A Response to Pharyngula: Human Chromosome 2 and Balanced Translocations

Pharyngula's Blog in response to Casey Luskin

Balanced translocations in humans result in 45 chromosomes, horrendedous mutations, or nothing at all.

See here for a helpful diagram (source - Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals):














In other words you can have these scenarios:

1. The exact same genome from before (ie that it has 46 chromosomes)
2. 45 Chromosome (the balanced translocation is passed on)
3. Monosomy- 45 chromosomes and almost invariably harmful
4. Trisomy - 46 alleles, but with an extra chromosome - almost invariably harmful

Evolutionists are purposing that our "common" ancestor had 48 chromosomes evidenced by our chromosome 2 that looks like 2 primate chromosomes fused.

So here's the scenario.

1. Balanced translocation (BT1) - 47 chromosome
2. Mated and passed on (BT1).
3. BT1 confers some selective advantage, though it is the same genetic material, and 3/4 of its offspring would not transfer BT1 and 1/2 have severe anamolies.
4. Another balanced translocation happens (BT2)
5. Progeny of BT1 and BT 2 transfer their respected balanced translocations (25% chance that the progeny receive BT1 and BT2).
6. The coveted 46 chromosome progeny!
7. Unfortunately there are no other 46 progeny to copulate with unless it is his sister.
8. What about their progeny?!?! It is well known that consanguineous (genetically related) offspring have severe problems as well.

Of course there are lots of other things to this such as certain chromosomes are more likely to translocate than others (in humans 13, 14, 15, 21, and 22) - what chromosomes are more likely to translocate in modern primates, the ones that are similar to our chromosome 2?

Or the fact that this would have needed to happen in a significantly short time (see my post on Haldane's dilemma) with the BT1 progeny population growing sufficient enough to create enough random events for the BT2 translocation. In fact, they would need a lot more progeny b/c 3/4 of their offspring would not help make the BT2 translocation and again 1/2 would have severe anamolies. Remember there is only approximatley 6.5 million years from the point we "separated" from primates.

In addition, if BT1 and BT2 were to have happened incredibly fast, so that no (or limited ie they can still mate) speciation were to have occured, the new BT1/BT2 46 chromosome primate would definitely have a child with trisomy (again invariably harmful).

More on this later... but I think this is enough.

Brief Chronology of the The Kings of Israel and Judah

1 and 2 Kings and Chronicles Chronology

*Indicates a Righteous King

Judah

1. Rehoboam

a. Took the counsel of his friend's and split the Kingdom

b. Leads Judah to Idolatry

c. Constant war w/ Jeroboam

d. Prophet: Shemaiah stops Jeroboam's plan by telling Judah not to attack Israel.

e. Shishak of Egypt Invades

2. Abijam

a. Sinned like his father

b. Defeats Jeroboam/Israel b/c he trusted in God.

3. Asa*

a. Removed his grandmother Maacah from being queen mother b/c of the Asherah.

b. Persuaded Ben-hadad King of ARam to betray Baasha King of Israel and open up routes into and out of Judah, instead of trusting in God.

c. Removed the high places and commanded to observe the law.

d. Defeated an army of one million Ethiopians. 2 Chronicles 14:11b "LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You."

e. Prophet: Azariah, Hanani (who he threw in prison for telling him he should not have trusted in Ben-hadad)

f. Died bitter against God.

4. Jehoshaphat*

a. Fought together with Ahab bringing about God's wrath.

b. Married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and formed an alliance of Israel.

c. Prophet: Micaiah - When the 400 "prophets" of Israel said that they would be victorious in the battle of Ramoth-gilead (Aram), he told them God would not. Jehu - After talking to the king, he institutes reforms in all Judah.

5. Joram/Jehoram

a. 2 Kings 8:22 "So Edom revolted against Judah to this day Then Libnah revolted at the same time."

b. Killed all his brothers and some of the rulers of Israel.

c. Married Ahab's daughter.

d. Prophet: Elijah said God will strike him with a bowel disease for his treachery.

6. Ahaziah

a. 2 Kings 8:26b "And his mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel."

b. 2 Kings 11: 1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. 2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. 3So he was hidden with her in the house of the LORD six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land...20So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king's house.

c. Slain by Jehu.

7. Jehoash/Joash* The Hidden King

a. 2 Kings 12:2 Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. - Started reign at age 7.

b. Reparied the temple.

c. 2 Kings 12:17 Then Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. 18Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

d. Assassinated at the house of Millo b/c he killed the High-Priest Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) the son of Jehoiada and was not buried in the tomb of the kings.

e. Before his inauguration, the priest Jehoiado led a coup against Athaliah and had the Levites protect him 24/7.

f. Jehoiada the priest reinstituted the priestly service, the Law, and killed the worshipers of Baal.

