Life in general
Monday, June 28, 2010
One week ago I was fighting to stay alive. One week later I am trying to figure out what I can and can't do because of the heart attacks. One week ago the world was spinning, everything was a blur, and I was in pain. One week later I'm typing, drinking coffee and getting ready to take a short walk. One day at a time? I think I might just try that. Today is a great day and with Gods help, tomorrow will be even better.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
What a week. Four heart attacks and a brand new stint in my heart. My best friend Louie had quadruple bypass surgery which was planned on Monday. I was brought in by ambulance Monday morning. We were a room apart all week. I came home Thursday and he came home Friday. Almost eight years ago we both had a heart attack, 6months apart. We are both pianist and I was scheduled to fill in for him on Sunday Morning. I'm still going to give it a try, and Louie says that he will show up to lend support. I hope we play music that is soothing to the heart.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thank you Justin. There are not to many Christians that can thank an atheist for streghtening their faith. This past week I suffered 3 heart attacks, had a major artery stinted, and am back home. At four different times I was near death and all I could think of was how I failed Justin. God put Justin in front of me and all I did was argue something that God had already decided years ago, before man walked on this earth. I owe science and medicine a debt I may never be able to re pay (figuratively and financially). I owe God a debt that i can repay in following his lead. I owe Justin a debt for straightening my faith, a debt I can never repay. I am so sorry Justin that I failed you and I will try harder. God has a plan for my life and that includes helping Justin and reverse the harm that years of a well meaning christian family has done to him. Today is the first day of the rest of your life and mine.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
History Of Father's Day
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special. .
The origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.
Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.
After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.
In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day Flower.
States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.
In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.
Luke 15: 11-32
Dad will never say
Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear a Dad Say
10. Well, how 'bout that?... I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions.
9. You know Pumpkin, now that you're thirteen, you need these birth control pill, and have fun.
8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain "up yours" attitude ... I like that.
7. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car -- GO CRAZY.
6. You kids don’t have enough piercing. Make sure you dress in grunge, pierce everything possible, and gage your ear enough for your finger to fit thru.
5. Your Mother and I are going away for the weekend ... you might want to consider throwing a party.
4. Well, I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies -- you know -- that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks.
3. My teenage kids don’t need a curfew.
2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.
1. Father's Day? aahh -- don't worry about that -- it's no big deal.
Worst Fathers Day Gifts
Thong swim suit in pink
Divorce Papers
A Pink Slip - paper or silk - either is BAD news
The kids 'repaired' all your power tools
Louis Kiel swimsuit addition
A paternity test
Tickets to "The Martha Stuart Monologues"
DVD of Disco Dancing
A nipple ring
The kids redecorated your workshop
Abe Vagoda's Enema Jambouree
Martha Stuart Cook Book
Your single daughter is pregnant
A map- real men don’t need maps
Al Gores comedy selections
Pet rock
The clapper
Ebola Beer
New bed complete with white silk scarf and ice-pick holder
From wife: "Honey, I'm pregnant!"
A tie of ANY kind
A shopping spree planned by your wife
Extra Strength Viagra
How does your father stack up? I was on line the other day and googled my dad. One of the sights was for writing emails to your father who has since passed away. You can tell your father why you are mad at him. People tell their fathers how they are mad because he died. Some tell there fathers how mad they are because their fathers were never there for them. Some tell of their fathers abuse towards them. The sorrow is so great, that I could not make it through very many of the letters. The sadness that fathers day brings to some is enormous. I know that my wife has a lot of sorrow when remembering her father. There are fathers out there who don’t deserve to be honored. Some have abandoned their children, some have abused their children, and some are just not very nice.
There are fathers out there who go unnoticed. They are there day in and day out without being noticed. They fulfill their roles by giving their kids everything, but their time. They let their money show their love. There are those who can’t afford to let money show their love, so they give their love and attention. There are some who do both.
Fathers come in all sizes. Big ones, small one, hairy ones, bald ones, handsome ones, ugly ones, smelly ones, cologned ones. There are loud ones and soft ones, there are flamboyant ones, and shy ones. There are ones that pass gas in public, scratch their butts in public, laugh really loud, burp real loud. Some father might even try to embarrass you in public. There are fathers who try to be cool, when they are square. Some of us fathers are dumb, and some are smart. Some of us look like our fathers. ) Samuel Clements ( Mark Twain) once said, “When I was growing up, my father didn’t know anything, and by the time I became an adult, it surprised me how smart my father had become.” My children are quick to tell me how I just don’t understand. Life is soo different now I cannot comprehend anything.
How many fathers out there are single fathers? I lot of attention is placed on the single mom, but how about the single Dad. Since health problem forced me out of the work field, I’ve had to do most of the house chores. It is not easy. My hat is off to the single dad.
Then there is the case of recognition. When a sport figure has a camera placed in his face during a game, what is the first thing he says? Is it, Hi Dad? No, It’s Hi Mom.
Us fathers are proud when the first words that come out of a baby’s mouth is dada. Then doctors are quick to point out that babies call everything dada.
Then there is the first bike ride. There is the father running behind the bike, making sure his child does not fall. When your child is asked who taught them, they say,”I did it myself.”
Let’s talk about the TV dads. In my time, there were show like FATHER KNOWS BEST, MY THREE SONS, AND LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. The father was revered. When he came home the dinner was ready, made by his wife, cooking in a dress. The father was wise. Now you have father figures like, AL BUNDY, HOMER SIMPSON, AND THE FAMILY GUY. Movies portray fathers as unfaithful, pedifials, wife beaters, killers, and men who only care about themselves. If they like sports, they are demonized as lazy couch potatoes. If they help around the house they are called feminine.
If a women wear man clothes, like three piece suits, they are called “professional.” If men wear women clothes…………well lets not go there.
In this new age, it is tough being an all knowing father. Instead of fathers teaching there kids stuff, us fathers have to ask our kids to program our VCRs. I learned computer in college, and was looking forward eagerly to share punch cards, and computer language with my kids. I could bring them down and show them how they managed to squeeze a whole computer in one room. Now I have to ask them how to turn on the computer.
How about discipline from a father. Moms use to say, “wait till your father get home.” That used to install fear in any child. Now days the children response is, Why?. Spanking is illegal, shouting is wrong. When we fathers get home, what are we suppose to do? ……………………………………………….. Fathers have the final say, mom always say, go ask your father. That’s when you hear, Mom said it is alright if it is ok with you………………………………….. Try saying NO……………………………… Why is it that fathers have to explain their answers to their kids. If you answer yes, you are a great father, and if you answer no, you have to answer 100 questions, along with the obligatory, “You just don’t understand, but Mom said it was ok.” Let’s not forget that if you said ok, Mom was hoping you would say no, and now you are in deep…………………
The ten commandment state, Honor your father and your mother. I guess we need to put an asterisk next to it. Colossians 3:18-21. WIVES, SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBANDS, AS IT IS FITTING IN THE LORD. HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES AND DO NOT BE HARSH TO THEM. CHILDREN OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN EVERYTHING, FOR THIS PLEASES THE LORD. FATHERS, DO NOT EMBITTER YOUR CHILDREN OR THEY WILL BECOME DISCOURAGED. Now according to Paul, we can’t “pick” on our children or they will become discouraged.
One of my children asked me, “since they have Mothers day and Fathers day, why don’t they have childrens day? What? 363 days of the year is not enough?
What’s this about “The Look”. Every father is suppose to have one. Moms don’t have the look, only fathers.
All kidding aside, I love being a father. The rewards may be few and far between, but they are the greatest rewards. The simple, Thanks Dad, youre the greatest, or I love you PAPA. Our when your child sticks up for you in an argument.
Let me tell you about my father. He was a father of six kids and worked very hard. I remember all the things that we did together
I loved sports. I spent hours throwing the ball against the garage door, because my dad didn’t like baseball. I spent hours shooting baskets by myself because my dad didn’t like basketball. The hours we could have spent hunting if my father liked to hunt, which he didn’t. We did spend some time fishing. For hours we sat in a rowboat in the middle of Green Lake waiting for the bobber to sink. Dad told me to keep quiet to as not to scare the fish. He did let me carry his clubs a few times on the golf course while he played with his friends. My mom taught me how to play golf. I was so proud when I played on sports teams, only to look in the stands and not see my dad. He was away working. When my mom had the time, she would be there.
I loved music. My dad was tone deaf, so he said. He did buy me a clarienet and we did have a piano in the house. He paid for the piano lessons. He got up with me at 6 oclock in the morning to make sure I practiced. He was there for some of my concerts, but I overheard him telling my mom that he would rather be somewhere else. Later in life ,when I had to go to these concerts, I understood.
