The following is a summary taken from bishop USHERS NOTES which detail the dates which USHER figured out that date the age of the earth as 4004 prior to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ..The following is a detailed listing from the Bible showing how the years leading up to the Crucifixion of Christ are identified.According to the Bible mankind has only inhabited planet earth for approximately 6000 years.
Years Date Bible Ref. Comments
0 4004 BC Gen 1:26- Adam and Eve Created by God
131 3873 BC Gen 5:3 - Seth was born in Adam’s 131st year
236 3768 BC Gen 5:6 - Enos was born when Seth was 105
326 3678 BC Gen 5:9 - Cainan was born when Enos was 90
396 3608 BC Gen 5:12 - Mahalaeel was born when Cainan was 70
461 3543 BC Gen 5:15 - Jared was born when Mahalaeel was 65
623 3381 BC Gen 5:18 - Enoch was born when Jared was 162
688 3316 BC Gen 5:21 - Methuselah as born when Enoch was 65
875 3129 BC Gen 5:25 - Lamech was born when Methuselah was 187
1057 2947 BC Gen 5:28 - Noah was born when Lamech 182
1656 2348 BC Gen 7:6 - Noah was 600 when Flood occurred
1659 2345 BC Gen 11:10 - Arphaxad was born 2 years after the flood
1694 2310 BC Gen 11:12 - Salah was born when Arphaxad was 35
1724 2280 BC Gen 11:14 - Eber was born when Salah was 30
1758 2246 BC Gen 11:16 - Peleg was born when Eber was 34
1788 2216 BC Gen 11:18 - Reu was born when Peleg was 30
1820 2184 BC Gen 11:20 - Serug was born when Reu was 32
1850 2154 BC Gen 11:22 - Nahor was born when Serug was 30
1879 2125 BC Gen 11:24 - Terah was born when Nahor was 29
2084 1920 BC Gen 11:32 - Terah dies age 205 (during his 206th year)
2085 1919 BC Gen 12:4 - Abram leaves Haran to enter Canaan (he departed at age 75)
2095 1909 BC Gen 15:18 - Typical confirmation of Covenant: Abram age 85
2096 1908 BC Gen 16:16 - Ishmael born when Abraham was 86
2110 1894 BC Gen 21:5 - Isaac was born when Abraham was 100
2144 1860 BC Gen 23:1 - Isaac offered at age 33 1/
22147 1857 BC Gen 23:1 - Sarah died at age 127
2170 1834 BC Gen 25:26 - Jacob and Esau born when Isaac was 60
2300 1704 BC Gen 47:9 - Jacob enters Egypt at 130
2515 1489 BC Gen 15:13 - see Gal 4:28-30, Israel in Egypt 215 years to Exodus
2995 1009 BC 1 Kings 6:1 - Solomon laid the temple foundation 480 years after the Exodus (4th year of his reign)
3031 973 BC 1 Kings 11:42 Solomon reigned for 40 years
3048 956 BC 1 Kings 14:21 - Rehoboam reigned for 17 years
3051 953 BC 1 Kings 15:2 - Abijah reigned for 3 years
3092 912 BC 1 Kings 15:10 - Asa reigned for 41 years
3117 887 BC 1 Kings 22:42 - Jehoshaphat reigned for 25 years
3122 882 BC 2 Kings 8:17 - Jehoram reigned for 5 years (+3 pro-rex)
3123 881 BC 2 Kings 8:26 - Ahaziah reigned for 1 year
3129 875 BC 2 Kings 11:3 - Athaliah reigned for 6 years
3169 835 BC 2 Kings 12:1 - Jehoash reigned for 40 years
3198 806 BC 2 Kings 14:2 - Amaziah reigned for 29 years
3250 754 BC 2 Kings 15:2 - Azariah (Uzziah) reigned for 52 years
3266 738 BC 2 Kings 15:33 - Jotham reigned for 16 years
3282 722 BC 2 Kings 16:2 - Ahaz reigned for 16 years
3311 693 BC 2 Kings 18:2 - Hezekiah reigned for 29 years
3366 638 BC 2 Kings 21:1 - Manasseh reigned for 55 years
3397 607 BC 2 Kings 22:1 - Josiah reigned for 31 years
3401 603 BC 2 Kings 23:36 - Jehoiakim (Elialim) reigned 4 years before being tributary to Nebuchadnezzar in his 1st year
3471 533 BC Jer 25:11-12 - Land of Israel served Babylon for 70 years
3471 533 BC 2 Chron 36:22 The decree of Cyrus allowing the return
3549 455 BC Ezra 7:7-8 - Artaxerxes Longimanus who made the decree to rebuild Jerusalem
4036 33 AD Dan 9:27 - Messiah to be cut off middle of 70th week