8. Amaziah*

a. 2 Kings 14: 5 Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. 6But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin

b. Challenged Jehoash king of Israel, in hubris, b/c he defeated Edom and lost to him.

c. Turned away from the Lord and was assassinated in Lachish.

9. Azariah/Uzziah*

a. Inaugurated at 16.

b. Struck with leprosy b/c in pride he tried to usurp the priestly function of burning incense.

10. Jotham*

a. Co-regent with his father after Uzziah was struck with leprosy.

b. Built the upper gate of the house of the LORD and cities in Judah.

c. Prophet: Zechariah (different one)

11. Ahaz

a. War with Rezin king of Aram and sought the help of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria.

b. 2 Kings 16;10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship

c. Made alterations to the altar and temple in Jerusalem.

d. Worshiped Baal and even passed his sons through the fire.

e. Judah was given over to Aram and Israel during this time.

f. Prophet: Oded. The Israelites were going to take 200,000 slaves from Judah after they were defeated in battle, but he told them they had much guilt and sin before God as well. The Israelites agreed, clothed the naked, anointed with oil, and even put the feeble of Judah and took them to Jericho.

12. Hezekiah*

a. Prophet = Isaiah, Micah

b. Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against Jersualem and his commander Rabshakeh, insisted they give up or be destroyed. Hezekiah prays for deliverance and 2 Kings 19:35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

c. Hezekiah was about to die, but he prayed and the LORD gave him 15 years.

d Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, came and Hezekiah arrogantly showed off all his riches to him. For this deed Isaiah told him

2 Kings20:17 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 18'Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'... 19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"

3. Jeremiah 26:18 "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus the LORD of hosts has said, "Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become ruins, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."' - Hezekiah did not put him to death and this analogy was used to spare Jeremiah as well.

4. Led reforms to quickly establish worship back in Jerusalem and reversed all the idolatry of Ahaz.

5. Sent couriers to throughout Judah and even Israel to invite them to worship the Passover.

6. 2 Chrnoicles 30:17For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the LORD. 18For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD pardon 19everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary." 20So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

7. 2 Chronicles 32:31Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

13. Manasseh

a. 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them... 6He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger

b. 2 Kings 21:10 Now the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11"Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; 12therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

c. 2 Kings 21:16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

d. After being captured by Assyria, he humbled himself before the LORD and removed all the idols he had once placed all over Judah.

e. Reigned starting from age 12.

14. Amon

a. 2Kings 21:23The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

15. Josiah*

a. Was 8 when he started his monarchy!

b. 2 Kings 22:8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it.

c. Josiah removed all idol worship from Judah:

2 Kings 23:16Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things... (cf. 1 Kings 13:2) 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. 20All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

d. Reinstituted the Passover and 2 Kings 23:25 Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him. 26However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

27The LORD said, "I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, 'My name shall be there.'"

e. 2 Kings 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo.

f. Prophets/Prophetess: Jeremiah and Huldah

16. Jehoahaz the son of Josiah

a. Reigned only 3 months than 2 Kings 23:33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

b. Jeremiah 22:11 For thus says the LORD in regard to Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, "He will never return there; 12but in the place where they led him captive, there he will die and not see this land again.

17. Eliakim/Jehoiakim the son of Josiah

a. 2 Kings 23:34Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there.

b. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ruled Judah, but he rebelled against him, and destroyed Judah:

2 Kings 24:3 Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.

3. Jeremiah 22:18 Therefore thus says the LORD in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
"They will not lament for him:
'Alas, my brother!' or, 'Alas, sister!'
They will not lament for him:
'Alas for the master!' or, 'Alas for his splendor!'
19"He will be buried with a donkey's burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

4. Jeremiah 26:20 "Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah." - He fled to Egypt, but Jehoiakim found and killed him.

18. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim

a. 2 Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign... 14Then he [Nebuchadnezzar] led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths None remained except the poorest people of the land. [Ezekiel included in deportation and started his ministry in captivity]

b. 2 Kings 25: 27 Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; 28and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence regularly all the days of his life; 30and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

c. The Davidic Line Curse

Jeremiah 22:30"Thus says the LORD,
'Write this man down childless,
A man who will not prosper in his days;
For no man of his descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.'"

d. Prophets: Jeremiah, Ezekiel

19. Mattaniah/Zedekiah the son of Josiah

a. 2 Kings 24:17 Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

b. 2 Kings 24;20 For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

c. Jerusalem was sieged and overtaken and 2 Kings 25:6 Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. 7They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

d. 2 Kings 25: ...Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9He burned the house of the LORD, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 10So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem... 12But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

e. Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan [Josiah's secretary], was made governor over the people left in Judah.

f. 2 Kings 25:25 But it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama [secretary under Jehoiakim], of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah [They then fled to Egypt b/c they were afraid of the Babylonians].

g. Jehoiachin is released by Evil-merodac, King of Babylon, the son of Nebuchadenezzar.

h. Of note in 2 Kings 25:18 Seraiah the chief priest is the ancestor of Ezra

i. Zedekiah tried to ally with Pharaoh Apries (aka Hopra) to rebel against Babylon.

j. Prophet: Jeremiah - Zedekiah did not listen to him.

k. 2 Chronicles 36:15The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;

16but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy.

17Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.

18All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon.

19Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

20Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

Israel

1. Jeroboam I the son of Solomon

a. Promised by God through the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite that he would control 10 tribes (1 Kings 11:31)

b. B/c of his idolatry God cursed him in 13:2 "He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'" - Unknown Prophet who was tricked by another and struck down for disobeying God

c. He tells his wife tries to go in disguise adn try to fool Ahijah, but then gets this prophesy in 14:9b-10 I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 11 "Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the LORD has spoken it."'

d. Never recovers from the battle with Abijah

2. Nadab the son of Jeroboam

3. Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar

a. 1 Kings 15:27 "...struck him [Nadab] down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon."

b. Ruled in Tizrah for 24 years.

c. Constant war with Asa.

d. Due to his idolatry, he received the same punishment as Jeroboam.

e. 1 Kings 16:7 "Moreover, the word of the LORD through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck it."

4. Elah the son of Baasha

a. Reigned 2 years - killed while drunk at Tizrah.

5. Zimri the commander of half of Elah's chariots

a. 1 Kings 16:11 "It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. 12Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet"

b. Reigned 7 days from Tizrah and 1 Kings 16:18 "When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died" - as a punishment for idolatry.

6. Omri the commander of the army

a. 1Kings 16:17 "Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah."

b. More evil than all the kings before him.

c. Ruled from the hill Samaria.

d. 1 Kings 16: 21-22 "Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king."

7. Ahab the son of Omri

a. Marries Jezebel 1 Kings 16:31b "the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him."

b.1 Kings 16: 34 "In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun." (cf. Joshua 6:26)

c. Prophets during his reign: Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah (who helped hide 50 prophets from Jezebel and was close to Ahab), the prophet who told Ahab to attack Ben-hadad (20:13), the "man of God" who told Ahab that he would succeed against Ahab when he came back (20:28), the man of the "son of prophets" who told the man to strike him (20:35), and Micaiah

d. Cursed, but he Humbled himself once before God and it was prolonged until the reign of his son (21:29).

8. Ahaziah the son of Ahab

9. Jehoram/Joram the son of Ahab

a. Ahaziah's brother

b. 2 Kings 3:2He did evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and his mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal which his father had made. 3Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.

c. Elisha prominent: Miraculous water that came and tricked the Moabites, widow of a prophet's oil, shunammite's woman's miraculous birth of a son and later resurrection from the dead, poisonous stew, Naaman healed/Gehazi becomes a leper, axe head, Aramean's flee from the sound of a great army,

d. Cannibalism from from Ben-haded King of Aram's seige.

e. Jehu anointed by Elisha's messenger: 2 Kings 9:7 "You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel."

10. Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi

a. Assassinates Joram King of Israel, Ahaziah King of Judah and all his relatives that he met at at Beth-eked of the shepherds, Jezebel, all 70 of Ahab's sons, and 2 Kings 10:11 "...all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor."

b. All the worshipers of Baal

c. Hosea 1:4 And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

d. 2 Kings 10:29 However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. 30The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." 31But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin.

11. Jehoahaz the son of Jehu

a. 2 Kings 13:2 "He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin; he did not turn from them. 3So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael."

12. Jehoash/Joash the son of Jehoahaz

a. 2 Kings 13: 17 He said, "Open the window toward the east," and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot!" And he shot. And he said, "The LORD'S arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them." 18Then he said, "Take the arrows," and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground," and he struck it three times and stopped. 19So the man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it But now you shall strike Aram only three times."

b. 2 Kings 13:21 As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band [of Moabites]; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.

c. Defeated Amaziah king of Judah in battle.

13. Jeroboam II the son of Jehoash/Joash

a. 2 Kings 14:25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. 26For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. 27The LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

14. Zechariah the son of Jeroboam

a. Reigned 6 months in Samaria and was assassinated by Shallum the son of Jabesh.

b. 2 Kings 15: 12 This is the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, "Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." And so it was. (cf. 2 Kings 10:30)

15. Shallum the son of Jabesh

a. Reigned one month and was assassinated by Menahem.

16. Menahem the son of Gadi

a. 2 Kings 15:16 Then Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, because they did not open to him; therefore he struck it and ripped up all its women who were with child.

b. 2 Kings 15:19 Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule. 20Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not remain there in the land.

17. Pekahiah the son of Menahem

a. Ruled 2 years and was killed by his officer Pekah in Samaria.

18 Pekah the son of Remaliah

b. Killed by Hoshea the son of Elah after 20 years.