My father was part of an era where fathers did not express their emotions. Getting a hug from my dad was very difficult. My fathers left the raising of the kids to my mom.
You know, I had the greatest Dad in the world when I was growing up. My Dad was there for me in many other ways. He supported the way my mom raised us. His job forced him to travel, but I always remember the candy bars he brought. My father bought me the things I needed, not just what I wanted. My father took the time to sit down and talk with me. When I got in trouble at school for fighting, my father stood up for me when he found out it was in self defense.
My father never raised his hand against his wife or his kids. My father never fooled around. My father didn’t have a foul tongue. When I would get hurt, guess who was there?
My father and I never saw eye to eye. Even though I was named after him, I felt that I was the least loved. In a family of Six kids, I was the “middle child. I was younger than three siblings by 2years, and older then my two youngest brothers by 5 years. Being named after your father was not easy. I felt that he had to go out of his way not to show favoritism. If my father said that something was blue, I would say it was red, just to be different. My father and I argued over the smallest of things. My Mom would say it was because we were so much alike, which would make me even madder. I would cringe when people would say that I looked and sounded just like my dad. I wanted to be different. Then my Mom would side with my dad, so I would be mad at her.
I got the hand me downs from my older brother, and my two younger brothers got new clothes. My curfew were stricter (in my mind) than anyone else’s. I got in trouble if I picked on my older sister or my younger brothers. As I grew older, my father and I drew farther apart, and my Mom stopped being the peace maker.
The summer after I turned 18, I moved out of the house. I enrolled in Grand Rapid Junior College and lived with my brother in an apartment. I had a job and went to school for two years. My brother went into the service, and I moved back home. I got a full time job and was saving my money up to go away to school.
One Saturday morning, I was sleeping in my room downstairs, my father was playing golf, I thought I heard my Mom laughing upstairs. As I slowly woke up, I realized that she was crying. I rushed upstairs to find he collapsed on the bathroom floor. She was unconscious, but breathing. I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. I called my sister, who was a nurse and on duty, to ask what to do. I had done everything you could do for a person who had fainted, and nothing was working. I called the golf course and was fortunate to get my father, who rushed home. My father and I attempted to move her to the car to take her to the hospital, but she was in to much pain and moving in and out of consciousness. We called the ambulance, which took her to the hospital. She remained in the hospital for 6 weeks, in a comma, with a brain aneurysm, until she passed away. During this time, my father and I became reacquainted. He shared with me things he had never shared before. I learned more about him in 6 weeks, then I had learned about him in 21 + years. When my father remarried, I was his best man.
I went back to college, to finish my degree, and ended up getting a job as a sales rep for a national paint company, just like my Dad. When I was tranfered to New York where I met my wife, my father was very proud. When my son was born, I called him Don, my father was proud again. I moved to Midland Michigan with another paint company, and again my father was proud. Then I excepted a job with the same company that my father worked for, and he was even more proud, even though we had to move to Indianapolis. He enjoyed visiting his grandchildren when he could. Soon after he retired, I was fired. He spent much time talking with me, and helping me thru the tough times. When job opened up in Muskegon, I took it. It was a chance to move home, I took it. I had chances to play golf and my kids could see their grandparents more often. My father had also become a father to my wife, who’s father was abusive and couldn’t care less.
My father and I don’t talk anymore. My father doesn’t even know who I am. He never calls me on the phone. When I visit him, he doesn’t even speak to me. As much as I try to talk with him, he ignores me. I tell him that I love him. And he does not answer. There are times when I wish my father would die, and yet I love him very much. My father left without saying goodbye. My father had Alzheimer disease. He would sits in a wheelchair, oblivious to his surroundings. He would still smiles, but his mind left a while ago. He might recognize his wife once in a while, but that is usually fleeting. He still could pray, and recognized hymns once in a while.
I was wrong when I said that my father and I don’t talk anymore. When I would sit with him and hold his hand, great memories came back. I know that somewhere behind that blank stare is my Dad. We conversed all the time, though no words are spoken. My memories are of a father who loved me very much, and I almost missed out on it. He doesn’t need to say one word to me, because he already has given me more then I deserve. It took a while for me to come around, but now I hear his voice wherever I go. My father is so intelligent, and I was too dumb to see it. My Dad never pushed me into anything, or threatened me if I did wrong. My fathers love to me is unconditional. It transcends disease, and death. His love is always, and will always be there. This is what I think of everyday, not just fathers day.
My heavenly fathers love to me is the same. It was established long ago, waiting for me to embrace it. It is waiting for you also, if you desire to except it. There are no strings attached, no group to join, and no one else to impress. This father has a fathers day once a week, but will accept your gifts any day. This father has given you more then you deserve. There is one string attached. You have to meet him halfway.
Yes, EVERYONE HAS A FATHER.
Thank you father, and by the way, HAPPY FATHERS DAY.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special. .
The origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.
Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.
After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.
In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day Flower.
States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.
In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.
Luke 15: 11-32
Dad will never say
Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear a Dad Say
10. Well, how 'bout that?... I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions.
9. You know Pumpkin, now that you're thirteen, you need these birth control pill, and have fun.
8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain "up yours" attitude ... I like that.
7. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car -- GO CRAZY.
6. You kids don’t have enough piercing. Make sure you dress in grunge, pierce everything possible, and gage your ear enough for your finger to fit thru.
5. Your Mother and I are going away for the weekend ... you might want to consider throwing a party.
4. Well, I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies -- you know -- that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks.
3. My teenage kids don’t need a curfew.
2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.
1. Father's Day? aahh -- don't worry about that -- it's no big deal.
Worst Fathers Day Gifts
Thong swim suit in pink
Divorce Papers
A Pink Slip - paper or silk - either is BAD news
The kids 'repaired' all your power tools
Louis Kiel swimsuit addition
A paternity test
Tickets to "The Martha Stuart Monologues"
DVD of Disco Dancing
A nipple ring
The kids redecorated your workshop
Abe Vagoda's Enema Jambouree
Martha Stuart Cook Book
Your single daughter is pregnant
A map- real men don’t need maps
Al Gores comedy selections
Pet rock
The clapper
Ebola Beer
New bed complete with white silk scarf and ice-pick holder
From wife: "Honey, I'm pregnant!"
A tie of ANY kind
A shopping spree planned by your wife
Extra Strength Viagra
How does your father stack up? I was on line the other day and googled my dad. One of the sights was for writing emails to your father who has since passed away. You can tell your father why you are mad at him. People tell their fathers how they are mad because he died. Some tell there fathers how mad they are because their fathers were never there for them. Some tell of their fathers abuse towards them. The sorrow is so great, that I could not make it through very many of the letters. The sadness that fathers day brings to some is enormous. I know that my wife has a lot of sorrow when remembering her father. There are fathers out there who don’t deserve to be honored. Some have abandoned their children, some have abused their children, and some are just not very nice.
There are fathers out there who go unnoticed. They are there day in and day out without being noticed. They fulfill their roles by giving their kids everything, but their time. They let their money show their love. There are those who can’t afford to let money show their love, so they give their love and attention. There are some who do both.
Fathers come in all sizes. Big ones, small one, hairy ones, bald ones, handsome ones, ugly ones, smelly ones, cologned ones. There are loud ones and soft ones, there are flamboyant ones, and shy ones. There are ones that pass gas in public, scratch their butts in public, laugh really loud, burp real loud. Some father might even try to embarrass you in public. There are fathers who try to be cool, when they are square. Some of us fathers are dumb, and some are smart. Some of us look like our fathers. ) Samuel Clements ( Mark Twain) once said, “When I was growing up, my father didn’t know anything, and by the time I became an adult, it surprised me how smart my father had become.” My children are quick to tell me how I just don’t understand. Life is soo different now I cannot comprehend anything.
How many fathers out there are single fathers? I lot of attention is placed on the single mom, but how about the single Dad. Since health problem forced me out of the work field, I’ve had to do most of the house chores. It is not easy. My hat is off to the single dad.
Then there is the case of recognition. When a sport figure has a camera placed in his face during a game, what is the first thing he says? Is it, Hi Dad? No, It’s Hi Mom.
Us fathers are proud when the first words that come out of a baby’s mouth is dada. Then doctors are quick to point out that babies call everything dada.
Then there is the first bike ride. There is the father running behind the bike, making sure his child does not fall. When your child is asked who taught them, they say,”I did it myself.”
