REASON & FAITH APOLOGETICS
Bible
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Gay vs Christian Theology
The Types of Books in the Bible
The word Bible is derived from the Greek word Biblos which means book. It is divided into two tiles, Old Testament and New Testament each containing of a major covenant that defined the relationship between God and man. The Bible is not one continuous book, but it is made up of 66 books, differing from one another in subject matter and writing style. Some are books of history, some of prophecy, wise teaching and some of poetry. They are also different based on the time in which they were written, and the purposes which they were intended to serve. It has been divided into 66
The historical books are Genesis and the first half of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jonah. Although almost of the books contain some type of history these books have a greater historical value than the other Old Testament books. They start from the very beginning of all creation and therefore all history. Genesis reveals not only the origin of man but the origin of sin and evil in this world. The separation of God from mankind His creation due to sin. It especially tell of the historical relationship between man and God through faith without written laws and God’s various covenants and promises with mankind especially the Hebrews. Exodus traces the origin of the nation of Israel and a law covenant of God with Israel and the introduction of sacrifice for the atonement for mankind’s sins as well as His initial actions to keep His promises. Judges was a time of separated tribes being ruled by their own legal framework. The book of kings was a Kingship called for by the Israelites to unite the tribes under one local leader. A theocracy where God’s religious servant reigned over the nation. The division of the kingdom brought great leaderships but also its civil war, and decadence into idolatry and subsequent exile into foreign lands. Esther gave a glimpse of what life was like in exile. Ezra and Nehemiah demonstrated the return of the people to their homeland and the rebuilding of Jerusalem the city.
Exodus; also Leviticus and Deuteronomy are referred to as containing the law. God taught the Israelites how to live a righteous life that would help them to understand his stance on sin. They learned how to appeal to God’s mercy through obedience and repentance. God structured Israel’s congregation that reflected heavens kingdom. He equipped Israel with spiritual men called priests and designed a system of worship with rituals and sacrifice.
The books of wisdom are Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. These books are referred to as wisdom books first of all Job showed the difference between man’s understanding and God’s understanding of the purpose of life. Gods reasoning and man’s reasoning are juxtaposition to show his supremeness. It teaches of trials and patience. The two books provide for the reader the practical use of wisdom in everyday life. It provides counsel which was God-given that man can trust to assist him, his family and society. They put the roles of life and death into perspective. We are informed of how vanity and lustful desires have no lasting rewards.
The Poetry books Song of Solomon and Psalms are a combination of narrative and descriptive writing but the Song of Solomon has plenty of the descriptive style of writing. The Psalms is a collection of poetry, prayers and songs. David wrote 73, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 9, Solomon wrote 3, Ethan, and Moses each wrote one (Ps. 90), and 51 of the Psalms are anonymous. They were written over the span of approximately 900 years (Beginning at the time of Moses 1440 B.C. and through the captivity in 586 B.C.). The other poetic book, Song of Solomon, identified itself as a song which is Solomon’s. There seems not to have a real connection to the whole bible thought. It appears to be a courting of the King and his wife or concubine. It also seems that the translators interpreted it as a relationship between Jesus and the Church.
The prophecy books are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. These books are divided into major and minor prophets. God chose to reveal his plans to save or pass judgement directly through men called prophets. Some of the prophets prophesied the downfall of Israel, its captivity and its restoration. They also prophesied the coming of the Messiah and many details about his life, death, resurrection and second coming. Some prophesies included world wars, changes of world powers and end time judgement by God.
The books of the Gospel are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The word gospel means good news and the style of writing of these books is narrative. There is a main character who is Jesus in each book yet they are all written by different persons. The time is set during the reign of Roman Empire when Jerusalem was a colony that paid annual tributes to enjoy certain privileges especially religious freedom. The writers speak of Jesus being a God who became flesh in order to save the whole world. He delivered to the people of Jerusalem and nearby surroundings a message of love, the kingdom of God is coming, salvation by grace through faith and repentance, and the coming judgement. He performed supernatural acts that proved his power was not obedient to the laws of this world yet he exercised full authority and control over the things of this world. The books say that Jesus died, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven and before he ascended he gave his disciples the command to carry continue his mission.
The narrative style of the book of acts lays before us an historical account of the work of the Holy Spirit in establishing the Church in Europe and Asia. It also reveals the life and journey of the apostles. The defense and contention for the faith were all accounted by the narrator Luke who was a scientist. Acts takes us on three crucial journeys all starting from Antioch in Syria throughout the Christian diaspora where we learned of thousands of people converting to the faith and the suffering which the apostles and evangelists endured as they laboured in the name of Jesus.
