Joseph Smith & The Book of Mormon on this Day in History

 

This day in history: On this day in 1823 Joseph Smith claims to have found the golden plates after being directed by God through the Angel Moroni to the place where they were buried. This then led to the Book of Mormon and an overpriced musical not presently playing on Broadway thanks to the shutdown. However, there were a few problems with the Book of Mormon:

The French word "Adieu" closes the book of Jacob (Jacob 7:27). The Book of Mormon dates Jacob between 544 and 421 BC. The French language didn't even exist until around 700 AD!

The Book of Ether speaks of steel (7:8,9) and breakable windows (2:23) back in Abraham's time. Neither had been invented at that time.

The Book of Mormon implies that the North American Indians are descended from the Jews. But we now know that American natives are descended from east Asia.

2 Nephi 22:2 quotes Isaiah 12:2 almost verbatim from the King James Bible:

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."

However, this scripture in the Book of Mormon is dated at 559 and 545 BCE, the King James Bible was not released until 1611 AD.

However, one of my favorite quotes about the Mormons comes from a Jewish academic, Alan Goldberg:

"Mormonisn teaches the deity of Christ and the Trinity, and freely admits its followers recognize many gods. Trinitarian Christianity denies that it is in any way polytheistic, but is it not the same basic qualitative form of theology" It is not a perversion of Trinitarian theology to draw a parallel to Mormonisn, Yet, it would be impossible to draw this parallel from Judaism or Unitarian Christianity, neither of which ever recognized component parts of God, nor ever made God a man. It is clear that, except for differences in degree, the same basic principles for the foundation of Trinitarian Christianity and Mormonism. The qualitative similarity is that both teach multiple divine entities. The qualitative difference is that Mormonism admits it." Every Tree is Known by Its Fruit-A Journal of Radical Reformation Vol. 6, No. 1, Fall 1996

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Contents:

Essays in Fallacy (The fallacy in theology) by Sir Andrew MacPhail 1910 ("Paul never went so far as to elevate Jesus to an equality with God. The utmost he conceded was that he was higher than the angels. It was left for the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to force into Christianity the Alexandrine conception that the world was created by the Son of God. That made it easy for the writer of the Fourth Gospel to declare in his prologue, 'In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was a god.'"

The Dawn of Christianity By Alfred Wilhelm Martin 1914 ("'In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was a God,' and it 'became flesh' in order that 'God whom no man had seen at any time might be made manifest.' Not only does the Fourth Gospel root itself in a Greek idea, but it also unfolds with all the stateliness, dignity and order of a Greek tragedy."

Apologia by Edwin Abbott 1907 ("Notice how the evangelist — when he has begun his gospel by asserting the eternal pre-existence of the Logos ['In the beginning was the Logos'] — does not go on to say, as a Tritheist might do, 'and the Logos was [a] God.' No, he places first the statement 'The Logos was with God.'")

Criticism on the Theological Idea of Deity - Contrasting the views Entertained of a Supreme Being by the Ancient Greeks with those of the Hebrew Writers by MB Craven 1871

Biblical Notes and Dissertations Chiefly intended to confirm and illustrate the doctrine of the Deity of Christ; with some remarks on the practical importance of that doctrine by Joseph John Gurney 1833

Antitrinitarian Biography - Sketches of the lives and writings of distinguished antitrinitarians, exhibiting a view of the state of the Unitarian doctrine and worship in the principal nations of Europe, from the reformation to the close of the seventeenth century, to which is prefixed a history of Unitarianism in England during the same period, Volume 1 by Robert Wallace 1850

Antitrinitarian Biography - Sketches of the lives and writings of distinguished antitrinitarians, exhibiting a view of the state of the Unitarian doctrine and worship in the principal nations of Europe, from the reformation to the close of the seventeenth century, to which is prefixed a history of Unitarianism in England during the same period, Volume 2 by Robert Wallace 1850

Antitrinitarian Biography - Sketches of the lives and writings of distinguished antitrinitarians, exhibiting a view of the state of the Unitarian doctrine and worship in the principal nations of Europe, from the reformation to the close of the seventeenth century, to which is prefixed a history of Unitarianism in England during the same period, Volume 3 by Robert Wallace 1850

The Christ of God - The Rationale of the Deity of Christ by Charles Mann 1897

Letters on the Trinity and on the divinity of Christ by Moses Stuart 1829

Testimonies of the Ante-Nicene Fathers to the Divinity of Christ by Edward Burton 1829

One God in One Person Only And Jesus Christ a Being Distinct from God by John Sherman 1805

