........ even when other people are content with their own idea of things. Yeah, I know. People seem to have a habit of wanting to fix things in other people's lives, even when what they intend on fixing isn't broken.
How can we get rid of our sinfulness?
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Playing with numbers (numerology) has been around a long time, like phrenology.
That doesn't back up your statement that your god must do things. And, again I say if your god is obligated to do things, it cannot be all-powerful. Where in the bible does it say that your god must do anything?
Yet again you dodge the question, which was, if the only way to get to the Christian god is through Yeshua, the how can YOU claim to lead people to this god?
Yeah. I think the pobre hombre is mucho confuso.
Cuz even I heard that this god is everywhere. roflmao
LOL
It's about time, cuz your case has more contradictions, twists, and turns than the holey book does.
Playing with numbers (numerology) has been around a long time, like phrenology.
I know, but frankly I think it is just silly. Yes, in some cases numbers have significance. For example, the choosing of 12 Apostles to represent the twelve tribes is a long known metaphor/symbolism.
But this ideology that secret codes exist in the Bible is, frankly and as I have already stated, just silly.
Archeological Evidence
There is considerable archeological evidence demonstrating that the books of Scripture were in circulation thousands of years ago, with the same wording as today.
Recently archeologists found jewelry and pottery buried in nine caves across the Hinnom Valley near the southern walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. These treasures were dated some 2,600 years ago, and contained exact wording from Numbers 6:24-26: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."
When you take into account the small size of the nation of Israel, the amount of archeological evidence is quite significant. In comparison to the giant political powers of Assyria, Egypt and Mesopotamia, Israel was tiny. If not for the demonstrations of God's power which were well known throughout the region, this minute country would probably have been completely ignored in the surviving literature of the great empires.
Fortunately, there are many historical records regarding events that involved the Israelites. What continually amazes many researchers is that every time a new discovery is made, it supports rather than discredits the biblical accounts. To this date, not one biblical event has been proven wrong, while many have been confirmed by historical evidence. New archeological discoveries are made every month which verify biblical accounts.
Battles and wars
Monoliths found in Iraq inscribed by King Shalmaneser III mention King Jehu, Omri, and "Ahab the Israelite." Another chronicles a tribute given to Tiglath-Pileser III by king Menahem. A building inscription, also by Tiglath-Pileser III dating 734BC refers to a tribute from king Ahaz. A stela found in Jordan dating to 830BC refers to a tribute which Omri had to pay to Mesha king of Moab.
An inscription in modern-day Iraq (then Assyria) from 722BC refers to the conquering of Samaria and the exile of Israelites to Assyria. It indicates that 27,900 inhabitants were captured by Sargon II. Sennacherib referred to Hezekiah's refusal to surrender and the subsequent siege of Jerusalem. He indicates that he laid siege to 46 cities and drove out over 200,000 people.
The Tower of Babel
One of the most astonishing archeological finds has been the base of the so-called "Tower of Babel" in Babylon (just south of Baghdad). According to the inscription on the base of the remains of a tower, "A former king built [this tower], they reckon 42 ages past, but he did not complete its head. Since a remote time, people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words." Note the reference to the confusion of their language. We know from Genesis 11:2-8 that God scattered the people by confusing their language.
Joseph
Other archeological records dating to about 1500BC refer to the seven years of good and seven years of famine in Egypt. One of them specifically refers to Joseph, who it claims was in charge of distributing grain to the people, just as the Bible records in Genesis 41:47-57.
The exodus
On the shores of the Red Sea, at Wadi Sidri on the west side of the Sinai is a huge inscription written in a curious combination of Egyptian hieroglyphics and Hebrew letters. This inscription which covers a wall of stone about 100 feet high, was already considered ancient by historian Diodorus Siculus in 10BC. It relates the story of the miraculous crossing by the Israelites over a divided sea, followed by the mighty army of pharaoh submerged in the sea as the waters returned. The story is identical to the biblical account from Exodus 14:21-28.