The Epistles are made up of letters to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude. These books are really 21 letters that are persuasive in style of writing with the purpose of convincing people of the truth of Jesus’ life death and resurrection. They are filled with instructions on how to live a life as a follower of Jesus and what are the sufferings and rewards associated with this life. The majority of letters were written by Paul a Jew who converted to Christianity after meeting the risen Jesus who addressed him from heaven. Jesus sent Paul on the greatest mission of Christian history fulfilled by a mortal man.
Apocalyptic means revealing or unveiling. The last book of the bible is named revelation and also included here is the book Daniel. Daniel is so named after the author. Revelation was written by John a disciple of Jesus who received a vision while he was on the Isle of Pathos maybe over 40 years after Jesus ascended to heaven. In this vision he saw Jesus and angels who told him how the world in the future will unfold. It includes the climaxing of a rebellion started at the beginning of the world by Satan, the rescuing of the saints by Jesus and God’s wrath and judgement on disobedient mankind. The vision shows a new world and eternal peace with God.
Conclusion
The bible revealed in detail an intelligent God. It shows he is a great communicator speaking in the various languages of the people and even touching their emotions through poetry. He adopted his language and methodology appropriate to the culture and level of understanding of the people in their time. His character and will was well communicated and understood by the people. Despite the years and different messengers he successfully conveyed a unique message from beginning until the end of the books and it is best understood when all of the books are treated as a united and not a divided entity.
Genesis Chapter 1 Vs 2
"And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
"Was"
H1961 הָיָה hayah (haw-yaw) v.1. to exist. (2.) to be or become. (3). to come into being, i.e. to happen, to occur.
In Hebrew the word “was” (haw-yaw) means became. Become means to come into existence. So, the earth became or came into existence. So the Earth come into existence.
It is taught by some that this passage means that God created a world inhabited with life and they ruined it or satan damaged it and Genesis is about the remaking of that earth but it means the opposite.
Defense: this is an assumption and not a fact that can be proven from the scriptures. We cannot teach assumptions in church. The word “Was” means that the earth had a state before the one we see today. In other words it was not always round, did not have solid earth, no clouds and sky, no mountains and valleys, no vegetation, no life and no sun light. The earth at this time was only a watery substance-matter. Earth here does not mean the dry land or the planet as we know it. There was no solid earth and therefore no land life form could have existed. And therefore, no land to become damaged or deserted. Water has no particular form. Also, the Earth in day 4 means dry land and the earth in day 1 means the whole entity. So, the water was the whole earth there was no separate dry land, buildings, grass, trees, land animals, air, rain, clouds or people), and void (and it was empty); and darkness was upon the face of the deep (deep means abyss or waters.).
"Form"
H8414 תֹּהוּ tohuw (to'-hoo) n-m. (1). a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert. (2) n (figuratively) a worthless thing. (3). (adverbially) in vain.
God later speaks of His creation process.–(Isa 45:18 [KJV]) For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (tuhuw), he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
The Hebrew word tohuw means desolate, worthless, vain. So here is God speaking through His Prophet about what He did during Genesis 1:1-30. I created it not to be desolate, not to be worthless nor out of vanity but to be inhabited. Could this be the correct interpretation of Genesis 1:2?
"Desolation"
Desolation etymology: Referring to a place, a place that cannot be inhabited. Referring to a person made lonely /alone.
"Form" meaning #2
Some teach that form means shape, function, design. It was without form. It lacked any particular design so, it was without shape. This is implied not explicit after reading about the watery shapeless origin. This position, however, does not take away from the meaning of the verse.
"Void"
H922 בֹּהוּ bohuw (bo'-hoo) n-m.1. a void (empty), vacuity (stupid).2. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin. Based on Is 45. It was created to be filled/habitated. Ruin suggests God created a ruin and void says he created an empty world, probably without habitation.
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WATER FIRST and only water- THERE WAS NO WASTE LAND: If only water existed at this time then how can people argue that there was dry land (earth) that was once inhabited by people but became empty and had to be reformed. Dry land was formed after water and from the water. Gen: 1:9 day three and 2 Peter 3:5. It was never land first then water. How do we know there was only water? God created a firmament or space in the middle of the waters making a sky. If the earth was land in the middle covered with water, then it would have separated with the water rising it above into the heavens, leaving land above and land below Gen 1:6.
