uD4JRPFsuSmno0W-hZhmdvIuLXQHd7H8GA2R5JoFvxGtytsoM5VdZzzCWFG2OszxT3RDHYhcpDXaOVphWaOWgAqmLukSfPSHiZU1tMjA/s1600/religion-882281_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsf0RnX7DeMnwwhyH4zcxAgoDmZ-yq3UXZ3D3uD4JRPFsuSmno0W-hZhmdvIuLXQHd7H8GA2R5JoFvxGtytsoM5VdZzzCWFG2OszxT3RDHYhcpDXaOVphWaOWgAqmLukSfPSHiZU1tMjA/s640/religion-882281_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now how does all this relate to Islamic jihad?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Islam sees violence as a means of propagating
the Muslim faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Islam divides the
world into two camps:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the 'Dar al-Islam' (House of Submission) and the 'Dar al-harb' (House of War).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The former are those lands which have been
brought into submission to Islam; the latter are those nations which have not
yet been brought into submission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is how Islam actually views the world!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">By contrast, the conquest of Canaan represented God’s
just judgment upon those peoples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
purpose was not at all to get them to convert to Judaism!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>War was not being used as an instrument of
propagating the Jewish faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover,
the slaughter of the Canaanites represented an unusual historical circumstance,
not a regular means of behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the greatest difference is in the way they treated
female captives. We read in Deut 21:10-14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and
the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them
captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto
her, that thou wouldest <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">have her to thy</b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">wife</b>; Then thou shalt bring her home
to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall
put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house,
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">bewail her father and her mother a
full month</b>: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband,
and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her,
then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make
merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Compare this with the verses from the Quran and the Sahih
Hadiths, Muhammad actually encouraged the rape of others captured in battle.
This hadith provides the context for the Quranic verse (4:24)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent a
military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They met their enemy and fought with
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They defeated them and took them
captives. Some of the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon
him) were reluctant to have <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">intercourse
with the female captives in the presence of their husbands</b> who were
unbelievers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Allah, the Exalted, sent
down the Qur’anic verse: (Sura 4:24) "And all married women (are
forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hands possess."
(Abu Dawud 2150, also Sahih Muslim 3433)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Actually, as the hadith indicates, it wasn't Muhammad,
but "Allah the Exalted" who told the men to rape the women in front
of their husbands - which is all the more reason to think of Islam differently
from other religions. Note that the followers of Muhammad were more sensitive
and were hesitating to rape the women in front of their husbands… until given
the “halaal” sign by Muhammad. Some apologist in the vain attempt to defend the
indefensible stand of Islam, say that the Arabic version of the Sahih Muslim do
not contain the words “in presence of”… so, as per Islam, rape of women
captives immediately after capturing them makes it fine as long as the husbands
were not around to watch the act?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Note also that the husbands of these unfortunate victims
were obviously alive after battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is important because it flatly contradicts those apologists who like to argue
that the women Muhammad enslaved were widowed and thus unable to fend for
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Even if the apologists were
right, what sort of a moral code is it that forces a widow to choose between
being raped and starving?) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are several other episodes in which Muhammad is
offered the clear opportunity to disavow raping women - yet he instead offers
“halaal advice” on how to proceed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
one case, his men were reluctant to devalue their new slaves for later resale
by getting them pregnant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muhammad was
asked about coitus interruptus in particular:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"O Allah's Apostle! <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We get female captives as our share of booty, and we are interested in
their prices</b>, what is your opinion about coitus interruptus?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Prophet said, "Do you really do
that? It is better for you not to do it. No soul that which Allah has destined
to exist, but will surely come into existence.” (Bukhari 34:432)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As indicated, the prophet of Islam did not mind his men
raping the women, provided they ejaculated within the bodies of their victims.
Note, these verses clearly show the code of war as followed by the Israelites
which mandated that the Israelites marry the women, give them time of one month
to grieve separation from their families and finally, they cannot be sold and
if the Israelite doesn’t want the woman anymore, then he has to let her go
free. Compare this to Islam’s code of war “capture women, rape them in front of
their husbands, then retain them as sex slaves and then sell them off as sex
slaves”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem with Islam, then, is not that it has got the
wrong moral theory; it’s that it has got the wrong God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Muslim thinks that our moral duties
are constituted by God’s commands, then I agree with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Muslims and Christians differ radically
over God’s nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christians believe
that God is all-loving, while Muslims believe that God loves only Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allah has no love for unbelievers and
sinners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, they can be killed
indiscriminately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, in Islam
God’s omnipotence trumps everything, even His own nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is therefore utterly arbitrary in His
dealing with mankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By contrast
Christians hold that God’s holy and loving nature determines what He commands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The question, then, is not whose moral theory is correct,
but which is the true God? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(End of Series).</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-59426202427337806072018-03-12T16:07:00.000+05:302018-03-12T16:07:13.750+05:30 Why didn't God wipe Canaanites Himself? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 9)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgt4bV7v_Lw0HWnrKsJQyu4v-SJRUp8Kx_mL0xOfZ3k8dKH3BCciMaMPeaGLuoPRGyP2RN9dI3LJg9rls3xta3wSVT6ZyqFrC_y_xiEepjkJbNuyYvNWvTsV8_2o3dudWGot2hclyzTr4/s1600/fantasy-3186483_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="1600" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgt4bV7v_Lw0HWnrKsJQyu4v-SJRUp8Kx_mL0xOfZ3k8dKH3BCciMaMPeaGLuoPRGyP2RN9dI3LJg9rls3xta3wSVT6ZyqFrC_y_xiEepjkJbNuyYvNWvTsV8_2o3dudWGot2hclyzTr4/s640/fantasy-3186483_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It certainly seems that if God does exist, and if He were
to have morally sufficient reasons for decreeing the destruction of a group of
people, then the means by which he carries it out would be somewhat
inconsequential. Whether God chose famine, wild beasts, pestilence, or sword
(Ezek. 14:12-23), if the authority to destroy is there, then the means of
judgment is incidental. Thus, if it was right for God to command the conquest,
it seems right for Israel to obey the command.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But was God right? I’ve already shown that if God needed
morally sufficient reasons for killing the Canaanites, he had them in
abundance. However, if God is God, does He even need to justify what He does
with His creation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s no question that God could’ve destroyed the
Canaanites directly. Some of the methods by which God destroyed people directly
in the Bible:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ground swallowed them (Num 16:31-32)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Plague (Exodus 32 : 35)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Snakes (Num 21: 6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Kill directly (Num 8:17)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But he chose not to do this to the Canaanites, in order
to test the Israelites:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“I will no longer drive out before them any of the
nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether
they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or
not.” So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did
not give them into the hand of Joshua. (Jdg 2:21-23).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They failed the test too:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the
Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And
their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they
gave to their sons, and they served their gods. And the people of Israel did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and
served the Baals and the Asheroth. (Jdg 3:5-7).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Secondly, making the Israelites the instruments for His
judgement on the Cananites, God also passed on a message to the Israelites as
to what will be their outcome when they repeat the sins of the Cananites. They
would have witnessed first-hand and therefore have no excuse. Israel’s response
to Canaanite sin is a parable of how their own sinfulness empowered them to ape
the sin of the Canaanites and thereby procure God’s judgment on them. For God
does not show favoritism. Israel was warned not to let the Canaanites live in
their land, but to completely destroy them (Exod. 23:33; Deut. 20:16–18), lest
the Israelites learn the Canaanite ways (Exod. 34:15–16). If they did not
destroy them, the land would “vomit” them out just as it had vomited out the
Canaanites (Num. 33:56; Lev. 18:28; Deut 4:23–29, 8:19–20).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead, the Israelites worshiped the Canaanites’ gods
and “did evil” (Judg. 10:6; 1 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 17:10). They had “male
shrine prostitutes” (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of “lewdness,” adultery,
and incest (Jer. 5:7; 29:23; Hos. 4:13–14; Ezek. 22:10–11; Amos 2:7), and even
Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 7–8). But instead of repenting
when things went badly, they concluded that their misfortune was because they
stopped burning incense to “the Queen of Heaven,” Inanna/Ishtar (Jer. 44:18).
So the Lord said that Israel became “like Sodom to me” (Jer. 23:14). In short,
Israel was Canaanized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although prophets warned the northern kingdom (usually
referred to as Israel or Samaria) of impending doom, they didn’t repent, and in
722 BC the king of Assyria killed or deported most of them, and filled the land
with conquered peoples from other nations. Similarly, the southern tribes
(usually referred to as Judah) were deported when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed
Jerusalem beginning in 586 BC. Just as God had demonstrated his knowledge of
who would repent in the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before he
destroyed Jerusalem He told Jeremiah that if He could find even one righteous
person He would spare the entire city (Jer. 5:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 10)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-16850508435952069702018-03-12T15:44:00.002+05:302018-03-12T16:24:24.904+05:30Can God do whatever He wants? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 8)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJLGx3Qo4MCySyULlOswstdn7OHGIWByPjPUSAkiWeVXcnv4vbBaI7tdfusXjy-QBgMsF-5ZeU0HJBWB-UMdJpQ0uDAbuRIArlHzqbWalI30nGUAyMgqnfGGslDvgoPMjLaIIsjCIh_M/s1600/storm-2258182_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJLGx3Qo4MCySyULlOswstdn7OHGIWByPjPUSAkiWeVXcnv4vbBaI7tdfusXjy-QBgMsF-5ZeU0HJBWB-UMdJpQ0uDAbuRIArlHzqbWalI30nGUAyMgqnfGGslDvgoPMjLaIIsjCIh_M/s640/storm-2258182_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If this were true, there would be no meaning in saying that God is just and righteous in how he treats us. It wouldn't allow us to predict anything whatsoever about what he would do. Yet Abraham—our father in faith—pleads for Sodom and Gomorrah by asking: "Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25). God does not respond by saying "Whatever I do is just by definition". Rather, he grants Abraham's requests, and goes beyond them to ensure that, in this case, the innocent are not punished alongside the guilty. The fact that God is just implies that there are some things which he won't do, because they are unfair. To quote the wellknown scholar and debater Dr.James White “Sovereign is who God is, not what God does”.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">God has the authority to do anything, precisely because, since HE is perfectly good, HE never abuses this authority, but only does what is just and right.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 9)</span></div>
</div>
Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-55880496190993217122018-03-12T15:29:00.004+05:302018-03-12T15:45:20.632+05:30Is God racist? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 7)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1G7KP2of8KEr1X4AQCZlbocdFx-Vm237TVD78qFAPOmcVkaGFBE4RnPP1ss2bLYru37g2CBnuxcZ7AvmZNUUgd11-9-cWq5KpyntL0slLgwMm8rilqiC-DqaNyzaFS65Dx4j66aGI4DY/s1600/chess-figure-438446_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1G7KP2of8KEr1X4AQCZlbocdFx-Vm237TVD78qFAPOmcVkaGFBE4RnPP1ss2bLYru37g2CBnuxcZ7AvmZNUUgd11-9-cWq5KpyntL0slLgwMm8rilqiC-DqaNyzaFS65Dx4j66aGI4DY/s640/chess-figure-438446_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">God described the sin of the Canaanites vividly in these
words, “I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants”
(Lev. 18:25).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Were the Israelites somehow morally superior in God’s
mind? Deuteronomy 9:4-6, God makes it absolutely clear that the Israelites are
not being used because they are better than the Canaanites or morally superior,
but simply as agents of His judgment. In fact, He repeats twice that it is “not
because of your righteousness”… not just that from v 7 till the end of the
chapter (9), the Lord even articulates in very precise terms the sins of the
children of Israel and how they themselves were deserving to be punished.
Perhaps God wanted to use the Israelites in this way so that they would learn
the seriousness of sin, the detestability to God of the Canaanite religions and
the reality of God’s judgment. These truths would be burned deeply on their
consciousness as they remembered the annihilation they had been involved in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This problem of how God could use sinful people as agents
of judgment of other sinful people arises again later in the Old Testament. The
book of Habakkuk focuses on this concern in the context of the impending
invasion of Judah by the Babylonians. The prophet struggles with the fact that
God’s people, sinful as they were, are about to be defeated by an even more
sinful nation (Habakkuk 1:13). Chapter 2 details God’s response to Habakkuk as
He vindicates Himself and assures the prophet that in due time he will judge
the Babylonians by the same righteous standard that He was now holding against
Judah. The book ends with a declaration of Habakkuk’s faith as he praises God
and expresses his trust in Him (Chapter 3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my searching for answers, the Lord blessed me with a
wonderful analogy. Let’s assume that a powerful country notices that one of its
provinces had totally rejected the governance of the rulers and were now
working in an absolutely debauched manner, after a lot of failed diplomacy and
requests to revert to submission to the parent state, decides to send one of
their generals to get rid of mischief mongers in that land and establish a
righteous rule under the parent state. What if, the general after establishing
control over this province then proceeds to himself rule in the same debauched
manner of the earlier rulers, will the parent state not send another general to
displace and punish this renegade general and establish a fair and just rule
under the parent state? What if this new general also was no better, won’t the
parent state send another general to totally root out the rot? Absolutely… and that’s
precisely what the good Lord did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Israel’s response to Canaanite sin is a parable of how
their own sinfulness empowered them to ape the sin of the Canaanites and
thereby procure God’s judgment on them. For God does not show favoritism.
Israel was warned not to let the Canaanites live in their land, but to
completely destroy them (Exod. 23:33; Deut. 20:16–18), lest the Israelites
learn the Canaanite ways (Exod. 34:15–16). If they did not destroy them, the
land would “vomit” them out just as it had vomited out the Canaanites (Num.
33:56; Lev. 18:28; Deut 4:23–29, 8:19–20).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead, the Israelites worshiped the Canaanites’ gods
and “did evil” (Judg. 10:6; 1 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 17:10). They had “male
shrine prostitutes” (1 Kings 14:22), committed acts of “lewdness,” adultery,
and incest (Jer. 5:7; 29:23; Hos. 4:13–14; Ezek. 22:10–11; Amos 2:7), and even
Solomon set up an altar to Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 7–8). But instead of repenting
when things went badly, they concluded that their misfortune was because they
stopped burning incense to “the Queen of Heaven,” Inanna/Ishtar (Jer. 44:18).
So the Lord said that Israel became “like Sodom to me” (Jer. 23:14). In short,
Israel was Canaanized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although prophets warned the northern kingdom (usually
referred to as Israel or Samaria) of impending doom, they didn’t repent, and in
722 BC the king of Assyria killed or deported most of them, and filled the land
with conquered peoples from other nations. Similarly, the southern tribes
(usually referred to as Judah) were deported when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed
Jerusalem beginning in 586 BC. Just as God had demonstrated his knowledge of
who would repent in the Canaanite cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before he
destroyed Jerusalem He told Jeremiah that if He could find even one righteous
person He would spare the entire city (Jer. 5:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s see the fate of the conquerors through the ages:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assyria - Nineveh<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The city of Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian
Empire, was destroyed in 612 B.C. The fall of that great city was not a matter
of chance, but rather a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nineveh was established by Nimrod, "the mighty
hunter" (Gen. 10:8-10). It served as the capitol of the Assyrian Empire
for many years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assyria’s conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel
began approximately 740 BC under King Pul. First Chronicles 5:26 notes, “So the
God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the
Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to
Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.” These tribes, located
east of the Jordan River, were the first ones conquered by Assyria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nearly 20 years later, about 722 BC, the capital city,
Samaria, was overtaken by the Assyrians under Shalmaneser V. After first
forcing tribute payments, Shalmaneser later laid siege to the city when it
refused to pay. Following a three-year siege, 2 Kings 17:5-6 notes that, “in
the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried
the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” And in 701 BC the Assyrians
marched south into Judah; however, they were unable to capture Jerusalem due to
the Lord’s intervention (2 Chronicles 32:22).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The prophet Nahum predicted the destruction of Nineveh in
the book that bears his name. The following items were to be a part of the
destruction of that great city:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">An "overflowing flood" would "make an
utter end of its place" (Nah. 1:8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nineveh would be destroyed while her inhabitants were
"drunken like drunkards" (Nah. 1:10)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nineveh would be unprotected because "fire shall
devour the bars of your gates" (Nah. 3:13)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nineveh would never recover, for their "injury has
no healing" (Nah. 3:19)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The downfall of Nineveh would come with remarkable ease,
like figs falling when the tree is shaken (Nah. 3:12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 612 B.C. Nabopolassar united the Babylonian army with
an army of Medes and Scythians and led a campaign which captured the Assyrian
citadels in the North. The Babylonian army laid siege to Nineveh, but the walls
of the city were too strong for battering rams, so they decided to try and
starve the people out. A famous oracle had been given that "Nineveh should
never be taken until the river became its enemy." After a three month
siege, "rain fell in such abundance that the waters of the Tigris
inundated part of the city and overturned one of its walls for a distance of twenty
stades. Then the King, convinced that the oracle was accomplished and
despairing of any means of escape, to avoid falling alive into the enemy's
hands constructed in his palace an immense funeral pyre, placed on it his gold
and silver and his royal robes, and then, shutting himself up with his wives
and eunuchs in a chamber formed in the midst of the pile, disappeared in the
flames. Nineveh opened its gates to the besiegers, but this tardy submission
did not save the proud city. It was pillaged and burned, and then razed to the
ground so completely as to evidence the implacable hatred enkindled in the
minds of subject nations by the fierce and cruel Assyrian government."
