MSGID: 1:153/757.0 e56e6028   
   TZUTC: -0700   
   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
   I sure hope theseauto-posted verses are of valueto someone -- maybe a random    
   picjk is just what you needed one day? (it happens like that, sometimes, or me.   
   -- What info/advice/consoling I need just shows up from an unexpected direction   
   or timing.   
      
   But I'd like to see some actual human-to-human interaction in this group.   
      
   The topipc is BIBLE -- what are your initial thoughts or questions, pro or   
   con, on any subtopic under "Bible"?   
      
   One thing that's always been a wee stickler for me is where God tells Moses,   
   at the end of Deuteronomy (last book on the Torah--first 5 books given,   
   directly  by God to Moses): "Do not alter these words; do not add to them, do   
   not  subtract from them."   
      
   Well, tyhen the Israelites/Jews, over the next several centuries, identified    
   other words of God in scrolls & tested them for consistency with the known    
   ttewacvhings in the initial 5 books (Torah or Pentateuch, depending which    
   language you use for the bridge to English)   
      
   Israel grouped these into two sets: The Writings, & the Prophets (not Minor &    
   Major within that -- just "The Prophets" -- each was a spokesman for God and   
   of equivalent value to one another men.)   
      
   The writings include Chronicles(1&2),. Kings(1&2), Psalms & Proverbs --   
   various writers for all, all inspired by God for the content that is good for   
   the  edifying & teaching of man.   
      
   So thesewere "added to" Torah as "Inspired Scripture"("Bible")   
      
   Then along came Jesus who inspired a whole 'nother set: "The New Testament"    
   (or, more accurately translated: "The Renewed Covenant")   
      
   At the end of this set of 27 books, is another warning, "Do not add to these    
   words; do not alter them in any way"; the idea being that we  humans are not   
   to pervert or alter God's messages to mankind, so that there's a pure record   
   of  what was originally given.   
      
   The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran showed that thousands of   
   years  after Moses(author of the Pemtateuch) was dead, the copies of the Torah   
   scrolls were kept exactly(near enough, the occasional erasure & rewriting of   
   'typoes'  notwithstanding) as the oldest known & even exactly as they are   
   still today,  some 6-8K years after Moses recorded the Torah.   
      
   Something (or SomeOne) kep the record pristine through this mant   
   generat8ionsd  of scribes(secretarial tyupes who carefully copied the text   
   exactly (point by  point on each letter, even,& margin spacing--no spaces or   
   punctuation between  words, sentences, or paragraphs); this is why Jesus said   
   "not a jot or tittle  shall passaway"; He was referring to the serifs & the   
   one letter that is,  essentially, an apostrtophe in looks, but is actually a   
   silent consonant.  (there are no vowels in the Hebrew Bible--yeep -- imagine   
   -- 100s of thousands  of letters all jammed together, no spaces, no   
   punctuation, & no vowels!   
      
   I believe that when God said "I am the Word" the Word was the entire Torah    
   spoken as One Supremely Almightly phoneme -- only He could pronounce it, of    
   course, asa such -- we go letter, by letter, by word, but then we're not    
   ultimately powerful either.   
      
   & this is the Word that God spoke that triggered the Big Bang (an infinitely    
   massive & zero sized hydrogen atom that contained everything(literally ALL!)    
   exploded into being.   
      
   How do we reconcile the 7-day creation period in the Bible (I'm still on   
   topic  here -- I amaze myself some days!) with the 13.5bn year-old universe   
   scientific observers have seen, based on the Cosmic Background Radiation(CBR)   
   & speed of  the moving elements of the observable universe?   
      
   Easy.  time from the pont of the Big Bsn to Earth, where it has been at   
   various points in the universe's history can be measured in an inverse   
   proprtional  exponential rate.   
      
   Day One, from God's 'vantage point': a flash of infinite light   
   & each day on Earth was a slowing down proportion of aeons. I have a screenshot   
   of a pic from a book where I saw this. I can send it by private internet   
   email  attachment if anyone wants it. Netmail me the address you want me to   
   send it  to, & remind me what I'm sending, if you want it. I think I set the   
   filemame to cite the source, so you'll have that, too, on arrival.   
      
   Thus the Earth is ~4.5bn years old, from Earth-vantage, but a little over 6K    
   years old from the vantage point of that initial explosion that created the    
   universewe canm observe.   
      
   Both are correct, when you factor in the time dilation at the speed of    
   light(the initial speed of the universe's expansion) that Einstein predicted   
   &  proved.   
      
   If God is both the universe(including Time) & outside of it, then to Him,   
   that  6K years might just feel like 6 days would feel to us, as we read in the   
   Bible.   
      
