Using the Indefinite Article at John 1:14

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A person in Quora wrote (https://qr.ae/TS9mE6): With that being said, should John had wished to indicate to us that the Word “became a man,” he could have done so as he did eight verses earlier of John the Baptist, John 1.6, EGENETO ANTHROPOS (“There came a man”)

Reply: The main difference here is the placement of the verb before the noun, while at John 1:1c the verb is placed after the noun.

However, we already have many instances in John where we translate with the indefinite article "a" where the verb is placed after the noun:

John 4:19 has PROFHTHS EI SU which translates to: "you are a prophet."

John 6:70 has DIABOLOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slanderer."

John 8:34 has DOULOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slave."

John 8:44 has ANQRWPOKTONOS HN which translates to "a murderer."

John 8:44 has EUSTHS ESTIN which translates to "he is a liar."

John 8:48 has SAMARITHS EI SU which translates to "you are a Samaritan."

John 9:8 has PROSAITHS HN which translates to "as a beggar."

John 9:17 has PROFTHS ESTIN which translates to "He is a prophet."

John 9:24 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "is a sinner."

John 9:25 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "he is a sinner."

John 10:1 has KLEPTHS ESTIN which translates to "is a thief"

John 10:13 has MISQWTOS ESTIN which translates to "a hired hand."

John 12:6 has KLEPTHS HN which translates to "he was a thief."

John 18:35 has MHTI EGO IOUDAIOS EIMI which translates to "I am not a Jew, am I?"

John 18:37 has BASILEUS EI SU which translates to "So you are a king?"

John 18:37 also has BASILEUS EIMI EGW which translates to "I am a king."

Not only that, John 1:14 can be translated indefinitely as well, and some Bibles actually do this:

"The Word became a human being." CEV, GNT, A Translator's Handbook on the Gospel of John by Barclay Newman & Eugene Albert Nida, Biography of the Biblical God by E. Asamoah-Yaw, NIRV

"The Word became a man" ICB

"The Word became a human" NCV

So, if you compare John 1:14 to John 1:1c, you can insert the indefinite "a" in both Scriptures to flesh out the proper meaning.

Thomas More's Horse, and Erasmus

ANECDOTE OF ERASMUS

On a visit to England, he passed some time at the house of Sir Thomas More, a decided Papist. Upon his departure, "Sir Thomas loaned him a favorite horse, to go as far as the seashore and then to be returned. Erasmus, taking a fancy to the horse, kept him, whereupon Sir Thomas reproached him for not fulfilling his word, and taking what was not his own. Erasmus sent back the following lines, which contain a satire upon his friend's belief in transubstantiation:—

'That Christ's body is in the bread, say you, 
 Only believe, 't is therefore true; 
 So of your horse, if you are able, 
 Only believe 't is in the stable.'" 

from: Jortin's Life of Erasmus.

See also Erasmus the Reformer & Bible Scholar - 40 PDF Books on DVDrom

Exodus 3:14 in the New World Translation

The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Exodus 3:14 -

Exodus 3:14 “At this God said to Moses: ‘I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be.’ And he added: ‘This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, “I shall prove to be has sent me to you.'" (NWT)

The website says: The Hebrew phrase, ‘eheyeh ‘asher ‘eheyeh, literally is “I am who I am.” But Jesus alludes to this statement in John 8:58 by calling himself “I am,” and Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the deity of Jesus so this passage was modified.

Reply: Does Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh literally mean “I am who I am?”

Look at this image that shows the same word used two verses prior at Exodus 3:12 where it is translated in your Bible as "I Will Be." It seems odd to translate it so oddly at Exodus 3:14, unless you are going to great pains to link it to Jesus' words at John 8:58.

I have looked at many occurrences of the Hebrew word `hyh (ehyeh) I could find with the pronoun, and the results are overwhelming that "I AM" is a poor translation. Unless otherwise stated, the Bible used is the Revised Standard Version:

Exo 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee ASV

Exo 3:14 snip

Exo 4:12  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

Exo 4:15  And you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.

Deu 31:23  And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to give them: I will be with you."

Jos 1:5  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.

Jos 3:7  And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

Jdg 6:16  And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid'ianites as one man."

Jdg 11:9  Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head."

1Sa 18:18  And David said to Saul, "Who am I, and who are my kinsfolk, my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"

1Sa 23:17  And he said to him, "Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; Saul my father also knows this."

2Sa 7:14  I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;

2Sa 15:34  But if you return to the city, and say to Ab'salom, 'I will be your servant, O king

2Sa 16:18  And Hushai said to Ab'salom, "No; for whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be

2Sa 16:19  so I will be in your presence. NASB

Isa 3:7  in that day he will speak out, saying: "I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor mantle; you shall not make me leader of the people."