(Lenormant and E. Chevallier, The Rise and Fall of Assyria).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Nineveh was laid waste as ruthlessly and completely
as her kings had once ravaged Susa and Babylon; the city was put to the torch,
the population was slaughtered or enslaved, and the palace so recently built by
Ashurbanipal was sacked and destroyed. At one blow Assyria disappeared from history.
Nothing remained of her except certain tactics and weapons of war ...The Near
East remembered her for a while as a merciless unifier of a dozen lesser
states; and the Jews recalled Nineveh vengefully as 'the bloody city, full of
lies and robbery.' In a little while all but the mightiest of the Great Kings
were forgotten, and all their royal palaces were in ruins under the drifting
sands. Two hundred years after its capture, Xenophon's Ten Thousand marched
over the mounds that had been Nineveh, and never suspected that these were the
site of the ancient metropolis that had ruled half the world. Not a stone
remained visible of all the temples with which Assyria's pious warriors had
sought to beautify their greatest capital. Even Ashur, the everlasting god, was
dead." (Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, pp. 283, 284).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The prophet Jonah had gone to Nineveh and preached,
saying, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah
3:4). The record tells us "the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed
a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them"
(Jonah 3:5). In response to one of the greatest stories of repentance in
history, "God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and
God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and
He did not do it" (Jonah 3:10).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Babylon<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the Bible, Isaiah 13:1 says, “The burden against
Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.” At the time of Isaiah’s prediction,
Babylon was one of the largest and most important cities in the world. This is
what God told Isaiah would happen to Babylon:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isaiah claimed that God told him that Babylon would be
completely destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will
not regard silver; and as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their
bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit
of the womb; their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of the
kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from
generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the
shepherds make their sheepfolds there” (Isaiah 13:17-20).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When Isaiah wrote his prediction, the Medes were weak.
Most of the Medes were ruled by other nations, and the remaining Medes were not
unified (The Cambridge History of Iran, 1985, Vol. 2, p. 80). It would have
been impossible for them to capture or destroy the strong city of Babylon.
Isaiah’s prediction appeared to be wrong. When the Assyrians destroyed Babylon
in 689 B.C., Isaiah’s prediction appeared to be completely impossible. The
Medes could not fight against a city that was gone!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, nearly 200 years after Isaiah wrote about
Babylon, part of his prophecy was fulfilled. God told Isaiah, “Behold, I will
stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; and as for gold,
they will not delight in it” (Isaiah 13:17). The Medes captured Babylon, just
as Isaiah predicted. They captured the city without a battle and did not
plunder the city. However, the other details of the prophecy had not happened
yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isaiah said that the Medes would kill many people: “Also
their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the
fruit of the womb; their eye will not spare children” (Isaiah 13:18). This
prediction was fulfilled several years later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">An inscription written on a rock cliff in Bisotun,
Iran—made by Darius, king of the Medes and Persians—describes the event. In 521
B.C. the Babylonians appointed their own king and the city rebelled. Darius’
army defeated the rebel army and captured Babylon. Then the rebel king and his
main followers were impaled inside the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Medes – Persian
empire<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The history of the rise and fall of the Medes and the
Persians forms an important background for over two hundred years of Biblical
history. Located in the area south of the Caspian Sea and east of the Zagros
Mountains, its original domain stretched for 600 miles north and south, and 250
miles east to west. The nation first came into prominence in the ninth century
b.c. and is mentioned in inscriptions concerning Shalmaneser III (about 836
b.c. ). Though under the domination of Assyria until the seventh century b.c.,
their rise in power was contemporary with the decline of the Assyrian Empire
and in 614 b.c. the Medes captured Asshur, the capitol city of Assyria. Later
in 612 b.c. in alliance with the Chaldeans they captured Nineveh resulting in
the downfall of the Assyrian Empire. In the years which followed they were an
important ally of Babylonia and formed various alliances and intermarriages.
Toward the end of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the Persians began to become a
powerful force and under Cyrus II Media was conquered in 549 b.c. and was
combined with the empire of the Persians to form Medo-Persia. The combined
strength of the Persians and the Medes led to conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c.,
with the resulting extension of their empire over much of the Middle East until
the conquest of Alexander the Great in 331 b.c.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Grecan empire after the death of King Alexander split
into 4 kingdoms which then consolidated into 2 kingdoms which then merged into
the single Roman empire… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The conquest was neither ethnic cleansing nor genocide.
God cared nothing about skin color or national origin. Aliens shared the same
legal rights in the commonwealth as Jews (Lev. 19:34, Lev. 24:22, Deut.
10:18-19). Foreigners like Naomi and Rahab were welcome within their ranks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 8)</span></div>
</div>
Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-82061656005490872742018-03-12T15:09:00.002+05:302018-03-12T15:45:45.846+05:30Why did God kill innocent animals? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 6)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez5mI9yYUsDMytjtBAvrEJH-025HYdfr_mhJKxe36Wo60sZAsDDG2N7F4v4MmTzwqMM8KT0si0lOTio9No9AxYe1AcoQQovSXyE5gkDG0cvkjt9Q5MRil4lHTWxedTG0jtIGCStf-xbA/s1600/animal-3177151_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez5mI9yYUsDMytjtBAvrEJH-025HYdfr_mhJKxe36Wo60sZAsDDG2N7F4v4MmTzwqMM8KT0si0lOTio9No9AxYe1AcoQQovSXyE5gkDG0cvkjt9Q5MRil4lHTWxedTG0jtIGCStf-xbA/s640/animal-3177151_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As already explained previously, bestiality was a norm and the
Canaanites literally had sex with “everything that breathes”… let me ask you,
if you are an Israelite, how comfortable will you be having a cow or a goat or
a sheep around your house and children; an animal who was accustomed to having
sex with humans? Also, these animals could be infected with a host of venereal
diseases from copulating with humans. Let me ask you again, would you keep an
animal around your near and dear ones; an animal whom you suspect could
possibly have a serious venereal disease? Wouldn’t one infected animal spread
life threatening disease to humans or other animals in the livestock? How
comfortable would you be eating their meat or drinking their milk? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, you mentioned about sacrifices? As written in
Exodus 12:5, Leviticus 22:24 and Deuteronomy 17:1, the animal had to be without
any blemish or defect or sick or injured. Will an animal used to having sex
with humans be acceptable in the sight of the LORD?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No wonder then that the Lord in His infinite wisdom
commanded to kill all that breathes which includes animals too (Deut 20:16-18).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 7)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-69429574097367611332018-03-12T14:57:00.000+05:302018-03-12T15:46:01.233+05:30God murdered infants | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikC-VCo34wWQUqATf00V8KlBs-d6leMsw4xNxICCS_cgcjCxvkkHpkOask8VAsNtHTJU39OWCNa4GwMbL4q3E2vM1lbrvh5RPwQj7tPQVgM7UQ1Ca0psYABTV4lAyjbTiwi3CNwsXrGFo/s1600/skin-3210075_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikC-VCo34wWQUqATf00V8KlBs-d6leMsw4xNxICCS_cgcjCxvkkHpkOask8VAsNtHTJU39OWCNa4GwMbL4q3E2vM1lbrvh5RPwQj7tPQVgM7UQ1Ca0psYABTV4lAyjbTiwi3CNwsXrGFo/s640/skin-3210075_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Probably the most difficult part of these commands from
God is that God ordered the death of children and infants as well. Why would
God order the death of innocent children? (1) Children are not innocent (Psalm
51:5; 58:3). (2) These children would have likely grown up as adherents to the
evil religions and practices of their parents. (3) These children would
naturally have grown up resentful of the Israelites and later sought to avenge
the “unjust” treatment of their parents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While the Bible reads that such a command was given, it
may well be the case that no women or children were actually killed. All of the
battles would probably have involved only soldiers where women and children
would likely have fled. As Jeremiah 4 indicates, “At the noise of horseman and
archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them” (Jeremiah 4:29).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, Deuteronomy 7:2–5 uses the phrase “utterly
destroy” immediately followed by “you shall not intermarry among them,”
highlighting the fact that, at least in some instances, the biblical authors
may have employed the rhetorical exaggeration (e.g., “all that breathes,”
“utterly destroy,” etc.) common to ancient Near East military accounts. This
leaves open the possibility that these phrases may express some degree of
hyperbolic language, and thus, that no non-combatants were actually killed. The
text nowhere explicitly narrates any women or children actually being killed in
these battles. Judges reveals that this widespread killing never literally
happened, since there were quite a few Canaanites remaining. Even within Joshua
we read, “There were no Anakim left in the land” (11:22); they were “utterly
destroyed” in the hill country (11:21). Yet later in Joshua, Caleb asked
permission to drive out the Anakites from the hill country (14:12–15; cf.
15:13–19). <u>Joshua’s military campaign in Canaan simply wasn’t a territorial
conquest, but a series of disabling raids on military outposts</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Numbers 31 (after Midianite women had intentionally
seduced the men of Israel), we’re told, “[Israel] fought against Midian, as the
Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man”. If literally true, why do we see
Midianite multitudes in Judges 6:5? They were “like swarms of locusts. It was
impossible to count them or their camels”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 1 Samuel 15, Saul was commanded to “utterly destroy”
the Amalekites. Stereotypical sweeping language was used: “Put to death both
man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (15:3). On a
literal reading, Saul carried this out—except for King Agag, who was then
killed by the prophet Samuel (vv.7–9, 33). Yet this didn’t literally happen;
the Amalekites were far from destroyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Exaggerated language is abundant. In 1 Samuel 27:8–9, the
same sweeping language of Chapter 15 is used: all Amalekites were wiped
out—again! We’re told David invaded a territory full of Amalekites—the same
territory covered by Saul. So, 1 Samuel 15 and 27 cannot both be literally true.
What’s more, in 1 Samuel 30, a large Amalekite army attacked Ziklag (v. 1), and
David pursued this army and fought a long battle with them, with four hundred
Amalekites fleeing (1 Sam. 30:7–17). That’s not all: the Amalekites were even
around during the reign of Hezekiah (1 Chron. 4:43). इतिहास<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So here’s the question: Why is it that virtually every
time a narration of “genocide” occurs, it is followed by an account that
presupposes it did not happen? Scripture took shape, and the Old Testament
canon was formed. The final compiler or editor—who was certainly not
mindless—saw no problem with side-by-side affirmations of “total destruction”
and many surviving hostiles. He didn’t assume both to be literally true but <u>this
text was a historical account in the truest sense</u> by a person living in that
day and time… for whom such exaggeration was not a contradiction but a
celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thirdly, the dominant language of “driving out” and
“thrusting out” the Canaanites indicates further that “extermination” passages
are hyperbolic (cf. Exod. 23:28; Lev. 18:24; Num. 33:52: Deut. 6:19; 7:1; 9:4;
18:12; Josh. 10:28, 30, 32, 35, 37, 39; 11:11, 14). Israel was to “dispossess”
the Canaanites of their land (Num. 21:32; Deut. 9:1; 11:23; 18:14; 19:1). Just
as Adam and Eve were “driven out” of the garden (Gen. 3:24), or Cain into the
wilderness (4:14), or David from Israel by Saul (1 Sam. 26:19), so the
Israelites were to “dispos- sess” the Canaanites. “Driving out” or
“dispossessing” is different from “wiping out” or “destroying.” Clearly, utter
annihilation was not intended; you can’t both drive out and destroy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also, look at it this way, lets be practical; what were
the choices, if the parents were dead, what’s to be done of the children? Let
them be alone to die in the desert of hunger and thirst or eaten by wild
animals? OR, were the Israelites to take them alive with them? If that was the
case, let’s do some maths on this… let’s assume about 1000 families in a town,
with on an average 4-5 kids. This means about 5000 kids at the least. What’s to
be done of them? Are the Israelites supposed to enslave children ? Adopt them??
That’s not possible cause as we see in Ruth 4:6 that the person doesn’t take
Ruth to be his wife since that will spoil the inheritance of his own children.
Who would want to deprive their own children and give it to other children?
Assume that this still happens… I am sure that not all the kids were nursing
infants, they would be grown kids perhaps 7-10 years old also, they would
definitely remember that their parents were killed by the Israelites, wouldn’t
they want revenge growing up? With thousands of the kids gathered from all
these raids, what would have happened a few years down the line in Israel? They
would have been destroyed inside out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lastly, even if we interpret the text to mean that
children were killed, this may have been God’s way of ensuring that these
children would be saved and immediately brought into His eternal kingdom. The
Scripture implies that all children who die before an age of moral
accountability will enter heaven (2 Samuel 12:23; Matthew 19:14). Had God
allowed these children to grow up in such a vile and heinous culture, these
children would likely have grown up into something like their parents and been
condemned to hell after they died. God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah
46:10), and we are simply not in a position to question God as to what is best.
Since God is the Giver of life, only He has the right to take it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 6)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-68536399056080547592018-03-12T02:41:00.001+05:302018-03-12T14:40:47.355+05:30Canaanites could have repented | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 4)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFTovd9N9qLmFqgq5pKMwph7nPTrsIEFH2KLSx1QlXMyYaIWpPknRV_A8NbxMLjO_NlDnzK15-EogmJozaA_aADK3yh86Wy-r6P6YkXkEn1sK6u3CR-Eu1zPeWlqfsnWAFV47YzHwyn0/s1600/depression-2912424_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0acBHc-rvksOTnW6lVoIyu32dpfzg3CIb1Vo2a25mAevmI4XnhAVRUNow4Z42aVXxWO58ZJdHaqJ9MRdRKijYcxfLeKmVzdRktDHFH5J2d2g0bhMHy8U2RUMgEOyvlHs9Yi26tOEL2Pg/s1600/depression-2912424_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1280" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0acBHc-rvksOTnW6lVoIyu32dpfzg3CIb1Vo2a25mAevmI4XnhAVRUNow4Z42aVXxWO58ZJdHaqJ9MRdRKijYcxfLeKmVzdRktDHFH5J2d2g0bhMHy8U2RUMgEOyvlHs9Yi26tOEL2Pg/s640/depression-2912424_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was no ‘spur of the moment’ decision by God. In
Genesis 15:13-16, God tells Abraham that his descendants will be slaves in a
foreign country for 400 years but that they will return to the land of Canaan
after “four generations”. The reason given for this delay is because “the sin
of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure”. Similarly, the judgment
on the Amalekites was given in Deut 25:17-19 but fulfilled only under Saul in 1
Samuel 15:2… a gap of 300 years. But, during this intermittent period, do we
see evidence of God sending witnesses to the gentiles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the time of Abraham there is evidence that the
Canaanites had some knowledge of the true God:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were
close to Canaanite territory, and the deliverance of Lot were evidence of God’s
judgment against sin (Genesis 18-19).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Abraham lived among them and was a wealthy and
powerful man (he was even able to rescue Lot from the united forces of four
kings according to Genesis 14). His faith in God should have been a witness to
the Canaanites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The mysterious Melchizedek was king of Jerusalem
and also “priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18). He must surely have taught
his people about the true Creator God (Genesis 14:19).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It seems that over the period from Abraham to Joshua, the
Canaanites had gradually rejected what they knew about God and moved deeper
into sin. It was only when their sin reached a certain level of severity that
God decided to use the Israelites to bring judgment on them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Probably the clearest sign that the warnings had gone out
to the Canaanite kingdoms is seen in Joshua 2:8-13; in the words of Rahab the
prostitute who gave shelter thereby saving the lives of the 2 spies sent by
Joshua ”<i>Now before they lay down, she
came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “<u>I know that the Lord
has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all
the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you</u>. 10 For <u>we
have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came
out of Egypt</u>, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on
the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And
as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain
any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in
heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by
the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to
my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother,
my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from
death</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rahab the prostitute was able to discern from what she
and other Canaanites had heard about Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and
victories over other Amorite kings, that God was giving the land of Canaan to
the Israelites and, because of her faith in God demonstrated in her statement
and her rescue of the Israelite spies, she was saved from destruction and
included in the nation of Israel. She even became an ancestor of King David
and, eventually, Jesus Christ! Sadly, she is the only Canaanite we read of
coming to faith in God, although surely others had the opportunity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s not forget the Gibeonites in Joshua 9 who literally
bent over backwards in literally tricking the Israelites to spare them… why did
they do this? Just like Rahab and the other tribes living in Canaan, the
Gibeonites had heard of the juggernaut tribe of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We see many such instances strewn across the length and
breadth of the Scriptures, refer to the words of the soldier at the time of
Gideon (Judges 7:13-15), the Lord in His mercy had even revealed to the
soldiers of the Midianites in a dream that they would be defeated by Gideon but
still they persisted in their war with the Israelites resulting in an utter
defeat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even during the time of Solomon we see Queen of Sheba in 1
Kings 10 where she comes to visit him having heard of the blessings of the Lord
on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unlike us, God knows the future. God knew what the
results would be if Israel did not completely eradicate the Amalekites. If
Israel did not carry out God’s orders, the Amalekites would come back to
trouble the Israelites in the future. Saul claimed to have killed everyone but
the Amalekite king Agag (1 Samuel 15:20). Obviously, Saul was lying—just a
couple of decades later, there were enough Amalekites to take David and his
men’s families captive (1 Samuel 30:1-2). After David and his men attacked the
Amalekites and rescued their families, 400 Amalekites escaped. If Saul had
fulfilled what God had commanded him, this never would have occurred. Several
hundred years later, a descendant of Agag, Haman, tried to have the entire
Jewish people exterminated (see the book of Esther). So, Saul’s incomplete
obedience almost resulted in Israel’s destruction. God knew this would occur,
so He ordered the extermination of the Amalekites ahead of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In regard to the Canaanites, God even clarified the
reason behind the command to totally eradicate them from the land… God
commanded, “In the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an
inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them
— the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — as
the LORD your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow
all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin
against the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). The command to eradicate was
given so that the corrupt practices of the Canaanites do not defile Israel too…
much like a single rotten fruit in a fruit basket soon infects the entire
basket. The Israelites failed in this mission as well, and exactly what God said
would happen occurred (Judges 2:1-3; 1 Kings 11:5; 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3-4). God
did not order the extermination of these people to be cruel, but to prevent
even greater evil from occurring in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inspite of all their horrible abominations, the Lord was
long suffering and patient… when their iniquity was “full,” divine judgment
fell. God’s judgment was akin to surgery for cancer or amputation of a leg as
the only way to save the rest of a sick body. Just as cancer or gangrene
contaminates the physical body, those elements in a society—if their evil is
left to fester—will completely contaminate the rest of society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still we see in all the instances of “mass killings”, the
love of God in the form of clear witnesses, time given to repent and salvation
by grace through faith:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Flood: Noah was the witness to the known world before
the flood, we read in 1 Peter 3:20 “who once were disobedient, when the
patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of
the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through
the water.” A clear timeline of 120 years was given – Genesis 6:3 and even the
name Methuselah, the man who had the max known lifespan, his name meant “at his
death, the flood will come”… just imagine, every time anyone called his name,
it served as a reminder to mankind of the incoming judgment. To be saved from
the flood, all that was needed was to enter the Ark… but except the close
family of Noah, no one chose to enter the ark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Sodom and Gomorrah: As seen in Genesis 18,
Abraham bargains with God to spare the cities even if 10 were found righteous
but even that minimal number was not found amongst the depravity… 2 Peter 2:7
says that Lot was the righteous witness to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Egyptians and the Red Sea: The 10 plagues were
possibly the greatest witness of the presence and power of God… the repeated
pleas of Moses to Pharaoh to repent resulted in nothing. In this instance, we
see possibly the clearest sign of the heart of God to embrace all who reach out
to Him… Exodus 12:38 “A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and
herds—a great deal of livestock.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Contrary to the vitriolic rhetoric of someone like
Richard Dawkins, the God of the Bible is a God of justice, long-suffering, and
compassion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can’t read the Old Testament prophets without a sense
of God’s profound care for the poor, the oppressed, the down-trodden, the orphaned,
and so on. God demands just laws and
just rulers. He literally pleads with
people to repent of their unjust ways that He might not judge them. “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and
live” (Ez. 33.11)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On another occasion God saved some thirty-two thousand
people who were morally pure (Num. 31:35). (5) Finally, the battle confronting
Israel was not simply a religious war; it was a theocratic war. Israel was
directly ruled by God and the extermination was God’s direct command (cf. Exod.
