M.A.W.B. Squad

Oldest Known Bible to go Online

Via the BBC:

A team of experts from the UK, Europe, Egypt and Russia is currently digitising the parchment known as the Codex Sinaiticus, believed originally to have been one of 50 copies of the scriptures commissioned by Roman Emperor Constantine after he converted to Christianity.

The Bible, which is currently in the British Library in London, dates from the 4th Century.........

The digitising project is particularly significant because of the rarity and importance of the manuscript.

The original document is so precious that it has only been seen by four scholars in the last 20 years....

The Codex Sinaiticus contains the whole of the Christian Bible; specifically, it has the oldest complete copy of the New Testament, as well as the Greek Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, which includes books now regarded as apocrypha..............

The British Library will also develop a free website to present the manuscript.

The website will both "present the manuscript - just the facts as it were, the images and the transcription - but also interpret it for different audiences, from scholars right through to people who are just interested in this manuscript or in Christianity".                   

The Christian Paradox

Bill McKibben penned this piece for Harper's Magazine:

Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor.

Sigh.  There are plenty of problems with the church, for example only half of Prostestant pastors have a biblical worldview.  But, let's move on.

In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide fifteen cents a day in official development assistance to poor countries. And it’s not because we were giving to private charities for relief work instead. Such funding increases our average daily donation by just six pennies, to twenty-one cents. It’s also not because Americans were too busy taking care of their own; nearly 18 percent of American children lived in poverty (compared with, say, 8 percent in Sweden). In fact, by pretty much any measure of caring for the least among us you want to propose—childhood nutrition, infant mortality, access to preschool—we come in nearly last among the rich nations, and often by a wide margin.

This is just wrong.  I don't know where he got his statistics, or how he parsed them, but the Giving USA Foundation estimated charitable giving in the USA in 2004 at $248.52 billion dollars.  Please note, that doesn't include government aid.  The CIA World Factbook estimates the population of America at 295,734,134, which would calculate to $840.34 per man, woman, and child in this country - a huge discrepancy from 21 cents a day, ($76.65 annually), including foreign aid, wouldn't you say?

His next line makes his motives a little suspect:

The point is not just that (as everyone already knows) the American nation trails badly in all these categories; it’s that the overwhelmingly Christian American nation trails badly in all these categories, categories to which Jesus paid particular attention.

As everyone already knows?  Not only do I not know that America is cheap when it comes to giving, I've just proven him wrong, What kind of assumptions did Mr. McKibben start this article with?  He goes on to the murder rate, prison populations, capital punishment, and divorce. 

While I agree that our nation has problems and the church has problems, this particular commentary has as much to do with his own political philosophy as it does with Christianity.

Persecution For Your Own Good

Free speech is already illegal in Canada, for example, publicly voicing a negative opinion about homosexuality.  Now an editorial on National Public Radio proposes state control of religion, especially Catholics.

"I won't try to propose what might be in the new code except for a few obvious things: A key item would have to be a ban on claims of exclusivity. It should be unethical for any RRP to claim that theirs was the one true religion and believers in anything else or nothing were doomed to fire and brimstone. One might also expect prohibition of ritual circumcisions, bans on preaching hate or violence, the regulation of faith healers, protocols for missionary work, etc.," says Ferguson.

The next news dispatch will be that the government has ruled  there is only one commandment, "Thou shalt not offend thy neighbor. (Unless, of course, they happen to be a white male or Christian.)"

I'm too busy to give this the time it deserves.  Go read the excellent commentary by Doug at Bogus Gold.

P.S.  Note to Doug and the Nightwriter.  I continue to be stymied by powerblogs.  I've apparently forgotten my password.  It won't accept the password stored in Mozilla.  Won't let me comment as a guest.  Won't let me sign up for a new account.  Doesn't e-mail me a password when I click the lost link.  Maybe it's just me, but it bites nonetheless.  Insert scream of frustration here.

How to Save Society

How can you ignore a link that is titled, "How to save society"?

I have the answers right here.  Yes.  This is what everyone has been missing.

What could it be? And who is handing out this lost wisdom?  So, I clicked the link.  It turns out that Vox Day, novelist, Christian libertarian, and author of the blog Vox Popoli, is the one with the answer we need to save society.  He reminds us that it is not politics that saves souls.