Isa 47:7  You said, "I will be the mistress for ever," HCSB

Jer 11:4  which I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,

Jer 24:7  I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

Jer 30:22  And you shall be my people, and I will be your God."

Jer 31:1  "At that time, says the LORD, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

Jer 32:38  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 11:20  that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 14:11  and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah. Darby Bible

Eze 34:24  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Eze 36:28  You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Eze 37:23  They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Hos 1:9  Then He said, Call his name Not My People, for you are not My people, and I will not be for you. LITV [RSV has "I am"]

Zec 2:5[9]  And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, and I will be for glory in her midst, declares Jehovah. LITV

Zec 8:8  and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness."

Psa 50:21  You have done these things, and I have kept silence; you thought that surely I would be like you LITV

Job 3:16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.  ASV

Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been ASV

*Job 12:4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor ASV
[Compare NIV "I have become a laughingstock to my friends"]

*Job 17:6 He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit.
[Compare NKJV  "I have become one in whose face men spit."
KJV "and aforetime I was as a tabret."
DARBY "and I am become one to be spit on in the face."]

Song 1:7  for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions?

Rth 2:13  though I am not one of your maidservants
[Compare KJV, ASV "though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens."
NET "though I could never be equal to one of your servants."

1Ch 17:13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son

1Ch 28:6  I will be his father

For this reason, many other Bibles do not translate Exodus 3:14 as I AM, but rather "I will be," such as The James Moffatt Translation and Smith & Goodspeed's An American Translation. The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation By Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler says that Exodus 3:14 is "probably best translated as 'I Will Be What I Will Be'" and Robert Alter in his Hebrew Bible concludes as well that "I Will Be Who I Will Be" is the most plausible construction. Frederic Huidekoper in his "Genesis, Chapters I.-XI.: In Parallel Columns" also believes "I Will Be What I Will Be" "is the only translation." https://tinyurl.com/se9cupw . Even Walter Martin in his The Kingdom of the Occult at footnote 25 in the Eastern Mysticism and the New Age section that "the original words literally signify 'I will be what I will be.'"

"YHWH is the name that describes this essence and identity most clearly: 'I will be what I will be.'" Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation By Herman Bavinck, John Bolt, John Vriend

"The traditional English translation within Judaism favors 'I will be what I will be' because there is no present tense of the verb 'to be' in the Hebrew language." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_that_I_Am

Elsewhere in Judaism, The book "An Introduction to Judaism" By Nicholas de Lange prefers "I shall be what I shall be" https://tinyurl.com/sxtq8z9 as does "Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow" By Arthur Green https://tinyurl.com/qko3w3a and "Tales of the Village Rabbi: A Manhattan Chronicle" By Harvey M. Tattelbaum https://tinyurl.com/tuf4wv9 and "Gan Sofer" by Baruch Myers (Page 275) and "The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition" https://tinyurl.com/udpkgmo and "Prophecy: The History of an Idea in Medieval Jewish Philosophy" By Howard Kreisel https://tinyurl.com/vnwca73 and "Crescas: Light of the Lord (Or Hashem): Translated with introduction and notes" by Roslyn Weiss https://tinyurl.com/yx2o9qdb and Rational Rabbis: Science and Talmudic Culture by Menachem Fisch (Page 194) and "Religion of the Age and of the Ages" by Abraham Moses Hershman (Page 61) and "Judaism: an Analysis and an Interpretation" by Israel Herbert Levinthal (Page 61) and Journal of Reform Judaism, Volume 32, 1985 (Page 112) and it is ascribed to the great medieval Jewish commentator Rashi in "The God Who May Be: A Hermeneutics of Religion by Richard Kearney (Page 25).

See also The Exodus 3:14/John 8:58 Nothing-Burger
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-exodus-314john-858-nothing-burger.html

The Present of Past Action and John 8:58
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-present-of-past-action-and-john-858.html

EGW EIMI (ego eimi), I AM and John 8:58
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/egw-eimi-ego-eimi-i-am-and-john-858.html

Buy: And the Word was a god: A New Book on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1  and The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and both are only 99 cents

[The newer NWT has “I Will Become What I Choose to Become.”]

Some Naughty Popes on This Day in History

Download: Vicars of Christ - the Dark Side of the Papacy by Peter De Rosa

This Day In History: Pope John XII was Pope on this day in 955. He gained notoriety by being bludgeoned to death while naked in bed by a jealous husband. In fact, Pope John XIII died the same way. Prior to him Pope Leo VII had a heart attack during sexual congress. Pope Paul II also had a heart attack (1471 A.D.), although in his case a page boy was involved.