Other inscriptions at Wadi Sidri and Kibroth-hattaavah refer to the biblical accounts of the venomous snakes in the Sinai desert, the plaque brought upon the people when they ate raw quail meat, and Miriam's near-mutiny of Moses. The lost Pishon river mentioned in the account of the Garden of Eden but regarded by many to be a myth has just been identified using infrared satellite technology. In 1997 a fossilized snake was discovered with fully developed hind legs, confirming the biblical account in Genesis that snakes originally had legs.
New Testament evidence
As for the New Testament, many archeological records confirm those accounts as well. The bones of a crucified man were discovered--the first of their kind--showing not only that the practice existed but that both feet were pierced from the sides, just below the ankle bone, rather than from the top as was generally thought. Ossuaries dating to the first century AD are inscribed with the names of many people mentioned in the New Testament and often with the sign of the cross or the name of Jesus. An ossuary of Matthias, dating to 40AD (less than 10 years after Christ) contains the inscription "Jesus is Jehovah (God)."
References to many people once regarded as myths by archeologists--such as Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas the high priest, and others--have since been discovered in archeological inscriptions.
more for you on this same question:
Many people these days suggest that the biblical records were changed over time. The assumption is understandable. Any ordinary letter or book copied again and again for thousands of years is likely to change quite dramatically during that time.
However, the biblical records, and in particular the Jewish Torah, were not copied in a haphazard fashion. The process was so accurate it still amazes historians today. For thousands of years, Jewish scribes carefully copied the original manuscripts of sacred Scriptures without any significant error.
The Masoretic Jewish scribes were so careful that they counted the number of occurrences of every single letter, comparing that count to the "official" count. When a scribe completed his copy, a master examiner would painstakingly count every individual letter to confirm that there were no errors in the newly copied manuscript. This process was so accurate they could pinpoint the exact middle of a book simply by letter count and would check the verse at that point as one of the methods of confirmation. If a single error was found, the entire manuscript was destroyed to ensure that it could never be used as a master copy in the future.
As proof of this accuracy, consider the Masoretic and Yemenite translations of the Torah. Some time ago, the Yemenite Jews were separated from their brother Jews in the Middle East and Europe. Despite a thousand years of copying their manuscripts in isolation, only nine Hebrew letters in the entire Torah were found to differ from the accepted Hebrew Masoretic text. Not one of these nine changes the meaning of a word.
Another example is the remarkable accuracy of the Dead Sea Scrolls compared with what were then the oldest-known manuscripts. At the time these records were found in a cave at Qumran near the Dead Sea, the oldest original manuscript on record dated around 1200AD. Suddenly a number of documents were found dating between 250BC and 70AD. Although there was a thousand-year time difference between the previously used manuscripts and the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls versions, the only changes were different spellings of words, none of them altering any meanings!
One of these scrolls, which remained unpublished until 1991, specifically refers to the Jewish Messiah who was crucified for the sins of the people. It makes reference to prophecies about the Messiah being pierced and wounded (from Isaiah), but refers in the past tense to the crucified Jesus (the name Jesus isn't mentioned). Though not a piece of Scripture, this document dates back to within a few years of the actual crucifixion, thus providing confirmation of the accuracy of the New Testament records about the death of Jesus.
Archeological records provide additional evidence of the accurate translation process used by the Masoretic Jews (the name refers to the word for "fence"). Inscriptions dating as far back as 600BC use the exact wording as today's Hebrew Torah when Scripture passages are quoted. In addition, Old Testament books were frequently quoted by other historical documents such as the Maccabbean account of 167BC and the Dead Sea Scrolls dating between 250BC and 70AD. The entire Old Testament was translated into Greek, the world's language of trade, around 250BC.
No delay
It is now acknowledged that the New Testament Gospels and Epistles were written and widely circulated within 40 or 50 years of the events they describe. Circumstantial evidence alone dated them only a few years after Christ because such explosive events as Nero's massive persecution of Christians (AD64), the martyrdom of James (AD61) and Peter (AD65), the outcome of Paul's trial (AD64) and the destruction of Jerusalem by General Titus in AD70 are not included in the accounts.
