i'm blessed for the Lord to love me enough to deliver me over to increasing debility and weakness. may i become the living example of 'apart from You i can do nothing'. i think especially of how i went up to nyc for the muslim day parade in such weakness and how You poured out Your blessing and grace upon me. more and more this is happening. maybe someday i will even be delivered from being a legend in my own mind.
speaking of the muslim day parade there is nothing of any worth to share for i just came across a verse that, i'm thinking, sets the standard for what is talked about. paul only shared what would point to God and His work in people. in romans 15.17f ..i may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. for I WILL NOT DARE TO SPEAK OF THOSE THINGS WHICH CHRIST HATH NOT WROUGHT BY ME, to make the gentiles obedient by word and deed'. no one i know of has become obedient to God in either word or deed because of my going to nyc so there's nothing to report. as far as i know God did nothing by me. Lord, would You work in my heart and life that i might be filled with, first, the fruit of Your Spirit, then, that people around me might be filled with the same fruit that they see in me, then, that both i and those others may continue to overflow with this good fruit all the days of our time here so that many others also come to be filled with this fruit and praise and glorify Your name through their words and life. yea well, all i have to share is by way of travelogue which wordy rambling time does not permit.
reading in 'new evidence which demands a verdict' came across something. first, a poem by sir walter scott in reference to the Bible..
within that awful volume lies
the mystery of mysteries
happiest they of human race
to whom God has granted grace
to read, to fear, to hope, to pray
to lift the latch, and force the way,
and better had they ne'er been born,
who read to doubt, or read to scorn.
also had further insight into the IMPORTANCE of the accurate transmission of the Biblical text in reading these words..'are (ERRORS) of so serious a nature as to corrupt the message itself, or make it impossible to convey the true meaning? if they are, THEN GOD'S PURPOSE HAS BEEN FRUSTRATED; He could not convey His revelation so that those of later generations could understand it aright - correctly. if He did not exercise a restaining influence over the scribes who wrote out the standard and authoritative copies of the Scriptures, then they corrupted and falsified the message. if the message was falsified, the whole purpose of bestowing a written revelation has come to nothing; for such a corrupted Scripture would be a mere mixture of truth and error, necessarily subject to human judgment (rather than sitting in judgment upon man).
the following is concerning the transmission of the hebrew/aramaic text of the old testament books received as of divine inspiration. this section gives the minute regulations followed by the talmudists (about 100-500 ad):
1. a synagogue roll must be written on the skins of clean animals,
2. prepared for the particular use of the synagogue by a jew.
3. these must be fastened together with strings taken from clean animals.
4. every skin must contain a certain number of columns, equal throughout the entire codex.
5. the length of each column must not extend over less than 48 or more than 60 lines; and the breadth must consist of 30 letters.
6. the whole copy must be first-lined; and if three words be written without a line, it is worthless.
7. the ink should be black, neither red, green, nor any other colour, and be prepared according to a definite recipe.
8. an authentic copy must be the exemplar, from which the transcriber ought not in the least deviate.
9. no word or letter, not even a yod (the smallest hebrew letter), must be written from memory, the scribe not having looked at the codex before him...
10. between every consonant the space of a hair or thread must intervene;
11. between every new parashah or section, the breadth of nine consonants;
12. between every book, three lines.
13. the fifth book of moses must terminate exactly with a line; but the rest need not do so.
14. besides this, the copyist must sit in full jewish dress,
15. wash his whole body,
16. not begin to write the name of God with a pen newly dipped in ink,
17. and should a king address him while writing that name he must take no notice of him.'
..'the rolls in which these regulations are not observed are condemned to be buried in the ground or burned..or they are banished to the schools, to be used as reading-books. the talmudists were so convinced that when they finished transcribing a MS they had an exact duplicate, that they would give the new copy equal authority...frederic kenyon, in 'our Bible and the ancient mansuscripts, expands.."the same extreme care which was devoted to the transcription of manuscripts is also at the bottom of the diappearance of the earlier copies. when a manuscript had been copied with the exactitude prescribed by the talmuc, and had been duly verified, it was accepted as authentic and regarded as being of equal value with any other copy. IF ALL WERE EQUALLY CORRECT, AGE GAVE NO ADVANTAGE TO A MANUSCRIPT; on the contrary age was a positive disadvantage, since a manuscript was liable to become defaced or damaged in the lapse of time. a damaged or imperfect copy was at once condemned as unfit for use...thus, far from regarding an older copy of the Scriptures as more valuable, the jewish habit has been to prefer the newer, as being the most perfect and free from damge...the absence of very old copies of the hebrew Bible need not, therefore, either surprise or disquiet us. if..we add the repeated persecutions (involving much destruction of property) to which the jews have been subfect the disappearance of the ancient manuscripts is adequately accounted for, and those which remain maybe accepted as preserving that which alone they profess to preserve - namely the masoretic text.'
following the chapter detailing the far greater number and quality of manuscripts supporting the text of the new testament as an historically reliable document, mcdowell concludes..'after trying to shatter the historicity and validity of the Scipture, i came to the conclusion that it is historically trustworthy. if one discards the Bible as being unreliable, then one must discard almost all literature of antiquity...many..apply one standard or test to secular literature and another to the Bible. one must apply the same test, whether the literature under investigation is secular or religious..
hope you have a good week. love, dad
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