A Treatise on the Character of Jesus by Ethan Smith - 1814

Napoleon's argument for the divinity of Christ and the Scriptures 1861

The Mustard Tree -an argument on behalf of the divinity of Christ by O.R. Vassall-Phillips 1912

A Manual of the History of Dogmas, Volume 1 by Bernard John Otten - 1922

A Manual of the History of Dogmas, Volume 2 by Bernard John Otten - 1922

Doctrine and Development by Hastings Rashdall 1898

The Normative use of Scripture by Typical Theologians of Protestant Orthodoxy in Great Britain and America by Charles M Sharpe 1912

Unitarianism Philosophically and Theologically Examined, Volume 1 by Anthony Kohlmann 1832

Unitarianism Philosophically and Theologically Examined, Volume 2 by Anthony Kohlmann 1832

Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel, A View of the Scriptural Grounds of Unitarianism with an Examination of all the Expressions in the New Testament which are Generally Considered as Supporting Opposite Doctrines by Lant Carpenter 1823

The Book of Churches and Sects by Thomas Charles Boone 1826 (has a section on John 1:1)

The Reading _Only-Begotten God_, article in the Theological Review 1871

On The Reading _Only-Begotten God_ John 1:18, article in the Modern Review 1883

The Doctrine of the Greek Article by Thomas Middleton 1833

Remarks on the uses of the Definitive Article, Containing Proofs of the Divinity of Christ by Granville Sharp 1803

Tertullian and the Doctrine of the Trinity, article in The Princeton Theological Review 1905

The Life of Jesus Critically Examined, Volume 1 by David Friedrich Strauss - 1892

The Life of Jesus Critically Examined, Volume 2 by David Friedrich Strauss - 1892

Contributions to Christology by Emmanuel Bonavia 1869

Some Thoughts on Christology by James Drummond 1902

The Christology of Jesus by James Stalker 1899

Christology of the Old Testament by Ernst Wilhelm Hegstenberg Volume 1 1836

Christology of the Old Testament by Ernst Wilhelm Hegstenberg Volume 2 1836

Christology of the Old Testament by Ernst Wilhelm Hegstenberg Volume 3 1836

Christology, a dogmatic treatise on the Incarnation by Rev. Joseph Pohle 1913

The Incarnation - a study of Philippians 2:5-11 by EH Gifford and Henry Wace 1911

The Christology in the Apostolic Fathers by Alonzo Stark 1912

The Pre-existence of Jesus Christ as declared in the Old and New Testament by Joseph Alderson 1832

Does Hellenism Contribute Constituent Elements to Paul's Christology by John Bailey 1905

Outline of New Testament Christology, a Study of Genetic Relationships within the Christology of the New Testament Period by John Granbery 1909

The Christology of St. Paul by S. Nowell Rostron 1912

A Critical History of the Evolution of Trinitarianism, and its Outcome in the New Christology by Levi Paine 1900

Christology and Personality by William Sanday 1911

The Nature of God - a series of lectures by John Hall 1910

An Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ by Richard Treffry 1837

The Kenosis or Humiliation of Christ, by Henry C Vedder, article in the Baptist Review 1880

A Defence of the Nicene Creed out of the extant writings of the Catholick Doctors who Flourishsed during the 3 First Centuries of the Christian Church by John Bull 1851 Volume 1

A Defence of the Nicene Creed out of the extant writings of the Catholick Doctors who Flourishsed during the 3 First Centuries of the Christian Church by John Bull 1851 Volume 2

The Humiliation of Christ in its Physical, Ethical and Official Aspects by Alexander Bruce 1899

The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians by Ernst Bunsen 1880

Calvin's Doctrine of the Trinity by BB Warfield 1909

Christian Doctrine Harmonized and its Rationality Vindicated, Volume 1, by John Kedney 1889

Christian Doctrine Harmonized and its Rationality Vindicated, Volume 2, by John Kedney 1889

Studies in Christian Doctrine by James Drummond 1908

Origin and Development of Nicene Theology, by Hugh M Scott 1896

The Scripture Doctrine of Angels, article in The Popular Science monthly 1877

Creeds or no creeds? (has a section on Christology) by Charles Harris 1922

Theology as an empirical science by D  Macintosh 1919

The Incarnation, article in the Bibliotheca Sacra 1870

The Influence of Greek Ideas and usages upon the Christian church by Edwin Hatch 1914

The Christian Platonists of Alexandria by Charles Biggs 1886

Different New Testament views of Jesus by Joseph Henry Crooker 1891

The Christology of Paul, article in The Monist 1903

The Gospel and its Earliest Interpretations by Orello Cone 1896

Jesus brought back - Meditations on the problems by Joseph Henry Crooker 1889

The LOGOS of Philo and that of ST. John, article in The Methodist Quarterly Review 1858