Let’s talk about the TV dads. In my time, there were show like FATHER KNOWS BEST, MY THREE SONS, AND LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. The father was revered. When he came home the dinner was ready, made by his wife, cooking in a dress. The father was wise. Now you have father figures like, AL BUNDY, HOMER SIMPSON, AND THE FAMILY GUY. Movies portray fathers as unfaithful, pedifials, wife beaters, killers, and men who only care about themselves. If they like sports, they are demonized as lazy couch potatoes. If they help around the house they are called feminine.
If a women wear man clothes, like three piece suits, they are called “professional.” If men wear women clothes…………well lets not go there.
In this new age, it is tough being an all knowing father. Instead of fathers teaching there kids stuff, us fathers have to ask our kids to program our VCRs. I learned computer in college, and was looking forward eagerly to share punch cards, and computer language with my kids. I could bring them down and show them how they managed to squeeze a whole computer in one room. Now I have to ask them how to turn on the computer.
How about discipline from a father. Moms use to say, “wait till your father get home.” That used to install fear in any child. Now days the children response is, Why?. Spanking is illegal, shouting is wrong. When we fathers get home, what are we suppose to do? ……………………………………………….. Fathers have the final say, mom always say, go ask your father. That’s when you hear, Mom said it is alright if it is ok with you………………………………….. Try saying NO……………………………… Why is it that fathers have to explain their answers to their kids. If you answer yes, you are a great father, and if you answer no, you have to answer 100 questions, along with the obligatory, “You just don’t understand, but Mom said it was ok.” Let’s not forget that if you said ok, Mom was hoping you would say no, and now you are in deep…………………
The ten commandment state, Honor your father and your mother. I guess we need to put an asterisk next to it. Colossians 3:18-21. WIVES, SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBANDS, AS IT IS FITTING IN THE LORD. HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES AND DO NOT BE HARSH TO THEM. CHILDREN OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN EVERYTHING, FOR THIS PLEASES THE LORD. FATHERS, DO NOT EMBITTER YOUR CHILDREN OR THEY WILL BECOME DISCOURAGED. Now according to Paul, we can’t “pick” on our children or they will become discouraged.
One of my children asked me, “since they have Mothers day and Fathers day, why don’t they have childrens day? What? 363 days of the year is not enough?
What’s this about “The Look”. Every father is suppose to have one. Moms don’t have the look, only fathers.
All kidding aside, I love being a father. The rewards may be few and far between, but they are the greatest rewards. The simple, Thanks Dad, youre the greatest, or I love you PAPA. Our when your child sticks up for you in an argument.
Let me tell you about my father. He was a father of six kids and worked very hard. I remember all the things that we did together
I loved sports. I spent hours throwing the ball against the garage door, because my dad didn’t like baseball. I spent hours shooting baskets by myself because my dad didn’t like basketball. The hours we could have spent hunting if my father liked to hunt, which he didn’t. We did spend some time fishing. For hours we sat in a rowboat in the middle of Green Lake waiting for the bobber to sink. Dad told me to keep quiet to as not to scare the fish. He did let me carry his clubs a few times on the golf course while he played with his friends. My mom taught me how to play golf. I was so proud when I played on sports teams, only to look in the stands and not see my dad. He was away working. When my mom had the time, she would be there.
I loved music. My dad was tone deaf, so he said. He did buy me a clarienet and we did have a piano in the house. He paid for the piano lessons. He got up with me at 6 oclock in the morning to make sure I practiced. He was there for some of my concerts, but I overheard him telling my mom that he would rather be somewhere else. Later in life ,when I had to go to these concerts, I understood.
My father was part of an era where fathers did not express their emotions. Getting a hug from my dad was very difficult. My fathers left the raising of the kids to my mom.
You know, I had the greatest Dad in the world when I was growing up. My Dad was there for me in many other ways. He supported the way my mom raised us. His job forced him to travel, but I always remember the candy bars he brought. My father bought me the things I needed, not just what I wanted. My father took the time to sit down and talk with me. When I got in trouble at school for fighting, my father stood up for me when he found out it was in self defense.
My father never raised his hand against his wife or his kids. My father never fooled around. My father didn’t have a foul tongue. When I would get hurt, guess who was there?
My father and I never saw eye to eye. Even though I was named after him, I felt that I was the least loved. In a family of Six kids, I was the “middle child. I was younger than three siblings by 2years, and older then my two youngest brothers by 5 years. Being named after your father was not easy. I felt that he had to go out of his way not to show favoritism. If my father said that something was blue, I would say it was red, just to be different. My father and I argued over the smallest of things. My Mom would say it was because we were so much alike, which would make me even madder. I would cringe when people would say that I looked and sounded just like my dad. I wanted to be different. Then my Mom would side with my dad, so I would be mad at her.
I got the hand me downs from my older brother, and my two younger brothers got new clothes. My curfew were stricter (in my mind) than anyone else’s. I got in trouble if I picked on my older sister or my younger brothers. As I grew older, my father and I drew farther apart, and my Mom stopped being the peace maker.
The summer after I turned 18, I moved out of the house. I enrolled in Grand Rapid Junior College and lived with my brother in an apartment. I had a job and went to school for two years. My brother went into the service, and I moved back home. I got a full time job and was saving my money up to go away to school.
One Saturday morning, I was sleeping in my room downstairs, my father was playing golf, I thought I heard my Mom laughing upstairs. As I slowly woke up, I realized that she was crying. I rushed upstairs to find he collapsed on the bathroom floor. She was unconscious, but breathing. I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. I called my sister, who was a nurse and on duty, to ask what to do. I had done everything you could do for a person who had fainted, and nothing was working. I called the golf course and was fortunate to get my father, who rushed home. My father and I attempted to move her to the car to take her to the hospital, but she was in to much pain and moving in and out of consciousness. We called the ambulance, which took her to the hospital. She remained in the hospital for 6 weeks, in a comma, with a brain aneurysm, until she passed away. During this time, my father and I became reacquainted. He shared with me things he had never shared before. I learned more about him in 6 weeks, then I had learned about him in 21 + years. When my father remarried, I was his best man.
I went back to college, to finish my degree, and ended up getting a job as a sales rep for a national paint company, just like my Dad. When I was tranfered to New York where I met my wife, my father was very proud. When my son was born, I called him Don, my father was proud again. I moved to Midland Michigan with another paint company, and again my father was proud. Then I excepted a job with the same company that my father worked for, and he was even more proud, even though we had to move to Indianapolis. He enjoyed visiting his grandchildren when he could. Soon after he retired, I was fired. He spent much time talking with me, and helping me thru the tough times. When job opened up in Muskegon, I took it. It was a chance to move home, I took it. I had chances to play golf and my kids could see their grandparents more often. My father had also become a father to my wife, who’s father was abusive and couldn’t care less.
My father and I don’t talk anymore. My father doesn’t even know who I am. He never calls me on the phone. When I visit him, he doesn’t even speak to me. As much as I try to talk with him, he ignores me. I tell him that I love him. And he does not answer. There are times when I wish my father would die, and yet I love him very much. My father left without saying goodbye. My father had Alzheimer disease. He would sits in a wheelchair, oblivious to his surroundings. He would still smiles, but his mind left a while ago. He might recognize his wife once in a while, but that is usually fleeting. He still could pray, and recognized hymns once in a while.
I was wrong when I said that my father and I don’t talk anymore. When I would sit with him and hold his hand, great memories came back. I know that somewhere behind that blank stare is my Dad. We conversed all the time, though no words are spoken. My memories are of a father who loved me very much, and I almost missed out on it. He doesn’t need to say one word to me, because he already has given me more then I deserve. It took a while for me to come around, but now I hear his voice wherever I go. My father is so intelligent, and I was too dumb to see it. My Dad never pushed me into anything, or threatened me if I did wrong. My fathers love to me is unconditional. It transcends disease, and death. His love is always, and will always be there. This is what I think of everyday, not just fathers day.
My heavenly fathers love to me is the same. It was established long ago, waiting for me to embrace it. It is waiting for you also, if you desire to except it. There are no strings attached, no group to join, and no one else to impress. This father has a fathers day once a week, but will accept your gifts any day. This father has given you more then you deserve. There is one string attached. You have to meet him halfway.
Yes, EVERYONE HAS A FATHER.
Thank you father, and by the way, HAPPY FATHERS DAY.
Timeline of Bible Translation History. I have put this togather incorportating my studies, Justins Comentary and I can best remember. Let me know if I missed anything.
1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.
500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament.
200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books.
1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament.
315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.
