Jesus.defender

July 26, 2016

On 7/20/2016 at 11:06 PM, JW Insider said:

Most of the writers of the New Testament books did not identify their authorship, either. All four gospels, for example, are completely anonymous, and we only go by later "catholic" traditions to attach names to them. For example:

The book of Matthew is anonymous. It never claims to be written by a man named Matthew, and gives absolutely no clue about whether it was even written by one of the apostles. Naming it Matthew was based on the fact that the apostle named Matthew was rumored to have written a gospel account in Hebrew, which is lost. All we know is that this gospel that we call Matthew was NOT that gospel, nor was it a Greek translation of anything that had been previously written in Hebrew. Since we call it Matthew only because there might have been a lost gospel by Matthew, this might even be an indication that Matthew was one of the least likely authors. (Also, Jesus picked "unlettered and ordinary" men as apostles, and separate evidence shows that even tax collectors could also be illiterate, i.e., unlettered.)

Mark is also anonymous. No where in the book do we have any indication of who wrote it, nor does the Bible anywhere speak of Mark writing a gospel. Just like with Matthew, this tradition started long after the apostles had died. One of the reasons it is called Mark is because Mark is mentioned as a one-time traveling companion of Paul and if a book could not be assigned to an apostle, it had to be assigned to someone who had traveled with the apostles. An even later tradition has Mark traveling with Peter, based perhaps on the passage in Acts about when Paul and Barnabas had a fight over whether they should take Mark with them. (By the time the book was fully attributed to Mark, there already was a separate Gospel of Peter and a book from Barnabas, parts of which still survive, although very few people think Peter and Barnabas were the actual writers of those books.)

Luke does not claim to be the author of Luke, nor does anything in the book of Luke or elsewhere in the Bible identify him as the author. The same person wrote the book of Acts, which also does not identity Luke as the author. The author mentions that there are many others who have undertaken to write accurate gospels, including those who had been eyewitnesses. The author of Luke does not claim to be an eyewitness. A traveling companion of Paul is very likely the author, and the Greek is excellent. So choosing to identify the physician Luke as the author makes sense. (Mark and Barnabas were already assigned to other books.) The author makes no claim as to having ever traveled with Paul, but the change of pronoun "we" the latter portion of the book of Acts is a good indication that it was someone who knew Paul and probably traveled with Paul. (Also note that Paul, when quoting material about the Lord's Evening Meal, comes closest to using the language of this gospel account that we call Luke.)

John is not only anonymous, it teases us about the authorship by saying it was from the disciple that Jesus loved. There is no evidence that this was written by a man named John, and the authorship of the book is often placed at the end of the first century or even later. The style of Greek and vocabulary indicates that the writer is the same as the the "older man" who wrote the anonymous letters that we call first, second and third John. But the Greek is very good and very different from the choppy and sometimes badly formed Greek in the book of Revelation. That's why "John" the author of Revelation is often not considered to be the same as the author of the anonymous gospel and anonymous letters that tradition has called John. If the John who identifies himself as the writer of Revelation is the apostle John, then this could indicate that the person who did not identify himself as the author of the gospel and letters would not be the apostle John, and vice versa.

Paul's letters are different. They are identified as having been written by Paul within the letters. The book of Hebrews is anonymous however, and this is why some would assign it to Apollos or Aquila or someone else. (Tertullian thought it was written by Barnabas. Hippolytus thought it was written by Clement of Rome. Origen thought it might be by either Clement or Luke.) James, Peter and Jude are also identified.

WHO TRANSLATED THE NWT?

July 18, 2016

On 7/11/2016 at 5:22 PM, JWTheologian said:

The subject matter is what I was referring too, nothing else. It seems your definition of Jesus is therefore, as a prankster.

Really?

Did Jesus really say He was God?

That’s exactly how Jesus’ original audience seemed to take it when He said, “I and the Father are one.” In fact, the Jews were ready to kill Him right there! Why? “Because you,” they said, “a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33).

On another occasion, He used the personal name of Israel’s God–the name revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:14)–to refer to Himself. And He even used the Torah for context, so no one would misunderstand Him: “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). This would be about wild as telling a Muslim, “I am your God, Allah.” Don’t try that in Saudi Arabia! It’s no wonder the Jews tried to stone Him to death. That was the exact penalty for blasphemy under the Jewish legal system. It was pretty clear to everyone there that He was saying, “I am Israel’s God.”