The Fundamentals- a Testimony to the Truth 1910

The Johannine Theology by G Barker Stevens 1894

The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel - the Text Revised with a Critical Introduction and Indices 1896 Volume 1

The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel - the Text Revised with a Critical Introduction and Indices 1896 Volume 2

A History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of the Christ, Volume 1, by DR JA Dorner 1872

A History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of the Christ, Volume 2, by DR JA Dorner 1872

A History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of the Christ, Volume 3, by DR JA Dorner 1872

The Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews by HL MacNeil 1914

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ - a Complete Critical Examination of the Origin, Contents, and Connection of the Gospels, Volume 1 by JP Lange 1872

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ - a Complete Critical Examination of the Origin, Contents, and Connection of the Gospels, Volume 2 by JP Lange 1872

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ - a Complete Critical Examination of the Origin, Contents, and Connection of the Gospels, Volume 3 by JP Lange 1872

The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ - a Complete Critical Examination of the Origin, Contents, and Connection of the Gospels, Volume 4 by JP Lange 1872

Christian Dogmatics and Notes on the History of Dogma by Conrad Lindberg 1922

The Evolution of the idea of God: an inquiry into the origins of religion By Grant Allen 1897 (discusses the Trinity)

The Ethnic Trinities and their relations to the Christian Trinity by Levi Leonard Paine 1901

The Origin of the doctrine of the Trinity in theb Christian Church, article in The Morning Light 1883
(The attempt to trace the origin of the doctrine of the Trinity to the Jewish Writings is a failure. But when we proceed to the examination of the other probable sources of information upon this subject, viz., the mythology of ancient nations and the Works of Plato and other philosophers, we are rewarded by the discovery of an abundance of evidence. This evidence is thus referred to by Bishop Browne: "In the mythology of all ancient nations, it is plain that the number Three has been a sacred number. The triads of classical mythology {e.g. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades; or, again, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva in the Capitol) are well known.)

The Nature and Origin of the Pagan Doctrine of the Trinity or Triads. article in the Southern Presbyterian review 1855

The Trinity Idea, article in The Open Court 1895 (lots of pictures of trinities. "The old Christian Trinities (e. g.. Fig. 14) bear a close resemblance to Hindu representations of the Trimurti.")

A History of the Origin of the Doctrine of the Trinity by Hugh Stannus 1882 ("the fifth century Christianity had conquered Paganism and Paganism had infected Christianity. The Church was now victorious and corrupt. The rites of the Pantheon had passed into her worship")

Catholic Papers Written by Different Persons 1894

The LOGOS - Exegetical terms, article in The Biblical World 1899

The Sonship of Christ as Taught in Romans 1:3, 4, article in The American Biblical Repository 1888

Dogmatic Theology by William Shedd Volume 1 1889

Dogmatic Theology by William Shedd Volume 2 1889

Dogmatic Theology by William Shedd Volume 3 1889

The Gospel in the Book of Joshua 1870

The Creeds of Athanasius, Sabellius, and Swedenborg, Examined and Compared by Augustus Clissold 1873

An Introduction to Dogmatic Theology by RF Weidner 1895

The Christian faith; a System of Dogmatics, Volume 1, by T Haring 1913

The Christian faith; a System of Dogmatics, Volume 2, by T Haring 1913

A Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Samuel Green 1867

New Testament Theology by W Beyschlag 1895

Modern Thoughts in its Relations to the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, article in the American Church Review 1872

The Theology of the New Testament by JJ van Oosterzee 1872

The Theology of the New Testament by George Barker Stevens 1910

The Theology of the New Testament by AB Davidson 1907

The Development of Theology in Germany since Kant by Otto Pfleiderer 1890

Athanasianism, article in The New World 1894

H ARCH THS KTISEWS TOU QEOU...Is Christ a Created Being or the Ruler/Source of Creation! by Heinz Schmitz

The Biblical view of Only True God by Heinz Schmitz

On the use of EGW EIMI at John 8:58 by Heinz Schmitz

Acts 20:28: DIA TOU hAIMATOS TOU IDIOU
"blood of his own Son" or "his own blood?" by Heinz Schmitz

On John 20:28 by Heinz Schmitz

John 1:3, 4, Punctuation, Staircase Parallelism and Caris by Heinz Schmitz

and the Word was LIKE God, by Heinz Schmitz

On Mark 10:18 by Heinz Schmitz

An Examination of Colossians 1:15-20: “Firstborn”; “Other”: What is the correct understanding? by Heinz Schmitz