See also: 200 Books on DVDrom on the Dark Side of Christianity
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/200-books-on-dvdrom-on-dark-side-of.html

The Legend of Pope Joan, 1873 Article
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-legend-of-pope-joan-1873-article.html

Download: The Final Conclave by Malachi Martin
https://archive.org/details/TheFinalConclave

Download: Windswept House - A Vatican Novel by Malachi Martin
http://www.conspiracycentral101.com/blog/windsept-house-by-fr-malachi-martin

The Pope who Rewrote the Bible
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-pope-who-rewrote-bible.html

Download: Babylon Mystery Religion - Ralph Woodrow
https://archive.org/details/Babylon-Mystery-Religion-Ralph-Woodrow

Download: The Power of the Popes by Pierre Claude François Daunou

Download: The Pocket Guide to the Popes

Unitarian Martyr Johann Sylvan on This Day in History

This Kindle book, The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only 99 cents

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This Day In History: Reformed German theologian Johann Sylvan was executed on this day in 1572 for his Antitrinitarian beliefs. The negative connotations in denying the Trinity Doctrine goes back to the Arian controversy in the 4th century. This controversy carried with it such a stigma that, Protestants still clung to it while shedding itself of all other "Popish" beliefs, even while Catholics had long admitted that the Trinity is based solely on the authority of the church, not the Bible. Many after realized this and paid for this realization with their lives.

Download: When Jesus Became God by Ridhard E. Rubenstein
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-fVoMnUsaDlQlaRnI

Download: How Jesus Became God by Bart Ehrman
https://archive.org/details/HowJesusBecameGodTheExaltBartD

Download: How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God?: Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus by Larry W. Hurtado
https://tinyurl.com/ty6n6ot

See also The Terrible Death of Michael Servetus
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-terrible-death-of-michael-servetus.html

Unitarian History by John Hayward 1860
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/03/unitarian-history-by-by-john-hayward.html

Giordano Bruno, Martyr for the Trinity
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/02/giordano-bruno-martyr-for-trinity.html

Johann Sylvan - Unitarian Martyr
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/12/johann-sylvan-unitarian-martyr.html

The Trinity NO PART of Primitive Christianity, by James Forrest A.M. 1836
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-trinity-no-part-of-primitive.html

The Interrogation of Unitarian Anabaptist Martyr Herman van Vlekwijk
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-interrogation-of-unitarian.html

Peter Gunther, Unitarian Martyr
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/09/peter-gunther-unitarian-martyr.html

A Catholic Priest Declares the Trinity Doctrine "Opposed to Human Reason."
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-catholic-priest-declares-trinity.html

Edward Wightman (Unitarian Martyr)
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/edward-wightman-unitarian-martyr.html

metatron3@gmail.com

Genesis 1:2 in the New World Translation

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The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Genesis 1:2:

Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” (NWT)

The website says: The Hebrew phrase, weruach elohim, is literally “the Spirit of God,” but Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit, so verses where the Spirit is active are modified.

Reply: It should be noted that the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit is a later belief. We got our Hebrew Old Testament (the Masoretic text) and the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) from the Jews, and they did not believe in the idea of a being known as the Holy Spirit. "In Judaism, Holy Spirit (ruach ha-kodesh) refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the universe or over God's creatures." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit_in_Judaism
Naturally, this then would be reflected in the text of the Old Testament.*

The website says: Interestingly, in other passages where ruach appears, such as Genesis 6:3 and 41:38, they retain the translation “spirit,” though they make sure not to capitalize the word.

Reply: The website seems to have cherry-picked a couple of verses from Genesis in order to make their point, but the bigger picture exposes their lack of knowledge in this area. Please take note of the following occurrences of the word Ruach in Genesis, using the New Revised Standard Version, The King James Version, the New American Bible and the New World Translation:

Genesis 1:2
NRSV: a wind from God
KJV: the Spirit of God
NAB: a mighty wind
NWT: God’s active force

Genesis 3:8
NRSV: in the garden at the time of the evening breeze
KJV: in the garden in the cool of the day:
NAB: in the garden at the breezy time of the day
NWT: in the garden about the breezy part of the day

Genesis 6:3
NRSV: My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever
KJV: said, My spirit shall not always
NAB: My spirit shall not remain in man forever
NWT: My spirit shall not act toward man indefinitely

Genesis 6:17
NRSV: in which is the breath of life
KJV: all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life,
NAB: in which there is the breath of life
NWT: in which the force of life is active

Genesis 7:15
NRSV: in which there was the breath of life
KJV: wherein [is] the breath of life.
NAB: in which there was the breath of life
NWT: in which the force of life was active