382 AD: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test).
500 AD: Scriptures have been Translated into Over 500 Languages.
600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture.
995 AD: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New Testament Produced.
1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible; All 80 Books.
1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; Books May Now be mass-Produced Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg's Bible in Latin.
1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.
1522 AD: Martin Luther's German New Testament.
1526 AD: William Tyndale's New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the English Language.
1535 AD: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha).
1537 AD: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers (80 Books).
1539 AD: The "Great Bible" Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books).
1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books).
1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision (80 Books).
1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books).
1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.
1782 AD: Robert Aitken's Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in America.
1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books.
1808 AD: Jane Aitken's Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed by a Woman.
1833 AD: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.
1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns.
1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books.
1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV.
1901 AD: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the KJV.
1971 AD: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible.
1973 AD: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible.
1982 AD: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James."
2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.
Old Testament
The following are brief snap shots of the beginning and ending of the Old Testament and the reasons for the first two translations of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Aramaic and Greek
• 1875 B.C. Abraham was called by God to the land of Canaan.
• 1450 B.C. The exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
Autographs
There are no known autographs of any books of the Old Testament. Below is a list of the languages in which the Old Testament books were written.
• 1450-1400 B.C. The traditional date for Moses' writing of Genesis-Deuteronomy written in Hebrew.
• 586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were taken into captivity to Babylon. They remained in Babylon under the Medo-Persian Empire and there began to speak Aramaic.
• 555-545 B.C. The Book of Daniel Chapters. 2:4 to 7:28 were written in Aramaic.
• 425 B.C. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written in Hebrew.
• 400 B.C. Ezra Chapters. 4:8 to 6:18; and 7:12-26 were written in Aramaic.
Manuscripts
The following is a list of the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament that are still in existence.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls: date from 200 B.C. - 70 A.D. and contain the entire book of Isaiah and portions of every other Old Testament book but Esther.
• Geniza Fragments: portions the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic, discovered in 1947 in an old synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, which date from about 400 A.D.
• Ben Asher Manuscripts: five or six generations of this family made copies of the Old Testament using the Masoretic Hebrew text, from 700-950 A.D. The following are examples of the Hebrew Masoretic text-type.
o Aleppo Codex: contains the complete Old Testament and is dated around 950 A.D. Unfortunately over one quarter of this Codex was destroyed in anti-Jewish riots in 1947.
o Codex Leningradensis: The complete Old Testament in Hebrew copied by the last member of the Ben Asher family in A.D. 1008.
Translations
The Old Testament was translated very early into Aramaic and Greek.
• 400 B.C. The Old Testament began to be translated into Aramaic. This translation is called the Aramaic Targums. This translation helped the Jewish people, who began to speak Aramaic from the time of their captivity in Babylon, to understand the Old Testament in the language that they commonly spoke. In the first century Palestine of Jesus' day, Aramaic was still the commonly spoken language. For example maranatha: "Our Lord has come," 1 Corinthians 16:22 is an example of an Aramaic word that is used in the New Testament.
• 250 B.C. The Old Testament was translated into Greek. This translation is known as the Septuagint. It is sometimes designated "LXX" (which is Roman numeral for "70") because it was believed that 70 to 72 translators worked to translate the Hebrew Old Testament in Greek. The Septuagint was often used by New Testament writers when they quoted from the Old Testament. The LXX was translation of the Old Testament that was used by the early Church.
1. The following is a list of the oldest Greek LXX translations of the Old Testament that are still in existence.
o Chester Beatty Papyri: Contains nine Old Testament Books in the Greek Septuagint and dates between 100-400 A.D.
o Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus each contain almost the entire Old Testament of the Greek Septuagint and they both date around 350 A.D.
The New Testament
Autographs
45- 95 A.D. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Pauline Epistles, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts are all dated from 45-63 A.D. The Gospel of John and the Revelation may have been written as late as 95 A.D.
Manuscripts
There are over 5,600 early Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament that are still in existence. The oldest manuscripts were written on papyrus and the later manuscripts were written on leather called parchment.
• 125 A.D. The New Testament manuscript which dates most closely to the original autograph was copied around 125 A.D, within 35 years of the original. It is designated "p 52" and contains a small portion of John 18. (The "p" stands for papyrus.)
• 200 A.D. Bodmer p 66 a papyrus manuscript which contains a large part of the Gospel of John.
• 200 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 46 contains the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews.
• 225 A.D. Bodmer Papyrus p 75 contains the Gospels of Luke and John.
• 250-300 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 45 contains portions of the four Gospels and Acts.
• 350 A.D. Codex Sinaiticus contains the entire New Testament and almost the entire Old Testament in Greek. It was discovered by a German scholar Tisendorf in 1856 at an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Sinai.
• 350 A.D. Codex Vaticanus: {B} is an almost complete New Testament. It was cataloged as being in the Vatican Library since 1475.
Translations
Early translations of the New Testament can give important insight into the underlying Greek manuscripts from which they were translated from.
• 180 A.D. Early translations of the New Testament from Greek into Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions began about 180 A.D.
• 195 A.D. The name of the first translation of the Old and New Testaments into Latin was termed Old Latin, both Testaments having been translated from the Greek. Parts of the Old Latin were found in quotes by the church father Tertullian, who lived around 160-220 A.D. in north Africa and wrote treatises on theology.
• 300 A.D. The Old Syriac was a translation of the New Testament from the Greek into Syriac.
• 300 A.D. The Coptic Versions: Coptic was spoken in four dialects in Egypt. The Bible was translated into each of these four dialects.
• 380 A.D. The Latin Vulgate was translated by St. Jerome. He translated into Latin the Old Testament from the Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. The Latin Vulgate became the Bible of the Western Church until the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's. It continues to be the authoritative translation of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. The Protestant Reformation saw an increase in translations of the Bible into the common languages of the people.
• Other early translations of the Bible were in Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic, Slavic, and Gothic.
• 1380 A.D. The first English translation of the Bible was by John Wycliffe. He translated the Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate. This was a translation from a translation and not a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek. Wycliffe was forced to translate from the Latin Vulgate because he did not know Hebrew or Greek.
In the 1380s, John Wycliffe translated the first English Bible which inspired an English religious revolution which caused persecutions against him by the Catholic Church.
In the early 1500's the German heretic, Martin Luther, almost single handedly caused the final split from the Roman Catholic church and created the beginnings of the Protestant revolution. This split still influences violence to this day. He translated the Bible into German which further spread Protestantism. Luther also helped spread anti-Semitism with his preaching and books such as his "The Jews and their lies," all supported through >his interpretation of the Bible. One should not forget that Hitler (when a Christian and great admirer of Luther) and his holocaust could not have occurred without his influence and the support of Bible believing German Christians. This should no way be confused as the reason for the Holocaust or Nazi belief.
In the 1530s William Tyndale completed his version of the English Protestant Bible (probably with the aid of Luther) and the first to print the English Bible. He too felt the persecution of the Church and he spent his last days in imprisonment and exile. His enemies finally caught him and burned him at the stake, but because of his celebrity, they strangled him first (what nice guys!).
After Luther's German Bible, others followed suit by translating the Bible into their native languages including Dutch and French. Not until 1611 C.E. did a committee of translators and interpreters complete the most popular Bible of all time, the King James Version.
Today we still have dozens of Bible translation versions, with Bible scholars still arguing over the meaning and proper translations of words and phrases. The following shows just a few of the most popular versions:
King James Version (KJV)
The New King James Version (NKJV)
Modern King James Version [Green's Translation] (MKJV)
Literal Translation Version [Green] (LITV)
International Standard Version (ISV)
The New International Version (NIV)
English Standard Version (ESV)
New English Bible (NEB)
American Standard Version (ASV)
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Today's English Version (TEV)
The Living Bible (LB)
New Century Version (NC)
New Life Version (NLV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
Revised Young's Literal Translation (RYLT)
John Darby's New Translation
Weymouth New Testament Translation
Rotherham's
Bible Basics - Versions / Translations
All pages and information copyright 1996 Net Ministries, Inc.
