Short People - The King Singers

Biblical Authority Unleashed--Authenticity of the Old Testament

A continuation of yesterday's Biblical Authority Unleashed - Authenticity of the New Testament. Today we'll cover the authenticity of the Old Testament. This comes from The New Defender's Study Bible.

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Biblical Authority Unleashed

Authenticity of the Old Testament

New Testament Attestation

• Traditional authorship accepted by Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:46–47; Matthew 24:15–21; etc.).
• Included 320 direct quotations from the Old Testament, plus hundreds of allusions.
• Confirmation in the New Testament of supernatural events recorded in the Old Testament (Matthew 19:4–5; Luke 17:26; John 6:32; Matthew 12:39–40; etc.).

Preservation of the Hebrew Text

• Over 1,000 hand-copied manuscripts of the Masoretic Text available.
• Meticulous study and compilation of all earlier texts by the Masoretes in AD 500.
• Extremely careful copying and cross-checking by the Hebrew scribes.
• Completion of writing and editing about the time of Ezra, with probably the first Old Testament canon developed at that time.
• Careful preservation and transmission from still earlier times.

Indirect Confirmation of Old Testament Text

• Other ancient versions (Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, Samaritan, etc.).
• Dead Sea Scrolls (containing most or all of Old Testament).
• Acceptance by Jews and early Christians.
• Old Testament quotations in pre-Christian writings.
• Archaeological confirmations.
• High culture, writing skills, etc., long before Abraham.
• Geographical and historical accuracy.
• Superiority of biblical records to the ethnic myths.
• Witness of Passover to Mosaic authorship.
• Claims of writers; universal acceptance by Jews.

Conclusion:

The biblical text as we have it is authentic, confirmed wherever it can be tested. Completely separate from the question of divine inspiration, the text has been accurately transmitted from the original writings. Furthermore, the most difficult part to believe in the Old Testament (the Creation and the Flood) is supported by all true science, and the most difficult to believe in the New Testament (the bodily resurrection of Christ) is confirmed by all sound history.

Biblical Authority Unleashed--Authenticity of the New Testament

I just read this outstanding defense of biblical authority and wanted to share it with you. This comes from The New Defender's Study Bible.

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Biblical Authority Unleashed

Although none of the original manuscripts written by Moses or Paul or the other biblical writers have been preserved (no doubt providentially; otherwise they might have become objects of worship), we can have full confidence in the integrity and canonicity of the text as transmitted to us. Some of the considerations supporting this confidence are summarized below.

Authenticity of the New Testament Text

Logical Basis of Confidence in the Text

• Over 20,000 hand-copied manuscripts of the Greek text are in existence, far more than for any other documents of comparable [age].
• Some papyrus fragments, especially of John, are preserved from the middle of the second century.
• Although there are some differences in the pre-served manuscripts, there is no doubt that at least 95% of the text is intact [whole and undamaged] from the [time the apostles lived]
• The complete text of all New Testament books was available to those who lived at the same time as the apostles, and they were satisfied with it.
• In particular, the portrait of Christ as given in the New Testament was accepted as authentic (accu-rate and true) by the earliest Christians.
• The conclusion is that the New Testament as we now have it is substantially identical with the original writings.

Secondary Attestations of Authority

• Hundreds of quotations are included in the writings of the early church fathers, probably adequate to construct the entire New Testament, if necessary.
• Accuracy of most New Testament historical and geographical references has been confirmed by archaeological and historical research, and no such reference has been found in error.
• The New Testament books were originally written in Koine Greek, the common language of the New Testament era, rather than classical Greek.
• Consistency of church ordinances (baptism, Lord’s supper) as practiced by the early church prior to the circulation and collection of the New Testament books, with their initiation as described therein, can only be explained if the documents were authentic.

Blog Header - March 4, 2009

Today's blog header photo was taken just last week at the Kemper Street railway station in Lynchburg, Virginia. It's an unusually attractive station and even has a small nature and wildlife office in it with real animals on display for the kids (and curious adults) to see.

And because Lynchburg is so far away from the big cities, the commuter rail is open only at night—from 9:00 pm to 6:30 am on weekdays (weeknights?).

A snow day treat

Mmmmm! This is good!

My wife gets to put up cool recipes on her blog and make everyone's mouths water. So I thought it was time for me to do something similar—except that my recipe is going to be presented "man-style."

