Posts Made By: Brien Stratton

Jesus' Opponents Could Not Challenge Public Records

As to Matthew's and Luke's listing of Jesus' genealogy, they doubtless got their list from the public register in the town of Bethlehem of Judah, where Jesus was born. (Luke 2:1-5; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-6) There is a remarkable fact that should end any doubt about Jesus' being both the natual heir of David, and the one having the legal right to David's throne, since he was the firstborn son (actually foster -son) of a man descended from King Solomon. It is this: None of Jesus' enemies among the Jews ever challenged his descent from David, either on the side of his mother or of his foster-father. Now we know that the Pharisees and Sadducees were as eager as a pack of wolves, seeking any possible way to discredit Jesus. But they could not deny the official birth registers, well known to the people and available for anyone to check. Neither did the pagan enemies attack Jesus' genealogy until after the Jewish records were destroyed when the Romans invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. Then, of course , no one could check their lying claims with the public records.

Only the Bible record of this lineage remains. There are absolutely no other records of David's descendants extant, because these were destroyed when the Roman army desolated Jerusalem and burned its temple in 70 C.E. All public records, all archives, were wiped out. No one since then can possibly trace his own ancestry back to David. Since God's purpose cannot fail, this means that Jesus Christ is undeniably the Messiah, the King chosen by God.

Brien

John, people who have died in the past will be resurrected and taught about God's ways during the thousand year reign of Christ. There is a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous. (John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:11-13)

For people alive in the world at this time, Jesus said that Christians would preach the good news of the Kingdom for a witness to all the nations. This is their opportunity to learn about God's purposes. (Matthew 24:14)

Brien

I'll take a stab at it.

The original-language terms (Heb., ne'phesh; Gr., psy·khe') as used in the Scriptures show "soul" to be a person, an animal, or the life that a person or an animal enjoys.

The connotations that the English "soul" commonly carries in the minds of most persons are not in agreement with the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words as used by the inspired Bible writers.

More recently, when The Jewish Publication Society of America issued a new translation of the Torah, or first five books of the Bible, the editor-in-chief, H. M. Orlinsky of Hebrew Union College, stated that the word "soul" had been virtually eliminated from this translation because, "the Hebrew word in question here is 'Nefesh.'" He added: "Other translators have interpreted it to mean 'soul,' which is completely inaccurate. The Bible does not say we have a soul. 'Nefesh' is the person himself, his need for food, the very blood in his veins, his being."-The New York Times, October 12, 1962.

Brien

The idea that humans have a separate part of themselves that exists after we die, is a part of many religious thought. Even at the beginning, Satan said to Eve that she would not die, if she disobeyed God (Genesis 3:4). Adam and Eve did die though, and their bodies went back to the ground, as dust (Genesis 3:19). They were not mentioned as living anywhere else. Plato, also; was important in shaping some Christian belief, that man has a separate soul, that is unextinguished by death.

I think our brains filter out a lot of unimportant details out of memories. For example, can you remember what you saw and did in school, every day you were there? We only remember the details that are important. I am not a psychologist, so am taking a guess here. So, our brain only has to have a capacity to store these valuable memories. I did read though, that we are only using a small portion of our brain capacity in our present human life-time.

Jesus said that the very hairs on our head are numbered (Luke 12:7). This means that when it is time for God to resurrect us, after we have died, he can recall our genetic makeup, including memories (not too hard for him), to recreate us (Matthew 19:28).

Brien

Bill, it was evidently time for some of the prayers of God's worshippers on the earth to be introduced. In the first century C.E., the Jews used the count of 12 hours to the day (daylight hours), starting with sunrise (6 A.M.), and ending at around 6 P.M. Then they had the Roman custom of 4 night watches.

Brien

Will you have us believe Paul, that gnostic texts have come down to us in a better form than the Bible, so we can put faith in them?

Brien

Bill: Yes, the move went fine. Thanks for asking. I had Monday off to organise. That helps.

Brien

Bill, some of the info is from a CD, or books I have (I can't take all the credit), but I am adding some personal comments too.

Brien

True Christians would not torture people. Did the apostles torture anybody? Remember the Christians they burned at the stake with a Bible around their necks? There were some loyal Christians that got hurt by the inquisitions too.

Jesus predicted that after his death there would be true Christians (referred to as wheat) that would be amongst false Christians (referred to as weeds). At the end, God would show who really were Christians, and reward accordingly. (see Jesus' parable at Matthew 13:24-30, and the explanation of the parable at Matthew 13:36-43).

Brien

C)? Am I correct that I heard on the news, that the States recently sent 3 Stealth Bombers to South Korea. Is that for current control of the north, or?

Brien