Early Christians following the example of Jesus and the apostles, accepted the Old Testament writings as inspired and authoritative scripture. They used the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament. Latin translations of this became available late in the second century. Other works such as the 'Wisdom of Solomon', and 'Ecclesiasticus' were also used at times. Later, Christian congregations began to appreciate the writings of Paul, and the other apostles. The first complete 'gospels' or life of Jesus didn't appear until around 60 A.D., but collections of sermons and writings were partly available some time before this. After the 'canonization' of the Bible as we know it (see the Old Testament and New Testament sections for more information) were formed, the Bible had taken shape. There are no original manuscripts of any of the books of the Bible in existance today. Many of the handwritten texts in Greek however are available from these early times. The earliest complete manuscript of the New Testament, is the Codex Sinaiticus which dates from about the fourth century. Less complete manuscripts date as far back as the late second century or about 130 A.D.. There are more copies of scripture and manuscripts available from the earliest times for the Bible than any other ancient writings. From the many numerous manuscripts available, scholars try to achieve the most complete and accurate wording of the books of the Bible into modern languages. The earliest translations of the New Testament were the Syriac, Latin, and Coptic versions. These translations were not as good as some more modern translations since the translators did not appear to have a good command of the original languages, such as Greek.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Bible was known almost exclusively in Latin known as the Vulgate. The Jews were the first to print the Old Testament in Hebrew (the original language) in 1488. About 1514, the Greek text of the New Testament was printed, although it was not widely released. The first widely released Greek New Testament was printed by Froben with the text work completed by Erasmus about 1516. This became known as Erasmus' New Testament and underwent many improvements and editions. Meanwhile, the Latin version known as the Vulgate continued and was confirmed by the Council on Trent in 1546, although it continued to have revisions and improvements to accuracy.
With the invention of printing, the circulation of the Bible expanded rapidly. With the Reformation, the wish to have the Bible available in people's own language became stronger. One such early work was the 'Luther Bible' written in German. The 'Reformers' did not accept the Apocrypha as scripture and did not include it in their versions of the Bible. The first French Bible appeared about 1523 and at first only contained the New Testament, but was followed a few years later by the Old Testament.
The pioneer of the English Bible is William Tyndale who published the New Testament in 1525. Complete Bibles appeared as early as 1535 such as Miles Coverdale's edition. Thomas Cromwell had the Matthew Bible another English version of the time revised by Coverdale to become the Great Bible in 1539. It is interesting to note that about 90 percent of Tyndale's original translation made it into the King James Version that we know today. King James had sponsored a new translation of the Bible at request of the Puritans in 1604. It appeared in 1611, but apparently drew heavily on previous translations.
Today there are many translations, each claiming a special merit to accuracy to the original Greek, or wording to make it more understandable to an intended audience. Frequently it is necessary to look at multiple translations and versions of particular passages to establish the true meaning. Most all the modern translations publishers have sites on Internet which may be explored. A great site to compare passages is the WWW Bible Gateway. This is why you can't wrap christianity into one neat package. The bottom line is faith, pure and simple, and not as complicated.
1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.
500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament.
200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books.
1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament.
315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.
382 AD: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test).
500 AD: Scriptures have been Translated into Over 500 Languages.
600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture.
995 AD: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New Testament Produced.
1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible; All 80 Books.
1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; Books May Now be mass-Produced Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg's Bible in Latin.
1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.
1522 AD: Martin Luther's German New Testament.
1526 AD: William Tyndale's New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the English Language.
1535 AD: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha).
1537 AD: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers (80 Books).
1539 AD: The "Great Bible" Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books).
1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books).
1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision (80 Books).
1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books).
1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.
1782 AD: Robert Aitken's Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in America.
1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books.
1808 AD: Jane Aitken's Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed by a Woman.
1833 AD: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.
1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns.
1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books.
1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV.
1901 AD: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the KJV.
1971 AD: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible.
1973 AD: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible.
1982 AD: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James."
2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV.
Old Testament
The following are brief snap shots of the beginning and ending of the Old Testament and the reasons for the first two translations of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Aramaic and Greek
• 1875 B.C. Abraham was called by God to the land of Canaan.
• 1450 B.C. The exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
Autographs
There are no known autographs of any books of the Old Testament. Below is a list of the languages in which the Old Testament books were written.
• 1450-1400 B.C. The traditional date for Moses' writing of Genesis-Deuteronomy written in Hebrew.
• 586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were taken into captivity to Babylon. They remained in Babylon under the Medo-Persian Empire and there began to speak Aramaic.
• 555-545 B.C. The Book of Daniel Chapters. 2:4 to 7:28 were written in Aramaic.
• 425 B.C. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written in Hebrew.
• 400 B.C. Ezra Chapters. 4:8 to 6:18; and 7:12-26 were written in Aramaic.
Manuscripts
The following is a list of the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament that are still in existence.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls: date from 200 B.C. - 70 A.D. and contain the entire book of Isaiah and portions of every other Old Testament book but Esther.
• Geniza Fragments: portions the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic, discovered in 1947 in an old synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, which date from about 400 A.D.
• Ben Asher Manuscripts: five or six generations of this family made copies of the Old Testament using the Masoretic Hebrew text, from 700-950 A.D. The following are examples of the Hebrew Masoretic text-type.
o Aleppo Codex: contains the complete Old Testament and is dated around 950 A.D. Unfortunately over one quarter of this Codex was destroyed in anti-Jewish riots in 1947.
o Codex Leningradensis: The complete Old Testament in Hebrew copied by the last member of the Ben Asher family in A.D. 1008.
Translations
The Old Testament was translated very early into Aramaic and Greek.
• 400 B.C. The Old Testament began to be translated into Aramaic. This translation is called the Aramaic Targums. This translation helped the Jewish people, who began to speak Aramaic from the time of their captivity in Babylon, to understand the Old Testament in the language that they commonly spoke. In the first century Palestine of Jesus' day, Aramaic was still the commonly spoken language. For example maranatha: "Our Lord has come," 1 Corinthians 16:22 is an example of an Aramaic word that is used in the New Testament.
• 250 B.C. The Old Testament was translated into Greek. This translation is known as the Septuagint. It is sometimes designated "LXX" (which is Roman numeral for "70") because it was believed that 70 to 72 translators worked to translate the Hebrew Old Testament in Greek. The Septuagint was often used by New Testament writers when they quoted from the Old Testament. The LXX was translation of the Old Testament that was used by the early Church.
1. The following is a list of the oldest Greek LXX translations of the Old Testament that are still in existence.
o Chester Beatty Papyri: Contains nine Old Testament Books in the Greek Septuagint and dates between 100-400 A.D.
o Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus each contain almost the entire Old Testament of the Greek Septuagint and they both date around 350 A.D.
The New Testament
Autographs
45- 95 A.D. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Pauline Epistles, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts are all dated from 45-63 A.D. The Gospel of John and the Revelation may have been written as late as 95 A.D.
Manuscripts
There are over 5,600 early Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament that are still in existence. The oldest manuscripts were written on papyrus and the later manuscripts were written on leather called parchment.
• 125 A.D. The New Testament manuscript which dates most closely to the original autograph was copied around 125 A.D, within 35 years of the original. It is designated "p 52" and contains a small portion of John 18. (The "p" stands for papyrus.)
• 200 A.D. Bodmer p 66 a papyrus manuscript which contains a large part of the Gospel of John.
• 200 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 46 contains the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews.
• 225 A.D. Bodmer Papyrus p 75 contains the Gospels of Luke and John.
• 250-300 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 45 contains portions of the four Gospels and Acts.
• 350 A.D. Codex Sinaiticus contains the entire New Testament and almost the entire Old Testament in Greek. It was discovered by a German scholar Tisendorf in 1856 at an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Sinai.
• 350 A.D. Codex Vaticanus: {B} is an almost complete New Testament. It was cataloged as being in the Vatican Library since 1475.
Translations
Early translations of the New Testament can give important insight into the underlying Greek manuscripts from which they were translated from.
• 180 A.D. Early translations of the New Testament from Greek into Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions began about 180 A.D.
• 195 A.D. The name of the first translation of the Old and New Testaments into Latin was termed Old Latin, both Testaments having been translated from the Greek. Parts of the Old Latin were found in quotes by the church father Tertullian, who lived around 160-220 A.D. in north Africa and wrote treatises on theology.
• 300 A.D. The Old Syriac was a translation of the New Testament from the Greek into Syriac.
• 300 A.D. The Coptic Versions: Coptic was spoken in four dialects in Egypt. The Bible was translated into each of these four dialects.
• 380 A.D. The Latin Vulgate was translated by St. Jerome. He translated into Latin the Old Testament from the Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. The Latin Vulgate became the Bible of the Western Church until the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's. It continues to be the authoritative translation of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. The Protestant Reformation saw an increase in translations of the Bible into the common languages of the people.
• Other early translations of the Bible were in Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic, Slavic, and Gothic.
