The Nazarene
Way of Essenic Studies |
The teachings of the Bible were handed down orally, sometimes for centuries before finally being written down. They were then written by hand and copied by hand. Mistakes in coping, interpretation and forgeries have changed the intention of these original texts. The original manuscripts have long since disappeared, and we must determine their original intent from the scrolls, manuscripts and historical evidence that has survived.
- Textual Analysis and Biblical Criticism In the academic discipline of biblical criticism the word "criticism" is not to be taken in the negative sense of attempting to denigrate the Bible. Technically, biblical criticism simply refers to the scholarly approach of studying, evaluating and critically assessing the Bible as literature in order to better understand its origins and the original intentions of its authors.
- The Seven Rules of Interpretation and Translation A translation is to be judged, above all, by how accurately and clearly it conveys the meaning of the original text. What was the original meaning of a particular text? Different translations give different answers to this question.
- Aramaic Primacy of the Gospels Aramaic Primacists believe that the Christian New Testament and/or its sources were originally written in the Aramaic language, not Koine Greek as is generally claimed.
- The Unknown Origins of the Synoptic Gospels The actual authors of Gospels are anonymous. They do not purport to have been written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John and their titles do not affirm it. They simply imply that they are "according" to the teachings of these Evangelists.
- The Gospels: Second Century Writings The Four Gospels were unknown to the early Christian Fathers. It wasn't until the latter half of the second century, between the time of Justin and Papias, the Four Gospels were written and compiled.
- The Synoptic Problem and Literary Phenomena The "synoptic problem" concerns the literary relationships between and among the first three canonical gospels; the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, known as the Synoptic Gospels.
- Inconsistencies of the New Testament An extensive listing which identifies contradictions within the New Testament which are inherent in a literalist or fundamentalist interpretation.
- The Two-Source Gospel Hypothesis The Two-Source Hypothesis is the most commonly accepted solution to the synoptic problem among biblical scholars, which posits that there are two sources to Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke: the Gospel of Mark and the lost, sayings collection called Q.
- The Lost Gospel of Q The lost Gospel of Q (Q is for German Quelle or "source") is a postulated lost textual source for the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.
- The Most Notable Corruptions of Scripture First published in 1754, twenty-seven years after Newton's death, The Two Most Notable Corruptions of Scripture reviewed all the textual evidence available from ancient sources on two disputed Bible passages, First John 5:7 and 1 Timothy 3:16.
- Academic Historians and Religious Texts The historicity of Jesus. Debates concerning Jesus as a historical figure center on two issues: the role of God in natural and human history, and the veracity of the New Testament as a historical source.
- Christianity; The Restatement of Ancient Doctrine Christianity is the restatement of a very old doctrine. It is not new. The Gospel narratives are dependable only because they are integrated with the spiritual revelation of the past, and are being reinterpreted today in the terms of 'Christ.'
- Nazarene or Nazareth? A people erased from existence and the city that never was. The disassociation of Jesus from the holiest of peoples.
- Yeshua or Jesus? The word "Jesus" is actually a mis-transliteration of a Greek mis-transliteration. In Hebrew Yeshua means Salvation while the name Jesus has no actual intrinsic meaning in English whatsoever.
- Physical Descriptions of Jesus The Oldest Views and Literary Data on the External Appearance of Jesus. Pontius Pilate, Publius Lentullus of Rome, The "Archko Volume," and Josephus all describe the physical appearance of Jesus the Nazarene.
- Forgery In Christianity A documented record of the foundations of the Christian religion. "To such an extent are the origins of the Christian Religion wrapped in obscurity, due to the labyrinthine confusions, contradictions and forgeries of its early records, that it is quite impossible to extricate, with any degree of confidence, a thread of historic truth from the tangle;"
- Papal Infallibility The Pope and the impossibility of error. In Catholic theology, papal infallibility is the dogma that the Pope, when he solemnly defines a matter of faith or morals, it does not have the possibility of error. This doctrine was defined by the First Vatican Council of 1870.
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