4039 36 AD Acts 10 - End of 70th week, conversion of Cornelius and opening of door to Gentiles
???? AD Heb 4:1-11 Return of Christ to set up His Millennial Kingdom on Earth
????+1000 AD Rev 20:15 - Great White Throne Judgment - Post Millennial Kingdom
The reason there are question marks for some of the dates is that they have not occurred yet, but are predicted in the Bible to occur sometime in the future. The Bible tells us explicitly not to set dates for these future events. It does however give us general guidelines and expects us to be ready for these events to occur. Scripture tells us that the generation that sees Israel blossom will see the coming of the Second Coming of the Messiah.[1] That started to happen in 1948 but it fully happened in 1967 during the 6 day war, when Israel took position of Jerusalem. Many Christians are looking for the soon and imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ within the lifetimes of any who saw that event.
The Bible gives us another clue as to the length of time that man has been on the earth in the lineage given for the Lord Jesus Christ, through his mother Mary’s line. The lineage goes right back to Adam. 65 generations x approx 40 years each = 2,600 years but the bible also records that at the beginning of the world men lived to near 1000 years, which is why Jesus own lineage points to 4000 years to his birth. We know how many years it has been since Jesus birth every time we write the current date we attest to it.
Luke 3 – 23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
[1] Parable of Fig Tree - Matt 24:32-35, Luke 21:29-33
You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the author.
Bible Door Tracts bibledoor@rogers.com,
273 Manchester Drive, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 6J4, Canada, http://bibledoor.blogspot.com & http://bibledoor.no-ip.org
Copyright 2006 © Bible Door Tracts.
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted
Monday, May 29, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
The Chicken or the Egg?
Which Came first? The Chicken or the Egg?
Philosopher, scientist, farmer crack chicken-egg question
Friday May 26, 12:42 AM
LONDON (AFP) - Which came first, the chicken or the egg? According to a scientist, a philosopher and a chicken farmer, it was the egg, British newspapers reported.
The key to the age-old question apparently lies in the fact that since genetic material does not change throughout an animal's life, the first bird that evolved into a chicken must have initially existed as an embryo inside an egg. Professor John Brookfield, from England's University of Nottingham, concluded that because of this, the living organism inside the eggshell would have had the same DNA as the chicken it turned into.
The specialist in evolutionary genetics was quoted in a number of newspapers as saying: "Therefore the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg. The egg came first." Brookfield's conclusion was backed up by Professor David Papineau, of King's College, London, and the chairman of the trade body Great British Chicken, Charles Bourns. Papineau, an expert in the philosophy of science, argued that the first chicken must have emerged from an egg even though it was laid by a different species of bird, but it was still a chicken egg because it had a chicken in it. "The conclusion therefore must be that the egg came first and the chicken afterwards," he stated.
Bourns' methodology was not explained in The Times, the Daily Mail and the Independent, who all carried the story. "Eggs were around long before the first chicken arrived," he affirmed.