19. Hoshea the son of Elah

a. 2 Kings 17:3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute.

b. Hoshea sought the help of the Egyptians and stopped paying tribute to Assyria and eventually they besieged Samaria for 3 years and "carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." (2 Kings 17:6)

c. 2 Kings 17:25 At the beginning of their living there [Israel], they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them... 28So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD... 41So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Notes from Aland's Text of the NT

There are 5400 extant Greek NT, not including quotations from the Church Fathers.

Uncial: a style of orthography characterized by somewhat rounded capital letters; found especially in Greek and Latin manuscripts of the 4th to 8th centuries

Lectionary: A schedule of readings from Holy Scripture for use in the weekly liturgy. In current use are both an historic, one-year lectionary with readings that have been in use for centuries, and a more recently developed three-year lectionary. Use of a lectionary provides the congregation with the opportunity to hear carefully chosen sections from the entire Bible.

Codex: Book like format, as opposed to a scroll

Opisthograph: A manuscript, parchment, or book having writing on both sides of the leaves.

Provenance: Evidence of the history of the ownership of a particular book (eg: auctions records, booksellers' records, book plates, etc.) The book may be important because of who owned it; perhaps a president or important bookseller, collector, royalty, or someone who may be related to the book in some way. Important in establishing the ownership of especially rare items.

Minuscule: a portion of the New Testament

Folio: a book (or manuscript) consisting of large sheets of paper folded in the middle to make two leaves or four pages

Fascicles: Are sections of a book, usually a reference work, that because of its length, is issued in parts so that the information may be made available to the public as soon as possible rather than waiting years or decades to complete the entire work

Minuscule: A New Testament minuscule is a portion of the New Testament

[A New Testament uncial is a copy of a portion of the New Testament in Greek or Latin capital or uncial letters, written on parchment or vellum.

New Testament uncials are distinct from:

* New Testament papyri — written on papyrus and generally more ancient; and

* New Testament minuscules — written in minuscule (small, connected) letters and generally more recent.]

Catholic Letters: James, I and II Peter, I, II, and III John, and Jude

Apostolos: Acts and the Catholic Letters

Stemma: A tree diagram, showing the family relationships among manuscript copies of the same text. One key principle in constructing a stemma is to group manuscripts having the same error or eccentricity in common, as being all descended from the manuscript which first made that error.

Recension: Stem. The process of preparing a family tree or stemma of manuscripts. The first step in traditional stemmatics.

Interpolation: In relation to literature and especially ancient manuscripts, an interpolation is an entry or passage in a text that was not written by the original author. As there are often several generations of copies between an extant copy of an ancient text and the original, each handwritten by different scribes, there is a natural tendency for extraneous material to be inserted into such documents over time.

Interpolations may be inserted as an authentic explanatory note, but may also be included for fraudulent purposes.

Western non-interpolations : Are additions in view of the Wescott-Hort

Palimpsest: a manuscript which has been re-used by scraping off the original text and writing over the top

Free Text: a text dealing w/ the original text in a relatively free manner w/ no suggestion of a program of standardization

Normal Text: Relatively faithful tradition which departs from the its exemplar only occasionally

Strict Text: Differs from exemplar only rarely

Majority Text -The Majority Text is derived from the plurality of all existing Greek manuscripts; but because most of these manuscripts are late medieval manuscripts, there is a family resemblance between the Received Text and the Majority Text.

Byzantine text-type The kind of text found in the majority of medieval manuscripts

Alexandrian text-type the ancient type of text which is exhibited in our oldest available manuscripts

Courtesy of Bible-reasearcher.com

Remember there are no verified separate Western, Casarean, or Jerusalem texts.

Orientals (Hebrew and Islam) = sanctity to the letter; Greeks = Sanctity to the message

************************************************************************

p⁵² 125 A.D. contains John 18:31-33, 37-38

Chester Betty papyri/p^45,46,47:

45 (3^rd Cent) = Gospels and Acts lacunae Matt 20:24 - Acts 17:17;

46 (200 AD) Pauline Letters lacunae 2 Thess, Philemon, and Pastorals

47 (3^rd Cent) Rev. 9:10-17:2 w/ small lacunae.

Bodmer papyri: p^{66, 72, 75}:

66 (200 AD) John1:1 – 14:39 w/ almost no lacunae and the rest in fragments. Sewing almost intact;

72 (3/4^th century) *Jude and 1-2 Peter*. Has relatively undamaged pages

75 (3^rd Century) Luke 3:10 and on w/ few lacunae and John 1:10 – 15:8 w/ few lacunae. Still has its binding and may be exemplar to Codex Vaticanus, thus eliminating the theory of recensions (that revisions were happening in the 4^th century).

