I sure hope theseauto-posted verses are of valueto someone -- maybe a random picjk is just what you needed one day? (it happens like that, sometimes, or me.
-- What info/advice/consoling I need just shows up from an unexpected direction or timing.

But I'd like to see some actual human-to-human interaction in this group.

The topipc is BIBLE -- what are your initial thoughts or questions, pro or con, on any subtopic under "Bible"?

One thing that's always been a wee stickler for me is where God tells Moses, at the end of Deuteronomy (last book on the Torah--first 5 books given, directly by God to Moses): "Do not alter these words; do not add to them, do not subtract from them."

Well, tyhen the Israelites/Jews, over the next several centuries, identified other words of God in scrolls & tested them for consistency with the known ttewacvhings in the initial 5 books (Torah or Pentateuch, depending which language you use for the bridge to English)

Israel grouped these into two sets: The Writings, & the Prophets (not Minor & Major within that -- just "The Prophets" -- each was a spokesman for God and of equivalent value to one another men.)

The writings include Chronicles(1&2),. Kings(1&2), Psalms & Proverbs -- various writers for all, all inspired by God for the content that is good for the edifying & teaching of man.

So thesewere "added to" Torah as "Inspired Scripture"("Bible")

Then along came Jesus who inspired a whole 'nother set: "The New Testament" (or, more accurately translated: "The Renewed Covenant")

At the end of this set of 27 books, is another warning, "Do not add to these words; do not alter them in any way"; the idea being that we humans are not to pervert or alter God's messages to mankind, so that there's a pure record of what was originally given.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran showed that thousands of years after Moses(author of the Pemtateuch) was dead, the copies of the Torah scrolls were kept exactly(near enough, the occasional erasure & rewriting of 'typoes' notwithstanding) as the oldest known & even exactly as they are still today, some 6-8K years after Moses recorded the Torah.

Something (or SomeOne) kep the record pristine through this mant generat8ionsd of scribes(secretarial tyupes who carefully copied the text exactly (point by point on each letter, even,& margin spacing--no spaces or punctuation between words, sentences, or paragraphs); this is why Jesus said "not a jot or tittle shall passaway"; He was referring to the serifs & the one letter that is, essentially, an apostrtophe in looks, but is actually a silent consonant. (there are no vowels in the Hebrew Bible--yeep -- imagine -- 100s of thousands of letters all jammed together, no spaces, no punctuation, & no vowels!

I believe that when God said "I am the Word" the Word was the entire Torah spoken as One Supremely Almightly phoneme -- only He could pronounce it, of course, asa such -- we go letter, by letter, by word, but then we're not ultimately powerful either.

& this is the Word that God spoke that triggered the Big Bang (an infinitely massive & zero sized hydrogen atom that contained everything(literally ALL!) exploded into being.

How do we reconcile the 7-day creation period in the Bible (I'm still on topic here -- I amaze myself some days!) with the 13.5bn year-old universe scientific observers have seen, based on the Cosmic Background Radiation(CBR) & speed of the moving elements of the observable universe?

Easy. time from the pont of the Big Bsn to Earth, where it has been at various points in the universe's history can be measured in an inverse proprtional exponential rate.

Day One, from God's 'vantage point': a flash of infinite light
& each day on Earth was a slowing down proportion of aeons. I have a screenshot of a pic from a book where I saw this. I can send it by private internet email attachment if anyone wants it. Netmail me the address you want me to send it to, & remind me what I'm sending, if you want it. I think I set the filemame to cite the source, so you'll have that, too, on arrival.

Thus the Earth is ~4.5bn years old, from Earth-vantage, but a little over 6K years old from the vantage point of that initial explosion that created the universewe canm observe.

Both are correct, when you factor in the time dilation at the speed of light(the initial speed of the universe's expansion) that Einstein predicted & proved.

If God is both the universe(including Time) & outside of it, then to Him, that 6K years might just feel like 6 days would feel to us, as we read in the Bible.