This story appeared on Friday May 26, 12:42 AM on the Yahoo News Site: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/25052006/323/philosopher-scientist-farmer-crack-chicken-egg-question.html
You’ll notice a bit of trickery in this report given by the scientist, where he says “the first chicken must have emerged from an egg even though it was laid by a different species of bird.” So the bird (not chicken) laid the egg, but the egg became a chicken not at all like the bird that laid it. So in other words the Bird preceded the egg which preceded the chicken. But that leaves us again where we started off. How did we get “the bird” in the first place? This scientist has already stated that the first chicken had to have come from an egg. “since genetic material does not change throughout an animal's life, the first bird that evolved into a chicken must have initially existed as an embryo inside an egg.” Therefore we must conclude that “the bird” must also have come from an egg according to his reasoning.
Once again we are brought back to the obvious question of how did we get the first egg that produced the first bird that in turn produced the first “chicken egg” that produced the first chicken?
There are of course many other unanswered questions; 1) Where did the DNA come from for the first life either the Bird, or egg it produced? Of course the DNA would be different in the EGG from that of the parent because it requires DNA from both a male and a female to produce a new life. 3) Did the DNA evolve until it was sufficient to produce an EGG?
God gave us riddles to try to figure out that ought to lead us back to a knowledge of Him. But man shakes his fist at God and says there is no God. Then He sets about trying to figure out how to prove that hypothesis by his wise thoughts.
Philosopher, scientist, farmer crack chicken-egg question
Friday May 26, 12:42 AM
LONDON (AFP) - Which came first, the chicken or the egg? According to a scientist, a philosopher and a chicken farmer, it was the egg, British newspapers reported.
The key to the age-old question apparently lies in the fact that since genetic material does not change throughout an animal's life, the first bird that evolved into a chicken must have initially existed as an embryo inside an egg. Professor John Brookfield, from England's University of Nottingham, concluded that because of this, the living organism inside the eggshell would have had the same DNA as the chicken it turned into.
The specialist in evolutionary genetics was quoted in a number of newspapers as saying: "Therefore the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg. The egg came first." Brookfield's conclusion was backed up by Professor David Papineau, of King's College, London, and the chairman of the trade body Great British Chicken, Charles Bourns. Papineau, an expert in the philosophy of science, argued that the first chicken must have emerged from an egg even though it was laid by a different species of bird, but it was still a chicken egg because it had a chicken in it. "The conclusion therefore must be that the egg came first and the chicken afterwards," he stated.
Bourns' methodology was not explained in The Times, the Daily Mail and the Independent, who all carried the story. "Eggs were around long before the first chicken arrived," he affirmed.
This story appeared on Friday May 26, 12:42 AM on the Yahoo News Site: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/25052006/323/philosopher-scientist-farmer-crack-chicken-egg-question.html
You’ll notice a bit of trickery in this report given by the scientist, where he says “the first chicken must have emerged from an egg even though it was laid by a different species of bird.” So the bird (not chicken) laid the egg, but the egg became a chicken not at all like the bird that laid it. So in other words the Bird preceded the egg which preceded the chicken. But that leaves us again where we started off. How did we get “the bird” in the first place? This scientist has already stated that the first chicken had to have come from an egg. “since genetic material does not change throughout an animal's life, the first bird that evolved into a chicken must have initially existed as an embryo inside an egg.” Therefore we must conclude that “the bird” must also have come from an egg according to his reasoning.
Once again we are brought back to the obvious question of how did we get the first egg that produced the first bird that in turn produced the first “chicken egg” that produced the first chicken?
There are of course many other unanswered questions; 1) Where did the DNA come from for the first life either the Bird, or egg it produced? Of course the DNA would be different in the EGG from that of the parent because it requires DNA from both a male and a female to produce a new life. 3) Did the DNA evolve until it was sufficient to produce an EGG?
God gave us riddles to try to figure out that ought to lead us back to a knowledge of Him. But man shakes his fist at God and says there is no God. Then He sets about trying to figure out how to prove that hypothesis by his wise thoughts.