• 1380 A.D. The first English translation of the Bible was by John Wycliffe. He translated the Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate. This was a translation from a translation and not a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek. Wycliffe was forced to translate from the Latin Vulgate because he did not know Hebrew or Greek.
In the 1380s, John Wycliffe translated the first English Bible which inspired an English religious revolution which caused persecutions against him by the Catholic Church.
In the early 1500's the German heretic, Martin Luther, almost single handedly caused the final split from the Roman Catholic church and created the beginnings of the Protestant revolution. This split still influences violence to this day. He translated the Bible into German which further spread Protestantism. Luther also helped spread anti-Semitism with his preaching and books such as his "The Jews and their lies," all supported through >his interpretation of the Bible. One should not forget that Hitler (when a Christian and great admirer of Luther) and his holocaust could not have occurred without his influence and the support of Bible believing German Christians. This should no way be confused as the reason for the Holocaust or Nazi belief.
In the 1530s William Tyndale completed his version of the English Protestant Bible (probably with the aid of Luther) and the first to print the English Bible. He too felt the persecution of the Church and he spent his last days in imprisonment and exile. His enemies finally caught him and burned him at the stake, but because of his celebrity, they strangled him first (what nice guys!).
After Luther's German Bible, others followed suit by translating the Bible into their native languages including Dutch and French. Not until 1611 C.E. did a committee of translators and interpreters complete the most popular Bible of all time, the King James Version.
Today we still have dozens of Bible translation versions, with Bible scholars still arguing over the meaning and proper translations of words and phrases. The following shows just a few of the most popular versions:
King James Version (KJV)
The New King James Version (NKJV)
Modern King James Version [Green's Translation] (MKJV)
Literal Translation Version [Green] (LITV)
International Standard Version (ISV)
The New International Version (NIV)
English Standard Version (ESV)
New English Bible (NEB)
American Standard Version (ASV)
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Today's English Version (TEV)
The Living Bible (LB)
New Century Version (NC)
New Life Version (NLV)
New Living Translation (NLT)
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
Revised Young's Literal Translation (RYLT)
John Darby's New Translation
Weymouth New Testament Translation
Rotherham's
Bible Basics - Versions / Translations
All pages and information copyright 1996 Net Ministries, Inc.
Early Christians following the example of Jesus and the apostles, accepted the Old Testament writings as inspired and authoritative scripture. They used the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament. Latin translations of this became available late in the second century. Other works such as the 'Wisdom of Solomon', and 'Ecclesiasticus' were also used at times. Later, Christian congregations began to appreciate the writings of Paul, and the other apostles. The first complete 'gospels' or life of Jesus didn't appear until around 60 A.D., but collections of sermons and writings were partly available some time before this. After the 'canonization' of the Bible as we know it (see the Old Testament and New Testament sections for more information) were formed, the Bible had taken shape. There are no original manuscripts of any of the books of the Bible in existance today. Many of the handwritten texts in Greek however are available from these early times. The earliest complete manuscript of the New Testament, is the Codex Sinaiticus which dates from about the fourth century. Less complete manuscripts date as far back as the late second century or about 130 A.D.. There are more copies of scripture and manuscripts available from the earliest times for the Bible than any other ancient writings. From the many numerous manuscripts available, scholars try to achieve the most complete and accurate wording of the books of the Bible into modern languages. The earliest translations of the New Testament were the Syriac, Latin, and Coptic versions. These translations were not as good as some more modern translations since the translators did not appear to have a good command of the original languages, such as Greek.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Bible was known almost exclusively in Latin known as the Vulgate. The Jews were the first to print the Old Testament in Hebrew (the original language) in 1488. About 1514, the Greek text of the New Testament was printed, although it was not widely released. The first widely released Greek New Testament was printed by Froben with the text work completed by Erasmus about 1516. This became known as Erasmus' New Testament and underwent many improvements and editions. Meanwhile, the Latin version known as the Vulgate continued and was confirmed by the Council on Trent in 1546, although it continued to have revisions and improvements to accuracy.
With the invention of printing, the circulation of the Bible expanded rapidly. With the Reformation, the wish to have the Bible available in people's own language became stronger. One such early work was the 'Luther Bible' written in German. The 'Reformers' did not accept the Apocrypha as scripture and did not include it in their versions of the Bible. The first French Bible appeared about 1523 and at first only contained the New Testament, but was followed a few years later by the Old Testament.
The pioneer of the English Bible is William Tyndale who published the New Testament in 1525. Complete Bibles appeared as early as 1535 such as Miles Coverdale's edition. Thomas Cromwell had the Matthew Bible another English version of the time revised by Coverdale to become the Great Bible in 1539. It is interesting to note that about 90 percent of Tyndale's original translation made it into the King James Version that we know today. King James had sponsored a new translation of the Bible at request of the Puritans in 1604. It appeared in 1611, but apparently drew heavily on previous translations.
Today there are many translations, each claiming a special merit to accuracy to the original Greek, or wording to make it more understandable to an intended audience. Frequently it is necessary to look at multiple translations and versions of particular passages to establish the true meaning. Most all the modern translations publishers have sites on Internet which may be explored. A great site to compare passages is the WWW Bible Gateway. This is why you can't wrap christianity into one neat package. The bottom line is faith, pure and simple, and not as complicated.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Atheism by it own admission has said there is a God. Why would so much energy be put into something that doesn't exist. It is not up the Christians to prove God as atheism has already confirmed that. It is now in the lap of atheist to defend their weak statement that there is not a God when of course they claim there is and they are going to prove there is not a God. I am really confused. Before there were atheists God created the heavens and the earth. They can't duplicate that feat. They have to do that to disprove God not vice versa. this is why there is nothing new being shown, nothing put slight of hand, confusion and misuse of information. The bottom line is that atheism can't prove there is not a God without admitting there is a God. They try to change history, identify what they are looking for(God), but are so inept to duplicate or come close to what God has done. Atheist say "show me" I challenge you. The specimen is there, look around. analyse, dissect and then try to replicate earth. I am looking forward to see this. Can you make it orbit the sun like God made the earth to do. The ball is in your court, don't tell me, show me. To me it is like a man who claims to invent a time machine. He has the diagram, the energy sourse, and precise instruction on how to assemble. Scientifically it should work because it worked in theory and is based on pure scientific fact. We all know he has all the facts about time, it's makeup and has carbon dated other objects to know exactly where in time he is going. It still doesn't work. Time travel doesn't work, it's impossible. We don't have the mental ability to time travel, but we have the ability to disect God? Athiest, baby steps first.
I"ll share something on a lighter side
>> Posting from this morning.....just for fun...we all need some.......
>
>
> Ponderisms
> 1· I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
> 2· There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
> 3· Life is sexually transmitted.
> 4· Healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
> 5· The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
> 6· Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
> 7· Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
> 8· Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
> 9· All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
> 10· In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
> 11· How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
> 12· Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?'
> 13· If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
> 14· Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
> 15· If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
> 16· If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
> 17· Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
> 18· Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
> 19· Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
>
> --
> Live lively - love long - laugh lots...
>> Posting from this morning.....just for fun...we all need some.......
>
>
> Ponderisms
> 1· I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
> 2· There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
> 3· Life is sexually transmitted.
> 4· Healthy is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
> 5· The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
> 6· Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
> 7· Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
> 8· Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
> 9· All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
> 10· In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
> 11· How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
> 12· Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?'
> 13· If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
> 14· Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
> 15· If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
> 16· If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
> 17· Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
> 18· Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
> 19· Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
>
> --
> Live lively - love long - laugh lots...
http://www.therthdimension.org/AncientRome/Calendar/body_calendar.html#RomanYear. This shows the falsness of the argument about time discrepansies. Sorry, but you are arguing from an imperfect base of information. So we go back to history. I am stopping this now. I have proved my point, history has proved my point, and still they don't want to see. I put down baby steps at the top to you to read. You have to have a constant to build your theories on. Basic science. Wikipedia doesn't count as well as former blogs etc...... I'm taking time off to help other people who want to be helped.
You have to love the dogged determination, anger, and repetitive use of outdated rhetoric.
Since I try to help all people ,let review the evidence or rational of this discussion. Please stop me if I use big words.Let me also admit that I lied about not writing anything else about this topic. Sorry.
First, facts and history are on the side of Christianity when attacked by science misused by some atheist. First of all, the biggest rule is that there is no historical facts that atheist can use so they try to destroy or change what they can't understand. They try to spin it.
Second is their claim that science has all the "knowledge" and claims to refute the bible. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Has science duplicated this. The answer is no. You can go though everyday of creation and science can only duplicate one day. The seventh day God rested. These facts are solid.