100 AD – Didache has the Lord’s Prayer

144 AD- Marcion Canon

170 AD – Muratorian Canon

150AD – Discernible quotes from the Gospels in Justin Martyr

175 A.D. - Tatian's Diatessaron, produced was the most prominent of a number of harmonies of the four Gospels, that is, the material of the four distinct Gospels rewritten as a continuous narrative, resolving conflicting statements and removing duplicated text (see synoptic problem). Only 56 verses in the canonical Gospels do not have a counterpart in the Diatessaron, the bulk of the excluded material comprising the two apparently irreconcilable genealogies of Jesus (one in the Gospel of Matthew and one in the Gospel of Luke), together with the pericope of the adulteress (John 7:53 - 8:11). No significant text was added; but, in order to fit all the canonical material in, Tatian felt free to create his own narrative sequence that departed radically from the succession and order of episodes in every one of the four Gospels. The final work is about 72% the length of the four gospels put together (McFall, 1994). Students of gospel harmonies frequently distinguish between the "textual" tradition - i.e. the sources and transmission for the words and phrases within each pericope; and the "sequence" tradition - i.e. the sources and transmission for the order in which pericopes are presented.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

180 AD – Closure of the Gospel and Pauline corpus

200 AD – Because of the spread of Christianity, there was a need for the translation of the NT and by 250 AD, the church was Latin.

3/4^th Century – No centralized organization of the church, thus you have many varying manuscript traditions until than.

After Decius and Valeraion Persecutions (250-260 AD) the Koine Text started in Antioch, which became the Byzantine Imperial Text (also called the Lucian text in the 4^th century). During the persecution many manuscripts were burned and lost, thus sciptoriums were built and copied the NT.

Papryus Bodmer XIV-XV/p⁷⁵ – early 3^rd century

383 AD – Jerome finishes revising the Gospels, from existing Latin text,in the Vulgate (rewrote mainly the OT from Hebrew)

4^th/5^th Century – k (Codex Babiensis) = earliest extant Latin manuscript

5^th Century- Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis/D written in N. Africa or Egypt though it is called the “Western-Text.” Lots of tendentious revisions from its exemplar.

8^th Century Uncial E or Basilensis - ignored by Erasmus

Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis/D^ea 5^th Century and Codex Claromontanus – Theodore Beza’s Library (16^th Century) – poor translations – Wrote 9 editions of the Greek NT

1452-1456 – Johann Gutenberg’s 42 line Latin Bible in Mainz

1/10/1514 - Complutensian Polyglot (published 3/22/1522)

1590 – Pope Sixtus V declares the Vulgate the authoritative text.

1592- Pope Clement VIII again declares the Vulgate’s authority

3/10/1516- Desiderius Erasmus Novum Instrumentum Omne – First edition of the Greek NT (edito princeps). Also known as the Textus Receptus. Total of 5 revisions

Relied on 12/13^th century Byzantine Imperial text, Koine text, or the Majority text

1550 & 1551 – Edito Regia – 7 editions first to use verses by Robert Estienne = Stephanus

1734 – Johnn Albrecht Bengel editied the TR and classified it as α = original reading w/ full certainty β = a reading superior to the TR, though w/ less than absolute certainty

Used Codex Alexandrinus (A) and commentary on Revelation by Andreas of Caesaerea

1751-1752 Johann Jakob Wettstein 2 vol. edition

1775-1777; 1796-1806 Johann Jakob Griesbach

1830 – Karl Lachman “Down w/ the late text of the TR, and back to the text of the early 4^th century church.”

19^th century - Constantin von Tischendorf deciphers the Codex Ephraemi Syri Rescriptus (C) 5^th century text; also found Codex Sinaticus {N/S}

1857-1859 – Cardinal Mai uses Codex Vaticanus (B)

1881 – The New Testament in the Original Greek by Wescott – Hort ; Primarily uses Codex Vaticanus (B) (4th century text)

1898 Eberhand Nestle – Novum Testamentum Graece (final nail in the coffin for the TR). Compared the Wescott-Hort and Tischendorf versions and where they agreed he kept. He consulted a third edition Weymouth’s 2^nd edition of 1892 and after 1901 Weiss’ 1894 -1900 edition)

1902-1913 – Von Soden’s “The Writings of the New Testament, restored to their earliest attainable form on the basis of their textual history.”

1927 – Erwin Nestle’s 13^th ed. of the Nestle Text

1922-1955 – Vogel’s Novum Testamentum Gracae et Latine

1933-1984 – Merk’s Novum Testamentum Gracae et Latine

1942-1986 – Bover’s Novi Testamenti Gracae et Latina

Vogel-Merk-Bover = Roman Catholics

1966 – The Greek New Testament (GNT)

1979 – Pope John Paul II starts work on the Neo-Vulgate (initiated by Pope Paul VI)

Latest and greatest are the Nestle-Aland²⁶ and GNT⁴ (NA²⁶ closest to GNT³)

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 5 + Some Other Stuff

Did Mark Misquote Malachi and Give Credit to Isaiah in Mark 1:2?

