RELIGION 101-FOLLOWUP PART 1

Remember I mentioned that I would not tell you which Bible I would use. Well it is that time. I want to start with some scriptures. The notes that are in quotation marks are from the Bible that I am using, it is the explanation of the verse.

I believe most of these verses speak for themselves. But, have your eyes been opened? We shall see. To understand what religions are true they need to line up with the Word of God. The Word of God is the Bible. Let us read and understand these scriptures and then we shall test the religions.

Revelation 22:
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I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
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and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book.

2 Peter 1:
1 Symeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of equal value to ours through the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ:
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may grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge 2 of God and of Jesus our Lord.
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His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power.
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Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
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For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, 6
knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
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devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.
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If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Anyone who lacks them is blind and shortsighted, forgetful of the cleansing of his past sins.
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John 9: 39
8 Then Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind."
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Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?"
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Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.
8 [39-41] These verses spell out the symbolic meaning of the cure; the Pharisees are not the innocent blind, willing to accept the testimony of others.

Luke 8:10 He answered, "Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that 'they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.'

Acts 28:26 'Go to this people and say: You shall indeed hear but not understand. You shall indeed look but never see.
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Gross is the heart of this people; they will not hear with their ears; they have closed their eyes, so they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.'

1 Corinthians 14: 16
Otherwise, if you pronounce a blessing (with) the spirit, how shall one who holds the place of the uninstructed say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

John 8: 58
24 Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."
24 [58] Came to be, I AM: the Greek word used for "came to be" is the one used of all creation in the prologue, while the word used for "am" is the one reserved for the Logos.
Exodus 35 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?"
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He answered, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain."
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"But," said Moses to God, "when I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?"
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6 God replied, "I am who am." Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you."
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God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. "This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.

5 [11] Who am I: besides naturally shrinking from such a tremendous undertaking, Moses realized that, as a fugitive from Pharaoh, he could hardly hope to carry out a mission to him. Perhaps he also recalled that on one occasion even his own kinsmen questioned his authority. Cf Exodus 2:14.

6 [14] I am who am: apparently this utterance is the source of the word Yahweh, the proper
personal name of the God of Israel. It is commonly explained in reference to God as the absolute and necessary Being. It may be understood of God as the Source of all created beings. Out of reverence for this name, the term Adonai, "my Lord," was later used as a substitute. The word LORD in the present version represents this traditional usage. The word "Jehovah" arose from a false reading of this name as it is written in the current Hebrew text.

In Christology, the conception that Jesus Christ is the Logos (a Greek word meaning "word", "wisdom", or "reason") has been important in establishing the doctrine of Jesus' divinity, as well as that of the Trinity, as set forth in the Chalcedonian Creed.

The conception derives from the opening of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the original Greek, Logos is used, and in theological discourse, this is often left untranslated.

In Christianity, the prologue of the Gospel of John calls Jesus "the Logos" (usually translated as "the Word" in English bibles such as the KJV) and played a central role in establishing the doctrine of Jesus' divinity and the Trinity.The opening verse reads: "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God."

Some scholars of the Bible have suggested that John made creative use of double meaning in the word "Logos" to communicate to both Jews, who were familiar with the Wisdom tradition in Judaism, and Hellenic polytheism, especially followers of Philo. Each of these two groups had its own history associated with the concept of the Logos, and each could understand John's use of the term from one or both of those contexts. Especially for the Hellenists, however, John turns the concept of the Logos on its head when he claimed "the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us" (v. 14). Similarly, some translations of the Gospel of John into Chinese have used the word "Tao ( ) to translate the Logos in a provocative way.

Mark 12:
28
5 One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, Which is the first of all the commandments?"
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Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
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The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
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The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.'
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And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
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And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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6 As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, "How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David?
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David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord said to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet."'
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David himself calls him 'lord'; so how is he his son?" (The) great crowd heard this with delight.
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7 In the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
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seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.
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They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."