Third is that they want God to take a blood test or "show his ID" You want to scientifically understand God when you can't even come close to doing what he has done. They want to understand the creator of the universe by a slide rule or a petrie dish. That is like trying to get to the moon in little red wagon. They still stand back and shake their fist at God and try to disclaim him. Man, who doesn't even use 1/2 of their brain is trying to match up to infinite knowledge. I do believe that some of our greatest human brain are in the field of science, but compared to the knowledge of God it is very small. Its like the puff fish that tries to make itself look bigger then it is to scare off those who would attack him.
Fourth is the child like temper tantrum and name calling when someone won't except their point of view and claims that everyone is an idiot if you don't buy into their outdated rhetoric. When all else fails, scream yell, and call names.
Now that I have put this to rest point, set and match lets understand something. We Christians also don't have all the answers. God did not give us a bigger brain or made us better in any way. We are all part of the human race with everything that come along with it. The biggest difference is the atheist inability to realise that not all thing can be understood. If they cant see it, explain it, or break it down in a petrie dish, it must be false. We christian call it faith, believing without seeing. As atheism stumbles for an identity in this world, so do we as christian. We divide our selves into denomination, religions, and some claim that they are the only one. We try to convert the world when in most cases we don't have control of our own lives. You don't need to try to tear someone down to build yourself up. You don't need to convert the world when you can't talk to your neighbor. Atheism and Christianity will never agree until the final proof, There is a heaven or we all are worm food when we die.
I wish the world was black and white, I wish that all christian could come together in peace and harmony, I wish for peace an harmony among all people. As for Atheist and Christians alike, I hope you solve your identity crisis.
I am some what upset that I was pulled into a dialogue that melts down to"I'm right and you are wrong". If I come across with the image that I know everything, that would be a wrong, and I hope I didn't. I don't hate atheist and I have to refrain from name calling when they refuse to see the light. I am sharing my faith and beliefs for all to see. Share your own beliefs.
Fourth point are the "cry baby" atheist that stamp their feet and claim that no one acknowledges them. I just read an article on Jack Adams face book that claim the atheist are never polled. To these atheist, you claim not to be a religion, a party and no political agenda. You have no by rule and are not a branch of science. There is no count to how many atheist there are out there. I have no doubt that there are many atheist, some more fringe then others. In short, A non religion, that wants to be counted as a religion to be counted, and then disappear into the dust. As far as religions go, they are a religion with the good and bad that come from that. Welcome to the real world.
Since I try to help all people ,let review the evidence or rational of this discussion. Please stop me if I use big words.Let me also admit that I lied about not writing anything else about this topic. Sorry.
First, facts and history are on the side of Christianity when attacked by science misused by some atheist. First of all, the biggest rule is that there is no historical facts that atheist can use so they try to destroy or change what they can't understand. They try to spin it.
Second is their claim that science has all the "knowledge" and claims to refute the bible. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Has science duplicated this. The answer is no. You can go though everyday of creation and science can only duplicate one day. The seventh day God rested. These facts are solid.
Third is that they want God to take a blood test or "show his ID" You want to scientifically understand God when you can't even come close to doing what he has done. They want to understand the creator of the universe by a slide rule or a petrie dish. That is like trying to get to the moon in little red wagon. They still stand back and shake their fist at God and try to disclaim him. Man, who doesn't even use 1/2 of their brain is trying to match up to infinite knowledge. I do believe that some of our greatest human brain are in the field of science, but compared to the knowledge of God it is very small. Its like the puff fish that tries to make itself look bigger then it is to scare off those who would attack him.
Fourth is the child like temper tantrum and name calling when someone won't except their point of view and claims that everyone is an idiot if you don't buy into their outdated rhetoric. When all else fails, scream yell, and call names.
Now that I have put this to rest point, set and match lets understand something. We Christians also don't have all the answers. God did not give us a bigger brain or made us better in any way. We are all part of the human race with everything that come along with it. The biggest difference is the atheist inability to realise that not all thing can be understood. If they cant see it, explain it, or break it down in a petrie dish, it must be false. We christian call it faith, believing without seeing. As atheism stumbles for an identity in this world, so do we as christian. We divide our selves into denomination, religions, and some claim that they are the only one. We try to convert the world when in most cases we don't have control of our own lives. You don't need to try to tear someone down to build yourself up. You don't need to convert the world when you can't talk to your neighbor. Atheism and Christianity will never agree until the final proof, There is a heaven or we all are worm food when we die.
I wish the world was black and white, I wish that all christian could come together in peace and harmony, I wish for peace an harmony among all people. As for Atheist and Christians alike, I hope you solve your identity crisis.
I am some what upset that I was pulled into a dialogue that melts down to"I'm right and you are wrong". If I come across with the image that I know everything, that would be a wrong, and I hope I didn't. I don't hate atheist and I have to refrain from name calling when they refuse to see the light. I am sharing my faith and beliefs for all to see. Share your own beliefs.
Fourth point are the "cry baby" atheist that stamp their feet and claim that no one acknowledges them. I just read an article on Jack Adams face book that claim the atheist are never polled. To these atheist, you claim not to be a religion, a party and no political agenda. You have no by rule and are not a branch of science. There is no count to how many atheist there are out there. I have no doubt that there are many atheist, some more fringe then others. In short, A non religion, that wants to be counted as a religion to be counted, and then disappear into the dust. As far as religions go, they are a religion with the good and bad that come from that. Welcome to the real world.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Rewriting history part II
The Bp oil spill. BP is attempting to rewrite recent history. Their scientist are now saying that the spell is not as bad. It's only in one portion of the world and confined to the gulf. They are there to help the small people. Once again we should submit to people wanting a second chance at history. I don't think so.
Al Gore and the democratic party tried to rewrite history in Florida during the election. Once the truth came out, he was smart enough to back off.
The Republican party once said it was the party of God. When scandal broke out in their ranks, they tried to change history by say that other people had called them this. They tried to change history.
History is history. Get it right the first time and you will still have someone trying to rewrite history. This has gone on since the beginning of time and I'm really getting tired of people trying to change it.
Politics don't call it changing history. They put a different slant to it.
Hillary Clinton tried to change history by calling it a vast right wing conspiracy. She couldn't change what Bill did, it was as they say, HISTORY
I could go on and on with these facts but what's the use. Some people will never see the light If history is not what you want, try to change it. It seems to be the intelligent way.
By the way, there are quite a few countries in the African Continent that want to change their history. Let all gather together to help them. I'm sure there is a way that we can spin these violation of human rights
I have a new name for our history books. HISTORY, THE SPUN ADDITION
The Bp oil spill. BP is attempting to rewrite recent history. Their scientist are now saying that the spell is not as bad. It's only in one portion of the world and confined to the gulf. They are there to help the small people. Once again we should submit to people wanting a second chance at history. I don't think so.
Al Gore and the democratic party tried to rewrite history in Florida during the election. Once the truth came out, he was smart enough to back off.
The Republican party once said it was the party of God. When scandal broke out in their ranks, they tried to change history by say that other people had called them this. They tried to change history.
History is history. Get it right the first time and you will still have someone trying to rewrite history. This has gone on since the beginning of time and I'm really getting tired of people trying to change it.
Politics don't call it changing history. They put a different slant to it.
Hillary Clinton tried to change history by calling it a vast right wing conspiracy. She couldn't change what Bill did, it was as they say, HISTORY
I could go on and on with these facts but what's the use. Some people will never see the light If history is not what you want, try to change it. It seems to be the intelligent way.
By the way, there are quite a few countries in the African Continent that want to change their history. Let all gather together to help them. I'm sure there is a way that we can spin these violation of human rights
I have a new name for our history books. HISTORY, THE SPUN ADDITION
Rewriting History.
After many on line chat with Justin he has made it very clear. The bible is the only historical document of the times, ie the dead sea scrolls. People through out the ages have tried to rewrite history because it doesn't fit for them. There is nothing historical to refute, so the next thing is to discredit historians. Nazi have been trying to do that. They don't like the fact that came out looking bad, so they claim it didn't happen. They will try to present scientific evidence that it didn't happen. They want to discredit history. Man landed on the moon, but a group of people want to say it all happened in a sound stage. They can't believe eyewitness and would rather discredit history. HISTORY, if you don't like it , change it. This is my last entry on this subject. There is nothing new here, History has spoken.