Jesus: God's Wisdom, by Heinz Schmitz

Some Burning Questions Pertaining to the Messiahship of Jesus and Christology, Why Jews do not accept them by Louis Weiss 1904

The Divinity of Jesus Christ: An Exposition by Egbert Coffin Smyth 1893

God Incarnate by HT Kingdon 1890

Jesus Christ Our Lord, an English bibliography of Christology comprising over 5000 titles annotated and classified by SG Ayres 1906

The divinity of Our Lord by George Funkhouser 1902

The Person of Christ, the Perfection of his Humanity Viewed as a Proof of his Divinity by Philip Schaff 1880

What is the truth about Jesus Christ? Problems of Christology by Friedrich Loofs 1913

Christology, a Discourse Concerning Christ by Robert Felming Volume 1 1705

Christology, a Discourse Concerning Christ by Robert Felming Volume 2 1705

The Glory of Christ as God-Man by Isaac Watts 1795

Jesus Christ God-Man by John Guyse 1719

Christ in type and Prophecy by Anthony Maas 1893

How is the Divinity of Jesus depicted in the Gospels and Epistles by Thomas Whitelaw 1883

The Divinity of Christ by Emile Bougaud 1901

The Divinity Of Christ by Edward Ames 1911

The Divinity Of Christ by Joseph Rickaby 1906

The Doctrine of the Person of Jesus Christ by Hugh Ross MacKintosh 1912

The Humiliation of Christ by A.Bruce 1876

Belief in the Divinity of Jesus Christ by Rev. Didon 1894

St. John the author of the fourth Gospel by C.E. Luthardt 1875

The Divinity Of Christ by A.T. Robertson

Short Reasons for Belief in the Divinity of Christ by a Lady of Title 1843

Summa Theologica Volume 1 by St Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologica Volume 2 by St Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologica Volume 3 by St Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologica Volume 4 by St Thomas Aquinas

The Kenotic Theory by Francis Hall 1898

A Vindication of the Divinity of Jesus Christ by John Baillie 1789

An Appeal to the New Testament in proof of the Divinity of the Son of God by Charles Hawtrey 1794

The Scripture Doctrine of the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ by John Mitchel 1828

Jehovah-Jesus: The Oneness of God: the True Trinity by Robert D Weeks - 1880

Jehovah-Jesus by Thomas Whitelaw - 1913

The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and the manner of our Saviour's Divinity, as they are held in the Catholic Church and the Church of England by Stephen Nye 1701

Why God became Man by Leslie Walker 1921

An Examination of Mr. Robinson of Cambridge's Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ by T. Lindsey 1785

The Safe Side, a Theistic Refutation of the Divinity of Christ by Richard Mitchel 1893

Jehovah-Jesus: Scripture studies of seven sayings of our Lord in the Gospel by Alexander Macleod Symington - 1876

Jehovah Elohim. Trinitarian and unitarian sermons by Edward John Turnour - 1831

Remarks on the uses of the definitive article in the Greek text of the New Testament By Granville Sharp

A Vindication of Certain Passages - an Address to Granville Sharp by Calvin Winstanley

1 JOHN V. 7 AND LUTHER’S GERMAN BIBLE By Ezra Abbot [From the Christian Intelligencer for May 15, 1879]

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF TITUS II. 13 by Ezra Abbot 1881

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROMANS IX. 5. by Ezra Abbot

Ezra Abbot on Acts 20:28

The Creative Christ - a Study of the Incarnation in terms of Modern Thought by Edward Drown 1922

The Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ from Pascal 1898

The Divinity of Our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ Demonstratively Proved by MD Talbot 1843

The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: Eight Lectures by Henry Liddon 1884

The Christ, the Evidence of His Divinity Reviewed from the Standpoint of a Lawyer by Thomas Jerome 1917

Christ the Divine Man, or Deity Veiled by Edward Heaton 1880

History of the Dogma of the Deity of Jesus Christ by Albert Réville 1905

Our Lord, Belief in the Deity of Christ 1908 by E.F. Karl Muller

Studies in John's Gospel - the Gospel of Christ's Deity by David Gregg 1891

A Vindication of the Doctrine of Scripture Concerning the Deity of Christ by John Jamieson 1794 Volume 2

The Mormon Doctrine of Deity by Brigham Henry Roberts

Is Jesus God? by B.B. Warfield 1912

The Deity of Jesus Christ Essential to the Christian Religion by Jacques Abbadie 1777

Letters on the Trinity and on the Divinity of Christ by Moses Stuart 1834

The Suffering-Man-God or The divinity of Jesus Christ resplendent in His sufferings by Father Seraphin 1905