The Bibles says the following regarding man’s wisdom;
Psalm 14 – 1 The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.”
1 Cor 1 - 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
The only way we could ever solve the riddle of the chicken and the egg is to have an eye witness account to tell us the answer. Our God, the eye witness to all of creation has done that in giving us His word, the Holy Bible. And he has also given us human eye witnesses when it comes to the case the Bible makes for Christ.
2 Peter 1 - 16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2 Cor 2 - 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the author.
Bible Door Tracts
bibledoor@rogers.com,
273 Manchester Drive, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 6J4, Canada,
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The Da Vinci Code (Or the Bible, Which is true?)
The Bible predicts that a time would come when many will no longer be able to distinguish truth. Is that time now?
1 Tim 3:16 – 16 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
What are the key issues regarding the Da Vinci Code? Why is this book so popular? If the book is not true then why do many Roman Catholic and Evangelical Christians fight against it? Surely Dan Brown has a right to his view as does anyone else. Why are Christians fussing about Dan’s expression of his right to free speech? These are some of the questions that people are asking about Dan Brown and his book.
1 Tim 3:16 – 16 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
What are the key issues regarding the Da Vinci Code? Why is this book so popular? If the book is not true then why do many Roman Catholic and Evangelical Christians fight against it? Surely Dan Brown has a right to his view as does anyone else. Why are Christians fussing about Dan’s expression of his right to free speech? These are some of the questions that people are asking about Dan Brown and his book.
First of all, If you have read Dan Brown’s book or have watched the movie entitled the Da Vinci Code, we wish to thank you for spending some of your valuable time to consider the historical claims that Dan makes regarding the person and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many manage to go through life unaware of the claims made about the Christ. We believe that any reason that a person contemplates this famous man in history is a good reason as the answer you come up with will have eternal consequences on your life.
Many think they know the claims made about the Lord Jesus Christ, but in fact they have never read the Bible from cover to cover. Because of this they are at a disadvantage when they read only Dan Browns book as their source of information and they are in danger of falling prey to the kind of deception the Bible is talking about in the above quoted passage.
Dan Brown has touched a chord with many people. He has challenged them to examine information presented about the man called Jesus. Unfortunately Dan reinforces a negative and sceptical view of who Jesus is. By that I mean that Dan encourages the reader to have doubts about who Jesus is. For the remainder of this tract we are going to refer to the sceptic as meaning any who doubt the claims of the Bible made about the Christ. That Person may be Dan Brown or another like him. Perhaps that person describes you.
The purpose of this tract is to make a positive case in support of the claims made in favour of the Lord Jesus Christ. The positive case for Christ is based from two sources; 1) the Bible, 2) and the witness of those who have come to know the God of the Bible in a personal and meaningful way in their lives. The Bible makes some pretty powerful claims about itself. It tells us that the when someone hears the words from this book it will not be without having an effect on their lives.[1] The Bible claims to be the word of truth and more powerful than a two edged sword, but many people never experience that power because of doubts which have been given them about the Bible itself. For that reason we would like to tell you a bit about the Bible.
The Bible Proves itself by Fulfilled Prophecy
1. The Bible is made up of 66 books which were written over a 1500 year period of time on 3 separate continents by many different authors during many different centuries.
2. The Bible is divided into two sections.
a) The first section was written prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. We (Christians) call it the Old Testament, because it testifies of a future coming Christ (Anointed One).
b) The part of the Bible written after the coming of the Christ is called the New Testament, because it records the fulfillment of the Old Testament predictions regarding the Christ and it records what is called the gospel (good news) about Christ.