Genesis 7:22
NRSV: in whose nostrils was the breath of life
KJV: in whose nostrils was the breath of life
NAB: with the faintest breath of life in its nostrils
NWT: in which the breath of the force of life was active in its nostrils

Genesis 8:1
NRSV: And God made a wind blow
KJV: and God made a wind to pass over
NAB: God made a wind sweep over
NWT: and God caused a wind to pass over

Genesis 26:35
NRSV: and they made life bitter for Isaac
KJV: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac
NAB: they became a source of embitterment to Isaac
NWT: they were a source of bitterness of spirit to Isaac

Genesis 41:8
NRSV: In the morning his spirit was troubled
KJV: in the morning that his spirit was troubled;
NAB: Next morning his spirit was agitated
NWT: in the morning that his spirit became agitated

Genesis 41:38
NRSV: one in whom is the spirit of God
KJV: in whom the Spirit of God
NAB: endowed with the spirit of God
NWT: in whom the spirit of God

Genesis 45:27
NRSV: to carry him, the spirit of their father
KJV: to carry him, the spirit of Jacob
NAB: the spirit of their father Jacob
NWT: the spirit of Jacob their father

As you can see, when the word "spirit" is actually used, the NRSV and NAB also made sure not to capitalize the word either. Is it because of some sinister agenda? The word spirit has many meanings, as you can see even in an Evangelical Bible like the New American Standard Version which translates Ruach as... air (2 times), anger (1 time), blast (2 times), breath (31 times), breathless (1 time), cool (1 time), courage (1 time), despondency (1 times), exposed (1 time), grief (1 time), heart (1 time), inspired (1 time), mind (3 times), motives (1 time), points (1 time), quick-tempered (1 time), side (4 times), sides (2 times), Spirit (76 times), spirit (127 times), spirits (3 times), strength (1 times), temper (2 times), thoughts (1 times), trustworthy (1 times), wind (98 times), winds (7 times), windy (2 times) and wrath (1 time).

*"Spirit in the Old Testament was originally wind and breath. To the ancient Israelite it meant the breath of life, and since Yahweh was the living God and the giver of life He was called spirit...the spirit of Yahweh has many functions. It is a creative force and a spirit of judgement..." The Triune God: A Historical Study of the Doctrine of the Trinity By Edmund J. Fortman (read the entire section at https://tinyurl.com/Spirit-Fortman )

See also: Answering Questions on the holy spirit
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/01/answering-questions-on-holy-spirit.html

The Holy Spirit-Active Force or the 3rd Person of the Trinity?
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-holy-spirit-active-force-or-3rd.html

May the Force Be With You: Genesis 1:2 and the Word "Spirit"
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/06/may-force-be-with-you-genesis-12-and.html

Genesis 1:2 and the spirit of God in various translations of the Bible
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2019/10/genesis-12-and-spirit-of-god-in-various.html

Buy: And the Word was a god: A New Book on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1  and The Dark History of the Trinity, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and both are only 99 cents

metatron3@gmail.com

The [three-tribe] Division at Numbers 1:52 and the New World Translation

The website at http://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVSermons/NewWorldTransaltion.html has many criticisms of the New World Translation Bible, but I am only going to concentrate on one Scripture today, and that is the one at Numbers 1:52:

Numbers 1:52 “And the sons of Israel must encamp each with reference to his camp and each man by his [three-tribe] division by their armies.” (NWT)

"The Hebrew phrase ‘al-dighlo, literally means 'besides his banner,' but Jehovah Witnesses regard saluting a flag as idolatry, so the text was altered to remove reference to the presence of a flag or standard."

Reply: Yes, many Bibles do use "standard" or "banner" as a meaning for the Hebrew word DEGEL, but like McClintock and Strong's Cyclopædia says after discussing the Hebrew words used: "Neither of them, however, expresses the idea which 'standard' conveys to our minds, viz. a flag." At Song of Solomon 6:4; 10 a form of DEGEL is used to describe a division of the heavenly armies (constellations), Here, GEORGE ATHAS, Dept of Semitic Studies, University of Sydney says, "This would also fit the context in which DEGEL implies a division of an army. A constellation would certainly make sense if it seen as both something you look up at, and something which is an ordered division of the starry host."

So the Hebrew word used here can also mean "division of an army". And we know that they are divided into 3 tribes by reading Numbers 2:3-8

The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary by Robert Alter adds that "banner" is "the consensus of post-biblical Hebrew tradition for understanding the term degel" however, "Baruch Levine summons considerable comparative Semitic evidence, seconded by the Aramaic Targums, to argue that degel actually designates a 'sociomilitary unit' (perhaps something like 'regiment'?)."