I didn't even realize I had this little gem in my blog! So if you missed it too, don't worry. Some people think that Mark misquotes Malachi 3:1 and wrongly attributes it to Isaiah in Mark 1:2, hence there is an "error" in the Bible. Once again, we shall see with a little insight, this is far from being and "error."

Mark 1:2

2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
"BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,
WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

3THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT

and

Malachi 3:1

"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 40:3

A voice is calling,
"Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God."

Mark puts two verses together Malachi 3:1(v2) and than Isaiah 40:3(v3), and as the literary custom of the day, he attributes the entire quote to the higher ranking prophet.

BTW, notice that in original quotation Malachi, God/YHWH uses the pronoun "Me," while in Mark when refering to Jesus it is "You." Why is that? Because Jesus is the second person of the Godhead and so when God/YHWH says something, it is appropriate to quote Jesus as saying it.

Courtesy of Dr. Knox Chamblin Lectures on the Gospel and Acts

For more answered contradictions see the links here:

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 1

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 2

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 3

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 4


*********************************************************
Extra Credit:

For a good explanation of why we need the Law go to the Role of the Law in Galatians 3:19-25

Here's a little quote from Doug Ward of CRI:

Likely anticipating the objections to his treatment of the law, Paul strives to find a positive role for the law in 3:19-25. Two questions introduce the potential problem that others would have with Paul’s explanation. "What then, was the purpose of the law" (19), and "Is the law opposed to the promises of God?" (21).

Paul answers his own question in verse 19 with one of the most troublesome phrases in his letters, "it was added because of transgressions" (NIV). This phrase could potentially have a variety of translations. 1) The law was added because of transgressions, with a restraining effect. 2) The law was added to create transgressions, acting as a lure. 3) The law was added to increase or intensify transgression, acting as an identifier. One clue within this phrase is the inclusion of the word parabaseon ("transgressions"). This word is used specifically within Paul’s letters to denote wrongdoing done in the presence of the law. Romans 4:15 functions almost like a dictionary entry when Paul writes "where there is no law there is no transgression."
Parabaseon is a specialized word. Before something can be called a transgression, there must be some standard to transgress, and that standard in Galatians is the Mosaic Law. One scholar has rightly noted that with the word transgression "Paul is not thinking of the general condition of sin that justifies the infliction of God’s wrath, but the more specific situation that obtains wherever people are confronted with clearly defined, verbally transmitted laws and commands. Parabaseon always refers to passing beyond the limits." [6] The use of "transgression" here does not imply that the law itself brings sin, but rather a qualitative difference to the sin. Instead of a vague imperfection or general wrongdoing, it now becomes outright disobedience to a known command of God. This is also how this word is used in Romans 5:14, where the first sin of Adam is described as a transgression since it involved Adam’s disobedience to a known command of God.

This consideration of the meaning of parabaseon gets to the heart of what Paul means in Galatians 3:19. If one considers that a transgression is not even possible unless there is a law to transgress, Paul cannot mean that the law was given to restrict transgression, for there was no transgressions to restrict until the law appeared. So the function must be different. The law is valuable here in that it was added to identify the character of sin, labeling it as explicitly contrary to God. So the law was added to label, identify, and condemn sin as something contrary to God.

Finally a Creationism Post

Here are some links to some old, but not well known ideas, and to some very new research that is quite illuminating for Creationist/Intelligent Design proponents. Much kudos to Uncommon Descent, the blog of prominent ID proponent and Christian Seminary Professor Dr. William Dembski, where I received much of this info.

1. Haldane's Dilemma (my personal favorite)

Go to Walter Remine's website for an excellent explanation of the issue.
In a nutshell, the human and primate split happened (last common ancestor) about 6.5 million years ago, but let's use 10 million years for the ease of mathematics. The human genome has 3,000,000,000 nucleotides ("pieces of DNA) and let's say chimpanzees do also. Both have a scientifically accepted generation of 20 years (i.e how many years it takes them to reproduce; some flys are 10-12 days). Now we've all heard that there is a 2% difference in between the human and chimp genomes (false, but we'll skip that for now) so that means there needs to be 3 billion x 2% = 60,000,000 changes.

The numbers are approximate, but the main idea is that 10 million years is not enough time for the propagation and domination of those genetic changes.

Note: Keep in mind that when you hear about the 2% difference is not putting human and chimpanzee DNAs side-by-side and that they only have a 2/100 DNA differences. I mean humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes and chimps 24 (doesn't that already eliminate the 2% difference). According to the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, there are "35 million single nucleotide changes, 5 million insertion/deletions, and various chromosomal rearrangements." This puts the number at little over 1%, but stating all these changes in the light of Haldane's dilemma should show us how unlikely all these changes could've happened in the last 6.5 million years or so.
*********************************************************

2. The Sea Anenome's Genome

How can the Sea Anenome, a creature that predates bilateral symmetry, have the genes for breast cancer?!? How could evolution know to put them there?

