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Lent: Day 15 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 36-47

...s up in a Bible now, it will say: Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.He will judge the peoples with equity.” Looking a little more into this, it appears that this quote in First Apology is the only ancient Greek text to have this wording, and then any other quote from Tertullian onward (~200 AD), comes purely from the The Old Latin Version (Vetus Latina Bible) translation of the Psalm, which is the Latin Bible which predated the Vulgate. Prophecy and free will The rest of the chapters go through more examples of prophetic messages and the different types that can be found in the OT, such...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

...re recent Bible translations, which will most likely transliterate the Greek words instead. Not all the words get this treatment, and some still get presented as the word hell in English, for example, the NIV and NRSV will convert the word Gehenna into “hell”, but keep the Greek word Hades as-is (see: Matt. 5:22; 11:23). The etymology of “hell” and its origins and how it became the word we know today in English, would take more time than I have space for here, but in short, there are three main Greek words which often get translated as the word “hell”, even though they are each different words with different underlying meanings: GehennaLiterally...

7 things the Lord hates (spoiler: questioning doctrine isn't one of them)

...y say the Bible is your ultimate authority in and for life, but that doesn't make it so for everyone else, and especially not for those in government who dictate the laws. Sometimes I think the sooner we realise that, the better off the Church as a whole would be.   It was only last week I was writing a similar post about the online actions of Christians and how unloving they were in regards to Google not posting an Easter themed "doodle". This week it's the similarly unloving actions and attitudes towards someone who dared to question. It's not like it was asking or seeking heretical doctrine, but simply trying to get to the root of an issue. A...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part Two)

...rly every Bible verse quoted about the destruction of the wicked is met with some reference to Revelation 20. This is a very feeble and weak branch to stand upon. Typically, the rules of interpreting the more obscure and unique parts of Scripture, is to use the clearer parts to define the less clear, not the other way around! Or shall we take a passage in apocalyptic literature and use it to reinterpret everything else the Bible says about the fate of the wicked in much clearer, less symbolic language? Agree, disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please share this if you found it edifying. To Be Continued… That’s all for this one, I hop...

Debunking the Myth: The Council of Nicaea and the Formation of the Biblical Canon

...A myth that never seems to fade away: the idea that the Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 AD under the authority of Roman Emperor Constantine, played a pivotal role in establishing the Biblical canon. This notion suggests a conspiracy and power play orchestrated by a select group of elite bishops; a narrative popularised by works like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. However, a closer examination reveals a lack of historical basis for this claim. The Council of Nicaea and the Canon Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that the Council of Nicaea discussed or established the Canon of Scripture, leading to the creation of the Bible. Early Christian cano...

Understanding The New Testament: Inspiration, Canonisation, And Historical Context

...A common modern perception of the inspiration of Scripture often portrays it as a rigid, divine dictation of words from God to be written down verbatim. This perspective leads to concerns among some religious communities, such as Muslims, who view any alteration or addition to the text as a potential threat to the entire faith. The Islamic understanding of inspiration emphasises direct and unalterable divine dictation, contributing to their scepticism of multiple Bible translations, which they falsely label as “corruption”. In contrast, the Biblical inspiration of the Scriptures has never been viewed as a literal divine dictation, as if the apostles were un...