   Okay, I've pumped a bunch of different things into this one seed p[ost -   
   please feel free to reeply to individual sets of related words with your   
   responses (pr or con -- just don't be douche-y about it--respond in the same   
   tenor as I've  posted, please, without emotional biases or kneejerkism. State   
   why you agree  ordon't, not just that you do or don't, pleaes, so we can have   
   further  discussion)   
      
   I digressed. Okay, Revelations (aka "The Apocalypse of St. John") ended by    
   saying do not add to the preceding book (presumably either just Revelations,   
   or to the entire New Testament); which sesems ironic considering it is all an    
   addition to a book that said "dp not add, spindle, or mutilate"(more or less   
   -- I use my own translations & I translate using freeform thought-for-thought,   
   not just word-for-word(that's the absolute worst way to translate, to   
   understand a  source document from any other language); then the Mormons   
   (pardon me, the  L.D.S.) add yet a THIRD Testament (The Book of Mormon(the   
   second 'm' isn't  fooling me, Joseph Smith!)) onto two groups of books both   
   forbidding the  addition of more texts.   
      
   Hmmph. . .(sorry to any Mormons -- just a joke of mine - no personal   
   animosity  to your religion as a whole, just some goofy experiences with a   
   former GF who  was Mormon (without the second 'm' some times, it seemed like)   
      
   I'm with my mom -- so long as you put God first & you support families,   
   you're  A-OK in our books!   
      
   I'm a quibbler & have done much research oneverything I've touched on above &    
   much more besdides, so I sometimes tend to forget that it's nmot merely an    
   academic subject for many.  I'm not starting a relgious/sect war here; if you    
   wanht one --the proper echo for that is HOLYSMOKE ("where there's smoke,    
   there's FIRE" -- it used to be a hot(active, much flaming, couched in   
   academic  language & claims at times) echo. I carry that one, too, so go ahead   
   & address  me in there & do your worst -- I know my stance & how I got here,   
   so I ain't  worried.   
      
   I live by love, but I'm human & slip occasionally. Hardly any deaths have    
   resulted, so I'm okay with those slips.   
      
   Did I mention, I'm the Bishop of ROM (aka Cyberpope) so I kid lots -- I love    
   humour, especally punnish humour.   
      
   If you ever feel offended by some thing I say/type/imply, there's a   
   99.999999%  chance I intended it as humour & you just have a different take on   
   houmour from myself. Let me know, respectfuylly, you're feelings, & I'll try   
   harder not to  come across offensive in the future.   
      
   If you want to offend me, it'll take some efforts on your part but feel free   
   to try to do so in the HOLYSMOKE echo (be nice to get it rolling again--it   
   used to be a great place to debate & test one's commitment to a belief or   
   point of  view.); "Iron sharpens iron"(a quote from. . on topic again. .  THE   
   BIBLE.)   
      
   So I have no beef with being challenged on my conclusions.  I've polished the    
   edges on some beliefs & conclusions, partly with thanks to the hatemongers in    
   HOLYSMOKE, pre-Death of Fidonet era.  I did't like it at the time & thought    
   they were self-styled pufferies, but even such has its place & benefit.   
      
   ALL(OMNI!) things-written(Greek "scriptura" isn't a capitalized term    
   "Scripture"-- it just means all things that are written(with plenty of thought    
   & meditation before, during, & after writing--not hack or pulp jobs) are useful   
   to the believer and provide basis for positive reproof, rebuke, & teaching.   
      
   I take every criticism in & analyze it, to find the benefit in it for me &   
   for  those I'll futurely interact with.   
      
   DISCLAIMER: Don't let my handle (Cyberpope) fool you -- I'm not a Cyberspace    
   religious teacher, nor  preacher.  It's just my name (George POPE) & I'm in    
   CYBERspace.   
      
   I get no brownie pints or other credit for convincing anyone of any point of    
   view.  I like conversations & I've studied lots in certain areas (auto-   
   didactically, mostly; a few uni level courses to round it all out, usually   
   one- on-one with the profs) & I especually enjoy healthy discussion+debate on   
   those  topics.   
      
   Bottom line, at the end of the day: I genuinely like people & I believe    
   EVERYTHING is grist for the Humour Mill.  I'm learning(slowly some might say)    
   to dial it back to not be as offensive as bluntness can be, when not filtered    
   according to the arbitrary & capricious unwritten laws of decent society(I   
   was  ejected from there years ago,. because I ejected them, anyway!).   
      
   Laugh, Kukkaburro, laugh! Hahaha Hee   
      
      
   Your friend,   
      
   <+]:-{)} <--official cyberpopicon of the Bishop of ROM (me!)   
   aka: George Pope -- in Mundanity   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6   
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