There is, I submit, more faith in George W. Bush than Jesus Christ in the evangelical wing of the Republican party; one imagines that Karl Rove will soon prophesy of the Third Coming of The Bush, a King of the South of pure blue blood who will save America from the Scarlet Woman of Arkansas.

But the world is fallen, damned.  Salvation comes through grace alone, not through politicians.

First, I have to chime in that politics and faith are not exclusionary.  Every time this subject comes up I am reminded of Paul in the book of Acts claiming his rights as a citizen.  (I'd also point out that there's both a Christian right and a Christian left in this country with both sides prancing on the partisan path. Though admittedly, the right is more identified as an essential portion of the Republican base. )

That being said, Vox has a point.  If we weigh the importance of these two subjects in relation to one another, the eternal matter of faith must outweigh the temporal matter of politics.  He's also right to be asking Christians, to which of these two things do you expend the greater effort?

O.K.  I'm becoming uncomfortable. Because this is leading me to a subject that will be difficult to explain.

Let me start with Sunday morning.  I set my alarm and got up early with the intention of going to church.  Frankly, I've been less excited about doing that for a while now.  There are many good reasons to go to church, but the ones that resonate with me are:

• to be reminded who God is
• to be reminded who I am
• to meet with God and worship Him with others

If we are made of body, soul, (the mind, will, and emotions), and spirit, what I'm looking for is something that touches my spirit. I really don't know if I have the words to describe what I'm talking about.

Maybe you've had a similar experience with music at some time?  It happened to me recently watching the highlights of Live8.  Annie Lennox started, "Sweet Dreams are made of these..." and it grabbed onto a part of me unexpectedly.  Music has the ability to bypass our filters and get to the core of who we are.

In a sense, that's what has been missing for me in church recently.  I needed something to bypass all the filters and get to the core of who I am and why I'm there.  No B.S.

So, you understand my frame of mind.

Quiz: Theological Worldview

Sure, there's the reaction to Rove's comments to gloat over, the lefty-led Supreme Court decision to gripe about, the Rummy-Kennedy verbal jousting.

Me?  I'm doing a quiz.  It's Friday.  Mexican for lunch today.  I got work to do.  'Nuff said. Via Doug.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Reformed Evangelical 71% Fundamentalist 68% Neo orthodox 46% Emergent/Postmodern 46% Roman Catholic 46% Charismatic/Pentecostal 43% Classical Liberal 36% Modern Liberal 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Peggy Noonan: Why they Ran

Don't miss Peggy Noonan in Opinion Journal today:

Did you see them running to St. Peter's Square as the bells began to toll?

They came running in from the offices and streets of Rome, running in their business suits, in jeans with backpacks over their shoulders............

Why did they run? Why did this ancient news--"We have a pope"--representing such irrelevant-seeming truths and such an archaic institution--send them running?.......

...........why did so many weep as the new pope came out? Why did they chant "Benedict, Benedict" as he stood at the balcony? Why were they jubilant?

Why were so many non-Catholics similarly moved?.............

But something is always going on in their chests. Some truth is known there; some yearning lives there. It's like they have a compass in their hearts and turn as they will, this way and that, it continues to point to true north.

We want a spiritual father. We want someone who stands for what is difficult and right, what is impossible but true. Being human we don't always or necessarily want to live by the truth or be governed by it. But we are grateful when someone stands for it. We want him to be standing up there on the balcony. We want to aspire to it, reach to it, point to it and know that it is there.

Because we can actually tell what's true.

We can just somehow tell.

(Bold added.)  She nailed it.  Don't miss the rest of it.

Benedict XVI and Malachy's Pope Prophecies

Remember this post about St. Malachy's prediction of all the Popes?  After the announcement of the new Pope Benedict XVI today, I was curious about Malachy's prophecy regarding the 111th pope.  From the same story:

The 111th prophecy is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The meaning of the olive is unclear. The Order of Saint Benedict, not St. Malachy, has claimed that this pope will come from its ranks and Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its final fight against evil.