A Series of Sermons on the Divinity of Christ by Thomas Robbins 1820

The Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Asserted and Proved by Sinclare Kelburn 1795

Twelve Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles to which is added a new edition of Five Lectures on the Gospel of St. John as bearing testimony to the Divinity of Jesus Christ 1828

The True Divinity of Jesus Christ by John Barnard 1761

A Seal upon the Lips of Unitarians, Trinitarians who refuse to acknowledge the sole, Supreme, and Exclusive Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Robert Hindmarsh 1815

Tracts in Controversy with Dr. Priestley upon the Historical Question of the belief of the first ages in Our Lord's Divinity by Samuel Horsley 1789

The Soteriology of the New Testament by William Dubose 1892

The Divinity of the Son of God Defended by John Claggett 1719

Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate - Considerations from St Thomas Aquinas 1904

God as Triune, Creator, Incarnate, Atoner by William Gairdner 1916

The Doctrine of the Incarnation by Robert L. Ottley 1896

The Philosophy of the Incarnation by Bishop Garrett 1891

The Philosophy of the Fourth Gospel, a Study of the Logos-doctrine by JS Johnston 1909

St. Athanasius on the Incarnation 1891

Dissertations on Subjects Connected with the Incarnation by Charles Gore 1907

On the Incarnation of the Eternal Word by Marcus Dods 1831

Emmanuel or The incarnation of the Son of God the foundation of Immutable Truth Michael Ferrebee Sadler 1879

Lux Mundi: A Series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation by Charles Gore 1890

The Christian View of God and the World as Centring in the Incarnation by James Orr 1893

The One Christ - an Enquiry into the manner of the Incarnation by Frank Weston 1907

The Incarnation of the Lord by Charles Briggs 1902

The Epistle to the Hebrews: The Greek Texts with Notes and Essays by B.F. Westcott 1892
Great discussion of the LOGOS and prefers the translation "God is thy throne" at Hebrews 1:8. p.24

Who was Jesus by Redford Watkinson 1867

Moses and Christ: The plan of the World's Salvation illustrated by Bible Allegories 1888 by John H Paton

Jesus as Abaddon by Heinz Schmitz

A Reply to Dr Ralph Wilson - Jesus as the Archangel Michael by Heinz Schmitz

The Angel of the Lord: Manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament by William Pakenham Walsh 1876
 gdixierose

Joseph Priestley on Romans 9:5 & 1 John 5:20

 
 This Kindle book, And the Word was a god: Conversations on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1 is available on Amazon by clicking here

Visit a local listing for this book here

Rom. ix. 5.“Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.” This may with equal propriety and truth be rendered, God, who is over all, be blessed for ever, the former sentence ending with the word came; and since no ancient manuscripts are pointed, all the pointings have been made and the different sentences have been distinguished as fallible men have thought the best sense required. It affords an argument favorable to my construction of these words, that it is visual with the apostle Paul to break out into a doxology, or form of thanksgiving to God, after mentioning any remarkable instance of his goodness. See Eph. iii. 21. 1 Tim. i. 17. vi. 10. See also i Pet. iy. ll. Indeed, it is very common in Jewish writings to add a doxology after barely mentioning the name of God.

i John v. 20. “And we know that the son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” This last clause is manifestly explanatory of the title him that is true, or the true one, in the preceding clauses, of whom the son of God has given us an understanding, or with whom he has made us acquainted. As the word even is a mere addition of our translators, instead of we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ, we may read, We are in him that is true, in or by his son Jesus Christ; and this makes a far more consistent sense, and may be considered as an allusion to the words of Christ addressed to the Father, and recorded by this very apostle. John xvii. 3. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Without this interpretation these two texts would flatly contradict one another; for how can the Father be the only true God, if the son be true God also? ·

Buy on Amazon for only 99 cents by clicking here - see a local listing for this here

The James Moffatt Bible on This Day in History

 

Today in History: James Moffatt completed his translation of the Bible on this day in 1926. As a Bible Collector, this is one of my favorite versions of the Bible and Moffatt and is one of the three greats in Bible translation history according to Jason BeDuhn (the other two being Edgar Goodspeed and Brooke Foss Westcott). I have one editon so old it is kept together by black duct tape. I'm not alone in liking this version...it was also a favorite of C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr., the Moffatt Bible was quite a popular version in his time. Moffatt was Scottish so it is interesting to see bagpipes in Daniel 3:10 and linen kilts in 2 Samuel 6:14.