Early Christian writers such as Clement writing in AD96 quote heavily from the New Testament books. This means that the books were already in wide circulation by that time. Indeed, the books written by the apostles Paul and Peter quote creeds and hymns that were in common usage which demonstrate a common understanding of Christian doctrine during the mid part of the first century--just 20 years since the death and resurrection of Christ. The events recorded were verifiable and recent. Hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed those events or knew of them were alive to agree with or discredit the biblical accounts.
In 1994, Dr. Carsten Peter Thiede, Director of the Institute of Basic Epistemological Research in Paderborn, Germany, used a scanning laser microscope to examine a group of papyrus fragments containing 24 lines in Greek of chapter 26 of Matthew's gospel. Dr. Thiede compared details as small as twenty micrometers (millionth of a meter) to four other known references from the first century. He concluded that the Magdalen Papyrus were either an original from Matthew's gospel, or an immediate copy, written while Matthew and the other disciples and eye witnesses were still alive. The text of these fragments is identical to modern copies of Matthew.
No errors recognized
In fact, if the New Testament recorded any factual errors, the early church would have split as the witnesses to the "real" historical events would have contested any inaccurate records. There would be hundreds, perhaps thousands of contradictory accounts. Although Christians were subject to the most terrifying tortures and martyrdom conceivable, they did not declared that the Gospel account of Jesus Christ was in error. Romans charged with torturing and executing Christians, such as Pliny, claimed that weak Christians (to avoid torture or death) never renounced the accuracy of the stories about Christ, just their commitment to the faith. Pliny noted in a letter to Emperor Trajan that true Christians could not be made to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ as God, even under "extreme torture."
Faith! Faith in God! My man! It takes faith!
Without it it is as you say POINTLESS!
Argue all you want against it, for it is pointless.
My faith points to God!
Consider the man called Saul of Tarsus: He had no faith in this new religion of Jesus.
Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
A complete 180 from: a non-believer to a believer and servant.
Act 9:20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
Saul heart was transformed and his name changed to Paul.
He became the Apostle to the Gentiles.
And here we see that the Gentiles: Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Rom 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Act 26:23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Have faith: Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For those of you who are on the verge of having your hearts sprinkled with the grace of God, that your hearts be transformed into a new man, a new creature as sons of God.
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Without all these words from God, the whole thing of life is POINTLESS!
Your right Gilbert, life is pointless without God!
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
Without it it is as you say POINTLESS!
Argue all you want against it, for it is pointless.
My faith points to God!
Consider the man called Saul of Tarsus: He had no faith in this new religion of Jesus.
Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
A complete 180 from: a non-believer to a believer and servant.
Act 9:20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
Saul heart was transformed and his name changed to Paul.
He became the Apostle to the Gentiles.
And here we see that the Gentiles: Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Rom 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Act 26:23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Have faith: Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For those of you who are on the verge of having your hearts sprinkled with the grace of God, that your hearts be transformed into a new man, a new creature as sons of God.
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Without all these words from God, the whole thing of life is POINTLESS!
Your right Gilbert, life is pointless without God!
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
Silly? At first it may seem silly, brother, but serious when you think about God's works.
Nothing is silly when God displays His Wisdom. :read2:Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
They’re there for us to seek them out, the wonderful works of God.
:read2:James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
A wise man knoweth the works of God.
:read2:Jam 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
because, the spiritual things can only be discerned spiritually.
:read2:Hos 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
Multiplied visions = meaning in numbers i.e. 12 Apostles x 12 = 144 x 1,000 = 144,000.
Similitude’s = meaning as like, or a picture of something future i.e. Noah, Abraham Moses as a type of Jesus.
:read2:Ecc 6:6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Here doubled = 2,000.
To the serious student of the word, all theses things are not silly: silly only to those who take Gods mysteries not serious.
Peace>>>AJ:love9: