What had happen' was.....: Aug 25, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Bible Dissected

MUNICH, GERMANY - JULY 09: The Ottheinrich Bi...

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeDr. Mariottini recently posted a great summary of facts about the King James Version of the Bible.

Old Testament
1. Books in the Old Testament: 39
2. Chapters in the Old Testament: 929
3. Verses in the Old Testament: 23,214
4. Words in the Old Testament: 592,439
5. Letters in the Old Testament: 2,728,800
New Testament
1. Books in the New Testament: 27
2. Chapters in the New Testament: 260
3. Verses in the New Testament: 7,959
4. Words in the New Testament: 181,253
5. Letters in the New Testament: 838,380
The Whole Bible
1. Books in the Bible: 66
2. Chapters in the Bible: 1,189
3. Verses in the Bible: 31,173
4. Words in the Bible: 773,692
5. Letters in the Bible: 3,567,180
Other Information about the Bible
1. The middle chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117
2. The smallest chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117
3. The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118, verse 8
4. The word “and” occurs 46,227 times in the Bible
5. The word “Yahweh” occurs 6855 times in the Bible
6. The 21st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra has all the letters in the alphabet except the letter j
7. The 19th chapter of 2 Kings and the 37th chapter of Isaiah are alike
Other Information about the Old Testament
1. The middle book of the Old Testament is Proverbs
2. The middle chapter of the Old Testament is Job chapter 29
3. There is no middle verse in the Old Testament, since the number of verses is even. If there was a middle verse, it would be 2 Chronicles 20, between verses 17 and 18
4. The shortest verse of the Old Testament is 1 Chronicles Chapter 1, verse 25
5. The word “and” occurs 35,543 times in the Old Testament
Other Information about the New Testament
1. The middle book of the New Testament is 2 Thessalonians
2. There is no middle chapter in the New Testament since the number of chapters is even. If there was a middle chapter, it would be between Romans Chapters 13 and 14
3. The middle verse of the New Testament is Acts Chapter 17, verse 17
4. The shortest verse of the New Testament is John Chapter 11, verse 35
5. The word “and” occurs 10,684 times in the New Testament

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Bible Dissected

Daily Nation: - Africa |African bishops say Anglicans in West strayed from God

This is good news. I heard about this from Dr. Mariottini's blog. I'm not happy that many denominations are deciding to compromise on scripture. I'm glad that Anglican bishops in Africa are voicing concerns. It's about time someone had said something and they are going as far cutting ties to European and American and Canadian congregations that are compromising on homosexuality.

The conference host, the Archbishop of Uganda Henry Luke Orombi, said African leaders would use the six-day meeting to voice the concerns about the "ailing church" to Williams.
"Homosexuality is incompatible with the word of God," Orombi said. "It is good (that) Archbishop Rowan is here. We are going to express to him where we stand. We are going to explain where our pains are."
Orombi also said that disputes over homosexuality had already divided the global Anglican community

Think that Bishop Orombi is over-reeacting? Nope. Here is a quote from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams:

"We must learn to listen to those we lead and serve to find out what their hopes and needs and confusions are. We must love them and attend to their humanity in all its diversity," he said.
"We cannot assume we always know better and that we always have the right answer to any specific question."

We can love people and attend to their diversities without condoning sin and compromising on scripture.
Daily Nation: - Africa |African bishops say Anglicans in West strayed from God

Apologetics 315: Matthew Flannagan vs. Raymond Bradley Debate: Is God the Source of Morality? MP3 Audio

This was a great debate on God and morality. Bradly say Gods isn't the source of morality and Flannagan says God is the source of reality. I was hoping that Bradley would make a new argument, but he didn't. However Flannagan does advance a theory that is new to me relatively speaking. He was interviewed by Brian Auten earlier this week and it came up again. The argument was that there was no "genocide" in Canaan because Bible does not say that Israel killed everyone - even children - and instead follows the history literature in Ancient tradition of hyperbole. The equivalent of chanting "We won! You lost!! You ate the applesauce!!!" I'm not certain that I buy the argument but I want to read his work to try to understand more about his argument. I think it is an interesting point and I want to know more. Thankfully Brian Auten did post a link to Flannagan's blog post on his arguments about the Canaanites in his interview with Flannagan. I was also distressed about Biblical inerrancy was not really addressed. Bradley kept hammering with it and it wasn't really answered. This is where I believe a Presuppositional approach would have been handy.with that you can argue that the Bible is true and you have good reason to accept it. Bradly is correct that the Bible is where this rises or falls.

Apologetics 315: Matthew Flannagan vs. Raymond Bradley Debate: Is God the Source of Morality? MP3 Audio

Superheroes and Moral Values - Are Superheroes Bad Role Models? - Popular Mechanics

I appreciate Mariano for pointing out this article. The thing about it is I agree that sometimes true characterization and morals are underplayed and the violence and fun highlighted. I mean make no mistake that when it came to the Iron Man movies the idea was to make it fun to be Anthony Stark. In the comics, especially the earlier ones, his heart condition was a major part of the story and it served as his "Achilles heel" - adding a sense of drama and vulnerability to the character. I think the version of Iron Man in the movies works in our culture today because people do want to watch over-the-top power characters who do what they want and play by their own rules. I think that is why Wolverine is so popular. Batman also taps into this vein. I think what makes these characters heroic is that they have a code and standard that they stick by. For example, Batman does not kill. Although Wolverine kills, he has a nobility and a standard that guides what he will and will not do. I think the article is correct about how the Spider-Man, Incredibles, Fantastic Four, Superman, and Batman come across. You do get a view of moral values that we should aspire to live out ourselves. I think all great stories - mythological and real - share that trait. That is why we remember them. I would add the following movies to their list of moral lessons.

1. X-Men - Protect others with the gifts you have even if they will not appreciate you for it