We got almost a foot of soft, powdery snow yesterday. So it was a perfect day for one of my son's favorite treats: Snow Cream.

Here's the recipe. Be sure to follow the directions exactly as it most likely will not taste right if you don't use just the right ingredients:

Snow Cream

1)	Grab a big mixing bowl and carry it outside
2)	Clear off the top of some fresh snow.
3)	Scoop up the snow beneath with the big mixing bowl. Don’t dig so deeply that you scoop up grass, dirt, or mud.
4)	Shake the excess snow off of your shoes before re-entering the house (unless you want Mom to unleash the wrath of Kahn on you). Then go to the kitchen.
5)	Add some vanilla extract to the snow bowl.
6)	Dump a bunch of sugar or other unnatural sweetener into the bowl of snow. (More or less to taste.)
7)	Pour some milk or cream into the bowl—just enough to allow the ingredients to mix together, not so much that it makes it liquidy.
8)	Stir the snow, vanilla, sugar, and milk with a large wooden spoon, or a large metal spoon, or another large instrument of stirring. Mix well.
9)	Scoop resulting snow cream into bowls. Sit at the table. Eat.
10)	In between bites, proclaim loudly, "Mmmmm!" From time to time intersperse a loud, "This is good!"

The source of true comfort

True Comfort Is to Be Sought in God Alone

Whatever I can desire or imagine for my own comfort I look for not here but hereafter. For if I alone should have all the world’s comforts and could enjoy all its delights, it is certain that they could not long endure. Therefore, my soul, you cannot enjoy full consolation or perfect delight except in God, the Consoler of the poor and the Helper of the humble. Wait a little, my soul, wait for the divine promise and you will have an abundance of all good things in heaven. If you desire these present things too much, you will lose those which are everlasting and heavenly. Use temporal things but desire eternal things. You cannot be satisfied with any temporal goods because you were not created to enjoy them. Even if you possessed all created things you could not be happy and blessed; for in God, Who created all these things, your whole blessedness and happiness consists—not indeed such happiness as is seen and praised by lovers of the world, but such as that for which the good and faithful servants of Christ wait, and of which the spiritual and pure of heart, whose conversation is in heaven, sometime have a foretaste.

Vain and brief is all human consolation. But that which is received inwardly from the Truth is blessed and true. The devout man carries his Consoler, Jesus, everywhere with him, and he says to Him: “Be with me, Lord Jesus, in every place and at all times. Let this be my consolation, to be willing to forego all human comforting. And if Your consolation be wanting to me, let Your will and just trial of me be my greatest comfort. For You will not always be angry, nor will You threaten forever.”

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Chapter 17

We woke to a blanket of snow

The view from the front door of our porch.

We knew the forecast. We knew school had been canceled. But when we went to bed there was just a dusting of snow on the ground and the snow had stopped falling.

The view from the back door of our porch

But it seemed quite bright all through the night. I kept waking up and thinking it was later than I usually wake up because of the brightness outside. But it was just shortly after midnight the first time I woke up and shortly after 2:00 am the second time. I think the sound of the wind and the brightness outside were the causes of my lack of sleep. But when I finally got up at around 5:00, the ground was covered with snow. As you can see from the above photo, the road in front of our house is not even identifiable. The total accumulation is around seven inches.

And it is beautiful.

And right on time—on this day of the largest snowfall of the year in Washington, DC, they're having a march against global warming. I sure hope their protest works. We can't stand too much more of this warming trend. It might melt the snow.

Sign of the times

Big Brother? Mark of the Beast?

What exactly is being proposed here?

Blog Header - March 2, 2009

Today's blog header is another one of the ones I created for a support group blog for victims of spousal abuse. Of course, the title of my blog was not on that version of it. I like the fact that the woman in this photo is looking somewhere out of frame. It makes me curious.

Happy anniversary, Joe & Abigail

One year ago today our dear friends Joe and Abigail were married in the sight of God and in the presence of supportive friends and family who recognize God's gift of marriage and the importance of Christ as the foundation of marriage.

For the past year, the things proclaimed at their marriage ceremony have been actively played out in their lives before our eyes. Joe and Abigail are a wonderful couple and their marriage and their lives proclaim Christ clearly to the watching world.

If you're particularly curious about what was proclaimed at their wedding, read these.

They now have a 10-week old baby and are adding Christian parenting to their already full plate of new adventures.

Happy anniversary, Joe and Abigail!

By the way—this picture was taken at church this morning.