3. The rule for the writing of the Old Testament was that the writer must first establish his credibility as a Prophet of God with his peers so that his peers would be willing to listen to him.[2]
a) Many remember Moses for the 9 miraculous plagues that he pronounced against Egypt in order to gain freedom from slavery for the Jewish Nation. What is more significant than the miracles themselves is the fact that with 100% accuracy he predicted ahead of time each of these plagues. This is why Moses is considered to be the greatest prophet who ever lived preceding the greatest one, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the first five books of the Old Testament that Moses wrote are considered as canon (a guideline that rules over us) of scripture by both the Jews and Christians today.
b) God gave Moses special instructions that if someone makes a prophecy and it doesn’t come true he must die [3] for this offence.[4]
c) The Lord Jesus Christ did not exempt himself from proving He was a prophet. He made the greatest fulfilled prophecy ever. He predicted His own death and resurrection. [5]
d) By the Bibles standard;
i. Mohammed the founder of Islam would not qualify as a prophet of God because he never made a prediction which could be verified during his lifetime.
ii. Nostradamus and Jean Dixon would fail as prophets for the simple reason they failed to be 100% accurate in their predictions. Jean Dixon, for example, predicted that the Vietnam War would turn into World War III.
4. The rule for the writing of the New Testament is that the person writing it must have personally and physically met Jesus. [6]
a) Any book written by non eye-witnesses to the resurrection of Christ are also false gospels. Dan Brown asks why other gospels are not included in our Bibles today. The reason for their omission is simply because it is easily proven that the writers of those “other gospels” never met Christ. Even though the “gospel of Judas” for example is supposedly written about the disciple who betrayed Jesus it is freely admitted by its proponents that it was written two centuries after Christ’s Resurrection by a ghost writer who wrote it as though Judas had written it. [7]
b) Some sceptics argue that Just as the “other (Gnostic) gospels” are not first accounts, the New Testament claim to be a first hand account but a story that was passed down for 2 or 3 centuries before being recorded.
i. The Bible however does make claim to be written by eye witnesses. For example, the apostle Paul who wrote more than 50% of the New Testament claimed that the majority of 500 persons who saw Jesus after his resurrection are still alive at the time of the writing of his letter in the bible.[8]
ii. The Dead Sea Scrolls is a name commonly given to 7 copies of the Old Testament written in Greek (Septuagint) dating to 200 BC and 19 other Hebrew scrolls some dating to as much as 500 BC which were first discovered in the 1940’s. Sceptics prior to this had claimed that the Septuagint was corrupted in its translation from the Hebrew by Christians to make it agree with Christ as Messiah. That is now proven not to be the case as the oldest copies date to 200 years before Jesus was born.
iii. Prior to this discovery the oldest Manuscript of the Old Testament called the Masoretic text dated only to 1000 AD. This caused many sceptics to argue that the Bible changed over the years. That too has also been proven to be a false claim, since comparison of the 500 BC manuscripts virtually match the ones from 1000 AD, even though there is a 1500 year difference in the age of the manuscripts.
iv. There is strong evidence that the original writing of the New Testament was completed prior to the year 70 AD for 2 reasons; a) History records the Great Dispersion in 70 AD in which the Temple that Daniel and Jesus predicted would be destroyed occurred. Yet this event is not mentioned anywhere in the NT. b) Christians fled from Jerusalem because of this event as far south as Ethiopia, and as far north as Russia, bringing the New Testament with them. Today we find Manuscripts of the New Testament in Russia and in Ethiopia which agree with over 99.5% accuracy. There is no explanation other than this event of how they got there and no way Christians could have collaborated on any changes to the text after that event. [9]
The Christ, the Anointed One of Fulfilled Prophecy
We know today that the Old Testament Prophecies were not tampered with (see previous comments on this). It should therefore be of interest what the OT has to say are the qualifications for the Christ and to consider whether Jesus met those qualifications. Here is a short list;
1. He must be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 - Septuagint rendering) - Fulfilled Luke 1:27
2. He will be called the Christ (Several places in the OT including Dan 9:25 - Septuagint rendering.).
a) History records that Jesus has been labelled as the Christ (meaning Anointed One.)