The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation By Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler states on page 287 "The meaning of the Hebrew term 'degel' is uncertain...'degel' may refer to a military unit, a subdivision of the tribe."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4, says on page 610: "R. de Vaux has argued that degel signified a division of the army." This he states in his own book (Ancient Israel: Its Life and Instructions By Roland De Vaux): "This word does not mean a standard or ensign, as so many modern dictionaries and translations interpret it, but a division of the army. This is the right meaning in Nb 1:52; 2:2034; 10: 14-25; it is also the sense given by the ancient versions, and it is used with this meaning in the papyri of Elephantine and in the Order of War from Qumram." The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 1 also echoes Roland De Vaux's views. This is why the NRSV Bible translates Numbers 1:52 as "The other Israelites shall camp in their respective regimental camps, by companies."

Neither the New American Bible, nor Brenton's Septuagint mention "banner" or "flag" here. The revised New World Translation does offer "standard" and "banner" as alternate readings.

Once again, the NWT Bible proves to be the shining city on the hill in a swamp full of lesser Bible versions.

metatron3@gmail.com

Bel and the Dragon - The First Locked-Room Mystery

Bel and the Dragon - The Biblical Locked-Room Mystery

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See also The 300 Oldest Murder Mystery and Crime Books & Stories on DVDrom

The locked-room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which (usually) a murder is committed under circumstances under which it was seemingly impossible for the criminal to commit the crime and evade detection in the course of getting in and out of the room where the crime occured. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene with no indication as to how the intruder could have entered or left. Following other conventions of classic detective fiction, the reader is normally presented with the puzzle and all of the clues, and is encouraged to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed in a dramatic climax.

When we think of the early mystery genre we generally think of the late 19th century with Sherlock holmes. In the specific case of the Locked Room Mystery story, the apocryphal Old Testament story, Bel and the Dragon, is often viewed as one of the first, if not the oldest. Here then is that tale:

When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. 
And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends. 
Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine.

The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God. 
And the king said to him, "Why do you not worship Bel?" He answered, "Because I do not revere man-made idols, but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh."
The king said to him, "Do you not think that Bel is a living God? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?"

Then Daniel laughed, and said, "Do not be deceived, O king; for this is but clay inside and brass outside, and it never ate or drank anything." 

Then the king was angry, and he called his priests and said to them, "If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die.

But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel." And Daniel said to the king, "Let it be done as you have said."

Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel.

And the priests of Bel said, "Behold, we are going outside; you yourself, O king, shall set forth the food and mix and place the wine, and shut the door and seal it with your signet. 

And when you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will die; or else Daniel will, who is telling lies about us." 

They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions. 

When they had gone out, the king set forth the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes and they sifted them throughout the whole temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door and sealed it with the king's signet, and departed. 

In the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything. 

Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.

And the king said, "Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?" He answered, "They are unbroken, O king." 
As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table, and shouted in a loud voice, "You are great, O Bel; and with you there is no deceit, none at all." 

Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, "Look at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are."

The king said, "I see the footsteps of men and women and children." 

Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests and their wives and children; and they showed him the secret doors through which they were accustomed to enter and devour what was on the table.
Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.

Other early Locked-Room Mysteries you might want to peruse are Edgar Allan Poe's _The Murders in the Rue Morgue_, Israel Zangwill's _The Big Bow Mystery_, Arthur Conan Doyle's _The Adventure of the Speckled Band_ and Gaston Leroux's _Mystery of the Yellow Room_.

For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here

The New Catholic Encyclopedia & the New World Translation

The New Catholic Encyclopedia & the New World Translation

The wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Translation_of_the_Holy_Scriptures has the following excerpt:

"The New Catholic Encyclopedia says of the New World Translation reference edition: '[Jehovah's Witnesses] translation of the Bible [has] an impressive critical apparatus. The work is excellent except when scientific knowledge comes into conflict with the accepted doctrines of the movement.'"

I wonder what this "scientific knowledge" means? If one qualifies their own knowledge as "scientific" is this then meant to differentiate what "they" know as superior to someone else's view on the same subject. For instance, Karl Marx, in order to highlight his view of Socialism as opposed to the Utopian Socialists would claim that his theory was "Scientific." Time would tell us that his Scientific Socialism in practice was irrational and disastrous.

If by Scientific they mean actual Science, keep in mind that Piltdown Man was Science at one time.

I'm thinking perhaps they mean Scientific in the following meaning according to dictionary.com: "regulated by or conforming to the principles of exact science: scientific procedures....systematic or accurate in the manner of an exact science."

However, Bible translation is not an exact science. This is why there are so many Bible translations, including many Catholic Bible versions*, and these versions have copious explanatory notes. There are even Catholic editions of Protestant Bibles, such as the Good News Bible, the Living Bible, the Revised and New Revised Standard Versions.