23:27-30; Deut. 7:3-6; Josh. 8:24-26). No other nation either before or after
Israel has been a theocracy. Thus, those commands were unique. Israel as a
theocracy was an instrument of judgment in the hands of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book of Revelation teaches Christ will come to earth
and literally destroy millions because of the rebellion and unbelief of man’s
heart. In fact, the tribulation period, which is described for us in Revelation
6-19, will among other things, demonstrate the true nature of man and just what
lengths he will go to in his sin and rebellion when left to himself. Christ
spoke of this time in Matthew 24. So the Old Testament is not alone in
demonstrating God’s wrath and judgment against sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nothing could so illustrate to the Israelis the
seriousness of their calling as a people set apart for God alone. Yahweh is not to be trifled with. He means business, and if Israel apostasizes
the same could happen to her. As C. S. Lewis puts it, “Aslan is not a tame lion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 5)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-15486402007258277712018-03-12T02:02:00.004+05:302018-03-12T02:20:39.753+05:30Why God passed judgments against Canaanites? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 3)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRfYRZBAqmvJEcAor09qLucjSEBTDCfsyci8ad9bmuyFkTPR5QNRTgX59HMeQ7DicheOVlscvK1PZ_NPuqTvOhI-cC_VJ4x-06zFnibw1PrWRpNkCGRMeME7L-BqtZU_KEUjYd4tJVA4/s1600/france-2568181_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1600" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRfYRZBAqmvJEcAor09qLucjSEBTDCfsyci8ad9bmuyFkTPR5QNRTgX59HMeQ7DicheOVlscvK1PZ_NPuqTvOhI-cC_VJ4x-06zFnibw1PrWRpNkCGRMeME7L-BqtZU_KEUjYd4tJVA4/s640/france-2568181_1920.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Passages like Deut 9:4-6 (“it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you”), Deut 18:12 (“because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you”) and Lev 18:24-25 (“Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants”) clearly claim that God was judging the Canaanites. The wrath of God against sin and His righteous judgment of sinners are important biblical principles. These were Biblical passages on the wickedness of the Canaanites. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s briefly delve into the wickedness of the Canaanites:</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Incest: Like all Ancient Near East (ANE) pantheons, the Canaanite pantheon was incestuous. Baal has sex with his mother Asherah</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[1]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">, his sister Anat, and his daughter Pidray,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[2]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and none of this is presented in a metaphorical or in a negative or a condemning manner… meaning that this was acceptable.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although early Canaanite laws proscribed either death or banishment for most forms of incest, after the fourteenth century BC, the penalties were reduced to no more than the payment of a fine.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[3]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In the larger ANE context, it is helpful to consider that in an Egyptian dream book, dreams of having sex with your mother or your sister were considered good omens.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[4]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adultery: Canaanite religion, like that of all of the ANE, was a fertility religion that involved temple sex. Inanna/Ishtar, also known as the Queen of Heaven, “became the woman among the gods, patron of eroticism and sensuality, of conjugal love as well as adultery, of brides and prostitutes, transvestites and pederasts.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[5]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. Pederasts were those who practiced pederasty which is a homosexual relation between an adult male and a prepubescent male. As University of Helsinki professor, Martti Nissinen writes, “Sexual contact with a person whose whole life was devoted to the goddess was tantamount to union with the goddess herself.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[6]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Canaanites even remake the God of the Bible, El, after their own image and portray Him ceremonially as having sex with two women (or goddesses). The ceremony ends with directions: “To be repeated five times by the company and the singers of the assembly.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[7]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> About this John Gray comments, “We may well suppose that this activity of El was sacramentally experienced by the community in the sexual orgies of the fertility cult which the Hebrew prophets so vehemently denounced.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[8]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Question that arises is as per atheist writers who describe the God of the Bible as indulging in sexual jealousy of the worst kind, with this denigration of the God of the Bible by the Canaanites, it was not just that the Canaanites were “worshipping other gods”, The Canaanites took seriously the testimony of the Old Testament witness of Yahweh and His revelation, if for no other reason than intentionally to transform the scriptural depiction of Yahweh into a castrated weakling who likes to play with His own excrement and urine.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[9]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Wonder what our Dawkins would feel his wife left him and eloped with a statue made with her own hands and then told everyone that Dawkins plays with his own excrement and urine.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Child sacrifice: Molech was a Canaanite underworld deity</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[10]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> represented as an upright, bullheaded idol with a human body in whose belly a fire was stoked and in whose outstretched arms a child was placed that would be burned to death. The victims were not only infants; children as old as four were sacrificed.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[11]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Kleitarchos reported that “as the flame burning the child surrounded the body, the limbs would shrivel up and the mouth would appear to grin as if laughing, until it was shrunk enough to slip into the cauldron.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[12]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Archaeological evidence indicates that the children thus burned to death sometimes numbered in the thousands.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Homosexuality: No ANE text condemns homosexuality. Additionally, some ANE manuscripts talk about “party-boys and festival people who changed their masculinity into femininity to make the people of Ishtar revere her.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[13]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let us also remember that the problem with the Canaanite city of Sodom wasn’t just sex among consenting adults: the men of Sodom, both young and old, tried to rape the visitors (Gen. 19:5).</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bestiality: Probably the ultimate sexual depravity is intercourse with animals. Hittite Laws: 199 states, “If anyone has intercourse with a pig or a dog, he shall die. If a man has intercourse with a horse or a mule, there is no punishment.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[14]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As with incest, the penalty for having sex with animals decreased about the fourteenth century BC.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[15]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There should be no surprise that bestiality would occur among the Canaanites, since their gods practiced it. From the Canaanite epic poem “The Baal Cycle” we learn: “Mightiest Baal hears / He makes love with a heifer in the outback / A cow in the field of Death’s Realm. / He lies with her seventy times seven / Mounts eighty times eight / She conceives and bears a boy.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[16]</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were absolutely no prohibitions against bestiality in the rest of the ANE.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[17]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In fact, in an Egyptian dream book it was a bad omen for a woman to dream about embracing her husband, but good things would happen if she dreamed of intercourse with a baboon, wolf, or he-goat.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[18]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In short, their sexual fantasies involved everything that breathes.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Canaanites had been reveling in debasements like these for centuries as God patiently postponed judgment (Gen 15.16). Here was no “petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser” (to use Dawkins’s words). Instead, here was a God willing to spare the Canaanite city of Sodom for the sake of just ten righteous people (Gen. 18:32), a God who was slow to anger and always fast to forgive (note Nineveh and the story of Jonah, for example).</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But is there not a limit? Indeed, what would we say of a God who perpetually sat silent in the face of such wickedness? Would we not ask, Where was God? Would we not question His goodness, His power, or even His existence if He did not eventually vanquish this evil? Yet when God finally does act, we are quick to find fault with the “vindictive, bloodthirsty, ethnic cleanser.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[1] For the story of Baal having sex with Asherah, see: “El, Ashertu and the Storm-god,” trans. Albrecht Goetze, ed. James B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East: Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 1969), 519.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[2] W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1968), 145.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[3] Harry A. Hoffner, Jr., “Incest, Sodomy and Bestiality in the Ancient Near East,” in Orient and Occident: Essays Presented to Cyrus H. Gordon on the Occasion of His Sixty-fifth Birthday, ed. Harry A. Hoffner, Jr. (Neukirchen Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1973), 82</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[4] See the Papyrus Chester Beatty III recto (BM10683) from about 1175 BC as referenced in Lise Manniche, Sexual Life in Ancient Egypt (London: Routledge, 1987), 100.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[5] Gwendolyn Leick, Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature (New York: Routledge, 1994), 57.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[6] Martti Nissinen, Homoeroticism in the Biblical World: A Historical Perspective, trans. Kirsi Stjerna (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998), 33.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[7] John Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1965), 101–2.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[8] John Gray, The Legacy of Canaan (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1965), 101.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[9] See Ulf Oldenburg, The Conflict between El and Ba‘al in Canaanite Religion (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1969), 172.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[10] John Day, Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1989), 62.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[11] Shelby Brown, Late Carthaginian Child Sacrifice and Sacrificial Monuments in Their Mediterranean Context (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic, 1991), 14.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[12] Kleitarchos, Scholia on Plato’s Republic 337A as quoted in Day, 87.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[13] Stephanie Dalley, “Erra and Ishum IV,” Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford: Oxford University, 1989), 305</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[14] Hoffner, 82. HL §§ 187–88, 199</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[15] Hoffner, 85</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[16] Mark S. Smith, trans. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, ed. Simon B. Parker (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1997), 148</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[17] Hoffner, 82.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[18] Manniche, 102.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 4)</span></span><br />
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-78755267833989751302018-03-12T01:14:00.003+05:302018-03-12T01:22:45.339+05:30Jews, a better race than the rest of the World? | Genocide in the Bible series (Part 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I will lay out below, due to skewed inputs from the media, pop culture and even selective readings/preaching by Bible readers/preachers, there is a bias that builds up against the nation of Israel with many writers even saying on record that the Old Testament was fictional writings of the Jews to show that they are a better race than the rest of the world… if you read the Old Testament, nothing further can be from the truth… to refute the “Old testament is fiction issue”, there are tons of archaeological and extra-Biblical evidence that has proven time and again the historical veracity of the Old Testament (further information on websites such as <a href="http://www.bible-history.com/">Bible History Online</a>) or just reading thru the Bible, especially the prophetical books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Lamentations, a completely reversed picture emerges… just by the historical method of the “principle of embarrassment”, it stands without any doubt that the Lord not only blessed but also chastised and punished the people… the nation of Israel more than any other race on the face of this earth at any point of time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Such a bias, I think appears primarily cause of what I refer to as “lazy mind or copy-paste syndrome” which you see prevalent in this culture wherein people tend to repeat gossip news, titillating news (dog bites man is not news, man bites dog is news) without doing any research or using the last vestiges of their common sense/wisdom… a lot of responsibility need to be attributed even to the church which in violation of Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30-31 and Luke 10:27 is very much guilty of not propagating or encouraging responsible exegesis… loving the Lord thy God only with their heart and soul AND NOT with their mind. To quote a well known apologist and writer, <a href="http://rzim.org/bio/ravi-zacharias/">Dr. Ravi Zacharias</a> once said, “What I believe in my heart must make sense in my mind”.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another critical flaw that I see which is also responsible for the bias is that the Bible is treated as a religious book… if a person attempts to read the Bible without any religious or atheistic bias in mind, the picture appears is that of a book which chronicles world history and the history of the nation of Israel in particular and also documents how God intervened and guided human affair. In other words with the mostly chronological sequence of events and archaeological evidence in place, the Bible, especially the Old Testament should be put across a book on history which a reader can go through to understand parts of world history and the history of the nation of Israel in particular. What can be said is that no other nation or culture on the face of this planet has better documented record of its inception and history.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my frequent interactions with Muslims and atheists, one of the top points that they think they can score on is when they show such verses to show that Christians are very violent OR that Jesus who is also God of the Old Testament is a violent deity… after taking a moment to stifle my laughter on their sheer ignorance and stupidity, I point out that unlike the Quran which is a mix of random verses which are eternal commands by Allah, the Holy Bible is a historical narration and what you see is a descriptive narration and not a prescriptive narration… there are commands such as the 10 commandments which are meant for all time but there are points such as ceremonial laws which were meant for a particular time and place. Lastly, if someone still insists on the current applicability of the killing of the Canaanites, then let’s refer to Joshua 1:4, this has clearly demarcated the physical boundaries of the commands… it was not universal and clearly the command was against the Canaanites in particular residing in a specific geographical area and not against all infidels globally such as in Quran 9:5 or 9:29… Canaanite tribes (especially the Hittites) greatly exceeded the boundaries that Israel was told to conquer. And since, as we will see, He punished Israel when they committed the same sins, what happened to the Canaanites was not genocide, but capital punishment.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Coming back to the original question…. Let’s break this up into smaller questions:</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. Why did the Lord pass judgments against the Canaanites?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. Couldn’t they have repented much like the city of Nineveh at the time of Jonah?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">3. What about the infants?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">4. Then why the animals too? Couldn’t they have been used by the Israelites for farming, domestication, sacrifices?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">5. Were the Israelites any better?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">6. Is it cause God can do whatever HE wants?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">7. Lastly, one of the questions which always used to haunt me is like the first three instances quoted in the beginning of this article, why didn’t God wipe out the Canaanites himself?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">8. How is Christianity different from Islam?</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we look at difficult issues such as this one, we must remember that God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9; Romans 11:33-36). We have to be willing to trust God and have faith in Him even when we do not understand His ways.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(... To Be Continued in Part 3)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-25131824498967675772018-03-11T21:03:00.004+05:302018-03-12T17:05:32.266+05:30Haunting Statements in the Bible | Genocide in the Bible Series (Part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What stuns the first time readers of the Old Testament is the apparent killing and death… many a time at the hands of human agents. I remember a convert saying that when she read the Bible for the first time, she started off with the Old Testament and she was stunned with the amount of killing and violence… so much so that she stopped reading the Bible and stayed away from it for a few years till such time that she got a personal visitation from the Lord, got good guidance and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are a number of statements in the Holy Bible which can shock a careless or casual reader. A number of cases of mass killings of people, apparently at God’s behest, are recorded in the Old Testament:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The Flood (Genesis 6-8)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">3. The Egyptian firstborn sons during the Passover (Exodus 11-12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The Canaanites under Moses and Joshua (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first three examples are similar in that there was no human agent involved – in each case it was God, or an angel of God, who carried out the mass killings directly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Certain passages in the Old Testament even give believers pause. Like these:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you…you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them…. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. But thus you shall do to them: You shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deut. 7:1-5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God. (Deut. 20.16-18)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” (1 Sam 15:2-3)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Strong words. Reading them brings to mind horrible terms like “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.” Could this command really come from the God of all grace and mercy, the same God who, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, “became flesh, and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe not, according to some.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The mass killing of the Canaanites is the first of two cases in which the text claims that God’s people, the nation of Israel, under commands from the Almighty attacked other nations and affected the mass killings. For this reason, this case will be the focus of this study.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the sake of convenience and for better arrangement of the content, let me first break up the question into two perspectives: atheists and theists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dismissing an atheist who raises such a question is very trivial. Firstly, what is the point that the atheist trying to make? An atheist is trying to say that if there is a God, then he cannot command such things as commit mass genocide… committing mass genocide is a huge moral issue and totally wrong. For an atheist to say that there is a something which is morally or ethically wrong, there has to be something which can be defined as morally right. If there is a clear distinction or a universal law which dictates that actions such as rape, molesting babies, committing mass genocide, etc is wrong, then there has to be a moral law giver, this moral law giver is called God in theistic terms. So, an atheist when raising the question on morality to prove the non-existence of God actually has to assume God’s existence in the question itself, thereby nullifying the very question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Secondly, since an atheist doesn’t believe that the Bible is the word of God, from that position, I can again dismiss atheist queries on this topic by saying that these were mere exaggerated accounts of warfare which is very common in Eastern warfare accounts. OR, that the Israelites were simply mistaken that an All powerful deity had commanded the incident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lastly, nowadays, with regards to freewill, atheists such as Sam Harris and Michael Shermer believe that since all living beings are nothing but a chaotic bunch of atoms and molecules having no designer or purpose, any and all of their actions are nothing but an outcome of the chemical reactions and the firing of neurons in their brains…. In other words, all actions are determined (<a href="https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/life-without-free-will" target="_blank">Click here to checkout Sam Harris' take on freewill</a>) … very much like putting a pot of water containing tea powder and milk results in “tea” as the end product. If a car rolls down a hill and rams into a bus killing people inside it, can the car be put in jail for this “error”? NO, from an atheist’s perspective, there is no difference between a car rolling down a hill and a human being doing something immoral such as a murder. If that’s the case, then the Israelites cannot be blamed or have said to have done anything wrong… since these actions were all due to some faulty chemical reactions in their brains which led to these involuntary actions by their bodies resulting in the destruction of another chaotic mass of atoms and molecules a.k.a. humans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the “atheist” perspective out of the picture, let’s move to the theists who may be from the Christian faith or any other worldview which doesn’t discount out the existence of God.<br /><br />(... To Be Continued in Part 2)</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-80375144630465672522018-03-11T20:54:00.003+05:302018-03-12T16:49:41.862+05:30Genocide in the Bible<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">Dear visitors,</span><span style="color: white; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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We are glad to inform you that we are back again and this time we are going to
cover a series titled 'Genocide in the Bible', prepared by <b>Narendra
Sahoo</b>. The entire series is divided into several parts, which you can read
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1;">God bless!</span><span style="color: white; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-themecolor: background1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/haunting-statements-genocide-in-bible_11.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 1 - The
Haunting Statements in the Bible</span></a></span></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/jews-better-race-than-rest-of-world.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 2 - Jews, a better race than the rest of the world?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/why-god-passed-judgments-against.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 3 - Why God passed judgments against Canaanites?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/canaanites-could-have-repented-genocide.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 4 - Canaanites could have repented</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/god-murdered-infants-genocide-in-bible.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 5 - God murdered infants</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/why-did-god-kill-innocent-animals.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 6 - Why did God kill innocent animals?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/is-god-racist-genocide-in-bible-series.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 7 - Is God racist?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/can-god-do-whatever-he-wants-genocide.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 8 - Can God do whatever He wants?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/why-didnt-god-wipe-canaanites-himself.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 9 - Why didn't God wipe Canaanites Himself?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://aliveapologetics.blogspot.in/2018/03/how-is-christianity-different-from.html"><span style="color: yellow;">Part 10 - How is Christianity different from Islam?</span></a></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-56151206971633777982013-11-21T12:56:00.000+05:302013-11-21T12:56:12.591+05:30Gospel in the names: Adam to Noah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAvCZmOMWsVtGW6s_zTmuZkeOpGILQCoqE5GFRRxFnwSNnfFrGWMPuE4BpI14vFFUf4hAwJWc-J1DWfUJ84LsOviagzlpVVHZkQ2lqup0PhjiTcjto7_nXGeyQrjLdKxYi3XQCPCPZwE/s1600/Adam+to+Noah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAvCZmOMWsVtGW6s_zTmuZkeOpGILQCoqE5GFRRxFnwSNnfFrGWMPuE4BpI14vFFUf4hAwJWc-J1DWfUJ84LsOviagzlpVVHZkQ2lqup0PhjiTcjto7_nXGeyQrjLdKxYi3XQCPCPZwE/s320/Adam+to+Noah.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adam is related to the Hebrew term Adama which means earth (ground, soil, dirt) specifically of red color since the Hebrew word for Red is Adom. Edom came from Esau which was called such since he was covered with hair and possibly red hair. So, Adam means taken from the red earth and possibly had a red tone to his skin. The meaning of the name Adam can also mean Red Man. The Hebrew word for blood is “dam” which is again red in color.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The name Eve is actually “Havah” which comes from the Hebrew word “Khay” which means living… and “Khay” means alive. So, to say “Jesus is Alive”, you would say “Yeshua khay”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Their son Cain is more appropriately pronounced as “Khain” which means to get, acquire or to gain. Eve said (Gen 4:1) that she had “Khanad” a man through Yahweh. Cain’s little brother is “havel” and comes from the Hebrew word “haval” meaning to breathe out and means something vain or vanity or waste like a breathe which is expelled from your mouth and has very little weight. Perhaps they gave this name cause of what they were experiencing after their disconnect from the Creator… maybe they were realizing that after the fall, all they had was vanity, in vain… something in waste. Seth or Sheth in Hebrew which comes from the Hebrew word “Shethath” meaning to set, put, place or appoint. We read Gen 4:25. The entire sentence is seeming to be a conversation in Hebrew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Enosh in Hebrew “Anash” which means to be sick, ill or incurable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Kanan in Hebrew which is from the same root as Khain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Mahallel which means Praising El or Praising Elohim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Jared or Yared which comes from the Hebrew word Yarad which actually means to go down or to descend. This has the same root as the name of the river Jordan which in Hebrew is called Yardin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Enoch in Hebrew “Khanoch” which comes from the Hebrew word “Khanach” which means to dedicate, consecrate, train or teach. The root is the same as the festival of “Khanukkah” which relates to the Macabees a couple of hundred years before Jesus Christ when they drove the Greeks out of Israel and they rededicated (“Khanack”) the altar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Methuselah in Hebrew is “Methusalakh”. This is a contraction of 3 hebrew words which is Met meaning death or to die, then we have a one letter word “u” meaning “and” then the word “Shalakh” meaning to “Set”. In short it means “Death and Set”. Exactly one year after his death, the Noah’s flood was Set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Lamech in Hebrew “Lamach” meaning to hit or to strike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next is Noah in Hebrew “Noakh” meaning ‘Rest’ or ‘Comfort’. Why the name, we see in Gen 5:29.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let’s string the names together and get the synonyms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But to His praise, God (Mehalleh), will descend to rededicate, to train man and to teach (Enoch) that through His death, he will send to the stricken and wounded (Lamech), comfort and rest (Noah).</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-16665097826539539672013-11-18T12:03:00.006+05:302013-11-20T09:53:16.908+05:30Why Christians need not be circumcised<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ug1PabsRB_FjXtdgV_DB8vJM3Ch42IfPaN1xfDFEdB7wMGtUV9THihjri9O_2g3beqJvRXr4h68Xrdp8OMjNWR-RSxpwwkgB4k4BdW4pFhrgzDPyBVancdCu1gJ11HNebnY-GshPFJ4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-01+at+13.22.33q.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ug1PabsRB_FjXtdgV_DB8vJM3Ch42IfPaN1xfDFEdB7wMGtUV9THihjri9O_2g3beqJvRXr4h68Xrdp8OMjNWR-RSxpwwkgB4k4BdW4pFhrgzDPyBVancdCu1gJ11HNebnY-GshPFJ4/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-01-01+at+13.22.33q.png" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To understand whether Christians require circumcision, we need to check out what exactly the Old Testament says. Moses was the greatest prophet who has been face to face with God, not receiving messages by visions and dreams but directly in front of God. He himself says at the time before his departure to the Israelite in the plain of Moab in the form of directives that how they will live their lives into the promised lands in which they are going to possess. He is explaining here the curses and blessings. And in Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” In Deuteronomy, he informs that after going through all the curses, because of disobedience, when they will come back to the Lord, then the Lord will circumcise their hearts. This indicates a framework of ethics, NOT OF RITUALS. This also indicates how the coming prophets will take the lead to give a clear message as to what is important and what God requires from them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moses says in Deuteronomy 10:12, which is the essence of the law, tell us what the God requires: “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “ Likewise Micah 6:8, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This is an ethical response. In the same way Jeremiah 4:4 says, "Circumcise yourself to the Lord and takeaway your foreskins of Your Hearts." Now both Moses and other prophets are bringing the message that the ETHICS are more important than RITUAL and this is pleasing to the Lord. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paul says in Romans, while he was preaching on this subject, “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in Romans 3:24”. It is true that Christ says, “I have not come to destroy the Law but to fulfil it.” Christ has corrected the interpretation of the Law and brought the right spirit for spiritual life. That’s why he gave His message and Agenda of His work in Luke 4:18 giving the right understanding of the Gospel which is related with spiritual life and physical life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus has nowhere at all directed to have the circumcision of the flesh. He Himself says He is the Lord of Sabbath. So Paul, following Jesus brought the message in Galatians 3:2, where he says " Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?" He further gives the example in Galatians 2:3 where he says, "But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek." If we read Deuteronomy 18:15-18, ““The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So from these examples and the preaching of Moses, Jeremiah, Micah, Jesus and Paul, we understand that circumcision of the flesh has no value and is not profitable. The only thing that is profitable is the circumcision of the heart. In alignment with Moses and Jesus, and also that Paul was given an incitement that he was an apostle, not a prophet. The knowledge and revelation he has received was from Jesus Christ. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To conclude, John 5:45-47 says, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many people ask about circumcision, specifically with those from Islamic background, that since Circumcision was mentioned in the book of Law, why Christians don’t follow the law which ends up with an argument where majority of them blame Paul for changing the law. Well, looking above, we see that there is no contradiction in the teachings of Jesus, and Paul was a true apostle of God. Also, Christians do not require a circumcision. I hope this article helps you. God Bless!</span><br />
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-65726531326806114032013-11-04T14:17:00.001+05:302013-11-04T14:17:23.608+05:30Can women be senior pastors?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If a denomination wants to hold to a “traditionalists” view of Kinder, Küche und Kirche for women, they need to know that it is not ancient tradition, and is actually not anywhere near the early church model, nor even up until the industrial revolution; this all comes from a Victorian era idea of what an ideal family life should look like. This, unfortunately, is the outcome of Aldous Huxley’s preaching of Darwin’s model of evolution; in which he taught that women are not as evolved as men, and that they need to be protected from the rough and tumble business life; their constitutions are not up to life outside the home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So as to the teaching of the Bible, someone who has done their homework, studying the history, context, archaeological finds, and has done the research, can take all of this scripture and with “proper handling” (see 2 Tim as well) use it for “teaching, reproof, for correction and training in righteousness.” But because we are faulty, fallen human beings, we want it to support our own thesis, or agenda, or denominational stance; because “we’ve always done it that way” more often than not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now that I’ve laid that ground work (stick with me here) on 19th and 20th century traditionalism (and we could go back to the 13th century, but I don’t want to write a whole book here!) let’s talk a bit about the late Roman empire of Paul’s day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christianity (or earlier just called “The Way”) was actually a splinter faction of an approved religion in the Roman Empire. Jews were protected from things that Roman citizens had to do i.e. sacrifice to the emperor, or serve in the army. This bunch of followers of “The Christ” were ignored by official Rome (see Acts 18:12ff) as beneath the dignity of the court as Gallio said (in 51 AD) “since it involves questions about words and names in your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So Rome at the beginning had no care for this Jewish question. They were only concerned with the Pax Romana.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Within the late Roman Empire, there were strict protocols in a “shame-honor” culture, and weighing heavily on that were a man’s social standing and the behavior of his wife. He could lose his benefactors if his wife “misbehaved” and brought shame to him. When you consider some of the senatorial “rants” against uppity women, who dared to walk around without a head-scarf (a senator divorced his wife for this infraction), and very few women had any protection for being accused of adultery, or if they did not produce an heir, their husband could get another wife, and let’s not even talk about the institutionalized slavery; women had a rough road.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, here’s this “new” religion, which says, in Paul’s earliest recorded letter “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, written in 57 AD), well these new converts were astounded by those words, and like kids at recess with no teacher, went predictably nuts. If you read both 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and the long lecture Paul gave to Timothy in Ephesus (1 Tim) slaves and women needed to be settled down, owners of slaves needed to see their recently converted persons as brothers and sisters and not property, because this religion was so different than anything anyone had heard of before.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the teaching in Ephesians about wives submitting to their husbands, is one of those instances of “cherry picking.” That verse needs to be put into its context, you cannot pull it out by itself, although that has been done since the “church fathers” from around 200 AD on.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That teaching actually starts in 4:18 with the teaching against a Dionysian debauchery (drunken celebrations to contact spirits) but to be filled with the Spirit of God. But even further we are to be submitted to each other, (5:21) [as] a wife to her husband. (5:22) There is no second Greek verb there. You are looking at a traditional break. The whole teaching is an analogy to teach how submitted we are to be to Christ: as dependent as a young bride (12 to 14 yrs old) to her 30 + year old husband would be in that day. We need to consider Jesus as our source and supply with the same type of dependence. Then Paul goes further to the larger picture of the whole church…and yes, the next line (v 24 b) states there “…so wives should submit to their husbands in everything” because women had no rights, voice or legal protection. But the next line is the most earth-shaking: “Husbands love (!) Your wives…” A Roman citizen, and new Christian has to LOVE his wife? Husbands didn’t love their wives, that was completely and utterly counter cultural as to be seen as crazy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next: the most hotly debated set of verses used to shut-up and shut down more women from ministry since after Paul’s death: “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority (authentine) over a man…”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, background of the set of house churches in Ephesus: Ephesus was the home of one of the “wonders of the world”, the Temple of Artemis. These young house churches converted many of the priestesses of Artemis. These women had been taught that only women lead, and men submit. So these women were trying to teach what they thought Christianity was, before they had even been fully trained. The Greek word used here (and the only time in the New Testament) is Authentine, which at that time meant to usurp authority, or even to be the mastermind of a crime; it was a marker word for something really wrong. If Paul had meant any teaching authority, he would have used the general word exousa which is also “authority” but what we would take to be normal leadership. These women as well, would still pray to Artemis for safe childbirth, rather than look to God for their help. If you read the whole book of 1Timothy, you will see, rather than some “fatherly advice” (the Pastoral letters…hmm) it is a supervisor explaining on no-uncertain-terms that Timothy has an out-of-control situation on his hands and to straighten out this mess. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, if these churches were up-ending the cultural norms, by the behavior of their members, this would draw attention to them: which it eventually did under Nero, and after Nero had his moderate advisors killed was when the first persecution of Christians began, and when both Paul and Peter were executed (67-68AD.) After that Christianity was outlawed in the Roman Empire, but it wasn’t until later under other emperors that feeding the Christians to the lions came in vogue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Article By:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://colorado.academia.edu/LisaGuinther" target="_blank">Alice E. Guinther</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To Know more about Alice,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://jwwartick.com/tag/woman-of-wisdom-creations/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image Source: <a href="http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/women-pastors-in-the-new-testament/" target="_blank">Newlife</a></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-31042384558113252352013-05-21T20:35:00.001+05:302013-05-21T20:35:25.174+05:30Why do we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In the Old Testament, God stated,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all
your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it
you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male
or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with
you," (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Exodus 20.8-10" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Exodus%2020.8-10" target="_blank">Exodus 20:8-10, NASB</a>).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It
was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is
Saturday, cease work, and worship God. Jesus went to the synagogue on
Saturday to teach (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matt. 12.9" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matt.%2012.9" target="_blank">Matt. 12:9</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="John 18.20" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/John%2018.20" target="_blank">John 18:20</a>) as did the apostle Paul (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Acts 17.2" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Acts%2017.2" target="_blank">Acts 17:2</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Acts 18.4" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Acts%2018.4" target="_blank">18:4</a>;
). So, if in the Old Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath
and in the New Testament we see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the
same thing, then why do we worship on Sunday?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">First of all, of the 10 commandments listed in <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Exodus 20.1-17" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Exodus%2020.1-17" target="_blank">Exodus 20:1-17</a>, only 9 of them were reinstituted in the New Testament: (six in <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matt. 19.18" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matt.%2019.18" target="_blank">Matt. 19:18</a>, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 13.9" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%2013.9" target="_blank">Rom. 13:9</a>,
coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments)
The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath.
Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matt. 12.8" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matt.%2012.8" target="_blank">Matt. 12:8</a>).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Upon
the completion of Creation God rested... on the seventh day. But, since
God is all powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a
break and rest. So, why did does it say that He rested? The reason is
simple: <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Mark 2.27" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Mark%202.27" target="_blank">Mark 2:27</a>
says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In
other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not
because He needed a break, but because we are mortal and need a time of
rest, a time to focus on God. In this, our spirits and bodies are both
renewed.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Old Testament system of Law required keeping the
Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by
which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior,
government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in
that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also
keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and
would often be punished (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Ezekiel 18.4" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Ezekiel%2018.4" target="_blank">Ezekiel 18:4</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 6.23" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%206.23" target="_blank">Rom. 6:23</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Deut. 13.1-9" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Deut.%2013.1-9" target="_blank">Deut. 13:1-9</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Num. 35.31" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Num.%2035.31" target="_blank">Num. 35:31</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Lev. 20.2" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Lev.%2020.2" target="_blank">Lev. 20:2</a>, etc.).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But with Jesus’ atonement, we are no longer required to keep the Law. We are not under Law, but grace (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 6.14-15" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%206.14-15" target="_blank">Rom. 6:14-15</a>).
The Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus. He is our rest. We are not under
obligation, by Law, to keep it and this goes for the Sabbath as well.
It is not a requirement that we keep the Sabbath. If it were, then we
would still be under the Law. But, we are not.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Evidence of the Change of Days can be Seen in the NT</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The New Testament has ample evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is no longer a requirement.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li class="margin25"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 14.5-6" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%2014.5-6" target="_blank">Rom. 14:5-6</a>, "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. <sup>6</sup>
He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats,
does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not,
for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God." </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The entire section of <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 14.1-12" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%2014.1-12" target="_blank">Rom. 14:1-12</a>
is worth careful study. Nevertheless, the instructions here are that
individuals must be convinced in their own minds about which day they
observe for the Lord. If the seventh day Sabbath were a requirement,
then the choice would not be man's, but God’s.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li class="margin25"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Col. 2.16-17" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Col.%202.16-17" target="_blank">Col. 2:16-17</a>,
"Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or
in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— <sup>17</sup> things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Notice
here that time sequence mentioned. A festival is yearly. A new moon is
monthly. A Sabbath is weekly. No one is to judge in regard to this. The
Sabbath is defined as a shadow, the reality is Jesus. Jesus is our
Sabbath.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li class="margin25"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Acts 20.7" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Acts%2020.7" target="_blank">Acts 20:7</a>,
"And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to
break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next
day, and he prolonged his message until midnight." </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The
first day of the week is Sunday and this is the day the people gathered.
This passage can easily be seen as the church meeting on Sunday. It
has two important church functions within it: breaking bread
(communion) and a message (preaching). Additionally, Luke did not use
the Jewish system of counting days: sundown to sundown. He used the
Roman system: midnight to midnight. This is a subtle point that shows
the Jewish Sabbath system was not the one utilized by Luke.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li class="margin25"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Cor. 16.1-2" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/1%20Cor.%2016.1-2" target="_blank">1 Cor. 16:1-2</a>, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.<sup> 2</sup>
On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save,
as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come." </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Notice
here that Paul is directing the churches to meet on the first day of
each week and put money aside. It would seem that this is tithing. So,
the instructed time for the church to meet is Sunday. Is this an
official worship day set up by the church? You decide.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li class="margin25"><span style="font-size: large;"><a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rev. 1.10-11" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rev.%201.10-11" target="_blank">Rev. 1:10-11</a>, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,<sup> 11</sup>saying,
"Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to
Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis
and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><em>The New Bible Dictionary</em> says regarding the term, ‘The Lord’s Day’ in <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Revelation 1.10" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Revelation%201.10" target="_blank">Revelation 1:10</a>: "This is the first extant occurrence in Christian literature of <span><span style="font-family: Gentium;">τῇ κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ</span></span>,
"ta kuriaka hamera". The adjectival construction suggests that it was a
formal designation of the church’s worship day. As such it certainly
appears early in the 2nd century (Ignatius, <em>Epistle to the Magnesians</em>, 1. 67).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In many churches today, the term "The Lord’s Day" is used to designate Sunday, the same as it was in the second century.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I
hope this is evidence enough to show you that the Bible does not
require that we worship on Saturday. If anything, we have the freedom (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 14.1-12" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%2014.1-12" target="_blank">Rom. 14:1-12</a>)
to worship on the day that we believe we should. And, no one should
judge us in regard to the day we keep. We are free in Christ, not under
law (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 6.14" data-version="nasb95" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom.%206.14" target="_blank">Rom. 6:14</a>).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source: <a href="http://carm.org/questions/about-doctrine/why-do-we-worship-sunday-instead-saturday" target="_blank">CARM</a><br />Article by: <a href="http://carm.org/matt-slick" target="_blank">Matt Slick</a></span></span></div>
</div>
Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-47199931574736796462013-04-21T20:36:00.000+05:302013-04-25T15:28:30.762+05:30RESPONSE: Scriptures that does not support OSAS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.</span></span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many a times, I ask my friends who object on the statement “OSAS”, that do they keep commandments to be saved, on which most of them respond by saying they strive, infact they try. Does this mean they are not saved?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif","sans-serif"; font-size: large; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif","sans-serif";">Believers are born again when they believe:<br />1- John 3:3, Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”<br />2- Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” <br />For a Christian to lose his salvation, he would have to be un-born again. The Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away.<br /><br />Now for the same case, if we take the story of Rahab, she lied to save the spies, yet she was saved, isn’t this a contradiction that though she broke the commandment, and yet was saved? When Bible commands, not to lie, we should not lie, though she was saved because of her faith. Also, saying once saved can lose salvation doesn’t means one has to keep on doing works to be saved. Doesn’t it makes a salvation a work based salvation?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Romans 11:19-22<br />19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.”</span><br /><br />Let me give you a very good example. I have a 2 year old nephew. Sometimes he loves to play in the kitchen. In order to get his willing cooperation, I may tell him to stay away from a knife, when all the time I have no intention of ever letting him go into a position where he would be injured. Romans 11:20-21 is a warning passage, not a threatening passage. If you read Jeremiah 32:40, Psalms 34:7, Romans 14:4, and 2 Corinthians 4:8- 9, and 14, then it helps to clear up the confusion. In the light of these verses, if we see Romans 11:22, standing firm is not a requirement in the sense that nobody will be finally saved on the last day unless I stand firm. Of course, that doesn't compromise grace, for it is God's grace that enables us to stand firm, that keeps us from falling. So God enables us to meet His own requirement, as He always does with His elect.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father." 1 John 2:24.”</span><br /><br />We need to read this in context starting from verse 18 till 24. One of the important verse in here is verse 19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."<br />There's no doubt that, when God saves a person, God keeps that person. And by the way, from verses 18-24, John writes about the antichrist and those who deny the Son. A quick question to you, do Calvinist deny the son?<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." Hebrews 10:38.”</span><br /><br />Hebrews 10:38-39 is speaking to saved Jews. Verse "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." (Hebrews 10:39) Those that "turned back into perdition were the Jew who professed Jesus Christ as Savior, but who were never saved. The Book of Hebrews was written to "Hebrews" as its title states. Many who had professed faith in Jesus Christ were looking for the Messiah to come and liberate them from the Romans and the persecution they were enduring. They had a false concept of who Jesus is and what He came to do. He did not come a political leader, but as the Savior who died for the sins of the world. He came to redeem men from sin. Yes, in time He will fulfill the promises God has made to Israel, but only those who will be a part of that Kingdom (Millennial Kingdom) are those who are spiritually reborn in Jesus Christ. Saved people do not draw back into perdition. Hebrews 12:6-11 explains that the true child of God who turns from the truth and goes into sin will be chastened by the Lord. God says He chasten "every" child of His who goes into sin and refuses to repent. Never, does God say He will withdraw their salvation. In 1 Corinthians 11:29-30 explains that God chasten with sickness and death those who do not "discern" the body of Christ. That means those who live sinful lives not mindful that Jesus had to suffer for our every sin. 1 John 5:16-18 explains there is a sin unto death. God will take the life of a believer who refuses to repent and turn from their sin. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 explains that a believer is saved, but if he does not live a godly life can lose any reward. He gets into heaven "as by fire" meaning by the skin of his teeth in a modern expression. This passage does not teach a saved person can be lost.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br />“"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch." John 15:6”</span><br /><br />If there is no vital union with Christ there is no spiritual life. The term translated “dries up” is the exact same term found in the parable of the soils in Mark 4:5-6:<br />(Mark 4:5-6) “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.”<br />In the parable in Mark this term is used by the Lord of the growth found in the “rocky soil.” Jesus’ own interpretation of His words is, “and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.” Hence, the Lord indicates two things about these people: they have no “root” and they do not “abide in the vine.” These, therefore, have not been “pruned” by the Father, they bear no fruit, and are hence those described by John in 1 John 2:19:<br />(1 John 2:19) They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.<br />The doom of the false professors, while not in any way supporting the idea that salvation is contingent upon what we do rather than upon what Christ has done, is not by this consideration lessened in the slightest. It is vital that we examine ourselves and not ever engage in haughty pride, but in humility of mind serve the Lord Christ. <br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br /><br />“"If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." John 8:51.”</span><br /><br />If "perseverance of the saints" is wrong, then why can't you see that you cannot lose your salvation? There is no such thing as "probation." Jesus, who is our Messiah, WON our freedom from spiritual death and sin. Once you cross over from spiritual death to spiritual life, you are SAVED. Saved from death, and to eternal life. Period. I wish so much people would stop reading anything except for the bible.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.2 Peter 1:10”</span><br />Here Peter isn't using the term "make" as a synonym for "cause". Instead, he is using the term "make" as a synonym for "identify." To make our calling "sure" in this case is to provide evidence for it, to show by one's behavior that the calling is real.<br />Jesus uses the same word in Matthew 12:33 in which he appeals to his hearers that they use good judgment when evaluating his miracles. The scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of doing his miracles by Beelzebub. Jesus is asking, "does that make sense in light of what we know about the devil? Where is it said that the devil goes around healing people and giving glory to God?"<br />"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.<br />To "make" the tree good is to evaluate each tree according to the fruit you find and declare (or "make") the good trees to be good and the bad trees to be bad. That is, make an evaluation of a tree based on the fruit it produces. We know a tree to be bad if it produces bad fruit. And we know a tree to be a good tree if the tree produces good fruit. So, in this case, Jesus is using the term "make" to mean "make an evaluation of the tree and draw a conclusion about the tree based on your findings." So, I would add to your dictionary<br />In 2Peter 1:10, Peter is asking his readers to examine their calling based on the criteria he listed to see if, in fact, they have been called.<br />I don't think 2Peter 1:10 supports the corporate view of election. With regard to the corporation, it would be understood that the group would have such qualities as Peter describes. But Peter wants his readers individually to evaluate whether or not God has called them personally, checking themselves against the list of criteria.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"For we are made partakers of Christ, If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Hebrews 3:14.”</span><br /><br />If we read Hebrews 3:5-6 along with the verses 14, "And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant for a testimony for those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end."<br />The word most of the non-calvinists point to in these verses is "if." They interpret the verses as teaching that people become members of the House of Christ and partakers of Him and then only remain in this state IF they "hold fast".<br />But is this a correct interpretation of these verses? Is the writer teaching what a person must do to remain in the House and in Christ; or is he declaring what the mark of a genuine believer is? Reread the verses slowly and carefully.<br />Following the latter interpretation, if the recipients return to Judaism as they are considering, it will demonstrate they were never really in the House and in Christ to begin with. So a mark of one who has been genuinely saved is perseverance to the end. 1John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: If we deny him, he also will deny us." 2 Timothy 2:12.”</span><br /><br />If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself<br />Notice that Paul says that we deny Christ, Christ will also deny us. Does it mean that we can loose our salvation? <br />Second verse seems to imply that God cannot be unfaithful to us if we are unfaithful. Also, Peter denied Christ, yet, Jesus did not deny him.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br />“"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Hebrews 10:26”</span><br /><br />Jesus has told us in John 10:27-28 that all to whom He has given eternal life will never perish. Also, 1 John 2:19 says that those who leave the faith were never believers to begin with. So again, Hebrews 10:26 is most probably discussing the issue of the Hebrews who knew full well who Christ was, as well as His work and sacrifice, and yet continued to walk in their sinful and rebellious ways by rejecting the sacrifice that God had provided.<br />So, can a Christian commit such willful sin that he no longer has a sacrifice for sins? The answer is no.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15.”</span><br /><br />As I mentioned earlier, you need to read this in context. I though have already answered you this, still. The context is as follows. <br />In 1:1-4, John speaks about the manifestation of Christ in the world. <br />In 1:5-10 he speaks about God being light and the forgiveness of our sins. <br />In 2:1-6 John says he writes so that we will not sin, that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and that we are to keep his commandments so as to demonstrate that we are walking in him. <br />2:7-11 is where John writes about a new commandment about loving your brother and walking in the light rather than darkness. <br />In 2:12-14 tells us that our sins are forgiven, that we have overcome the evil one. <br />In 2:15-17 John tells us not to love the world and that the world is passing away with its lusts. <br />In 2:18-24 he writes about the Antichrist and those who deny the Son. <br />In 2:25 he speaks of the promise of eternal life, of loving one another, etc.<br /><br />So, 2:18 is the immediate context of John telling us that many antichrists have arisen and then in v. 19 he says that they were not from us. Now, some people say that this verse does not prove eternal security because the people who left were antichrists and that they naturally would not have stayed. But, John is not telling us that if the antichrist's had been of them they would have stayed with him. That would make no sense. The reason the antichrists left was to show that they were not of us; that is, of God. But John declares that if these people had been "of us, they would have remained." Antichrists aren't going to remain; only the true believers will.<br /><br />This declares clearly that those who really are of God will remain in those who are not will leave. It does not say that Christians become antichrists or that Christians lose their salvation. It differentiates between those who are true and false and states that the false will leave and the true will stay.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"Ye are my friends, If ye do whatsoever I command you." John 15:14”</span><br /><br />We are not expected to walk perfectly. Our savior knows that is impossible. What he does expect is that we will make “every effort” – see 2 Peter 1:5 – to grow in Christ and obey him first of all no matter what the cost. It is important to stay within the circle of God’s grace and do the things that identify us as His children.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"John 15:6 - If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die." Romans 8:13.”</span><br />I believe we have already answered John 15:6 above. In regards to Romans 8:13, which says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” The answer is found in the very next verse, which says, "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." So, those who are living according to the sinful nature are not sons of God at all, but unbelievers. The verse does not refer to believers. Elsewhere, Paul makes it clear that there are "so-called brothers" who are really unbelievers, practicing evil within the church body. Paul says to kick them out of the congregation. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Exodus 32:33 And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of the book of life”</span><br /><br />You can’t relate Exodus 32:30-33 to OSAS because the promise of Eternal Security was given only to the Church. No group before or after the church has been or will be promised such a blessing. Also, the Book of Life spoken of in Exodus contains the name of everyone ever born (Psalm 139:16). Your name is also written in the Lamb’s Book of Life which contains only the names of those in the Church (Rev. 21:27).<br />As part of the Church, all the sins of your life were forgiven at the cross (Colossians 2:13-14) and your salvation was guaranteed from the moment you believed (Ephesians 1:13-14). In fact God Himself will make you stand firm in Christ. He set His seal of ownership on you, and put His spirit in your heart to make sure of it (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Your name can never be blotted out of the Book of Life (Rev. 3:5).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“James 5: 19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;”</span><br /><br />Since the Bible is clear in saying that as soon as we believe our inheritance is guaranteed (Ephes. 1:13-14) then the person James was referring to could not have been really saved. He might have been part of the fellowship but had wandered off before becoming born again. There are many around us who attend church regularly and appear to be part of us but are not really born again. Bringing such people back to complete their salvation saves them from death and covers all their sins.<br />Remember, Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life (John 3:16). He also said even if a believer experiences physical death, he or she will live (John 11:25) referring to eternal life. James could not have said anything to contradict this.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Galatians 5:19-23 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."”</span><br />Galatians 5:16-26 concerns the ongoing conflict between the indwelling Holy Spirit and our sin nature, and needs to be viewed as a whole.