3. He would be cut off (martyred) exactly 483 years after Artexerxes decreed to restore Jerusalem (Dan 9:25-27). The command was given in BC 457, and Jesus died exactly 483 years after that. See our Tract
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_annointed_one.pdf
4. He will be cut off from his people prior to the Temple in Jerusalem being destroyed. Dan 9:26-27.
a) Jesus Was Crucified in AD 27. b) The Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in AD 70 and never rebuilt.
5. He would be beaten and bloodied beyond recognition. Isaiah 52:14 -15. History bares this out.
The Resurrection and the Cult which followed
Christians were called “Atheists” by the Romans who believed in many Gods and not just one triune God of the Christians. Christians, like Christ are willing to lay down their lives [10] rather than recant what they had witnessed either physically or since that time spiritually by the indwelling of Holy Spirit in their lives. [11]
Another label Christians were given is “the Cult of the Resurrection” because they began to hold a supper meeting celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on the first day of the week (the Lord’s Day). Many Christians still commemorate it to this day, although few celebrate it at the supper hour (6 pm) as was practiced for the first two centuries.
Sceptics Quoting Sceptics
Dan Brown quotes sceptical writings from others that were written in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The problem is that Dan Brown does not seek to prove that these writings were accepted in the day when they were written. All he actually proves is that there have historically been other sceptics. If I found a document saying that Abraham Lincoln was not murdered I would have to do some serious investigating before I believed it to be a true document. First I would want to know how old that document was. In Dan’s case his documents are late dated to the 3rd century and not possibly eyewitness accounts. Second I would want to know if the document was received well when it was written or if it was considered to be a hoax at the time it was written. Just because I find a document doesn’t prove that it is a true document.
Gnostics who are they?
It’s a little known fact that Gnostics existed prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Prior to the birth of Jesus the Gnostics worshiped a goddess they named Sophia. The gospels that Dan Brown quotes from are called Gnostic Gospels because it is a well known fact that they were written by the Gnostics. Dan Brown himself is a modern day self-professed Gnostic. He has posted at his website that he desires to promote the idea of “Sacred Feminine” goddess worship.
A word to the reader
We would like to assist you in any way that we can to explore the Bible and the claims about Christ. Please let us know where you are in your spiritual journey and send us your questions.
The Bible Proves itself by Fulfilled Prophecy
1. The Bible is made up of 66 books which were written over a 1500 year period of time on 3 separate continents by many different authors during many different centuries.
2. The Bible is divided into two sections.
a) The first section was written prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. We (Christians) call it the Old Testament, because it testifies of a future coming Christ (Anointed One).
b) The part of the Bible written after the coming of the Christ is called the New Testament, because it records the fulfillment of the Old Testament predictions regarding the Christ and it records what is called the gospel (good news) about Christ.
3. The rule for the writing of the Old Testament was that the writer must first establish his credibility as a Prophet of God with his peers so that his peers would be willing to listen to him.[2]
a) Many remember Moses for the 9 miraculous plagues that he pronounced against Egypt in order to gain freedom from slavery for the Jewish Nation. What is more significant than the miracles themselves is the fact that with 100% accuracy he predicted ahead of time each of these plagues. This is why Moses is considered to be the greatest prophet who ever lived preceding the greatest one, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the first five books of the Old Testament that Moses wrote are considered as canon (a guideline that rules over us) of scripture by both the Jews and Christians today.
b) God gave Moses special instructions that if someone makes a prophecy and it doesn’t come true he must die [3] for this offence.[4]
c) The Lord Jesus Christ did not exempt himself from proving He was a prophet. He made the greatest fulfilled prophecy ever. He predicted His own death and resurrection. [5]
d) By the Bibles standard;
i. Mohammed the founder of Islam would not qualify as a prophet of God because he never made a prediction which could be verified during his lifetime.
ii. Nostradamus and Jean Dixon would fail as prophets for the simple reason they failed to be 100% accurate in their predictions. Jean Dixon, for example, predicted that the Vietnam War would turn into World War III.