Anyone else get goosebumps?  (On the other hand, the cynic could say that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI was aware of the prophecy before he chose his papal name.)

And the final pope?

The 112th prophecy says, "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman), who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.

More at Wikipedia.

I was listening on the radio today when Pope Benedict appeared on the balcony.  I've mentioned before that I'm not Catholic.  However, I was very moved by the reaction of the crowd in St. Peter's square.

We cheer at sporting events, or maybe during a Presidential convention.  How amazing it was to hear people cheer with joy because they have a new spiritual leader.

Prophecy and the Pope

Though exact figures vary, most biblical followers would agree that 25% or more of the bible is prophecy.  From Genesis on, God starts to tell us what is going to come to pass; the coming messiah, the fate of the nations, and even the events of the end of this age.

One doesn't add to or take away from the bible, but prophecy is listed as one of the spiritual gifts still  available to believers.  Some believe that Saint Malachy, an Irish bishop who died in 1148 AD, had the gift of prophecy.  Via the Ohligarchy, we find the story of Malachy's predictions:

When the cardinals of the world pick John Paul II's successor, they may well be choosing the next-to-last pope.

The pope who then follows this choice in the Chair of St. Peter will be the last pope, and after his reign Rome will be destroyed.

Koran scholar: US will cease to exist in 2007

Yes folks.  Palestinian scholar Ziad Silwadi has done a careful study of the Koran and concluded that the United States of America will cease to exist in the year 2007.  What will be our end, you ask?

It predicts that the US will be hit by a tsunami larger than that which recently struck southeast Asia.

And why would he warn us?

He said he decided to publish the findings of his research "out of a sense of responsibility because what is about to happen is extremely shocking and frightening." His fear, he said, is that the world economy, which relies heavily on the US dollar, would be deeply affected by the collapse of the US.

Of course.  He's not worried about a loss of life greater than the Asian tsunami, but how it will affect the world economy.  You might ask why we are doomed?

Silwadi said his study of the Koran showed that the US would perish mainly because of its great sins against mankind, including the Native Americans and blacks.

What solid research led him to this conclusion?

He said a careful reading and analysis of words appearing in the Opening and Yusuf suras show that the US will exist for only 231 years.

How did he reach that number? Silwadi said that by combing a number of suras hinting at US sins he reached the numbers 1776 (the year the US achieved independence) and 231. He added the two numbers and the result was 2007, the year when the US is expected to disappear.

Those college funds?  May as well enjoy them now!  Retirement money?  Who needs it!  Live it up if you find the research method sound.  Only 33 months max left before the big wave!  (I seriously doubt it will reach all the way into the Midwest.  Do you think they'll just add any survivors to Canada's population?  If so, I want to practice up saying...Eh!)

Hat Tip: LGF

More Good Friday Thoughts

You might be asking yourself, if today is the day Jesus died on the cross, why in the world would Christians call it "Good" Friday.  If you're one of the many that saw "The Passion", you have some idea of the horror and sheer brutality of events that day.

The disciples, who had walked away from their day to day lives to follow this man for the last three years, and come to believe he was the messiah, were caught entirely unaware, even though Jesus had told them what to expect.  You can imagine them saying, "We thought he was the one.  We expected him to deliver Israel.  Now, they are killing him.  How can this be?  How can God allow it?"  And they watched him die,  then hid themselves for fear of the authorities.

Mary had been told when Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby, that a sword would pierce her own soul, but what Mother would foresee these events?

Yet Good Friday it is, because through the suffering of Christ, we were reconciled to God.

Which brings me to one of my favorite verses in the Bible, which details the immediate aftereffect of the death of Jesus, Matthew 27:51:

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  The earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Why is this so cool?  The curtain referred to was in front of the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelt in the temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.  The high priest of Israel was allowed to go past this curtain only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, (Yom Kippur), to present the blood of a goat to cover the sins of the people of Israel.

The curtain was rent in two, as confirmation that we were no longer separated from God.  Jesus made the final sacrifice, once and for all.  He is the new High Priest.

His death on that day gave you and I direct access to God through Him.  So, though the events of that day were horrible, they were also the culmination of God's plan to redeem us, more than worthy of description as "Good".