Moffatt wrote "No translation of an ancient classic can be quite intelligible, it is true, unless the reader is sufficiently acquainted with its environment to understand some of its flying allusions and characteristic metaphors. But something may be done and I am convinced, ought to be done at the present day to offer the unlearned a transcript of the Biblical literature as it lies in the light thrown upon it by modern research. The Bible is not always what it seems to those who read it in the great prose of the English version or indeed, in any of the conventional versions."

Some samples from James Moffatt's Bible: 

John 1:1 "THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine."

Exodus 2:14 "God said to Moses 'I-will-be-what-I-will-be."

John 8:58 "Truly, truly I tell you," said Jesus, "I have existed before Abraham was born." 

Hebrews 1:8 "he says of the Son, 'God is thy throne for ever and ever, thy royal sceptre is the sceptre of equity"

Luke 22:19  "Then he took a loaf, and after thanking God he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This means my body given up for your sake; do this in memory of me.'" 

1 Cor 11:24  "and after thanking God he broke it, saying, 'This means my body broken for you; do this in memory of me.'"

Col 2:8 "Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ."

1 Corinthians 13 Thus, I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing; I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it. Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful; love is never glad when others go wrong, love is gladdened by goodness, always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient. Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded. For we only know bit by bit, and we only prophesy bit by bit; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I argued like a child; now that I am a man, I am done with childish ways. At present we only see the baffling reflections in a mirror, but then it will be face to face; at present I am learning bit by bit, but then I shall understand, as all along I have myself been understood. Thus 'faith and hope and love last on, these three,' but the greatest of all is love.

Of course, not every Bible is perfect. Instead of using the Divine Name Jehovah/Yahweh, Moffatt resorts to using the traditional French title "The Eternal." 

I'm a bit of a Bible Translation Geek so feel free to see may faves at

https://www.pinterest.com/ncbartender/my-favorite-bible-versions/

See also: James Moffatt and Coptic John 1:1, 18

http://copticjohn.blogspot.com/2008/04/james-moffatt-and-coptic-john-11-18.html

See also 100 Bibles on DVDrom You're Not Supposed to Read (PDF)

https://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2020/06/100-bibles-on-dvdrom-youre-not-supposed.html

See also: Review of James Moffatt's New Testament by Theodore Schmauk 1914

http://newworldtranslation.blogspot.com/2017/11/review-of-james-moffatts-new-testament.html

Some samples from the James Moffatt Bible:

Download Moffatt's New Testament

Bultmann and Wallace on Proof Texts for the Deity of Christ

 This Kindle book, And the Word was a god: Conversations on the Most Disputed Text in the New Testament - John 1:1 is available on Amazon by clicking here

Visit a local listing for this book here

"Few today would take issue with Rudolf Bultmann’s oft-quoted line that 'In describing Christ as _God_ the New Testament still exercises great restraint.' The list of passages which seem explicitly to identify Christ with God varies from scholar to scholar, but the number is almost never more than a half dozen or so.  As is well known, almost all of the texts are disputed as to their affirmation—due to textual or grammatical glitches—John 1:1 and 20:28 being the only two which are usually conceded without discussion. Among the more highly regarded passages are Rom 9:5; 2 Thess 1:12; Titus 2:13; Heb 1:8; and 2 Pet 1:1." Daniel Wallace

Reply: I wouldn't give John 1:1 and 20:28 such a pass, as they are heavily discussed as well. See John 20:28 and Men as Gods and Alternate Interpretations of John 20:28 and Questions on John 1:1 and John 20:28. Most of this entire blog is devoted to John 1:1, and I even have a book on the topic (see above)

As for the others mentioned:

Romans 9:5

"...God, who is over all, [be] blessed forever. Amen." NWT

"May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen" New English Bible

"God, who is over all be blessed for ever." Revised Standard Version

"Blessed for evermore be the God who is over all!" Moffatt

"May God, who rules over all, be praised forever!" Good News Bible/TEV

"God who is over all be blessed forever." Smith&Goodspeed's An American Translation

"God who is over all be forever praised." NIV footnote

"May God, supreme above all, be blessed for ever! Amen" Revised English Bible

"I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever!" Contemporary English Version

"He who is over all, God, blessed unto the ages." Rotherham's Emphasized Bible

"God is over everyone, Praise Him forever." Simple English Bible

"God be blessed who is above all things forever." Unvarnished NT/Andy Gaus

God who is over all be blessed forever." New American Bible

"God is over everyone, Praise Him forever." International English Bible

Many many others translate it similar to the NASB, "and of whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" which also does not contain a reference to Christ's deity.

By translating this properly, we maintain the proper focus of this verse.