"DEEP"
H8415 תְּהוֹם thowm (teh-home') n-e. תְּהֹם thom (teh-home') 1. an abyss (as a surging mass of water).
2. (especially) the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water-supply).
The deep or the water was without light; and God cause the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. What was the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming to this part of the universe? Was the Spirit about to do something special in the creative process or was His moving an actual part of the creation? Was moving all He did? It is not obviously clear what his role was but may only speculate that maybe his coming to the waters was linked to the very next thing that happened, …”and God said let there be light”….
"Spirit"
VS 2 cont… And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. H7307 רוּחַ ruwach (roo'-ach) n-f. 1. wind. 2. (by resemblance) breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation. 3. (figuratively) life, anger, unsubstantiality. 4. (by extension) a region of the sky. 5. (by resemblance) spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions).
Genesis 1:2. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
Job 26:13 “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.”.
Psalms 104:30 “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.”.
Was the spirit a powerful force of God or a personal intelligence?
Isa 63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Acts 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come.
Reading only the book of Genesis you would say there was one God who spoke and his spirit hovered. The understanding of three came in the New Testament. Jn 1:1 the word was God. Jn 1:14 the word took on flesh. Phil 2:4 This word had free will and while it existed in the nature of God it did not regard its equality with God as robbery to leave his estate and become a human.
Reading it in Hebrew one may believe there were more than one God because of the word Elohim which is plural.
So, we see that there were not just one being with free will involved in creation, but there were actually three beings–God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not reveal that there were any other beings in the beginning who involved themselves in creating the heaven and the earth. Gods Genesis 1:1 declares were involved in creation:
IDENTITY POLITICS
Nov 2019
The social groups who play the identity politics game identify as marginalized and oppressed. They believe they are to take on the “oppressor” groups and bring about equity. In fact, their actual intent is to reverse oppression. They have identified three main groups, gender, race and sexual as being oppressed. They seek to deconstruct what they see as power structures such as government, Judges, news media, family and politicians and religion in order to enforce a totalitarian system with which they shall use to punish all opposition. They seek to deconstruct sex, gender and family. They push the victim narrative; as a victim they are fighting for freedom and equality and most people buy this and voluntarily support their cause. However, the unsuspecting public is oppressed, bullied, threatened and persecuted along with Judges, politicians, religions and news media until they conform.
POWER
Such groups as the LGBT don’t recognise you as an individual unless you identify as a member of a group so you are known as friend or foe. Do not be fooled they are driven by power and wield power. They are not about equality or friendship or love. They use all the compassion language but it masks the underlying drive for power. There is no discussion and no consensus. It is their way or no way. This a totalitarian ideology.
UNIVERSITY INFLUENCE
The rapid expansion of identity politics has rapidly increased throughout universities. The Universities are teaching and funding postmodern leftist thinkers LGBT who are demolishing the fundamentals of Western civilisation. This is a self-admitted goal.
Universities have ban speakers who oppose identity politics. They have created safe spaces for the feminist group who identify as a minority oppressed by all males.
POLITICS
These self-declared marginalized and oppressed groups bring bills before government to make State policies that favour them and oppress others. Bills are brought before government to establish punishments for anyone who opposes the identity politics whether by speech or action. This takes away the freedom of all groups outside of identity politicians. Politicians are afraid to push back and they censor themselves.
JUDICIARY
They suit countries, individuals and companies claiming they were oppressed. These law suits are heard by the first Judges who make first rulings automatically in favour of them in order to set precedence and to punish and gag all opposition. These rulings are usually overturned by a higher court.
CHRISTIANITY
Christians adamantly oppose not the idea of marginalized oppressed groups but the ideology that says no one has freewill to think or speak in opposition to any other idea. As a result of failure to agree with the identity politics Christians have become the enemy.
The LGBT who play identity politics claiming to be oppressed has sought to have the disabled and Rastafarians onboard. They claim to be egalitarian but their real narrative is, it is time we had control and we make the oppressors pay. It is time we become the oppressor. This is not equality. This is intended to be reverse oppression. Equality is the superficial skin the wolf is wearing.
MEDIA
Today’s media houses have picked sides and drawn the line. Media houses are afraid to print articles that share a different opinion to the LGBT. They have censored themselves because they are afraid to speak out. Put articles side by side and let the
freedom of speech reign.
Vincent smith Project PROBE Ministries