After many on line chat with Justin he has made it very clear. The bible is the only historical document of the times, ie the dead sea scrolls. People through out the ages have tried to rewrite history because it doesn't fit for them. There is nothing historical to refute, so the next thing is to discredit historians. Nazi have been trying to do that. They don't like the fact that came out looking bad, so they claim it didn't happen. They will try to present scientific evidence that it didn't happen. They want to discredit history. Man landed on the moon, but a group of people want to say it all happened in a sound stage. They can't believe eyewitness and would rather discredit history. HISTORY, if you don't like it , change it. This is my last entry on this subject. There is nothing new here, History has spoken.
The person that I was talking about in my previous blog has the entire conversation on his blog site, please visit it to read it all. I would have put it all on but I am not that competent on a computer (old school). To have a fair discussion you have to have ground rules. Be civil, be competent in your sources (Wikipedia and your own publishing are not allowed) These would and are not allowed in most educational settings as well as Universities. For personal reference I can only be competent in the protestant faith, so generalities won't work.( I can't explain why some people kill in the name of God, nor can I explain Madalyn Murry Ohair and her death) As I said in our discussion, we both live in the same town and I would enjoy talking in person. Anyone else that wants to chime in, please do. I ask that you speak for yourself as I want this to be a learning experience for everyone, not a war. If you want to quote the bible, please state what version and what language you are interpreting from. At the time I have posted this entry there were 5 responses from my previous article.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
As I afor mentioned, when a Athiest can't win on open and honest discussion, here is what his responce This is a direct quote
God is IMAGINARY you dolt. And you yourself admitted that you have NO evidence to the contrary, and I've explained to your thick skulled self numerous times now that the burden of proof is on YOU to demonstrate otherwise, and that arguing that your God is real because we CAN'T disprove it is an invalid argument... the argument from ignorance (or negative proof), and is no more valid than me claiming that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the REAL God of the universe and your God is his bitch. Of course you can't prove that isn't true... and you don't have to because fantastic claims WITHOUT EVIDENCE can be DISMISSED WITHOUT EVIDENCE.
And more importantly my provincial friend, WE DO HAVE A TON OF EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS THAT YOUR BIBLE IS BULLSHIT. THAT YOUR RELIGION IS A FALLACIOUS HOUSE OF CARDS AND THAT YOUR FAITH IS FUNDAMENTALLY INHERENTLY ILLOGICAL, IRRATIONAL, UNREASONABLE AND OUTRIGHT HOSTILE TO FACTS, EVIDENCE, AND THE VERY THING THAT SETS HUMANITY APART FROM THE REST OF THE ANIMALS... REASON.
You are an embarrassment to the human race.
(There's a limit to my patience when dealing with deluded fools. I have presented more than enough evidence in this discussion to prove how WRONG you and your son are. That you cannot wrap your bumpkin head around that is your loss. I have invested enough energy in this discussion and am more than comfortable with leaving the evidence as it stands for those less lost to reality.)
I bid you good day.
God is IMAGINARY you dolt. And you yourself admitted that you have NO evidence to the contrary, and I've explained to your thick skulled self numerous times now that the burden of proof is on YOU to demonstrate otherwise, and that arguing that your God is real because we CAN'T disprove it is an invalid argument... the argument from ignorance (or negative proof), and is no more valid than me claiming that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the REAL God of the universe and your God is his bitch. Of course you can't prove that isn't true... and you don't have to because fantastic claims WITHOUT EVIDENCE can be DISMISSED WITHOUT EVIDENCE.
And more importantly my provincial friend, WE DO HAVE A TON OF EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS THAT YOUR BIBLE IS BULLSHIT. THAT YOUR RELIGION IS A FALLACIOUS HOUSE OF CARDS AND THAT YOUR FAITH IS FUNDAMENTALLY INHERENTLY ILLOGICAL, IRRATIONAL, UNREASONABLE AND OUTRIGHT HOSTILE TO FACTS, EVIDENCE, AND THE VERY THING THAT SETS HUMANITY APART FROM THE REST OF THE ANIMALS... REASON.
You are an embarrassment to the human race.
(There's a limit to my patience when dealing with deluded fools. I have presented more than enough evidence in this discussion to prove how WRONG you and your son are. That you cannot wrap your bumpkin head around that is your loss. I have invested enough energy in this discussion and am more than comfortable with leaving the evidence as it stands for those less lost to reality.)
I bid you good day.
What a 24 hours. As I mentioned before, I was on facebook having what I thought was a civilized discussion with an atheist. What I didn't realize is that the wall belonged to another atheist. Ok, no problems, I have had many such discussion. My son Donald in Japan joined in. Having studied cults and religion I remembered the standard way cults use to win you to their side. This system has been used for many years and was abandoned by because it doesn't work. I could not believe that they were still using this. In short, the system start out with empathy, then the person telling how well versed he or she is in the bible. The next step is a switch to science to start a base of discussion. The next step is to merge all other religions and compare it to science. The next crucial step is to take the bible, and compare it to science. The trick is to stay clear of narrowing down to one denomination or faith, keep it general. One example is how could christian defend the crusades etc... The next move is to cut down the bible into an English interpretation, avoiding all translation and language barriers in translating. Keep piling on useless fact and then tell the person that only he knows the correct translation. The book that Christians most Revere, the book that they most hate, they are going to interpret it for you since you are not smart enough. If this is not working, they will resort to carpet bombing. They want to pour on so much information to make you feel little. If this doesn't work, which is very rare, they will insult you and move on. They will always talk in generalities and never specifics. The last phase that usually works is go apologize for the outburst and try to get the person to hear what they want you to hear. This is the Dale Carnage approach. They will try to point out how you really agree with them. They will say how smart you really are as if to say that ordinary people don't understand, only the highly educated like themselves. What astounded me the most is that Jehovah's Witness stopped using this process over 20 years ago. Most atheist stay clear of the bible, and try to interject politic to get converts. This system was used by a person who was educating your children. Politicians love to use this system by telling people they can only be heard by agreeing with the party, not the person. They will do the thinking for you. I guess it just goes to show you that there is nothing new under the sun. People are creatures of habit and will always fall into old ruts. When someone tries to think for you, run, they are trying to sell you something that most people won't buy on it's own value.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
On my facebook I am involved in a discussion with a athiest. This person claims that science has all the answer as any athiest would. Unfortunately science is so flawed, and relegion or the bible is too misinterpreted to have a meaningful discussion. He wants to lump all relegions into one neat package to attack with scientific assumptions and theories. I can have 100 different scientist to discuss one aspect or one topic and have 100 different answers with facts to back them up. How many scientist get published because they used their evidence to prove or disprove another scientist theory. The one big question is, "Did God give scientist the knowledge to disprove Gods existence"?
Friday, June 11, 2010
I am speechless...... People want the government to step in financially to heal the ills caused by BP's oil spill. Even people on the far right are calling for the president to step in. OMG. These are the same people that don't want to pay for a national health care because it will put us in debt. LMO.
TEA PARTY. A non movement that is gaining strength by bogus counts on newscast. If they had a million man march, 2 million would be counted. Keep those camera angle close. The truth is less than 1% show up to the rallies.
Sara Palin knows the truth because she can see Russia from her house.
Quote.... People are against windmills in Lake Michigan because they fear what happened in the Gulf will happen here, ?????????????????????????????? These same people will move next to train track, and complain about the noise a windmill will make. They will then want the train to move.
TEA PARTY. A non movement that is gaining strength by bogus counts on newscast. If they had a million man march, 2 million would be counted. Keep those camera angle close. The truth is less than 1% show up to the rallies.
Sara Palin knows the truth because she can see Russia from her house.
Quote.... People are against windmills in Lake Michigan because they fear what happened in the Gulf will happen here, ?????????????????????????????? These same people will move next to train track, and complain about the noise a windmill will make. They will then want the train to move.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
I must be losing my mind. This is suppose to be the age of intelligence. The great computer age is here and all out worries have disappeared. Machine was suppose to do all the work, and man sits back and enjoys life. We are the the baby boomers. We changed everything with peace love and harmony. I should be sitting back, drinking a twenty-five cent coke and singing " I'd like to teach the world to sing". We solved the oil pollution with the Exxon Valdez spill. Never again would that happen. Our parents learned their lessons in the depression and never again would that happen. Corrupt politicians were thrown out of office(Nixon), and never again would that happen. The carpetbaggers were outlawed and never again would people be conned out of their money. We learned our lesson in Vietnam and would never let that happen again. We learned not to trust in gasoline availability during the the Carter administration. We tore down the Berlin wall during the Reagan administration bringing about world peace. We learned that when a person goes bankrupt in everything he does, you don't elect him President because his dad use to be president. Just because we heard it on the radio or TV doesn't mean it is true. I guess that computers got smarter and people got dummer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)