<br />Following the overview in verses 16-18, verses 19-21 contain a partial list of behavior Paul called acts of the sinful nature. The key to this portion is the phrase “those who live like this” in verse 21. In effect, it means that while everyone manifests one or more of these characteristics on occasion, people whose lives are characterized by this kind of behavior are giving evidence that they’re not saved and therefore won’t inherit the Kingdom.<br />Then in verses 22-23 he offered a partial list of behavior he called the fruit of the spirit. Again, everyone manifests this kind of behavior occasionally, but those whose lives are characterized by it are giving evidence that their behavior is being governed by the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell within us at the moment of salvation.<br />Here’s the point of the passage. The New Testament makes it very clear that we’re saved because of what we believe, not because of how we behave. (John 3:16) The indwelling Holy Spirit is a result of our belief and manifesting His fruit is evidence of that result.<br />But evidence is not the same as proof, and we’re admonished to not make judgments about others (1 Cor. 4:5). In his summary, verses 25-26, Paul said that we should observe our own behavior to determine how faithfully we’re following the Holy Spirit’s counsel, not compare ourselves to, or be critical of, others.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br />“1 Corinthians 9: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”</span><br />Paul also wrote that when we first believed, we received the seal of the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephes. 1:13-14), and that God has taken ownership of us and it’s He who makes us stand, (2 Cor. 1:21-22). <br />The Greek word translated castaway means not standing the test, or being disqualified. The only test for salvation is belief (John 3:16, John 6:28-29. John 6:40) and the only way to be disqualified is to refuse to believe (John 3:18, 2 Thes. 2:9-10).<br />In the context of 1 Cor. 9:25-27 Paul compared a believer’s life to an athlete’s attempts to achieve victory in a race. Both involve bringing one’s body into subjection. This is not a precondition for salvation, but a way to achieve victory over the flesh after we’ve been saved. Therefore this verse is not about salvation, but about living a victorious Christian life.<br />In 1 Cor. 3:15 Paul wrote that even if all our human works are burned up in the fire we’ll still be saved. In other words, even if all our attempts to put our body under subjection result in defeat rather than victory our salvation will not be affected.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br />“Philippians 3 : 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. <br />12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif","sans-serif"; font-size: large; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Microsoft Sans Serif","sans-serif";">(Please refer to Phil 3:12 below)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 John 3:6-10 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”</span><br />This is an “n o n s e q u i t o r” cross-verse. Anyways, let’s apply some simple logic here. Consider these two points.<br />1. If the believer’s security is not eternal, how can God guarantee our inheritance from the moment we first believed in places like Ephesians 1:13-14, and claim that it’s He who makes us stand firm in 2 Cor. 1:21 and then repeat the promise of Ephesians 1 in the very next verse? And how can he claim that once He has his hands on us then no one can snatch us away from Him? (John 10:27-29)<br />2. Almost everyone agrees that John wrote his letters to believers, in other words people who are already saved. How can John tell believers in 1 John 1:8-10 that if we claim we haven’t sinned then we’re liars and make Jesus out to be a liar too, then promise us that if we’ll just confess our sins, God is faithful and will purify us from all unrighteousness, and then 2 chapters later say that no one born of God continues to sin?<br />And how can John teach that believers will no longer sin, when Paul spent most of a chapter lamenting the fact that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t stop sinning, in fact the harder he tried, the worse he became? (Romans 7:7-25) and then tell us that because of Jesus, man is no longer condemned for his sins, that we’ve been set free from the law of sin and death, and nothing can separate us from God’s love? (Romans 8:1, 38-39) Was John implying that Paul wasn’t saved?<br />And where is the man or woman from any period in history who having become a believer never sinned again? Have we all been forced to forfeit our salvation? Because we’re all sinners. Everyone of us.<br />Simple logic tells us that John had to be talking about a particular sin, not sin in general. And that’s exactly the case. His letters were written as a warning against Gnosticism, one of the most dangerous heresies in the early church. It held that salvation didn’t come from faith but from the acquisition of secret knowledge. It also argued that if Jesus was God, he couldn’t have been a man, and if He was a man then He couldn’t have been God. 1 John 1:1, 2:22, & 4:2-3 address this issue specifically. Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Peter also speak against this early heresy. And it’s still here. Freemasonry, the New Age and Scientology are all re-packaged forms of 1st Century Gnosticism.<br />You have rightly called the denial of Eternal Security a form of bondage. What it takes for us to break this bondage is to use our powers of reason and logic to see the contradiction it presents. We have to ask ourselves if we really believe that God endured the most horrible death ever devised only to present us with a new set of even more impossible conditions for attaining eternal life. The Old Testament condemned men for their deeds, but the New Testament condemns us for our thoughts.<br />The proponents of conditional security have either had to surrender their own salvation or somehow exempt themselves from its conditions. Because if 1 John 3:9 has general application here’s what’s required to obey it . No anger, ever. No lust, ever. No envy, ever. No idolatry, ever. No favoritism or discrimination, ever. No impure thoughts or deeds of any kind, ever. (Matt.5, James 2) As John said, the man who claims he’s never done any of these things is a liar. But it gets worse. Slip up once and you’re out forever. (James 2:10) Is this the Good News, the incomparable riches of His Grace? I can’t believe so.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1st John 3:15 says that "if you hate your 'brother' you're a murderer and no murderer hath eternal life"”</span><br /><br />This is again out of context. In 1 John 3:15, John is writing to the church about abiding in the love of Christ. In fact, in 1 John, the word "abide" occurs 16 times in the NASB and the apostle continually refers to abiding in Christ (1 John 2:4,24,28; 3:6,24, etc.). Therefore, we see that a true Christian will love the Lord Jesus supremely and in so doing he will not abide in hatred towards his brother. Or will he?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Phil 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after” </span><br />This is again the next verse to what you have asked earlier. Well, how could Paul tell the Philippians they have to work to maintain their salvation when he had already told the Ephesians (Ephes 1:13-14) and the Corinthians (2 Cor. 1:21-22) that their salvation was guaranteed from the moment they believed. Earlier in the Philippian letter he said that God is faithful to carry to completion the good work he began in us (Phil. 1:6). We didn’t begin the work, He did. We don’t carry it to completion, He does. What Paul was saying there is right now salvation is a promise God has given us. We can trust Him because He’s faithful to turn the promise into reality.<br />Phil 2:12 is part of a passage where the context is imitating the Lord’s humility. In Phil 2:5-11 He said Jesus was God in the flesh, but made himself as humble as a servant, even forfeiting His own life because His Father asked Him to. In that context Phil 2:12 is saying that if He who had everything could do that, how much more should we who have nothing come to Him in deep humility, with fear and trembling, because we know we don’t deserve what we’re asking for. Phil. 2:13 tells us even the act of asking for salvation is due to God working in us to act according to His purpose. We can’t take credit for anything. In that context, how could Paul have possibly been saying that we have to work to finish the job God only began? If that was the case we’d be able to take credit for our own salvation.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”</span><br /><br />Matthew 10 contains a set of instructions the Lord gave to His disciples before sending them out on their first missionary journey. But as sometimes happens, He included some tips that obviously are meant for the time after His crucifixion and others that are for the end of the age, after the rapture.<br />We know this because the Book of Acts confirms the circumstances of Matt. 10:17-20 as being post resurrection, and the phrase “he who stands firm until the end will be saved” from Matt. 10:21-23 appears again in Matt. 24:9-14 where the context is clearly the end of the age after the Church is gone.<br />More importantly the admonition to stand firm until the end in order to be saved violates several clear promises made to the Church. Both Jesus and Paul said for the church, salvation is guaranteed from the moment of belief. John 10:27-30, Ephes. 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 1:21-22 and others attest to this. Promises like these gave rise to the hymn “Blessed Assurance.”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 Corinthians 15:2<br />By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”</span><br /><br />Paul explained his point in 1 Cor. 15:3-4 by reminding them of the word he preached to them.<br />For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.<br />This is the gospel to which we must hold firm. We must believe that Jesus died for all our sins and rose again on the 3rd day. The reason this is so important is that Jesus took all our sins upon Himself (According to 2 Cor. 5:21 He was made sin for us) and then rose again to be seated at the right hand of God. Nothing sinful can exist in the presence of God, so if any of our sins still remained on Jesus, He couldn’t be seated at God’s right hand. His resurrection is our proof that every one of our sins was paid for at the cross. If we don’t believe that we’ve believed in vain, because there is no other remedy for our sins. Either we believe they were all paid for at the cross or else we’re not saved.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“Galatians 6:8-9<br />The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”</span><br /><br />The Bible, being the word of God, cannot contradict itself, so when it appears to be doing so we know it must be either a translation problem or an interpretation problem. With so many very clear passages confirming OSAS, many of them written by Paul, we have to interpret questionable ones like the ones you’ve cited in light of them.<br />For example, in Ephesians 1:13-14 Paul said our salvation was granted at the moment we first believed and at that time we were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Then in Ephesians 2:8-9 he said we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works. It doesn’t make sense that this same writer would tell the Galatians that their salvation would ultimately depend on continuing to do good and could be taken away.<br />We can determine the context of a given passage by reading several verses either side of it. All of Galatians 5 consists of an admonition not to fall back under the law and Gal 6:11-16 are a final warning against it. Claiming to be saved by grace and then going back under the law is what Paul meant by mocking God in Gal. 6:7. In verse 8 he said doing so is an effort to satisfy their sinful nature and will bring them to ruin.<br />Since a person who is saved cannot fall back under the law, the implication is that those who do so aren’t really saved. This interpretation is consistent with Paul’s other statements on the subject. So the phrase “doing good” in verse 9 has to apply to living by faith not by works. Finally in Gal. 6:12 Paul warned the Galatians that those who want to make a good impression outwardly were trying to compel them to be circumcised. Obeying the Law can make a person appear “good” to others but only God can determine the motives of his heart. This confirms that the issue bracketing Gal. 6:7-9 is grace vs. law.<br />The word, “if”, appears 292 times in the New Testament, Galatians 6:9 is not one of them. The translators implied it to make the sentence read better in English. I’m not enough of a Greek scholar to know whether the use of “if” is appropriate or not, but I do know that it’s often used when something is generally assumed to be the case. Some scholars have used the word “since” in it’s place.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 Timothy 1:18-19<br />Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.”</span><br /><br />Well, there is nothing in this particular verse. A ship that is wrecked does not reach its intended destination. But this also presumes that you were in fact IN THE SHIP.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 Timothy 6:20-21<br />Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.”</span><br /><br />Again, 1 John 2:19 says that those who leave the faith were never believers to begin with. (1 John 2:19) “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;"><br />“Hebrews 6:4-6<br />It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”</span><br /><br />There are two facets to our relationship with God. There is union, which happens at the moment of salvation and guarantees our eternity with Him (Ephes. 1:13-14) and there is fellowship, the ability to dwell in His presence and communicate with Him in the here and now. Union is based on our belief and fellowship is based on our behavior.<br />The context of Hebrews 6 is interrupting our fellowship with God, not breaking our union. The key is the phrase “renew again to repentance.” Jewish believers were being pressured into keeping the law, especially where it concerned the daily sacrifice for sin. Those who relied on the daily sacrifice instead of invoking 1 John 1:9 (confessing directly to God) were in effect crucifying the Lord all over again, since He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The daily sacrifice was a foreshadowing of Him, and when He came the shadow gave way to the reality. The old way was no longer sufficient to restore them to fellowship.<br />Since 1 John 1:9 says that confession brings forgiveness and purification from all unrighteousness (renewal again to repentance), then by implication anything other than confessing our sins prevents forgiveness and purification and causes estrangement from God. It doesn’t revoke our salvation, but because God can’t be in the presence of sin, it does suspend our relationship, depriving us of blessings we could have otherwise had.<br />There are many clear verses that unequivocally promise eternal security. Since the Bible cannot contradict itself and still be the Word of God, interpreting Hebrews 6 as having anything to do with salvation is a violation of the rules of interpretation, which teaches that we’re to use clear verses to interpret obscure ones, not the other way around.<br />There are references in the Old Testament of having one’s name blotted out of the Book of Life (Exod. 32:33). This was a record God kept of the behavior of His people, the Jews. Every year they had 10 days, the time between Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur, to right all the wrongs committed during the previous year. On Yom Kippur the books were closed. If they had not made a legitimate attempt to right their wrongs, their name could be blotted out of the Book of Life and they would soon die.<br />The Lamb’s book of Life is a different book. Our names were written there before God created Earth (Rev. 13:8). John 6:39-40 and Rev 3:5 teach us that once our names are written there, they can never be blotted out.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“2 Peter 2:20-21<br />If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred commandment that was passed on to them.”</span><br /><br />Sir, the context of 2 Peter 2 is false teachers and their destruction. From other clear passages explaining the certainty of our salvation and the Lord’s commitment not to lose even one of us, we can conclude that those Peter refers to are not and never were saved. Knowing the Lord and knowing the way of righteousness does not mean that a person has believed in his or her heart. The Greek words used there are all forms of gnosis, which means to know. The Greek word for believe is not related to the word for knowledge, and it doesn’t appear anywhere in the passage.<br />Those Peter is describing have learned enough to be teachers, but haven’t believed what they’ve learned and are actually leading their students astray. Peter said it would be better for them if they had remained ignorant. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now that you claim to see your sin remains.” (John 9:41)<br />Speaking about false teachers John said, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“2 Peter 3:17<br />Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.”</span><br /><br />The Bible being the word of God cannot contradict itself. God doesn’t say something in one place and then something different in another. Therefore you can’t take one verse whose meaning is not clear to you and use it to negate all the others whose meanings are. There are a dozen or so clear verses on Eternal Security. Two of the clearest are Ephesians 1:13-14 and 2 Cor. 1:21-22. I suggest you study them until you understand them fully and can repeat them from memory. Then when someone throws you a curve ball you can compare what they give you with what you know to be true.<br />Peter was speaking of false teachers who cause people to doubt their faith. They would sew confusion among the people by claiming to know things the people hadn’t heard before. A couple of verses earlier Peter had said that he and Paul were in agreement on the matter of salvation and these teachers were distorting what they both taught. In verse 17 Peter said in effect, “you already know the truth so don’t let the errors in this false teaching cause you to doubt your security in the Lord.” In verse 18 he gave us the same advice I just gave you. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Knowledge is the best defense against error.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 John 2:3-4 <br />And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,”</span><br /><br />Please understand that eternal security is not a license to sin. The Christian is regenerated. He is changed from within, being made a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). Those who were indwelt by the Holy Spirit will war with their sin and not seek to abide in it. Those who declare that they are eternally secure and then go out and sin on purpose in any manner they so choose are probably not saved to begin with since this is contradictory to what Scripture teaches.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“"Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy FIRST LOVE. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Revelation 2:4, 5, emphasis added. <br />For the Christian to leave his first love, is to backslide, to fall away, to leave the Lord and His service, and to go over to the service of sin, Satan and the world. The Lord calls upon all such to repent and do their first works (the fruits of love), or else - else what? "I will take thy candlestick out of his place." This is an ultimatum from the Lord. If the sinner responds, repents, returns to his first love, and does his first works, all is well and good - he will be saved. But it is his to choose. If he does not do this, his light is removed, goes out, and the backslider is l”</span><br /><br />Rev 2 is addressed specifically to a literal church at Ephesus, whose lack of obedience may be a part of any literal church today.<br />Their problem was that they left their first love. That is, that they lost the passion and motivation to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ability to give light to a lost world will disappear if they do not repent and begin to act as if they have received the greatest gift in the world, which they have.<br />I say to you repent of your grotesque commitment to the unbiblical doctrine of works salvation. Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote to that same Ephesian church in Ephesians 2.8,9 "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God so that no one can boast. You were created in Christ Jesus to do good works." Good works never saved a soul, but good works is what the new birth gives us the ability to do.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: white;">“1 John 3:2-15<br />Now lets look at the following verses from 1 John 3:2-15. These verses really go into depth regarding the born again person. Please look at the whole chapter from your Bible and read it.<br />2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him <br />as he is."<br />3 "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." <br /> <br />4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."<br />5 "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."<br />6 "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."<br />7 "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."<br />8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."<br />9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." <br />10 "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."<br />15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."”</span><br /><br />Please read the response for 1 John 3:6-10 above. I am surprised you have again posted the same set of verses. For your information again, the proponents of conditional security have either had to surrender their own salvation or somehow exempt themselves from its conditions. If 1 John 3:9 has general application here’s what’s required to obey it. No anger, ever. No lust, ever. No envy, ever. No idolatry, ever. No favoritism or discrimination, ever. No impure thoughts or deeds of any kind, ever. (Matt.5, James 2) As John said, the man who claims he’s never done any of these things is a liar. But it gets worse. Slip up once and you’re out forever. (James 2:10) Is this the Good News, the incomparable riches of His Grace? I can’t believe so.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://carm.org/" target="_blank">CARM</a>, <a href="http://bible.cc/">Bible.cc</a>, <a href="http://gracethrufaith.com/">Gracethrufaith.</a><br /><a href="http://shots.ikbis.com/image/77339/large/5enses.jpg" target="_blank">Photo Source</a> </span></b></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-91764223002043463692013-03-18T01:46:00.002+05:302013-03-18T01:46:09.423+05:30 Just what is a Christian?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span>A Christian is not somebody who
follows the ethical and moral structures of Jesus, because a person can
do this and still deny that Jesus Christ is the eternal God in the
living form. It’s done all the time. There are people all over the world
following morality and ethics very close to Christianity who are not
Christians. What we have to do is determine how to define words
“Christian”. For that we must to go to the scriptures.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span>A “Christian” in the New Testament
is somebody who believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah of Israel and
the savior of the World; that He died on the cross in the place of our
sins; that His blood is atonement for our sins; that He rose bodily from
the grave and ascended to heaven; and that He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span>A great quote by Dr. Walter Martin,
“A Christian is not defined by the life lived, but the beliefs believed.
