Da Lifne Mi Atah Omed

I have been reading a book entitled "Sitting at the feet of Rabbi Jesus" and came across a portion discussing how Jews during the time of Jesus regarded God as ever present, intimately involved in the believer's daily life, even down to the most trivial of issue. I agree with the writer that we have somehow lost this aspect of belief in the modern world. The text in the subject of this post, as indicated by the author is often inscribed in a synagogue above where the Torah scrolls are stored. It is there to remind those that enter that God is an active participant in the world, not a passive God that wound the clock of creation and now just watches it run. The text translated is "Know Before Whom You Stand".

A Good Quote

"Correct theology, believed correctly, always leads to the sanctification of the believer, which, simply put, is the practice of love. We are never more like God than when we love."

I read the above jewel in the book, "The Five Points of Calvinism". This study has given me a fresh perspective not only on scripture, but also on some of the Dead Sea Scrolls writings. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I'll be presenting some of those thoughts here.

Taking Up His Cross

I finally got around to finishing a paper I started a few years ago, at least for now. The idea came from a video I saw on youtube a few years ago of a discussion by a noted KJV Onlyist going off about the translation of Mark 10:21 and how she felt modern versions got it all wrong. I discuss that at length, or at least further than I originally intended. That aspect has spurred some further reading I am doing regarding Bible version reliabiltiy and the KJVO movement. IMHO it is beginning to die out somewhat in independent fundametal baptist circles, but it is still something to contend with.

Anyway, the paper then goes on to discuss the topic of taking up his cross following a brief exegesis of the passage in Mark. It has been an interesting study which I may continue a bit further at some point. It is one of those studies like Philemon, that when you think its been nailed pretty well, around the corner you find something new about it. Enjoy!!!

Codex Sinaiticus Now Online!

I had read this was a project in the works for quite sometime, but now is online for the general public. It can be accessed here. It offers the ability to view the original document, its transcription and its translation on the same web page view. Enjoy!

A Thought To Ponder

Moses and Pharaoh grew up under largely the same influences, yet their lives turned out differently. I was reading about this in a book recently and saw this quote:

The same light that melts the ice also hardens the clay.

That will make ya think! :)

Links Are Corrected

All the document links on the left should now be working. Please let me know if any problems are found.

A Great Quote!

Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce has written: “What councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of these communities.” Biblical commentator William Barclay agrees: “The Bible and the books of the Bible came to be regarded as the inspired word of God, not because of any decision of any synod or council or committee or church, but because in them mankind found God. The supremely important thing is not what men did to these books, but what these books did to men.”

Changes Week of April 6

I'll be making major changes with the account I have with my ISP during the week of April 6, so even though the blog will be up, the links to the various documents may be broken for a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience, but my geek side really needs to have this done. :)

Adam's first wife????

A while back I was having a lively discussion with a friend about the accuracy of the Bible and she asked me something to the effect, have I ever heard about Adam's first wife and why did I think the story was left out of the biblical text. At that point I had never heard of this story.

This friend was insinuating that the early church discarded the story of the independent woman in favour of (in her words) the subservient Eve to help enforce the practices of the patriarchy. I had just about forgot about that discussion when I came upon an article in a recent edition of Biblical Archaeology Review regarding mystic practices of Babylonian Jews in the early centuries A.D.

The article dealt with writings found on skulls and bowls that mentions evil spirits or liliths, that were believed to be the cause of high infant and birthing-mother mortality rates of the time, as these spirits were believed to roam the Earth looking for women and infants to attack. The article contends that later on in the medieval period stories arose that Lilith was the first wife of Adam that refused to be subservient to him. The story is as follows as found on wikipedia:

Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill. Said Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms, and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked at the amulet. "Who are these?"

"The angels who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof (In English: Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof). After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Genesis 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels to bring her back.

"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'

"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'

"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."

The stories of liliths date back even earlier to Mesopotamian traditional demon myths and were probably incorporated into Jewish writings during the Jewish diaspora in the first centuries after the fall of Jerusalem. It has been preserved for the reader in an anonymous text known as "The Alphabet of Ben Sira".

No matter what one may think of the quality of our preserved text today, and I would agree there are a few cases where the text provides for women being regarded higher than later scribes and translators would have them to be, but this is not one of them.

Eve was created from that taken from Adam, not from the head to make Eve superior, nor from the foot to make her subservient, but from the side as they would stand together with a single purpose before God.