Why Jesus is God? The Apostle Thomas called Jesus God.John 20:27-29: 2. The Apostle Peter called Jesus God.2 Peter 1:1: 3.The Apostle John called Jesus God.John 1:1-3, 4.God the Father called Jesus God.Hebrews 1:8: 5. God the Father called Jesus God. 6.Isaiah the Prophet said the Messiah would be God.Isaiah 9:67. The Jews who crucified Jesus understood Him to be saying that He was equal with God.John 5:18: 8.Jesus called Himself "I AM", the Old Testament name for God (Exodus 3:14).John 8:58-59. 9.Jesus calls Himself "the Alpha and Omega," the title of Almighty God.Revelation 22:12-13. 10. Like God (Gen. 1:1) Jesus created.Colossians 1:16-1711. Like God, Jesus forgives sin.Mark 2:5-7, 10-11:12. Like God, Jesus gives eternal life.John 10:27-28: 13. Like God, Jesus received, receives and will receive worship.Matthew 14:32-33. 14. Jesus said that only God was good; and Jesus was good. John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."Jesus was as good as they come. He was "sinless," "holy," "righteous," "innocent," "undefiled," and "separate from sinners." (Hebrews 7:26) That's pretty good! 15. Like God, Jesus can be present in more than one place at the same time.Matthew 18:20: 16. One of Jesus' titles is "God with us."Matthew 1:23. 17. Jesus' blood is called God's blood.Acts 20:28: 18. Jesus has the same nature as God.Hebrews 1:3a: 19. Jesus spoke as God.Jesus did not speak as one of God's prophets: "thus says the Lord," but as God: "I say to you."Matthew 5:27-29. 20. Like God (Psalm 136:3), Jesus is called the Lord of Lords and King of kings.Revelation 17:14. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. ( WHEN WAS GOD PIERCED? ). And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel (means God Among Us).

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Crossreference with Exodus 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

John 10:33 "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

John 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

Collossians 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Hebrews 1:8 "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: "

Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Crossreference with Matthew 2:2, Matthew 2:11, Matthew 28:9.

Isaiah 44:6 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." Crossreference with Revelation 1:17 "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he." and Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

2Peter. Jehovah The Father appears.

John 1. Jehovah the son.

John 8:58 Jesus identifies Himself as Jehovah "I Am"

Acts 5. Jehovah the Holy Spirit identified.

July 11, 2016

44 minutes ago, JWTheologian said:

Its flattering when I see a pair of born again Christians coming together to hypothesis that Jesus is God. While it is an antiquated view? It seems to making its way back since The Catholic Pope right now is a Jesuit. The best argument a Cardinal once gave me was John 1:1. “The Word”

It has more of an impressive overture to figuring the scale of Deity Jesus was. Then you have to file the myriad of information from the Jewish, Coptic, and Early Christian tradition. Of course this would have to be after the Nicene Fathers, and after the reformation of the 15 century.

The thing, this Cardinal couldn’t answer, that is, with the for mentioned scripture, there’s always room for confusion. Trinitarians always find a need to join the Father, Son, and the Holy ghost into one, by misinterpreting scripture. It suggests ancient script can neither be understood or translated to a proper meaning or definition.

Yet with the variations of scripture, one can understand the intent the writer meant to rely. One is Luke 23:34.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.

The question the Cardinal could not answer was this: Since God has no beginning or an end? Why would God find it a need to materialize? It was for the benefit of who, and why would Jesus the Father need to supplicate to himself.

Same question from a different view point. Matthew 27:46.

About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?

Why would God find it a need to yell out in a loud voice, if he is one and the same. Is God, a God of trickery? Did Jesus find it a need to deceive his audience? What was the purpose of looking up to the heavens if he created it, and the angelic realm? To supplicate to himself. That would imply a delusional Christ, a wicked Messiah, because he’d be crazy enough to talk to himself, and deceive a group of people all this time.

It is only the absurdity that some suggest that the Trinity has any merit. It would be equally absurd to suggest that Jesus was the creator or co-creator of this system implied by the librarian, instead of a Master Builder.

So, Jesus (Yahushua) the Christ becomes “lord and Savior” “the anointed one” (messiah) in its original form, “Help of Jehovah or Savior” not as God but as the “word” a God, which is a lesser deity for being the first created, and savior of humanities sins.

Wow, you are WAY off on so many points.

the pope had NOTHING to do with the fact that Jesus is God. Had NOTHING to do with nicea. the watchtower has LIED to you.