If the encyclopedia is noting areas in which the New World Translation appears to deny the deity of Christ, keep in mind the words of this scholar:

"When we consider further the fact...that Christ is nowhere called God in any unambiguous passage by any writer of the New Testament and that it is nowhere recorded that he ever claimed this title, we cannot reasonably regard this abstinence from the use of the term as accidental." Ezra Abbot

 "There is scarcely one text alleged by the Trinitarians which is not otherwise expounded by their own writers".—John Locke (Common Place Book)

See also Prof. Felix Just, S.J. on John 1:1
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2017/11/prof-felix-just-sj-on-john-11.html

Catholic Confusion over John 1:1
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/catholic-confusion-over-john-11.html

A Catholic Priest Declares the Trinity Doctrine "Opposed to Human Reason."
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-catholic-priest-declares-trinity.html

Defending the New American Bible Against Catholics
https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2018/03/defending-new-american-bible-against.html


*Catholic Bible Versions:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Westminster Version
Knox Bible
Kleist-Lilly New Testament
Francis Aloysius Spencer New Testament
Confraternity Version
New American Bible (with subsequent updates)
Jerusalem Bible
Ignatius Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
New Jerusalem Bible
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
CTS New Catholic Bible
Revised New Jerusalem Bible
Saint Joseph New Catholic Bible

The Superstition Regarding Christmas

This Kindle book, The Dark History of Christmas, is now available on Amazon by clicking here...and it is only $1.99

 Visit here for a description

The Superstition Regarding Christmas By Justin Dewey Fulton D.D. 1872

Christmas, called the great festival of the Christian world, was a Pagan feast to the Sun and Saturn, which was Romanized, adopted, and transformed into a part of the church, as was the statue of Jupiter in the Pantheon, called afterwards the statue of the Apostle Peter, and made to serve a purpose in popish ceremonies. Previous to the year A. D. 500, the Christi messa, or mass of Christ, from which Christmas is derived, began with the festival of St. Thomas, December 21st, and extended to the feast of Purification, February 20, and included many lesser festivals. The Pagan festival was mainly a day of riotous indulgence, universal license, low masquerades, and all sorts of vulgar sports. The throne, for the time being, was generally surrendered to misrule and wassail. No wonder that the old Puritan Prynne, referring to these disorders, said, “that they should cause all pious Christians eternally to abominate them.” “The Eastern church appears to have originally celebrated Christ's baptism, while the Roman division commemorated the nativity; but towards the close of the fourth century the two branches of the church agreed to unite on the latter, and to celebrate it uniformly on the 25th of December. “The rites of Christians in the early days were simple and impressive. Bells were rung and masses said at midnight, carols sung and the churches dressed with evergreens. Friendly visits were made and presents given, and thus the foundations laid for the world-wide observance of the season which has come down through all the ages with only trifling modifications. “In more modern times, England and Germany have taken the lead in the celebration of Christmas, though very recently, America, uniting the practicable features of the customs of both countries, has made the keeping of Christmas national and almost universal.” There is no evidence that Christ was born on Dec. 25th Newcome claims that the event occurred in October, Paulus in March, Weisler in February, Lichtenstien in June, Griswell in April, Lardner and Robinson in autumn; while Newton, because of the prophecy of John the Baptist, “He must increase and I must decrease,” declared the church placed John's birth at June 24th, and Christ's at Dec. 25th, when the days began to increase. There is but one reason for making it a holiday. As observed in our churches and among our people, it is calculated to promote a friendly state of feeling. But as a day to commemorate the nativity of our Christ, there is neither warrant for the festival nor reasons for its observance. Christ never intended that it should become one of the institutions of the church.

See also The Pagan Origins of Christmas - 40 PDF Books on CDROM

Removing the Divine Name as a Protection against Blasphemy

One of the Ten Commandments says: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. KJV.

Or, as the American Standard Version has it: Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou_shalt_not_take_the_name_of_the_Lord_thy_God_in_vain writes:

"Based on this commandment, Second Temple Judaism by the Hellenistic period developed a taboo of pronouncing the name of God at all, resulting in the replacement of the Tetragrammaton by "Adonai..."

To me, this is the same faulty logic as practising castration as a protection against adultery.

Perhaps we should also cut off our hands to avoid committing the other commandment of not stealing, or maybe we should pluck out our eyes to avoid coveting thy neighbors' wife.

This same idiocy gave us the evils of socialism/communism, the belief that we must abolish private property in order to save us from any negative effects of private property.

This same reasoning is what leads to anorexia...a deadly mental illness wherein someone stops eating for fear of gaining weight.

