Resolution - to read the Bible

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I spent this week reading the book of Hebrews. I have to admit that I was not very familiar with Hebrews, and could not remember very much about it except that Martin Luther didn't like it. I believe I heard somewhere that it was one of the last books to be accepted into the canon.

Although I remember the King James version of the Bible contains the heading "The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews", I don't believe that more recent translations this to be the work of Paul. It may not even be a letter – it doesn't have any salutation, greetings, or to or from. It reads more, in my opinion, like an explanation by Hebrews {Jews] who have become followers to other Hebrews.

Reviews and summarizes the history of these people from the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Jesus; in other words the Hebrew Scriptures. It covers the main characters from Noah, to Abraham and Sarah and their descendents, to Moses, to Rahab, and others, to David, etc. Leading up to Jesus Christ.
It shows not only how important the Hebrew Scripture is to the followers of Jesus was himself a Jew, but also how a person can be a Jew and a follower of Jesus. From this I would think that this book was written before the early 70s AD when there was between Christians and Jews.

This book puts emphasis on faith (trust) that enable those people highlighted the scriptures to do the will of God - works. That is why, perhaps, Martin Luther objected to it. Luther believed, as Paul taught that we are saved through faith rather than works.

As I see it we need both faith and works.
 
blackbelt1961 -----Great post !

Worth repeating this -----
Believers do good works because they are saved.

It's the position of your heart that Hebrew speaks about
 
At one time Hebrews were likened to gnomons ... those doing type setting in an arid place ...

They too had to read backwards and upside down ... and in relief!

The Lord of the press-room was very impressed with their backward skill ... thus the extreme pressures ...

Thus the myths could role oude ... creating great curiosities and interest to those formerly going on oral history alone ... and slow reads allowed looking between the columns ...

Adepts are thus generated ...
 
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Second Tinothy very much like the first and elder giving advice and encouragement to a younger person who possibly may be faltering in the face of difficult times. It reads like a very personal letter, mentioning the circumstances of the writer (being in prison) and news about various people known to both this writer and the receiver.
The writer urges the young reader to stand firm. Separating us from them', he talked about false teachers who his opponents and lead others astray. He mentions two people by name who have deserted him to follow others. The youth is advised to pursue justice, trust, love and peace, to avoid arguing and be gentle and kind to everyone.
In chapter 3 we have the well-known passage but all Scripture is God breathed. I'm presuming that the writer means the Hebrew Scriptures, because this letter, especially if is genuinely Paul's, was written much before the gospel story or the epistles were written were made canon.
I am sorry to see, in chapter 4, the division among the followers between us and them, in the early church. I wish it could have been the church portrayed in the book of acts where, despite their differences, followers led by James and the apostles, and Paul and his supporters were able to reach an agreement and respect one another while sharing the gospel, the good news.
 
Few can get it together and be resilient through the required losses demanded by love instead of just givens from the object to the subject!

Something wizzles and fades ... and is thus gone! Love is like a quirky wind at times ... and bi times ... and unknown love is darker as Leonard Cohen sings of it ... very shadowy attribute to character development!
 
unsafe says -----Adding Greek word and Scripture to these statement from above post ----- we have the well-known passage but all Scripture is God breathed. I'm presuming that the writer means the Hebrew Scriptures, because this letter, especially if is genuinely Paul's,


Greek word here for God Breathed

2315. theopneustos ►
Strong's Concordance
theopneustos: God-breathed, i.e. inspired by God

Definition: God-breathed, inspired by God
Usage: God-breathed, inspired by God, due to the inspiration of God.

The singular (anarthrous) use of 3956 /pás ("all") underlines that each part of speech (every inflected word-form, "reflex") used in the Bible is God-breathed, i.e. inscripturated (written) under divine inspiration.

worth repeating ----that each part of speech (every inflected word-form, "reflex") used in the Bible is God-breathed,



unsafe says -----and 2 Tim says Paul was the author -----Nnot that he might be -----

2 Timothy 1 (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostleA)'> of Christ Jesus by the will of God,B)'> in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,C)'>

2 To Timothy,D)'> my dear son:E)'>

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
God as 'love' or 'everything' breathed a sigh of relief to escape from the superficial ... and thus went deeper!

Even the earth vents from time to time ... sometimes referred to as Ze*us ... or we as gathered out of sight of the powers!