Sea Anemone Provides a New View of Animal Evolution. SCIENCE VOL 317 6 JULY 2007

Moreover, the anemone genes look vertebratelike. They often are full of noncodingregions called introns, which are much less common in nematodes and fruit flies than invertebrates. And more than 80% of the anemone introns are in the same places inhumans, suggesting that they probably existed in the common ancestor [750 Million years ago]...Finnerty and his graduate student James Sullivan also looked in the anemone genome for 283 human genes involved in a wide range of diseases... Moreover, in a few cases, such as the breast cancer gene BRCA2, the anemone’s version is more similar to the human’s than to the fruit fly’s or to the nematode’s.

Here's the link to the summary and the full article

3. Deletion of Ultraconserved Regions Produce Functional Mice

How can regions of the genome that have been ultraconserved (ultraconserved elements have been defined as a group of extremely conserved sequences that show 100% identity over 200 bp or greater between the human, mouse, and rat genomes) be so unimportant? If evolution went so out of its way to conserve these areas, why are they so frivolous? Think, if you had some of your heart and brain genes deleted (which are presumably highly selected for) would you live?

Link to the article

4. The Genes for Limbs Already in Fish

How can the instructions for limbs before they are needed be in fish?

Link here at physorg.com

Long before animals with limbs (tetrapods) came onto the scene about 365 million years ago, fish already possessed the genes associated with helping to grow hands and feet (autopods) report University of Chicago researchers in the May 24, 2007, issue of Nature.

5. Genomics and the Irreducible Nature of Eukaryote Cells

That is the original title of the article - I SWEAR!
Basically it smashes the idea of prokaryotic to eukaryotic evolution. Obviously, the authors still believe in evolution, but its nice to see this concept of endosymbiosis seriously reconsidered. Remember from a design standpoint , its easy to see b/c of the design constraints of a prokaryotes that they could not have mutated or "fused" into what we know as eukaryotes. This eliminates (makes highly dubious even from an evolutionary standpoint) one of evolutions prized idea that Creationist have known to be false for a long time.

Here's the Link to the article, hopefully you can find access for it at your school or library.
*********************************************************
Extra Credit: A clear point for Design Theorist

There is this whole idea of "Junk DNA" which scientists thought were evolutionary remnants, of you guessed it, worthless/junk DNA, that just stayed in our genome. Prominent evolutionary proponent and professor of Biology at Brown University said :

From a design point of view, pseudogenes are indeed mistakes. So why are they there? Intelligent design cannot explain the presence of a nonfunctional pseudogene, unless it is willing to allow that the designer made serious errors, wasting millions of bases of DNA on a blueprint full of junk and scribbles. Evolution, however, can explain them easily. Pseudogenes are nothing more than chance experiments in gene duplication that have failed, and they persist in the genome as evolutionary remnants of the past history of the b -globin genes.

Ken Miller, Life's Grand Design Technology Review Feb/March 1994 Volume 97 (2):24-43

While, prominent Intelligent Design proponent and professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University, Dr. Michael Behe predicted in his book Darwin's Black Box that Junk DNA, would have a purpose.

Guess who won? You got it - Dr. Behe.

See here:

Encyclopedia of DNA: New Findings Challenge Established Views on Human Genome

Much thanks to Uncommon Descent for this one.

More!
Another prediction that Creationists got right and Darwinist got wrong - The Appendix!

Darwinists predicted that the appendix had no function, while the Creationist (from a design standpoint) predicted it did... who won? You got it Creationists.

Deity of Christ - Quick Verses

Here are some quick verses for the Deity of Christ (ie full equality with the Father) which various groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses deny:

|| First Level Statements: Jesus Explicitly Called God or Called Fully Equal with God ||

John 1:1 (The Word later on is said to be Jesus)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:18

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

John 5:18

¹⁸For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

John 10:30-33

³⁰"I and the Father are one."

³¹The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
³²Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"
³³The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

Philippians 2:6

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped

Titus 2:13

¹³looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus

Peter 1:1

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ

|| Second Level Statements: Implicit Statements of Christ's Deity ||

Hebrews 1:3

³And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Colossians 1:19

¹⁹For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him

Colossians 2:9
⁹For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form

John 8:57-59

⁵⁷So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."

⁵⁹Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

John 12:41 -"These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him." (cf. Isaiah 6)

|| Third Level Statements: Theological Insights ||

Mark 1:2

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

"BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU,
WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;

+

Malachi 3:1

"Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.