Therefore while a certain type of behaviour flows, from the Christian’s
beliefs it is not the behaviour but the beliefs themselves that define
what a Christian is.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: Dr. Walter Martin, <em>Martin Under Fire, Audio Tape #4</em></span><br />
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-50975203655664412632013-03-18T01:35:00.002+05:302013-03-18T01:42:07.084+05:30Where to look in the Bible?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I wonder if God can forgive me:</b> Mark 2:1-12, 1 John 1:8, 1 John 2:2, M<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id=".reactRoot[27].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454480}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2]"><span class="UFICommentBody" id=".reactRoot[27].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454480}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0"><span id=".reactRoot[27].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454480}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[0]">atthew 12:31</span></span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am stressed out:</b> Matthew 6:25-34, 1 Peter 5:7</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am afraid of devil:</b> Mark 1:21-27, James 4:7</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Am I a ‘real’ as a Christian:</b> Mark 4:3-20, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 3:16-19</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What is the cost to follow Jesus:</b> Mark 8:34-38, Romans 12:1-2</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is being a Christian worth it:</b> Mark 10:28:31, Romans 8:17</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I want to give up:</b> Hebrews 4:14-16, Hebrews 10:35-39</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am holding a grudge:</b> Mark 11:25, Ephesians 4:26-27</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I find hard to forgive:</b> Matthew 18:21-35, Colossians 3:12-15</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I wonder if I should I obey law:</b> Mark 12:13-17, Romans 13:1-7</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I want to do the most important thing in Life:</b> Mark 12:28-34</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I want to know about the end of the world:</b> Matthew 24:36-51, Mark 13</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am tempted with sex/drugs:</b> 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, <span data-ft="{" id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454462}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2]"><span class="UFICommentBody" id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454462}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment163074233849992_454462}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[0]">1 Corinthians 10:13</span></span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I need strength:</b> Philippians 4:12-13</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am unable to handle church:</b> Hebrews 10:25, Hebrews 13:17</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am being hassled being a Christian:</b> John 15:18-21, 1 Peter 4:12-19</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am being tempted to do wrong:</b> 1 Corinthians 10:13</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What about being rich:</b> James 5:1-6</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Should I watch my language:</b> Ephesians 4:29, James 3:2-12</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am having issues with my parents:</b> Ephesians 6:1-4</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am having doubts about praying:</b> Matthew 7:7-12, Luke 11:1-8</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">We will be adding more verses, but
we would really appreciate if you can post your “Situation” in the
comments section below, as we further plan to expand this article. God
bless you!</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yX-2qkFVNN4/TwTtoxJkzII/AAAAAAAABJs/z3cjaDUqKpA/s1600/open-bible2.jpg" target="_blank">Click here to view the Photo Source</a> </div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-84082563793760295902013-03-11T01:56:00.002+05:302013-03-11T02:11:33.295+05:30What is Trinity?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>In the nature of God, there are three persons, Father,
Son and the Holy Spirit.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b>In other words, all three persons are one God.
We can </b>perceive 3 distinct
persons and not 3 gods within the unity.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">According to John 17:22, it says, “The glory that you
have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”</span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">We
generally interpret the bible’s New Testament in the light of Old Testament.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">If New Testaments says are 3 persons are God, then
that means 3 persons are Jehovah or Yahweh or YHVH. If 3 persons are one
Jehovah, the God is one and likewise 3 persons are one. The debate gets over
here.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b>Now
let us take few questions:</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />
<b>1- Is there any person “The Father” in the New Testament and is He
called God?</b></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">2 Peter 1:17 says, For when he [Jesus] received honor
and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic
Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” If we further
read John 8:54, it says, Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is
nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
From these two verses, we see that we have found two things, 1) there is a
person, ‘The Father.’ 2) Father is God.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Now let us read from Mark 12:2, Jesus answered, “The
most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b>2-
Is there any person like “The Son” and is He identified as ‘YHVH’?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Let us read from the Gospel of John 8:57-58, So the
Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Here we see, that there is “Jesus, who is claiming Himself as YHVH. Another
clear example according to revelation 1:8, it says, “I am the Alpha and the
Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty.” In its cross reference, Revelation 22:12-13 says, “Behold, I am
coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has
done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and
the end.” I think this is pretty clear since even according to Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Alpha and Omega is the YHVH. Now, according to Revelation 1:17-18,
it says “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his
right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last <b>(Alfa
and Omega)</b>, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Now let us checkout an
amazing verse from the Old Testament which further proves the same in Isaiah
44:6, Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of
hosts: <b>I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no
God.</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Now let us compare these two questions as mentioned
above in the light of Gospel. Let us read from the Gospel of John 10:30-33, it
says, “<b>I and the Father are one.</b>”<sup> </sup>The Jews
picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you
many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone
you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b>3- Is Holy Spirit YHVH?</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;">Acts 5:3-4 says, But Peter said, “Ananias, why has
Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself
part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain
your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that
you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to
God.” Now here we see, Peter is talking about <b>Holy Spirit</b>,
also, Peter warns that you have lied to <b>YHVH i.e. GOD.</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: justify;" style="margin-right: 0.25in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: medium;"><b>Now what we conclude here is, if there is only one
YHVH, which means there is only one God, where as in the 3 questions above, we
see that these three persons are proved as one YHVH. In other words, the
doctrine of TRINITY is true.</b></span></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-82453064145499300932012-12-31T17:49:00.002+05:302012-12-31T17:53:35.247+05:30Is Bible corrupt according to Qur'an?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMqIiCYTwF3MpZfl0Xb9GkMPHRTGAOWFl5MxVVIeu3U3CXZqn2qH4A5y_uXgzP8va7YY5hc0prTuT1prnRRQ_-uQiH7xv4sUyOFNSi3Ul2pVLzc_PYgveodBYgyO6FzC_rqmiWb_wj1o/s1600/Burnt+Bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMqIiCYTwF3MpZfl0Xb9GkMPHRTGAOWFl5MxVVIeu3U3CXZqn2qH4A5y_uXgzP8va7YY5hc0prTuT1prnRRQ_-uQiH7xv4sUyOFNSi3Ul2pVLzc_PYgveodBYgyO6FzC_rqmiWb_wj1o/s400/Burnt+Bible.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
Was Bible corrupt before Qur'an was revealed?</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
According to Surah Al-Hijr, aya'ah 9 (Quran 15:9), it is written (Yusuf ALi),
"We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly
guard it (from corruption)."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Younus aya'ah 64 (Quran
10:64), it is written (Pickthall), "Theirs are good tidings in the life of
the world and in the Hereafter - There is no changing the Words of Allah - that
is the Supreme Triumph."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Younus, aya'ah 94 (Quran
10:94), it is written (Pickthall), "And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt
concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the
Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto
thee. So be not thou of the waverers."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Al-Fatt-h aya'ah 23 (Quran
48:23), it is written (Yusuf ALi), "(Such has been) the practice
(approved) of God already in the past: no change wilt thou find in the practice
(approved) of God."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Looking at few of these verses, here we see,
there is no chance that the word of God can be changed or corrupted and
chronologically, Bible as a scripture before Qur'an which was read as the God
breathed word. At the same time, most of the scholars such as Ahmed Deedat
believed that Bible was corrupted even before Qur'an was revealed. Now let
checkout few more verses from Qur'an, which are referring to Bible directly:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 46-50 (Quran
5:46-50), it is written (Yusuf ALi),"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus
the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the
Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had
come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God. Let the
people of the Gospel judge by what God hath revealed therein. If any do fail to
judge by (the light of) what God hath revealed, they are (no better than) those
who rebel. To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that
came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what God
hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that
hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If
God had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to
test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The
goal of you all is to God; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters
in which ye dispute; And this (He commands): Judge thou between them by what
God hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest
they beguile thee from any of that (teaching) which God hath sent down to thee.
And if they turn away, be assured that for some of their crime it is God's
purpose to punish them. And truly most men are rebellious. Do they then seek after
a judgment of (the days of) ignorance? But who, for a people whose faith is
assured, can give better judgment than God?"</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">What we conclude from these verses here is that
it clearly shows that Qur'am confirms Bible was present and that it was not
corrupted untill the Qur'an was revealed.
Now this raises a question that if muslims believe that Bible is
corrupted, then who corrupted it, since it was preserved according to Qur'an.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
Who corrupted the Bible?</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
Most of the muslims claim that Christians as well as Jews have corrupted the
Bible. Let us check what Qur'an has to say in regards to this statement.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Al-Baqarah aya'ah 113 (Quran
48:23), it is written (Muhammad Habib Shakir), "And the Jews say: The
Christians do not follow anything (good) and the Christians say: The Jews do
not follow anything (good) while they recite the (same) Book. Even thus say
those who have no knowledge, like to what they say; so Allah shall judge between them on the day of
resurrection in what they differ."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">With this Aay'ah what we understand is that there
were already disagreements among the Jews and the Christians. Both were reading
from the scriptures and in a situation such as this, no one would like the
other party to point a finger on them on the charges of corruption. For example,
there are prophecies of Jesus the Messiah in old testament, if Jews disagree
with that, Christians certainly won't allow Jews to to change the scriptures as
per their belief, likewise with the other side. Historically, there is no
evidence that who corrupted the Bible or even that whether the Bible was
actually corrupted. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
Is Bible corrupt after the death of Prophet Muhammad?</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
Well, personally this question will be Irrelevant because since Qur'an confirms
that the word of God cannot be corrupted, how is it possible that corruption happened
post prophet? Moreover, if this would have been the case, there would have been
a high possibility of few verses in Qur'an bewaring the readers to be prepared as
there may be chances of corruption in the coming time. Something like,
"These people (Jews and Christians) have not performed any changes or
corruption in God's word yet, but be careful as this may happen in
future." There are old as well as new manuscripts and if we compare them,
there aren’t any changes in them.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
Bible has added few things such as Crucifixion, Resurrection of Christ etc.
This is also a corruption.</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
Personally I have a very strong disagreement with this statement and that this
has no base and it is false. If you are saying that this was not mentioned
earlier in the Bible and that it has been added later, I would like to ask that
which historical document or manuscript says that events such as Crucifixion or
resurrection were not available in the
Bible before corruption? </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
The Bible SOcieties have played a major role in corrupting the word of God.</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
I have heard from many muslim friends with whom I exchange Ideas on
Christianity and Islam, stating that Bible Societies such as The American Bible
Society, The Bible Society of India, The British and Foreign Bible Society etc
are one of the living evidences who are changing and corrupting the word of God
by printing new versions of Bible. Well, this will be an utter misconception in
regards to the understanding of what the Bible Society has been doing. There
are hundreds of countries with hundreds of languages. It is likely possible
that someone who knows Urdu cannot understand Tamil, A French may not understand
Hindi, An English may not understand Arabic, A Papiamento may not understand
Hindi. According to one of the encyclopedia, A Bible society is a non-profit
organization (usually ecumenical in makeup) devoted to translating, publishing,
distributing the Bible at affordable costs and advocating its credibility and
trustworthiness in contemporary cultural life. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Many claim that there are changes within the
english translation. Well this is actually not an excuse, as there are hundreds
of words which are no longer in use now a days. These words are known as
"Lost WOrds." Here are the few examples where few english words were
in use, now these are either never used or you may hear or read them in few
classical or historical works:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">- 'Scaevity', means "Unluckiness", used
between 1623-1658.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">- 'Temerate', means "To Profane", used
between 1635 -1654.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">- 'Yelve', means "Dung Fork", used
between 1000 -1886.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">- 'Nidifice' means "Nest", used between
1656 -1656.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">- 'Roblet means "To Lead Astray" used
between 1674 -1755.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Likewise, there are hundreds of other words which
we rarely hear. If someone speaks of them, we at times may fail to understand
them. Bible Society is not corrupting different versions of Bible, infact they
are printing new translations from the same source to reach out the unreached.
Even we have various translations in Qur'an even in English, as mentioned above
in the references. This doesn't means that Qur'an is corrupt.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Q:
WHat exactly happened was, that, after the Zaboor was revealed, Torah was
Abolished. After Injil was revealed, Zaboor was Abolished. After the Qur'an was
revealed, Injil was Abolished. Doesn't this clarifies that Injil is no longer a
trustworthy book?</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">A:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">
I have no Idea how this has been put all together and comeup with something
such as this statement. Well, if this was the fact, then there is no evidences
or references that confirms such thing. Also, if people would have been aware,
then how is it possible that Bible contains all three of them in a same book? </span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 69 (Quran
5:69), it is written (Yusuf ALi),"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those
who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,- any
who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be
no fear, nor shall they grieve."</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 47 (Quran 5:47),
it is written (Muhammad Habib Shakir),"And the followers of the Injeel
should have judged by what Allah revealed in it; and whoever did not judge by
what Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors. "</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Even Qur'an here confirms the presence of Injil
(Gospel) and active. If all books as per the question here would have been
abolished, then why would qur'an have made such a statement, else this verse
would not have been in here. If we read the complete discussion here, I would
encourage all my readers to read few verses before leaving, and they are:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">2
Timothy 3:16, which says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness."</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Romans
15:4 "For whatever was written in former days was written for our
instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope."</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">The
Gospel of John</span></b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <b>8:32,
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”</b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; line-height: 115%;">God
bless you all abundantly!</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Rockwell Condensed","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sources used: http://phrontistery.info/clw1.html
(Lost Words) and http://www.searchtruth.com/ (Translations of Qur'an).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-68735265307492819432012-11-01T14:02:00.002+05:302012-11-01T15:14:08.910+05:30Was Jesus alive or dead in the tomb?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <img alt="http://www.ronaldkennedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/tomb.jpg" class="decoded" src="http://www.ronaldkennedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/tomb.jpg" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is an accepted fact in Christian commentaries on the book of Jonah in the Bible that Jonah was kept miraculously alive during the time that he was in the stomach of the fish in the sea. At no time throughout his ordeal did he die in the fish and so came ashore as much alive as he was when he was first thrown into the sea.<br /><br />In his booklet Deedat takes some of the words in the text quoted above out of their context and makes the statement read "As Jonah was ... so shall the Son of man be" and concludes:<br /><br />If Jonah was alive for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in the tomb as he himself had foretold! (Deedat, What was the Sign of Jonah?, p.6).<br /><br />Although Jesus had only said that the likeness between him and Jonah would be in the period of time they were each to undergo an internment - Jonah in a fish, Jesus in the heart of the earth - Deedat omits this qualifying reference and claims that Jesus must have been like Jonah in other ways as well, extending the likeness to include the living state of Jonah inside the fish. When Jesus' statement is read as a whole, however, it is quite clear that the likeness is confined to the time factor. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the fish, so Jesus would be a similar period in the heart of the earth. One cannot stretch this further, as Deedat does, to say that as Jonah was ALIVE in the fish, so Jesus would be alive in the tomb. Jesus did not say this and such an interpretation does not arise from his saying but is read into it. Furthermore, in speaking of his coming crucifixion, Jesus on another occasion used a similar saying which proves the point quite adequately:<br /><br />"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up". (John 3.14)<br /><br />Here the likeness is clearly in being "lifted up". As Moses LIFTED UP the serpent, so would the Son of man be LIFTED UP, the one for the healing of the Jews, the other for the healing of the nations. In this case the brass serpent Moses made never was alive and if Deedat's logic is applied to this verse we must presume that it means that Jesus must have been dead before he was lifted up, dead on the cross, and dead when taken down from it. Not only is this illogical, the contradiction between the states of Jonah and the brass serpent (the one was always alive through his ordeal, the other was always dead when used as a symbol on a pole) shows that Jesus was only drawing a likeness between himself and Jonah and the brass serpent respectively in the matters he expressly mentions - the THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS and the LIFTING UP on a pole. It does not matter whether Jonah was alive or not - this has nothing to do with the comparison Jesus was making.<br /><br />By omitting the qualifying reference to the time period in Jonah's case, Deedat makes the saying of Jesus read "As Jonah was ... so shall the Son of man be" and it is from this unrestricted likeness that he seeks to extend the comparison to the state of the prophet in the fish. But if we follow the same method with the other verse quoted, we come to the exact opposite conclusion. In this case the statement would read: "As the serpent ... so shall the Son of man be" and the state of the serpent was always a dead one. This shows quite plainly that in each case Jesus was not intending to extend the likeness between himself and the prophet or object he mentions to the question of life or death but solely to the very comparisons he expressly sets forth. So we see that Deedat's first objection falls entirely to the ground. A contradictory conclusion automatically results from his line of reasoning and no objection or argument which negates itself can ever be considered with any degree of seriousness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source Used: John GilChrist - What Indeed Was the Sign of Jonah?</span> </span></div>
</div>
Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-36436392175528173802012-10-27T14:20:00.005+05:302012-11-01T13:48:46.283+05:30The Sign of Jonah and Jesus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDOs8lnT1ez91wfkLEykWI5Dbh76JSUOW1NiTxg4HbQ5j3UjPf5muLtVk9Js8qya9lt6vJAzNf-lHLfuzGbfW2U8l7r_CrsGqtH1CfYs2F_OmqkDtlVZYHSbVpVrOaB94hwsvUTu_gIE/s1600/untitled.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDOs8lnT1ez91wfkLEykWI5Dbh76JSUOW1NiTxg4HbQ5j3UjPf5muLtVk9Js8qya9lt6vJAzNf-lHLfuzGbfW2U8l7r_CrsGqtH1CfYs2F_OmqkDtlVZYHSbVpVrOaB94hwsvUTu_gIE/s320/untitled.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">During 1976 Ahmed Deedat of the Islamic Propagation Centre in Durban
published a booklet entitled “<i>What was the Sign of Jonah?</i>” which talks about two things in specific:</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">1-<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>If Jonah had been alive throughout his sojourn in the
fish, then Jesus must have been alive in the tomb after being taken down from
the cross.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">2-<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span>If Jesus was crucified on a Friday and rose on the
following Sunday morning, then he could not have been three days and three
nights in the tomb. </span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">We shall consider these two objections in order and will thereafter proceed
to analyze the whole subject to see what the Sign of Jonah really was. Let's
see what three days and three nights mean. In Esther, chapter 4, in the Old
Testament of the Christian Jewish Bible, it says there was a fast for three
days and three nights. But, then it went on, and it says they completed the
fast on the third day. You see in Jewish language, "after three days and
three nights," meant "to the third day" or "on the third
day." Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, “He would be buried for three days and
three nights.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In Matthew 20, Jesus said, “He would be raised up on the third day” - not
after the third day. The Jews came to Jesus, and they said in Matthew 27:63,
"and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still
alive, ‘After three days I will rise." So, they asked for a Roman guard.