That'd be dead to keep the powers happy as last man standing ... the basis of poles neglecting the standing powers of hole things ... voids, schisms and all cracks allowing the light through ...
 
This is a continuation of my post #1127. I interupted myself to attend worship this morning. I am sorry to be so negative about these letters to Timothy. I am sure that they contain some excellent advice and speak to many people in the church. ut they have also revealed tension within the church, and are still used today to divide people into us and them instead of promoting Jesus good news of God's grace and unconditional love.
 
And this early tension is between Jew and Gentile, between those like Peter and James who believed that Jesus intended to reform his own religion, Judaism, which was quite a closed religion (they have usually accepted converts, but never encouraged them/proselytized) and those who wished to expand it to include as wide an unbrella of people as would follow Rabbi Jesus' simple message of love of all neighbours.
 
Did the tension extend enough to cause a break? With a crack the light could shine through the occult status in which none knows much!

Many deny being in the dark ... however ... just look up at night!
 
Today's readings are 2 Peter and Jude. I admit remember almost nothing about either book.
They are both short;; Jude is only one chapter.
They both refer back to the Hebrew stories in Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. And they seem to be very concerned about sin, judgment and punishment. They look forward to the end times when God's kingdom will be established.

Unlike Paul, who anticipated Jesus return at any time, they admits that while they did not know the day or the hour they may have to wait. God's time is not our time. For years is a day.
On the whole, I did not find either of these books to be very uplifting or hopeful.
Next we will turn to the writings of John.
 
1st, 2nd and 3rd John
Reading these three short books has been like a breath of fresh air. The message is that God is light and in him there is no darkness. It speaks of fellowship, forgiveness, hope, joy and love. Love of God; love for God and for one another. Iwas tempted to count the number of times the word 'love' is used in 1st John. A lot. I remember once reading that the word 'love' is used in the Christian scriptures more than 'faith' and 'believe' combined. !st John would certainly boost these numbers.
'Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.'
'Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.'
'God is love, and those who abide in love abide in G0d, and God abides in them.
'There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.'
These are just a few examples.

Who wrote these books? Again calling on my memory of various writers over the years, it is my understanding that there were groups or communities of followers of the Way in the first century. They identified themselves with whatever apostle or leader who had first led them. (see the first chapter of Corrinthians where Paul chastises them for saying 'I am of Apollo, or I am of Peter'). It seems to me that there may have been a church or community founded by the apostle John and that these letters originated from there.
The first letter begins 'We declare to you ...' The author is not identified - the 'we' indicates more than one. Perhaps a group decided together whar they wanted to convey and a scibe from among them put the words to paper.
I don't believe the other two letters are from the same hand. The style is different. They seem to be personal letters from one individual to another.
















In reading these three short books has been like a breath of fresh air after the last few. They are full of words like joy and love. I was tempted to count the times love is mentioned in first John. I read somewhere that 'love' is used more than the words 'faith or belief'' combined in the Christian Scriptures. love God, love one another, the two great commandments.
 
Everyone likes good news only ... bad news is buried in a dark deep hole called Nous ... in the sublime parts as Trump calls flakey presentations --- as QE 2 stated: "we are not impressed" and thus the press bea damned thing to those wishing blindness ... they can't see Ide ... bi choice second Eire!
 
Checking my last post, I see that the Dragon has been playing tricks again.

Moving on: I am now reading through Revelation. I probably will be ready to post on it sometime next week.
 
Mendalla said:
Your take on it should be a ... :cool: ... revelation.

Yeeeeeaaaaaaah!
Click to expand...

I believe and aspiration of Luth Eire ... and thus the abstract was loose'n'd for imagination ... what else can we do to extract from the po' demos ... until it goes mad with the present nature of emotions ...
 
The revelation to John: I’ve spent the last week reading this book and reflecting on it.


What do we know about John?

He was an elderly Christian, living in exile on the Isle of Palmos at a time when Christians were under persecution by Rome. He write this letter to the various Christian churches on the mainland. In it he speaks about a revelation, or vision, or (hallucination) he had experienced. Because of the danger to himself or others if the letter was intercepted, much of this is written in code. Apparently he hoped that the intended recipients would be able to understand, but it would seem nonsense to anyone else.