"Some editors punctuate this verse differently and prefer the translation, 'Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is god over all.' However, Paul's point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah." Romans 9:5 footnote, New American Bible w/Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms

Titus 2:13

"of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ." NWT 1950

"of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ." New American Bible

"of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." American Standard Version

"of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." King James Version

"of the great God and our Saviour." Revised English Bible margin

"of the great God and our Saviour." New English Bible margin

"of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus." Moffatt

"the magnificent God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus." 21st Century NT

"the great God and our Savior." New Revised Standard Version margin

"the great God and our Savior." Revised Standard Version margin

"our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Contemporary English Version margin

"great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ." Concordant Literal NT

"the great God and our Savior Christ Jesus." Rotherham

"the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Worrell New Testament

"the great God and our Savior" New American Standard Bible margin

"the Great God, and of our Deliverer Jesus Christ" The Original New Testament, Schonfield

"our Great God and the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah" Jewish NT

"our great God and our Savior Jesus Messiah." The Power New Testament-Revealing Jewish Roots

"the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" Catholic Douay Bible

"the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Good News Bible margin

Hebrews 1:8

"God is your throne forever." NWT 1950

"God is your throne forever and ever." Smith&Goodspeed's An American Translation

"God is thy throne" Revised Standard Version margin

"God is thy throne" Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews [Macmillan And Co., NY, 1903]

"God is your throne forever and ever." Byington's Bible in Living English

"God is your throne" New Revised Standard Version margin

"It is God who is your throne for ever and ever." God's New Covenant-A New Testament Transl., by Heinz W. Cassirer

"God is thy throne" New English Bible margin

"Your throne is God for an age of ages." Unvarnished NT

"Thy throne is God" 21st Century NT

"Thy throne is God" American Standard Version margin

"God is your Kingdom" Good News Bible margin

"Great Prince, your throne is for ever and ever" The Complete Bible in Modern English by Ferrar Fenton

"God is thy throne" Moffatt

As to the Nominative for the Vocative use "Your throne, O God," the New American Bible says in the footnote here,

"O God; the application of the name 'God' to the Son derives from the preexistence mentioned in vv. 2-3; the psalmist already used the it of the Hebrew king in the court style of the original. See the note on Ps 45, 7 [which says, "The king in courtly language, is called 'god,' i.e., more than human, representing God to the people."]"

2 Peter 1:1

"the righteousness of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ" ASV

"the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" KJV

"of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ" Revised Standard Version margin

"our God and the savior Jesus Christ" New American Bible margin

"the righteousness of our God and of our Savior Jesus Christ" International English Bible-God Chaser's Extreme NT

"the righteousness of our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ" Literal Translation of the HOLY BIBLE by Jay P. Green Sr.

"of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ" New Revised Standard Version margin

"the righteousness of our God and of our Savior Jesus Christ" Simple English Bible

"the righteousness of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ." Wesley's NT

"the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Third Millenium Bible

"our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" Kleist & Lilly New Testament and Lamsa's Bible

"of our God and our Savior Jesus Christ" Webster Bible

"our God and our Saviour" God's New Covenant by Heinz W. Cassirer

"of God and of Jesus our Master." Schonfield's Original New Testament

"of our God and of our Deliverer Yeshua the Messiah" Jewish New Testament

"of our God, and the Saviour, Jesus Christ" Concordant Literal New Testament

"share the faith that God in his justice has equally allotted to us; as well as that of our Saviour Jesus Christ." 21st Century NT

Again, the consensus is that Christ is NOT "definitely God" at 2 Peter 1:1, especially as he differentiates between God and Jesus in the following Scripture, "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." NIV

Couple this with how the Epistles are usually started, we have to come to the honest conclusion that Jesus was not called God at 2 Peter 1:1:

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God" Romans 1:1 NIV

"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,... Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 NIV

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,... Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:1-3 NIV

"Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father...Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" Galatians 1:1-3 NIV

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,...Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 1:1-3 NIV

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Php 1:2 NIV

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,...We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you" Col 1:1-3 NIV

"To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" 1 Thess 1:1 NIV

"To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess 1:1,2 NIV

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,...Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." 1 Tim 1:1,2

"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." 2 Tim 1:2

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ...Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." Titus 1:1-4 NIV

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Phm 1:3 NIV

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..." Heb 1:1 NIV

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" James 1:1 NIV

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!" 1 Pet 1:3 NIV

"our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:3 NIV

"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." 2 John 1:3 NIV

I'm not sure why 2 Thess 1:12 was even included. Most of my Bibles (I have hundreds) translate like the RSV Bible does: "according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

"The ancient Fathers have taken little notice of this text, as appears from the researches of Mr. Wordsworth. .... 2 Thess. i. 12 cannot be appealed to in proof that Christ is called God.-G. HOLDEN: Script. Test. p. 181."