Okay, I've pumped a bunch of different things into this one seed p[ost - please feel free to reeply to individual sets of related words with your responses (pr or con -- just don't be douche-y about it--respond in the same tenor as I've posted, please, without emotional biases or kneejerkism. State why you agree ordon't, not just that you do or don't, pleaes, so we can have further discussion)

I digressed. Okay, Revelations (aka "The Apocalypse of St. John") ended by saying do not add to the preceding book (presumably either just Revelations, or to the entire New Testament); which sesems ironic considering it is all an addition to a book that said "dp not add, spindle, or mutilate"(more or less -- I use my own translations & I translate using freeform thought-for-thought, not just word-for-word(that's the absolute worst way to translate, to understand a source document from any other language); then the Mormons (pardon me, the L.D.S.) add yet a THIRD Testament (The Book of Mormon(the second 'm' isn't fooling me, Joseph Smith!)) onto two groups of books both forbidding the addition of more texts.

Hmmph. . .(sorry to any Mormons -- just a joke of mine - no personal animosity to your religion as a whole, just some goofy experiences with a former GF who was Mormon (without the second 'm' some times, it seemed like)

I'm with my mom -- so long as you put God first & you support families, you're A-OK in our books!

I'm a quibbler & have done much research oneverything I've touched on above & much more besdides, so I sometimes tend to forget that it's nmot merely an academic subject for many. I'm not starting a relgious/sect war here; if you wanht one --the proper echo for that is HOLYSMOKE ("where there's smoke, there's FIRE" -- it used to be a hot(active, much flaming, couched in academic language & claims at times) echo. I carry that one, too, so go ahead & address me in there & do your worst -- I know my stance & how I got here, so I ain't worried.

I live by love, but I'm human & slip occasionally. Hardly any deaths have resulted, so I'm okay with those slips.

Did I mention, I'm the Bishop of ROM (aka Cyberpope) so I kid lots -- I love humour, especally punnish humour.

If you ever feel offended by some thing I say/type/imply, there's a 99.999999% chance I intended it as humour & you just have a different take on houmour from myself. Let me know, respectfuylly, you're feelings, & I'll try harder not to come across offensive in the future.

If you want to offend me, it'll take some efforts on your part but feel free to try to do so in the HOLYSMOKE echo (be nice to get it rolling again--it used to be a great place to debate & test one's commitment to a belief or point of view.); "Iron sharpens iron"(a quote from. . on topic again. . THE BIBLE.)

So I have no beef with being challenged on my conclusions. I've polished the edges on some beliefs & conclusions, partly with thanks to the hatemongers in HOLYSMOKE, pre-Death of Fidonet era. I did't like it at the time & thought
they were self-styled pufferies, but even such has its place & benefit.

ALL(OMNI!) things-written(Greek "scriptura" isn't a capitalized term "Scripture"-- it just means all things that are written(with plenty of thought & meditation before, during, & after writing--not hack or pulp jobs) are useful to the believer and provide basis for positive reproof, rebuke, & teaching.

I take every criticism in & analyze it, to find the benefit in it for me & for those I'll futurely interact with.

DISCLAIMER: Don't let my handle (Cyberpope) fool you -- I'm not a Cyberspace religious teacher, nor preacher. It's just my name (George POPE) & I'm in CYBERspace.

I get no brownie pints or other credit for convincing anyone of any point of view. I like conversations & I've studied lots in certain areas (auto- didactically, mostly; a few uni level courses to round it all out, usually one- on-one with the profs) & I especually enjoy healthy discussion+debate on those topics.

Bottom line, at the end of the day: I genuinely like people & I believe EVERYTHING is grist for the Humour Mill. I'm learning(slowly some might say)
to dial it back to not be as offensive as bluntness can be, when not filtered according to the arbitrary & capricious unwritten laws of decent society(I was ejected from there years ago,. because I ejected them, anyway!).

Laugh, Kukkaburro, laugh! Hahaha Hee


Your friend,

<+]:-{)} <--official cyberpopicon of the Bishop of ROM (me!)
aka: George Pope -- in Mundanity

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)