I agree with him on this. Many times over the last 2000 years people have attempted to break the code. Usually it seems that John’s predictions off the end times were to happen within the near future. For instance; When John originally wrote this letter it was thought that the whore of Babylon referred to Rome. In time Rome collapsed and was no longer a threat. So those trying to interpret the letter became aware of the threat on the horizon and said it must be “Babylon”. In my time it was thought to be Russian. More recently perhaps is Iran or Iraq (ironically where the ancient Babylon was located)

In the first seven chapters, John addresses seven churches in Asia, some familiar names, some unfamiliar to me. He greets them and praises them for their faithfulness; then he lists their faults and gives some warnings of things to come.


Then John begins to speak of his vision Which becomes more and more fantastiche speaks of angels and trumpets, of fire, of a woman giving birth to a child which is snatched up to heaven,of a dragon, of heavenly signs, of thunder, sealing scrolls (one of which he was to eat), and the command given to him to prophesy. He speaks of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, 'and he shall reign forever and ever'.

Speaks of the war in heaven between God and his angels, and the dragon and his angels; and of the blood of the Lamb. Then we have fantastic beasts coming up from the CD and beasts of the land. And he speaks of the Lamb and the 144,000 with his name on their foreheads; and seven angels bowls, and a time of judgment and punishment, and again FIRE, earthquakes,drought, hail, plague. And mysterious beasts with multiple heads and horns.

Next John reports the vision of the fall of Babylon and the rejoicing in heaven. The income the vision of the horses – the white horse called 'the word of God',


We come to chapter 21 and the vision of the new Jerusalem. I have heard this rid of funerals – a vision of things to come, the realm of God. We are showing the river of the water of life, tree of life in the light of God shining on the people. And the invitation 'Come'.


And after these beautiful words,the often quoted line 'if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away ...
 
Seeler said:
The revelation to John: I’ve spent the last week reading this book and reflecting on it.


What do we know about John?

He was an elderly Christian, living in exile on the Isle of Palmos at a time when Christians were under persecution by Rome. He write this letter to the various Christian churches on the mainland. In it he speaks about a revelation, or vision, or (hallucination) he had experienced. Because of the danger to himself or others if the letter was intercepted, much of this is written in code. Apparently he hoped that the intended recipients would be able to understand, but it would seem nonsense to anyone else.

I agree with him on this. Many times over the last 2000 years people have attempted to break the code. Usually it seems that John’s predictions off the end times were to happen within the near future. For instance; When John originally wrote this letter it was thought that the whore of Babylon referred to Rome. In time Rome collapsed and was no longer a threat. So those trying to interpret the letter became aware of the threat on the horizon and said it must be “Babylon”. In my time it was thought to be Russian. More recently perhaps is Iran or Iraq (ironically where the ancient Babylon was located)

In the first seven chapters, John addresses seven churches in Asia, some familiar names, some unfamiliar to me. He greets them and praises them for their faithfulness; then he lists their faults and gives some warnings of things to come.


Then John begins to speak of his vision Which becomes more and more fantastiche speaks of angels and trumpets, of fire, of a woman giving birth to a child which is snatched up to heaven,of a dragon, of heavenly signs, of thunder, sealing scrolls (one of which he was to eat), and the command given to him to prophesy. He speaks of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, 'and he shall reign forever and ever'.

Speaks of the war in heaven between God and his angels, and the dragon and his angels; and of the blood of the Lamb. Then we have fantastic beasts coming up from the CD and beasts of the land. And he speaks of the Lamb and the 144,000 with his name on their foreheads; and seven angels bowls, and a time of judgment and punishment, and again FIRE, earthquakes,drought, hail, plague. And mysterious beasts with multiple heads and horns.

Next John reports the vision of the fall of Babylon and the rejoicing in heaven. The income the vision of the horses – the white horse called 'the word of God',


We come to chapter 21 and the vision of the new Jerusalem. I have heard this rid of funerals – a vision of things to come, the realm of God. We are showing the river of the water of life, tree of life in the light of God shining on the people. And the invitation 'Come'.


And after these beautiful words,the often quoted line 'if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away ...
Click to expand...

John adds his own testimony as to his statements' divine truth. He has described the visions and revelations which he had. He has written down the prophecies which he received. He himself has not added to them. He advises others not to meddle with his prophecies. To do so would expose a person to the Revelaton plagues.
 
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