Author: s3murphy_hec5y9m0

The Sola Scriptura Fallacy

Solomon [the Yahwehist] wrote the first version of the OT around 950 BC. By the time of the prophet of Micah (740 – 700 BC), the bible had already been corrupted.

“The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” Micah 3:11-12

Even then, the priest and their ‘prophets’ were chasing material wealth. Jeremiah (627-580 BC) reflected these feelings about the leadership of the Jews and

“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” Jeremiah 8:8-9

Then came the Babylonian Exile (598 – 538 BC), where the Jews were conquered and brought to the city of the Devil. The time they were here did not help their spiritual understanding of the OT. The prophet Ezekiel (593-570 BC) was with them, but they could not understand his inspired teachings either.

“And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.” Ezekiel 2:1-7

Malachi (445-425 BC) was the last prophet of the old testament, who came after the Jews returned from the city of the devil and rewrote the OT, tainted with their experiences there.

“For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.” Malachi 2:7-9

Jesus knew this long-standing problem with misunderstand of inspired texts, and of the works of the scribes and church leaders.

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.” Matt 23:9–13

Huldrych Zwingli translated  John 1 as Origen has once taught.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god [a divine spiritual being].” John 1:1 

There is no original version of Matt 28:19 available to us today, so we do not know what Matthew wrote. The only fragment available comes from the writing of the Codex Sinaiticus after the Council of Nicaea

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matt 28:19)

See: https://manuscripts.csntm.org

This is what Jesus left us with – the promise to send teachers and spirits of truth to explain all the truth

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:12–13)

And He told us that must search for the truth, because He does cast it one the road for any swine to find.

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:6–8)

ChristianAnswers.net

I came across a website called ChristianAnswers and I was surprised at the biblical truth’s that this website is proclaiming. I contacted the editor a few times on specific items, but I wanted to reiterate them here. I know that these are common modern christian beliefs, but to proclaim them as biblical fact goes too far. If they just stated these comments as doctrine I would be happy. Here are three examples.

  1. The website says: “According to the Bible one cannot work their way to Heaven. Salvation is by faith alone – acceptance of God’s gift of salvation and reliance on Christ’s promise of what will happen after our earthly death. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).”
    • First of all, passing from death into life is not the same as passing into everlasting life. Jesus talks much about death as being separation from God “Let the dead bury the dead.” (Matt 8:22). Just moving from death (separation form God) to life (belief in God) is not the same as entering everlasting life (re-entering the highest reaches of heaven).
    • Secondly Jesus says that only through him can we achieve everlasting life. This website thinks that belief in Jesus is enough, but does not require a Christ-like life in addition as Jesus shows us. He says that we have also repay our debts to the last farthing (Matt 5:26) and tells Nicodemus that a person who could not live a Christ-like life then needs to enter into a new life to achieve this. (John 3:4) It was not enough for Nicodemus at the end of his life to just believe in Jesus. He needed to be born again and live a better life.
    • Thirdly, the bible says that there is joy in heaven when a sinner repents (Luke 15:10), not that only repenting gives us everlasting life.
    • Finally, Jesus says that “everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have everlasting life” (John 6:40). But how can we see the Son without elevating ourselves to His level? In order to see the Son we need to walk in His footsteps, and thus must fill ourselves with virtue. So for me, the bible (Jesus) does say that we need to work on ourselves to achieve heaven, besides relying on the Grace of God.
  2. This site also says “The LDS Church does not accept the biblical idea that Christ’s blood was shed on the cross to wash away our sins – present, past and future.” I can find no evidence in the teaching of Jesus or Origen to support this claim.
    • On the contrary, Jesus says that we need to repay our debts to the last farthing. (Matt 5:26)
    • Jesus’ act of redemption opened the gates to heaven to allow those who have earned the right to return to heaven, but we are all expected to follow the Law plus his new law: love thy neighbor.
    • Jesus did forgive sin, but he also told them to sin no more. (John 5:14, 8:11) He never said our future sins are also forgiven.
  3. This website offers a very weak explanation of the common question “Is God biased? Is it fair to save only some?”. Without accepting the gift of reincarnation, there is no logical explanation of God’s fairness in the bible. This website shows how difficult it is to show how it is possible for the 7+ billion souls on this earth to learn the teachings of Jesus and accept him as their savior in one lifetime.  Only multiple lifetimes on earth could allow all souls to have a fair chance to learn of Jesus and accept him.

The Gift of Reincarnation

The Gift of Reincarnation is at the basis of Origenes’ “Restoration of All Things” teaching, in which all of the Fallen will eventually return to their rightful place in Heaven. The “End of the World” only comes after all of the fallen souls have been restored.

Evidence from the scientific community has been complied by Dr. Ian Stevenson and is now gaining acceptance as a real possibility among the scientific community.