It is manifest that in the present passage there is no absolute necessity for detaching KURIOU from IHSOU CRISTOU, in order to couple it with QEOU.-BISHOP MIDDLETON: Doct. of the Greek Article, p. 526. [So also Dr. J. P. Smith, in Script. Test. vol. iii. p. 316.

Here we have THN CARIN TOU QEOU HMWN KAI KURIOU IHSOU CRISTOU. But in a connection of this nature, and in phraseology like this, we often find QEOS unequivocally distinguished from KURIOS; e.g. 2 Thess. i. 2, CARIS...APO QEOU PATROS KAI KURIOU IHSOU CRISTOU, comp. 1 Thess. i. 1. Col. i. 2 (Text. Recep.) Phil. i. 2. Eph. i. 2, &c. Yet this text (2 Thess. i. 12) has been adduced by Granville Sharp and others, as a proof-text for the doctrine of the Trinity, on the ground that the want of the Greek article before KURIOU must necessarily attach KURIOU to QEOU. In this case, then, if such a conclusion is legitimate, it would follow that PATROS HMWN is also an appellative of I. CRISTOS but where in all the New Testament is there any analogy for this? - PROFESSOR STUART on the Greek Article, pp. 76, 77.

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

"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

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The Trinity "the Most Absurd of all Absurdities"

 

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"As to Personality in God, a Trinity of Persons, I think it the most absurd of all absurdities; and in my opinion, a man who hath brought himself to believe the popular doctrine of the Trinity; hath done all his work: for after that, there can be nothing hard, nothing inevident: the more unintelligible, the more credible; and as this serves the purpose of producing implicit faith in pretended guides, priests will always try to keep it in credit. The Bible reads easy if we consider God, One; Jesus the Son of God; and the Holy Ghost the influence of GOD. But this would spoil trade; the scriptures would become plain and easy, and a learned priesthood would be unnecessary to make out and unfold that hard science christianity to us poor blind creatures. Verily my friend, priestcraft is at the bottom of all this burlesque upon religion; for such I account the grimace of one man's pretending to take care of another man's soul. The direct end of all their schemes, is to cheat people into a disuse of their own understandings, and to pitch their eyes, and place their affections upon a frail and often a wicked proxy. After more to the same import, the Writer speaks of himself at his studies. "Here I am from the din of unprofitable disputes about words and phrases. Here I enjoy a daily intercourse with men of the first literature, and the most amiable dispositions, sincere disciples of Jesus, who, thanks to divine goodness are in this University, studying the holy scriptures, and devoting their fine talents to the service of truth. Here too is a Church of divers sentiments, but of uniform goodness who enjoy christian liberty without assuming authority over one another. Here I weed my garden, plough the silver stream with my two oar boat, read, scribble, contemplate, and fill my soul with ideas of the Great Supreme and with the joyful prospect of a blessed immortality Here the blossoms of my flowers and fruits regale my scent; the lark compliments me when I rise; the cuckoo attunes the morning breeze; the owl sings me to sleep, and if I wake, in the night, the nightingale beneath my window lulls me to rest again." Robert Robinson (1726 - 1791)

Unification Church Leader Sun Myung Moon on This Day in History

Moonie Mass Wedding

Today in History: Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church (aka the Moonies) died on this day in 2012. The Unification Church is widely known for its brainwashing and mass-weddings, in fact, in 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. However, the newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. The Unification Church is a mix of Christianity, Confucianism, Shamanism and anti-Communism, but one defector claimed the Church was simply "a cash operation". In the 1990s, thousands of Japanese elderly people claimed to have been defrauded of their life savings by Moon followers. Moon's church was the subject of the largest consumer fraud investigation in Japan's history in 1997 and number of subsequent court decisions awarded hundreds of millions of yen in judgments, including 37.6 million yen ($300,000) to pay two women coerced into donating their assets to the Unification Church. Yet, this movement was able to build partnerships with politicians and Evangelical religious leaders, as well as Louis Farrakhan. Sun Myung Moon’s net worth was estimated to be close to $900 million at the time of his death in 2012.

Moon was also involved in extramarital affairs and he was alleged to have sex rituals amongst six married female disciples who came to be known as "The Six Marys".

If you've ever heard of, or read the book "Icons of Evolution", the author, Jonathan Wells, is a Moonie.

Read- Moonstruck: A memoir of my life in a cult by Allen Tate Wood

See also 300 Books on DVD on Christian Cults & Sects (Adventism, Mormon, Amish etc)

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