Now some of this might make sense if God kept his name concealed or hidden, but the contrary is true. When it came to His Name, God was a flagrant exhibitionist. His Name, YHWH/Jehovah is mentioned almost 7000 times in the Bible, more than any other name therein. God flaunted His Name with reckless abandon. When it came to His Name, Jehovah was certainly guilty of shameless self promotion.

Now, notice how God speaks of His Name:

"Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." ASV

"Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth for ever; Thy memorial name, O Jehovah, throughout all generations." Psa_135:13 ASV

Now, when you crack open an English Standard Version Bible, do you get the sense that God's Name has been preserved "for ever"..."unto all generations?" No! Whereas the original had it 7000 times, the newer Bibles have completely removed it. This omission must be regarded as a sin of the highest order.

This is the equivalent of me writing an autobiography and every time I mentioned my name, a future editor would replace my name with the generic noun "man." Doing so would not distinguish me then from any other person. Removing God's name and replacing it with a generic "God" or "Lord" puts Jehovah on the same level as Baal, Dagon, Molech or even a human with divine authority.

The translators of the American Standard Version (1901) correctly stated: "the American Revisers, after a careful consideration, were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament, as it fortunately does not in the numerous versions made by modern missionaries. This Memorial Name, explained in Ex. iii. 14, 15, and emphasized as such over and over in the original text of the Old Testament, designates God as the personal God, as the covenant God, the God of revelation, the Deliverer, the Friend of his people;-not merely the abstractly 'Eternal One' of many French translations, but the ever living Helper of those who are in trouble. This personal name [Jehovah], with its wealth of sacred associations, is now restored to the place in the sacred text to which it has an unquestionable claim."

See also 200 PDF Books on the Divine Name Jehovah/YHWH on DVDrom (Tetragrammaton)

and 145 Rare Divine Name Bibles on DVDrom (Jehovah, Yahweh, YHWH) PDF Format

The Gospel According to St Paul - 100 PDF Books to Download

Only $4.00 -  You can pay using the Cash App by sending money to $HeinzSchmitz and send me an email at theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com with your email for the download. You can also pay using Facebook Pay in Messenger

Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

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Contents:  

The Gospel According to Saint Paul by William P DuBose 1907

Was the Apostle Paul an Epileptic by Matthew Woods MD 1913

St. Paul and the Mystery-Religions by H.A.A. Kennedy 1913

The Supposed Visit of St. Paul to Britain by Edward Cardwell 1837

Saint Paul by Ernest Renan 1888 (this book was banned by the Church)

The Apostles by Ernest Renan 1875

The Introduction of Christianity into Britain - an Argument on the Evidence in favour of St. Paul having visited the extreme boundary of the west by Bourchier Wrey Savile 1861

The Fifth Gospel - The Gospel according to Paul, Revised version by Charles Roads 1857

Life and Teaching of Paul by Alfred E Garvie 1910

Essays on some of the difficulties in the writings of St Paul 1845

Paul the Mystic by James M Campbell 1908

St. Paul in Britain - The Origin of British as Opposed to Papal Christianity by Morgan Williams 1880

Studies of Paul and his Gospel by Alfred E Garvie 1911

Alleged Disagreement Between Paul and James 1852

St. Paul and Christianity by Arthur C Headlam 1913

St. Paul and Protestantism by Matthew Arnold 1883

The Gospel of Paul by Charles C Everett 1893

The Religion and Theology of Paul by William Morgan 1917

Socialism in Church History by Conrad Noel (The Sociology of St Paul) 1911

St. Paul's Conception of Christianity by Alexander B Bruce 1896

The Life and Epistles of Saint Paul by William H Conybeare 1892

St. Paul - a Study in Social and Religious History by Adolf Deissmann

Critical Examination of the Life of St. Paul by Boulanger 1823

Roman Legends about the Apostles Paul and Peter by Viktor Rydberg 1898

The Religious Experience of Saint Paul by Percy Gardner 1911

The Earlier Epistles of St. Paul, Their motive and Origin by Kirsopp Lake 1911

The Apostle Paul: a Sketch of the Development of his Doctrine by A Sabatier 1891

The Many-Sided Paul - a Study of the Character of the Great Apostle as unfolded in the Acts and the Pauline epistles by George F Greene 1901

The Christology of St. Paul by S Nowell Rostron 1912

Paul and Paulinism by James Moffatt 1910

Studies in Pauline Eschatology by EJ Pratt 1917

St. Paul's use of the terms Flesh and Spirit by William P Dickson 1883

Jesus or Paul? by Arnold Meyer 1909

Spiritual Development of St. Paul by George Matheson 1897

Paul and Jesus by Johannes Weiss 1909

The Rival Philosophies of Jesus and of Paul being an explanation of the failures of organized Christianity and a vindication of the teaching of Jesus by Ignatius Singer 1919