Now watch the language here. "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be
made secure until the third day," not after the third day. They knew what
Jesus said, three days and three nights, meant until the third day, "Lest,
His disciples come and steal Him away." </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On Friday, before six o'clock they had three hours to bury Him. It took less
than an hour. The Jewish reckoning of time in the Jewish Talmud and the
Babylonian Jerusalem Talmud (which are the commentaries of the Jews), said any
part, an "Onan" - any part of the day is considered a full day. On
Friday before six o'clock by Jewish reckoning, any minute was one day and one
night. From Friday night at six o'clock to Saturday at six o’clock was, another
day and another night. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Men and women, from Jewish reckoning, not ours, any moment after six o'clock
was Saturday night, is another day, another night. According to one of the
debate of Dr. Josh McDowell in South Africa, he gave an
example stating, “We do the same thing in my country. If my son was born one
minute before midnight on December the 31st, on my income taxes to my
government, I could treat my son with the same time principle as having been
born at any time during that one full year, 365 days and 365 nights. For the 1st objection above, please read the November 2012 article "WAS JESUS ALIVE OR DEAD IN THE TOMB?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources Used: Dr. Josh McDowell, John Gilchrist.</span> </span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-75167424155671170302012-09-29T13:52:00.006+05:302012-09-29T13:52:48.655+05:30Is the Ark of the Covenant still there or lost in history?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys0M84PNJtPO_skRb9WGnPh3FVNUdKoc0sfW_g2PmaNi3RdjdqCPhwDmdWRXFPUvN-RIsKVfe5yZmIw8_wiYp5SywJPnxu1LkWOooyzaeJ3B1N2HTBnF65XBlBqdpA4MQLrdvvMmgr80/s1600/untitledh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgys0M84PNJtPO_skRb9WGnPh3FVNUdKoc0sfW_g2PmaNi3RdjdqCPhwDmdWRXFPUvN-RIsKVfe5yZmIw8_wiYp5SywJPnxu1LkWOooyzaeJ3B1N2HTBnF65XBlBqdpA4MQLrdvvMmgr80/s320/untitledh.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">First of all, there is was no specific tablet which was written by God’s finger. I encourage you all to read and understand the following verses:<br />Exodus 31:18 says, “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”<br />Deuteronomy 9:10 says, “And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.”<br />Luke 11:20 says, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”<br /><br />Looking at these verses, we sometimes may believe that God has a finger and it is Powerful and writes. Saying this actually is not fully incorrect since God has made us in His own image and he is full of Might and all Powerful. But, as per these verses we see another picture. I was going through one of the commentary by Geneva Study Bible for Luke, it makes it very clear, “That is, by the power of God: so it says in Geneva Exodus 8:19.” So does the Wesley’s notes says, “If I cast out devils by the finger of God - That is, by a power manifestly Divine. Perhaps the expression intimates farther, that it was done without any labour: then the kingdom of God is come upon you - Unawares, unexpected: so the Greek word implies.”<br />Getting back to the main question, understanding the Bible in context, a message was revealed to Moses and he wrote it down. I was listening to one of the recording by Allama Ibrahim Yusuf (Christian scholar) on the same topic, and he humorously says, “There are obviously no Printing Machines available with God that he writes stuff using various Dyes as well as plates.” According to Exodus 32:19, it says like this, “And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” This verse clearly says that Moses breaks the tablets. Not only he breaks, while breaking the tablets, Moses was extremely angry. God had already revealed his commandments to mankind; still people broke the law and were worshiping the calf. So saying that tablets are by God to them does not show any importance during that event since people had already broken the law. Obviously when rules are already broken, what importance does that piece of stone hold? Now, if we read Exodus 34:1, it says like this, “The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.” Moses makes a new set of tablets which went for long but within time they were lost. If we see the history through the old testament, nations had been so much corrupted that even if those second sets of tablets would have been available, people may have started worshipping them itself in the name of God. Lord knew what was required and what not. The commandments were memorized, shared, copied as we still have it; there is no point of having the original tablets or raising a question that “Is the Ark of the Covenant, which God gave to Moses, still in the hands of the Jewish people or is it lost in history?”</span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-40692390139578537862012-09-29T13:36:00.002+05:302012-09-29T13:42:03.035+05:30Did Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat or Mount Judi?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">According to the Bible, Genesis 8:4 says like
this, “</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the
month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">”<br />
As per qur’an, in Meccan Sura Hud 11:44, it says like this, “<span class="apple-style-span">Then the word went forth:
"O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and
the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and
the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!</span>”</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jewish Babylonian, Syriac, and Islamic
traditions identify Mount Judi or Qardu as a peak near the town of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jazirat ibn Umar<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(modern Cizre), at the headwaters of
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Tigris, near the modern
Syrian–Turkish border.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Arab
historian<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Al-Masudi (d. 956),
reported that the spot where the ark came to rest could be seen in his time.
Al-Masudi locates Jabal Judi at 80<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>parasangs
from the Tigris. The description of medieval geographer<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Yaqut al-Hamawi<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>matches exactly a 2089 m peak north of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Silopi that is now called<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Jabal
Judi<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Judi
Dagh<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by Muslims and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Gardu<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by Christians and Jews.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mount Ararat presently is </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">a
volcanic massif on the border between Turkey and Armenia and known in</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Turkish</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">as
"Agri Dagh." And at the same time, Al-Judi is one of those that divide</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Armenia</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">on the south, from</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Mesopotamia, and that part
of</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Assyria</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">which is inhabited by the
Curds, from whom the mountains took the name Cardu, or Gardu, by the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Greeks</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">turned into Gordyae, and
other names. Looking at the accounts of researchers like </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sir Walter Raleigh, George
Sale etc., Mount Al-Judi lies within the mountains of Ararat. <br />
<br />
I personally think that Bible has made it very clear with its verse from
Genesis 8:4, stating, “</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">And
in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest
on the mountains of Ararat.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">” It specifically uses the plural of a Mount, i.e.
“Mountains”. Henceforth, there is no contradiction within the bible for what
the later accounts states or researchers say. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7714378843950909800.post-71758932529907670852012-09-25T18:53:00.004+05:302012-10-05T18:00:21.926+05:30Did Jesus Escape Crucifixion?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Q: Was Jesus Crucified, since the Qur’an specifically mentions that HE was raised to God?<br />A: There are a few verses from Qur’an, which comes in mind:<br /><br />Surah Imran 3:54-55 says, “And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers. <br />(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ.”<br /><br />Surah Al-Nesa 4:157-158 says, “And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.”<br /><br />Surah Ma’edah 5:117 says, "Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship God, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.”<br /><br />The qur’an presents one picture, but when we look at history we get a very different picture. The reliability depends a lot on how close the witness and the record are to the event. The dates are very important. For example, if someone robs a bank, and I stand as the witness after 20 years, obviously the authorities will ask me why wasn’t I available all these years? During the time of Jesus, there were historians who believed in Jesus and wrote about him. Even the verses I listed from the Qur’an point toward Jews who admit that they killed Jesus. This was a confirmed historical event for them. In addition, the book of Romans talks about history as confirmed by the historians. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Q: If Jesus was raised to God before being crucified (according to islam), who was his replacement or what was his name?<br />A: According to various scholars, historians, etc., there are various suggestions:<br />Titulus is the name according to Baisabi. <br />In Araisu't Tijan, Sheol is mentioned.<br />In QasasUlAmbia, it says “King of Jews.”<br />Again in Araisu't Tijan ,Faltianus is the name mentioned for that person.<br />According to Tabari Tafsir, it is Sergios. <br />Abdul Majid Daryabadi in his Tafseer of the Qur’an mentions his name as Shamoon Qurunei, so does Basileet.<br />It is Judas Iscariot according to the Gospel of Barnabas. (This Gnostic source came much later.)<br /><br />Here we notice that there are different accounts and different thoughts. No one is sure about who the person on the Cross was if it was not Jesus. These great minds are giving theories about a topic even they are not sure of. I must say, it is not wise to assume that someone else died on the cross and not Jesus Himself. <br /><br /><br /><br />Q: According to Ahmediya sect, Jesus was crucified but did not die on the cross; he simply went unconscious. He later traveled to Kashmir, India and died there. What is the Christian response to this?<br /><br />A: Maulana Muhammed Ali speaks of this in his English translation of the qur’an. Before he wrote of this, David Friedrich Strauss had already written similar theories in his book Das Laben Jesu. There were more similar stories in existence along with that of David Strauss. Saying that Jesus was not crucified because the Ahmediya sect teaches this won’t be very satisfying answer, since these theories existed before the Ahmediyya sect began. We cannot give the credit of saying Jesus did not die on the cross to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Moreover, Mirza Ahmed taught that Jesus somehow managed to escape and traveled to Kashmir, where he died at the age of 120. However, most historians have come to the conclusion that Jesus died at approximately 33 years of age. If we calculate this difference, we see a gap of almost more than 80 years, though in Kashmir the population of Christians are around 400 people only. So how it is possible that Jesus did not preached in the Valley of Kashmir all these years? If Jesus traveled to Kashmir, there should have been many Christians or many other historical evidences of Jesus. No one other than Ahmediya Muslims believes that Jesus died in Kashmir. This simply proves, Jesus never traveled to India. <br /><br /><br />Q: Jesus stayed on Cross for only a few hours, though if we all know that death on cross was always a very slow process. What do Christians have to say about this?<br />A: The key word here is “Always”. The word “Always” is taken from the translation of Maulana Muhammad Ali (Ali was the editor of the Review of Religions, one of the first Islamic journals in English. When MirzaGhulam Ahmad established the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, the first governing body of the Ahmadiyya Movement, in 1905, he appointed Ali as the Secretary of its executive council. He translated the Qur’an in Urdu as well as English.) Translation of qur’an Tafsir. IF this word is translated correctly, it is good enough to establish that Jesus may not have died. Why this not true will be seen as we read further.<br /><br /><br />Q: When the two thieves who were crucified along with Jesus were brought down, they were still alive. Is it possible that Jesus may also be alive?<br />A: When we deal with history, we do not see what the possibilities were, but we see that what exactly happened. It is possible that a man can escape from the cross, but did he really manage to escape? Does History affirm this? It is very possible that Porus may have been able to defeat Alexander, but history confirms Alexander’s victory over Porus. Saying that because the two thieves might have been alive after they were pulled down means that Jesus may have been alive too does not help in the light of real history.<br /><br /><br /><br />Q: After the thieves were brought down, their legs were broken, but Jesus was spared. Why is that so?<br />A: According to Mirza Ahmed, Jesus escaped since Jesus’ legs were not broken. The Actual answer for this is given in the Gospel itself. It is written in the gospel of John 19:33, “But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.” This verse confirms that by this time Jesus was dead; henceforth, there was no need to break the legs of Jesus. <br /><br /><br /><br />Q: When the side of Jesus was pierced, blood and water came out. How is that possible?<br />A: If we examine this scientifically (in context to Dr. Hobart Caunter’s research in regards to crucifixion), we will see there is a layer around the heart which is called the Pericardium. It is a tough, double layered membrane which covers the heart. The space between the two layers of it is filled with a pericardium fluid which protects the heart from any kind of external jerk or shock. There are two layers to the pericardial sac: the outermost fibrous pericardium and the inner serous pericardium. The serous pericardium, in turn, is divided into two layers, the parietal pericardium, which is fused to and inseparable from the fibrous pericardium, and the visceral pericardium, which is part of the epicardium. The epicardium is the layer immediately outside of the heart muscle proper (the myocardium). Since I am not a science student, I found this important information from “Got Questions Ministries.”according to them, the Roman flogging or scourging that Jesus endured prior to being crucified normally consisted of 39 lashes, but could have been more (Mark 15:15; John 19:1). The whip that was used, called a flagrum, consisted of braided leather thongs with metal balls and pieces of sharp bone woven into or intertwined with the braids. The balls added weight to the whip, causing deep bruising and contusions as the victim was struck. The pieces of bone served to cut into the flesh. As the beating continued, the resulting cuts were so severe that the skeletal muscles, underlying veins, sinews, and bowels of victims were exposed. This beating was so severe that at times victims would not survive it in order to go on to be crucified. Those who were flogged would often go into hypovolemic shock, a term that refers to low blood volume. In other words, the person would have lost so much blood he would go into shock. The results of this would be the followings:<br />1) The heart would race to pump blood that was not there.<br />2) The victim would collapse or faint due to low blood pressure.<br />3) The kidneys would shut down to preserve body fluids.<br />4) The person would experience extreme thirst as the body desired to replenish lost fluids.<br />There is evidence from Scripture that Jesus experienced hypovolemic shock as a result of being flogged. As Jesus carried His own cross to Golgotha (John 19:17), He collapsed, and a man named Simon was forced to either carry the cross or help Jesus carry the cross the rest of way to the hill (Matthew 27:32–33; Mark 15:21–22; Luke 23:26). This collapse indicates Jesus had low blood pressure. Another indicator that Jesus suffered from hypovolemic shock was that He declared He was thirsty as He hung on the cross (John 19:28), indicating His body’s desire to replenish fluids.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Prior to death, the sustained rapid heartbeat caused by hypovolemic shock also causes fluid to gather in the sack around the heart and around the lungs. This gathering of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called pericardial effusion, and the fluid gathering around the lungs is called pleural effusion. This explains why, after Jesus died and a Roman soldier thrust a spear through Jesus’ side (probably His right side, piercing both the lungs and the heart), blood and water came from His side just as John recorded in his Gospel ( John 19:34).<br /><br /><br /><br />Q: Why did Pilate doubt after hearing about the death of Jesus?<br />A: the answer lies within the Bible. If we read the Gospel of Mark 15:44-45, we read, “Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.” This verse does not say Pilate questioned who Jesus was. He was surprised by how quickly Jesus died, so he asked the centurion to confirm the death of Jesus.<br /><br /><br /><br />Q: The day prior to crucifixion, Jesus prayed the whole night seeking this event to pass away. It is believed that the prayers of righteous men are always accepted. Why was the prayer of Jesus not accepted though he was a righteous being?<br />A: According to the gospel of Matthew 26:39, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” According to Geneva study Bible, taking the cup is figurative speech for that which is contained in the cup. The Hebrews understand by the word “cup,” to be:<br />1) The manner of punishment which is rendered to sin, (Psalms 11:6).<br />2) The joy that is given to the faithful, (Psalms 23:5), or; <br />3) a lot or condition (Psalms 16:5). <br /><br />Getting back to the main question,, the word “Always” is again present. It is true, the prayers of the righteous are always heard,, but nowhere is it written they will be fulfilled. According to the Hebrews, the prayer of Jesus was heard and the greatest example is the second part of the verse mentioned above: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” The father’s will was a sacrifice of His only Son, so the will was done. I would like to add that Jesus DID humble Himself in obedience to the Father, and to glorify the Father I encourage you to read Philippians 2:3-11, which says this, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”<br /><br />So, He chose to be humbled by looking like men in order to glorify the Father and to save us. What would we think of a king who thought it was more important to look good than to save his people? What would we think of a parent who would let a child drown rather than get his or her hair messed up in the water? A doctor who would not assist plague victims in a poor part of town or a third-world nation because he didn't want to dress in a way that made him appear less wealthy that he was? Frankly, God's majesty and pride is not so fragile that He has to put on a show for us. Appearing in a more humble form does not change who He IS. Even humans realize this when we're talking about other humans; we recognize that caring for appearances more than we care for other people is a vice.<br /></span></span></div>
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Alive Through Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02009303085185749279noreply@blogger.com0