Notice that in original quotation Malachi, God/YHWH uses the pronoun "Me," while in Mark when referring to Jesus it is "You." Why is that? Because Jesus is the second person of the Godhead and so when something is attributed to God/YHWH, it is appropriate to attribute it to Jesus.

[BTW, if you're wondering why it Mark says from the prophet Isaiah, its b/c Mark puts two verses together Malachi 3:1(v2) and than Isaiah 40:3(v3), and as the literary custom of the day, he attributes the entire quote to the higher ranking prophet.]

Isaiah 44:24–”Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer…’I am the LORD, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself‘”

John 1:3 –”All things were made through Him [Christ], and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (cf. Colossians 1:16)

Micah 5:2 - "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.

Ezekiel 1:26 Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. 27Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. 28As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. (cf. Revelation 1,4)

Matthew 21:15 "But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant 16and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU [God] HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF[God/Jesus]'?"

Its kind of slick of Jesus, but you see that Jesus is getting praise from the children and then He quotes a verse from the Bible saying that the God prepared children to give Himself/God praise and uses it of Himself!

Biblical Musings

Do you ever run across verses in the Bible and say to yourself “I gotta remember this” or “How did I miss this the first thousands times I read it?!?!” Well, I do and here are my Biblical musings:

Can God do what He wants? Yes, b/c that's who God is – GOD! Otherwise something else, outside of Himself, say our concept of fairness, would limit His freedom

Psalm 106:8

Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.

Matthew 20:15

¹⁵'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

Jeremiah 18: 1-6

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
²"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you."
³Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
⁴But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,

⁶"Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

Isaiah 29:15-16

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"
¹⁶You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me";
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Romans 9:17-23

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."
¹⁸So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
¹⁹You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"
²⁰On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?
²¹Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.

Suffering in Perspective:

Psalm 107:11-13

¹¹Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹²Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.

Psalm 119:71

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.

Amos 4 - One of my favorite chapters of the OT

Genesis 32:25

"When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him." (Think of how the pain would remind Him of that day and keep him humble, thankful, worshipful, etc.)

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
⁸Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
⁹And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
¹⁰Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Why we should pray:

Psalm 116:1-2

¹I love the LORD, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
²Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Excellent Prayers During Suffering!

Matthew 26:39, 42, 44

³⁹And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
⁴²He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done."
⁴⁴And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

¹⁷Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

These are just some awesome Psalms: Psalm 40, 86

Bondage of the Will or Libertarian Free Will?

Matthew 11:27

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

Matthew 13:10-11

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11Jesus answered them, "to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "

Luke 10:21

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight

Luke 18:32-34

³²"For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,
³³and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again."
³⁴But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Luke 24:15-17

¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.
¹⁶But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Believe that Jesus died for all sins and not in limited atonement? Did Jesus die for this sin (or the demons')?

Matthew 12:31-32

"...Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
³²"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

Mormon's believe that God is married and that people will be married in heaven. They should read this:

Matthew 22:29-33

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.
³⁰"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
³¹"But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:
³²'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

What makes you great? Hint: not money, power, and fame.

Matthew 20:26-28

²⁶"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Hell made primarily for the devil and his angels and not us? I think there are other verses to back this up or maybe not...

Matthew 25:41

⁴¹"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 4

The Resurrection Account:

This one is quite troubling and I refer you to these sources:

From A Puritan's Mind
From Answering Islam

What I want to do is put the appropriate verses in chronological order and add a little commentary at the more difficult points:

A) The women at the tomb


Matthew 28:1
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

Mark 16:1-2
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

Luke 24:1
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

John 20:1
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.

B) One of the two angels rolls away the stone and causes the guards to flee

Matthew 28:2-4
2And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
3And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

C) The women wonder how to open the tomb

Mark 16:3-4
3They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
4Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.

D) Mary Magdalene flees by herself to Peter and John

John 20:2
2So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."

E) The other women who remain at the grave enter the tomb and see the 2 angels. The Matthean and Markan accounts focus only on one of the angels, while Luke decides to include both (so does John later on when they meet Mary Magdalene).

Mark 16:5-7
5Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7"But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'"

Matthew 28:5-7
5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7"Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."

Luke 24:4-7
4While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
5and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6"He is not here, but He has risen Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

F) The women leave the tomb, but are afraid to tell anyone

Mark 16:8
They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

G) Jesus meets the women as they leave the tomb and tells them to not be afraid and report to rest

Matthew 28:9-10
[8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.]
9And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."

H) As the women leave the tomb Peter and John go forth

John 20:3-9
3So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb.
4The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; 5and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in.
6And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. 9For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

I) The disciples go back, but Mary stays weeping and sees 2 angels

John 20:10-13
10So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
11But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."

J) Mary sees Jesus!

John 20:14-18

14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" 18Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.

For more answered contradictions see the links at the bottom of this page

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 1

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 2

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 3

Gospel Contradictions Answered! Part 5