Paul and Christ - a Portraiture and an Argument by J.M. Cramp 1873

St. Peter's Recognition of St. Paul as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews by Samuel Fuller 1885

St. Paul and Justification by FB Westcott 1913

The Fundamentals of Christianity - a study of the teaching of Jesus and Paul by Henry C Vedder 1922

Paul and the Revolt against Him by William C Wilkinson 1914

Six Orations of Paul by EP Clark 1922

Plato and Paul by JW Mendenhall 1886

The Epic of Paul by William C Wilkinson 1891

Paul the Conqueror by Mary R Ely 1919

The Apostolical Authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews by Charles Forster 1838

Paul and his Interpreters, a Critical History by Albert Schweitzer 1912

Paul of Tarsus by Erik Kr Johnsen 1919

Three Jewish Martyrs (John the Baptist, Jesus & Paul) by O.W. Coursey 1922

St. Paul, the Man and his Work by Heinrich Weinel 1906

St. Paul the Hero by Rufus M Jones 1917

St. Paul as a Theologian, Volume 1 by Paul Feine 1908

St. Paul as a Theologian, Volume 2 by Paul Feine 1908

Paul of Tarsus, an Inquiry into the Times and the Gospel of the Apostle of the Gentiles 1872

Saint Paul in the Light of Modern Research by JR Cohu 1911

Paul's Rebuke of Peter 1832

The Origin of Paul's Religion by J Gresham Machen 1921

Paul at Ephesus by William A Alcott 1846

Lectures on the influence of the apostle Paul on the development of Christianity by Otto Pfleiderer 1885

Studies of the man Paul by Robert E Speer 1900

St. Paul at Rome by Charles Merivale 1885

Cities of Paul by William Burnet Wright 1906

St. Paul's Friendships and his Friends by Carl Hermon Dudley

His Great Apostle by Sydney Strong 1906

Not Paul, but Jesus by Gamaliel Smith 1823

The Conversion of St. Paul by George J Geer 1871

The Ideas of the Apostle Paul by James F Clarke 1884

Epochs in the Life of Paul by AT Robertson 1909

In the Time of Paul - how Christianity entered into and Modified Life in the Roman Empire by Edward G Seldon 1900

Bible Studies in the Life of Paul, Historical and Constructive by Henry T Sell 1904

The Soldier of the Cross - The Life of St Paul by Jane Parker 1858

The Quintessence of Paulinism by Arthur S Peake 1918

Paul the Dauntless by Basil Matthews 1916

The Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians by RD Byles 1897

Paul the Preacher by John Eadie 1859

The Ethics of St. Paul by Archibald BD Alexander 1910

Pauline and other Studies in Early Christian History by WM Ramsay 1906

Jesus the Christ and Paul the Apostle in the Light of Modern Criticism by W Douglass Reid 1915

Paul and his Companions by E Basil Redlich 1913

A New Literal Translation from the original Greek, of all the Apostolical Epistles with a commentary, and notes, philological, critical, explanatory, and practical to which is added a history of the life of the Apostle Paul by James MacKnight 1841

The Pastoral Epistles in the Light of one Roman Imprisonment by T Cowden Laughlin 1905

The Last Years of Saint Paul by Constant Fouard 1901

To Nazareth or Tarsus? by HW Southworth 1901

A Short History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age by George Holley Gilbert

The Apostolic Age in the Light of Modern Criticism by James Hardy Ropes 1908

Saint Paul by Frederic WH Myers 1882

Paulinism, a Contribution to the History of Primitive Christian Theology, Volume 1 by Otto Pfleiderer 1877

Paulinism, a Contribution to the History of Primitive Christian Theology, Volume 2 by Otto Pfleiderer 1877

The Apostle Paul and the Preaching of Christianity in the Primitive Church by Sir Richard Davis Hanson 1875

The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul by James Smith 1880

The Relation of St. Paul to contemporary Jewish Thought by Henry St John Thackeray 1900

St Paul's Conception of the Last Things by HAA Kennedy 1904

Qualitative Nouns in the Pauline Epistles by Arthur W Slaten 1918

Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, Volume 1 by Ferdinand Christian Baur 1876

Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, Volume 2 by Ferdinand Christian Baur 1876

Does Hellenism Contribute Constituent Elements to Pauls Christology by John William Bailey 1905

St. Paul in Damascus and Arabia by George Rawlinson 1880

Paul the Apostle - Pioneer Missionary to the Heathen World by John W Ligon 1916