4. The rule for the writing of the New Testament is that the person writing it must have personally and physically met Jesus. [6]
a) Any book written by non eye-witnesses to the resurrection of Christ are also false gospels. Dan Brown asks why other gospels are not included in our Bibles today. The reason for their omission is simply because it is easily proven that the writers of those “other gospels” never met Christ. Even though the “gospel of Judas” for example is supposedly written about the disciple who betrayed Jesus it is freely admitted by its proponents that it was written two centuries after Christ’s Resurrection by a ghost writer who wrote it as though Judas had written it. [7]
b) Some sceptics argue that Just as the “other (Gnostic) gospels” are not first accounts, the New Testament claim to be a first hand account but a story that was passed down for 2 or 3 centuries before being recorded.
i. The Bible however does make claim to be written by eye witnesses. For example, the apostle Paul who wrote more than 50% of the New Testament claimed that the majority of 500 persons who saw Jesus after his resurrection are still alive at the time of the writing of his letter in the bible.[8]
ii. The Dead Sea Scrolls is a name commonly given to 7 copies of the Old Testament written in Greek (Septuagint) dating to 200 BC and 19 other Hebrew scrolls some dating to as much as 500 BC which were first discovered in the 1940’s. Sceptics prior to this had claimed that the Septuagint was corrupted in its translation from the Hebrew by Christians to make it agree with Christ as Messiah. That is now proven not to be the case as the oldest copies date to 200 years before Jesus was born.
iii. Prior to this discovery the oldest Manuscript of the Old Testament called the Masoretic text dated only to 1000 AD. This caused many sceptics to argue that the Bible changed over the years. That too has also been proven to be a false claim, since comparison of the 500 BC manuscripts virtually match the ones from 1000 AD, even though there is a 1500 year difference in the age of the manuscripts.
iv. There is strong evidence that the original writing of the New Testament was completed prior to the year 70 AD for 2 reasons; a) History records the Great Dispersion in 70 AD in which the Temple that Daniel and Jesus predicted would be destroyed occurred. Yet this event is not mentioned anywhere in the NT. b) Christians fled from Jerusalem because of this event as far south as Ethiopia, and as far north as Russia, bringing the New Testament with them. Today we find Manuscripts of the New Testament in Russia and in Ethiopia which agree with over 99.5% accuracy. There is no explanation other than this event of how they got there and no way Christians could have collaborated on any changes to the text after that event. [9]
The Christ, the Anointed One of Fulfilled Prophecy
We know today that the Old Testament Prophecies were not tampered with (see previous comments on this). It should therefore be of interest what the OT has to say are the qualifications for the Christ and to consider whether Jesus met those qualifications. Here is a short list;
1. He must be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 - Septuagint rendering) - Fulfilled Luke 1:27
2. He will be called the Christ (Several places in the OT including Dan 9:25 - Septuagint rendering.).
a) History records that Jesus has been labelled as the Christ (meaning Anointed One.)
3. He would be cut off (martyred) exactly 483 years after Artexerxes decreed to restore Jerusalem (Dan 9:25-27). The command was given in BC 457, and Jesus died exactly 483 years after that. See our Tract
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_annointed_one.pdf
4. He will be cut off from his people prior to the Temple in Jerusalem being destroyed. Dan 9:26-27.
a) Jesus Was Crucified in AD 27. b) The Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in AD 70 and never rebuilt.