6 [35-37] Jesus questions the claim of the scribes about the Davidic descent of the Messiah, not to deny it (Matthew 1:1; Acts 2:20, 34; Romans 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8 but to imply that he is more than this. His superiority derives from his transcendent origin, to which David himself attested when he spoke of the Messiah with the name "Lord" (Ps 110, 1). See also the note on Matthew 22:41-46.

Mark 13:
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Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one deceives you.
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Many will come in my name saying, 'I am he,' and they will deceive many.
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When you hear of wars and reports of wars do not be alarmed; such things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.
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Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes from place to place and there will be famines. These are the beginnings of the labor pains.
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"Watch out for yourselves. They will hand you over to the courts. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will be arraigned before governors and kings because of me, as a witness before them.

2 [3-37] Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple (Mark 13:2) provoked questions that the four named disciples put to him in private regarding the time and the sign when all these things are about to come to an end (Mark 13:3-4). The response to their questions was Jesus' eschatological discourse prior to his imminent death. It contained instruction and consolation exhorting the disciples and the church to faith and obedience through the trials that would confront them (Mark 13:5-13). The sign is the presence of the desolating abomination (Mark 13:14; see Daniel 9:27), i.e., of the Roman power profaning the temple. Flight from Jerusalem is urged rather than defense of the city through misguided messianic hope (Mark 13:14-23). Intervention will occur only after destruction (Mark 13:24-27), which will happen before the end of the first Christian generation (Mark 13:28-31). No one but the Father knows the precise time, or that of the parousia (Mark 13:32); hence the necessity of constant vigilance (Mark 13:33-37). Luke sets the parousia at a later date, after "the time of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24).

Mark 13:
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If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah! Look, there he is!' do not believe it.
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False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect.
Mark 15

John 19:25
10 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.
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When Jesus saw his mother 11 and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
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Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

10 [25] It is not clear whether four women are meant, or three (i.e., Mary the wife of Cl[e]opas [cf Luke 24:18] is in apposition with his mother's sister) or two (his mother and his mother's sister, i.e., Mary of Cl[e]opas and Mary of Magdala). Only John mentions the mother of Jesus here. The synoptic's have a group of women looking on from a distance at the cross (Mark 15:40).

11 [26-27] This scene has been interpreted literally, of Jesus' concern for his mother; and symbolically, e.g., in the light of the Cana story in John 2 (the presence of the mother of Jesus, the address woman, and the mention of the hour) and of the upper room in John 13 (the presence of the beloved disciple; the hour). Now that the hour has come (John 19:28), Mary (a symbol of the church?) is given a role as the mother of Christians (personified by the beloved disciple); or, as a representative of those seeking salvation, she is supported by the disciple who interprets Jesus' revelation; or Jewish and Gentile Christianity (or Israel and the Christian community) are reconciled.

Acts 1:
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When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
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All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Matthew 12:46
32 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.
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(Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.") 33
33 [47] This verse is omitted in some important textual witnesses, including Codex Sinaiticus (original reading) and Codex Vaticanus.

Matthew 13:54
27 He came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished 28 and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
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Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
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Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?"

28 [54] After the Sermon on the Mount the crowds are in admiring astonishment at Jesus' teaching (Matthew 7:28]; here the astonishment is of those who take offense at him. Familiarity with his background and family leads them to regard him as pretentious. Matthew modifies his Marcan source (Matthew 6:1-6). Jesus is not the carpenter but the carpenter's son (Matthew 13:55), "and among his own kin" is omitted (Matthew 13:57), he did not work many mighty deeds in face of such unbelief (Matthew 13:58) rather than the Marcan "... he was not able to perform any mighty deed there" (Matthew 6:5), and there is no mention of his amazement at his townspeople's lack of faith.

Now that you have read all these scriptures, from the one Bible that I choose. Think on what you read. Tomorrow we will explain them, simple as they are, so there can be no misunderstanding. Afterwards we shall apply them to the traditions and beliefs that have been passed down in various churches. Beliefs and traditions that are lies.

God Bless
rECj/LJG

PS I know this might seem like a long path to where we are heading, but I ask you to remember that the children of Israel where in the desert for 40 years on what should have been an 11-day journey.