So, there weren't really any visible stars last night... Why? Because the clouds rolled in suddenly while we were watching a movie.
We watched 'The Other Guys'. It was pretty funny, but really stupid, you know? Anyways, MF, WCF, AF and KC discovered my laugh yesterday. I know what you are thinking, 'what..? it's three weeks in. They should have discovered that weeks ago, like, the first day?' Well, they may have seen bits and pieces, but not a full on 2 minutes. lol. And they definitely haven't seen it much. This is not because I am hiding it, it is because we don't know each other well enough. >.>
Anyways, I really really hope the sky stays clear tonight. >.>
On another topic: Do you remember how I signed up for that World Bible School lessons? Well I have been doing some every once in a while. When I went to Asia I didn't do any, but when I got back I did one. Anyways, with all this free time, I have been doing a bunch. Last week I messaged my teacher to send me some more because of my extra free time. He is really great and if I ever have any questions he can point me to some good sites.
With this whole deuterocanon and apocrypha thing, I asked him for some information on the subject (because wikipedia is not a reliable source. You need other sources.) and he sent me a whole power point series on how we got the Bible and he sent me a link to a great website.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=968
It is an article by the Apologetic Press titled 'The Canon and Extra-Canonical Writings'
It talks about how the 66 books of the Bible came to be in the Bible and how many other books were not placed in the Bible. I don't know why I was suddenly questioning the Bible and it's contents. I had never really second guessed it before. The Bible is the Bible right?
But what about those extra books that Catholics have? Why aren't they in the Bible?
That's kinda where it started for me.
There is a lot of stuff in that article and in the slide shows I saw, but I will share some of the really cool parts that stuck out to me or some things I have learned.
The books in the Bible were inspired by God, but written down by men. 2 Tim 3:16 "All scripture is God-Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
The Prodestant Old Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures are the same. Although the divisions of books are a little different, the content is identical.
Jesus accepted the Hebrew Scriptures as Holy and quoted from them while teaching. Luke 24:44 describes him mentioning the Law, the Prophets, and Psalms (which is part of the Writings section of the Hebrew Scriptures) "He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
Also in Matthew 23:35 he mentions Abel and Zechariah while rebuking the Pharisees. He refers to the people killing the prophets and ones sent to them, all the righteous ones from Abel to Zechariah. Abel being the son of Adam in Gen 4:1-9 and Zechariah being the last martyr mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures in 2Chr24:17-22 (The Hebrew Scriptures were in a different order starting with Genesis and going to Chronicles (1Chr and 2Chr are one book)). Jesus didn't mention martyrs from the Maccabean revolt or anything else since then. Clearly He thought that only the books between Gen and Chr were Scripture.
"While these early men, early versions, and the Roman Catholic councils show the progression of the canon’s acceptance, they did not establish the canon. God established the canon for the New Testament through the inspired writers of the New Testament."
Peter placed Paul's writings at the same level as the OT scriptures. 2Pet3:15-16. "Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
Paul writes in Eph 2:19-20 that the writings of the apostles are as important as those of the prophets. "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." So Matthew, John, and Peter's writings are canonical too. He also quotes both Deuteronomy and Luke in 1 Tim 5:18 saying "For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."" So Luke is also Scripture by this internal canonization.
As Geisler and Nix said, “Canonicity is determined or established authoritatively by God; it is merely discovered by man.”
"There are a vast number of false and spurious writings that deserve mention at this point; not because anyone would seriously contend for their authority, but because they do represent the religious lore of the Hebrews in the inter-testamental period. The New Testament writers make use of a number of these books… Of course, it should be remembered that the New Testament also quotes from the heathen poets Aratus (Acts 17:28); Menander (1 Cor.15:33); and Epimenides (Titus 1:12). Truth is truth no matter where it is found, whether uttered by a heathen poet, a pagan prophet (Num 24:17), or even a dumb animal (22:28). Nevertheless, it should be noted that no such formula as “it is written” or “the Scriptures say” is connected with these citations. It should also be noted that neither the New Testament writers nor the Fathers have considered these writings canonical."
The Scriptures say that there will be a period of silence when God won't send any inspiration or prophets. Micah 3:6 "Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them." Malachi was the last of the prophets and he said in Mal 3:1 "“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty." Also Mal 4:4-5 "“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes."" These predict of John the Baptist being the only one left to come before Jesus. Any books written between Malachi and Jesus coming couldn't have come from God.
Although some are historically accurate that doesn't mean that it should be in the Bible by that merit alone.
Some of the 'accepted' apocrypha are pretty legendary.
You cannot add to or remove from God's words. Read: divine punishment.
Anyways, I was pretty excited after reading the things he sent me and the fact is that the books in my Bible are universally accepted, so they were never under question anyway.
In other news: I played guitar for a bit today. I went to church. Only 7 people. Their songs are all filled with the gospel. So good. xP Despite the country feel because the worship leader used to play in a "fiddlin' band" with his brothers. C(?) is just filled with testimonies. Honestly you could sit there for hours and listen to how he has seen possesions and heard stories of people who have seen hell and returned or all these amazing stories of how the Spirit led him to someone and with tear-filled eyes they prayed to recieve Christ.
Ya. There are a couple clouds, but that's okay. Also, I think I see a fire. o.0
Goodnight!
=D.Fa
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