5. He would be beaten and bloodied beyond recognition. Isaiah 52:14 -15. History bares this out.
The Resurrection and the Cult which followed
Christians were called “Atheists” by the Romans who believed in many Gods and not just one triune God of the Christians. Christians, like Christ are willing to lay down their lives [10] rather than recant what they had witnessed either physically or since that time spiritually by the indwelling of Holy Spirit in their lives. [11]
Another label Christians were given is “the Cult of the Resurrection” because they began to hold a supper meeting celebrating the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on the first day of the week (the Lord’s Day). Many Christians still commemorate it to this day, although few celebrate it at the supper hour (6 pm) as was practiced for the first two centuries.
Sceptics Quoting Sceptics
Dan Brown quotes sceptical writings from others that were written in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The problem is that Dan Brown does not seek to prove that these writings were accepted in the day when they were written. All he actually proves is that there have historically been other sceptics. If I found a document saying that Abraham Lincoln was not murdered I would have to do some serious investigating before I believed it to be a true document. First I would want to know how old that document was. In Dan’s case his documents are late dated to the 3rd century and not possibly eyewitness accounts. Second I would want to know if the document was received well when it was written or if it was considered to be a hoax at the time it was written. Just because I find a document doesn’t prove that it is a true document.
Gnostics who are they?
It’s a little known fact that Gnostics existed prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Prior to the birth of Jesus the Gnostics worshiped a goddess they named Sophia. The gospels that Dan Brown quotes from are called Gnostic Gospels because it is a well known fact that they were written by the Gnostics. Dan Brown himself is a modern day self-professed Gnostic. He has posted at his website that he desires to promote the idea of “Sacred Feminine” goddess worship.
A word to the reader
We would like to assist you in any way that we can to explore the Bible and the claims about Christ. Please let us know where you are in your spiritual journey and send us your questions.
You may contact the person who handed you this tract or the tracts author.
Bible Door Tracts
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bibledoor@rogers.com
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org and http://bibledoor.blogspot.com
Our Urdu site: http://bibledoorurdu.no-ip.org
Copyright 2006 © Bible Door Tracts.
Check the web for this tract along with other similar ones
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_DavinciCode_TheCaseForChrist.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_DavinciCode_HoodwinkingWorld.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_The_passion_sm.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_easter_sunday _is_a_great_day_sm.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/eng_the_role_of_the_prophet.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/eng_annointed_one.pdf
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted.
[1] Psalms 55:11 http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_DavinciCode_TheCaseForChrist.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_DavinciCode_HoodwinkingWorld.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_The_passion_sm.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/pdf/eng_easter_sunday _is_a_great_day_sm.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/eng_the_role_of_the_prophet.pdf
http://bibledoor.no-ip.org/eng_annointed_one.pdf
This tracts author is Ray Luff of Bible Door Tracts. The opinions contained in this tract do not necessarily represent the opinions of Riverdrive Park Bible Chapel where Ray is in fellowship. All Bible references are from The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson unless otherwise noted.
[2] There are two exceptions in the Old Testament where we cannot prove the book was written by a Prophet. The book of Esther and the The Song of Solomon.
[3] Deut 18:20-22 - 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
[4] A verifiable example today of this punishment being given is the tomb of 300 false prophets were killed for not having their prayers answered to their gods to rain down fire on their alters. The only Prophet that God answered was Elijah. If you visit Israel you can go and visit that tomb.
[5] John 2:15;21
[6] The Apostle Paul did not meet Jesus physically in person until after Jesus was resurrected but the account of his physical encounter is made in scripture which is why we accept the Paul as qualified as a writer for much of the New Testament.
[7] In order to try to put those “other gospels” on an equal playing field with the ones included in the Bible Dan in order to give credit to the “other gospels” sometimes called “Gnostic Gospels” must discredit the early dating of the ones that are included in the Bible by claiming that they were not written by eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ either.
[8] 1 Cor 15 – 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
[9] Fragments of the gospel of John have been found dating to AD 115.
[10] In the first two centuries many thousands of Christians were fed to the Lions at the original Olympic games and were offered up tied to a stake and burned alive as Roman Candles by Nero. [11] John 14:15-21; Eph 1:13; 4:30
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