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The Canon of Scripture   Real Audio Lessons on this Topic The Canon of Scripture   Protestants, Catholics, and most Orthodox agree now 1 that the New Testament should consist at least of the 27 Books (Matthew through Revelation/Apocalypse) that the Catholic Church determined were canonical, but the Protestant Old Testament is lacking 7 entire books 2 (Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, and II Maccabees), 3 chapters of Daniel and 6 chapters of Esther, leaving them with 66 incomplete books while Catholic Bibles have 73 books. How did this come to be?Background The canon of the Old Testament...

<p> O O O ——————— GOD'S DEALINGS WITH MAN ——————— O O O DOCTRINE MORALITY RESPONSIBILITY PROMISE LAW – ISRAEL LAW – ISRAEL GRACE– RIGHTEOUSNESS THEOCRACY KINGDOM CHURCH AND PEACE ——————— ——————— ——————— ——————— ——————— ——————— ——————— ————————— 1. COVENANT SPHERE ADAMIC NOACHIC ABRAHAMIC MOSAIC DAVIDIC NEW EVERLASTING Gen. 1:28,29 Gen. 9:1-17; Gen. 12:1-3; Ex. 19 – 30 2 Sam. 7:15-19; Mt. 26:26-28; Jer. 32:37-40 Gen. 2:15-17 Gen. 6:18 Gen. 15:1-16,18 2 Sam. 23:5 Heb. 8:6-13; Ezek. 16:60 Heb. 10:5-10 Heb. 13:20 2. SIN Gen. 3:1-15 Gen. 9:20-25 Gen. 16:1-6 Ex. 32:1-14 1 Kings 10:28 1 Cor. 15:34 NO SIN...

A new Norwegian language translation of the Bible was the secular country's best-selling book of 2012. (By comparison, the Bible didn't even break the top 100 in the U.S. last year). The Associated Press credits a marketing campaign by Norway's Bible Society for at least part of the Bible's popularity there: The society "promoted the new translation like a pop fiction novel, stirring anticipation by giving out teasers of biblical stories before its release," and "targeted teenagers with pink leather or denim covers, and adults with bridal or sophisticated literary covers." A popular six-hour play called Bibelen ("Bible" in Norwegian)...

Editor’s Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. Mikey Weinstein and his militant atheizers in MRFF (the so-called Military Religious Freedom Foundation) are boasting of their ability to crush any outbreak of Christian expression in the military. Mikey and MRFF proudly call CAIR their "allies." CAIR is the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR, as the former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy has noted, has close ties to Hamas. [The Grand Jihad, by Andrew C. McCarthy, p. 160.] Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the international group, Muslim Brotherhood. These ties were exposed in the Holy Land Foundation trial, in...

OSLO, NORWAY: It may sound like an unlikely No. 1 best-seller for any country, but in Norway — one of the most secular nations in an increasingly godless Europe — the runaway popularity of the Bible has caught the country by surprise. The Scriptures, in a new Norwegian language version, even outpaced "Fifty Shades of Grey" to become Norway's best-selling book. The sudden burst of interest in God's word has also spread to the stage, with a six-hour play called "Bibelen," Norwegian for "the Bible," drawing 16,000 people in a three-month run that recently ended at one of Oslo's most...

President Obama placed the Middle East at the forefront of his first hours in office yesterday as he sought to make good on his promise of “ushering in a new era of peace”. In a flurry of telephone calls from the Oval Office, he reached out to leaders in the region and vowed to engage immediately in pursuit of a permanent Arab-Israeli settlement. The spokesman for President Abbas revealed that Mr Obama had told the Palestinian leader that their conversation was his first with a foreign statesman since taking office. Mr Obama also spoke to President Mubarak of Egypt, Ehud...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied Saturday that he is only pretending to seek a two-state solution, as Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon hinted broadly in a weekend interview. Danon’s comments “do not represent the position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel,” sources in the Prime Minister's Office told the Times of Israel in response to Danon’s interview, which the same news outlet published Thursday. The sources said that the prime minister “is interested in a resumption of negotiations without preconditions,” and that his positions regarding support for a two-state solution remain in force. .....

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to return to the negotiating table without preconditions. “Since he doesn’t speak Hebrew, and my Arabic isn’t great, I will turn to him in a language we both understand,” Netanyahu said at a special Knesset session dedicated to the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I say: Give peace a chance,” he said, alluding to the title of John Lennon’s 1969 classic. snip Appearing in the plenum because 40 MKs had signed a petition forcing him to address the topic of the Arab Peace Initiative, the prime minister said...

A Christian scholar and author has taken the experience of growing up under the influence of a stepfather who cherished the objectivism philosophy of Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged) and his biological father who became a follower of Jesus Christ, to write a book about two world views that he feels can come together for the good of society. Mark David Henderson's book, The Soul of Atlas, begins by asking the question, "Do the two most influential books in modern culture, the Bible and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, share common ground?" Henderson has a unique closeness to the subject of Rand's...

One evening last autumn, I sat long hours with a European acquaintance while he expounded a political-economic doctrine which seemed sound as a nut and in which I could find no defect. At the end, he said with great earnestness: "I have a mission to the masses. I feel that I am called to get the ear of the people. I shall devote the rest of my life to spreading my doctrine far and wide among the population. What do you think?" An embarrassing question in any case, and doubly so under the circumstances, because my acquaintance is a very...

Whoops. I'm sure the President just made a mistake and the words "under God" just happened to be missing in the pledge of allegiance. During the pledge of allegiance during the inauguration yesterday, the words "under God" were removed by the President. Introducing the President, Myrlie Evers-Williams read a flowery version of the pledge: “We now stand beneath the shadow of the nation’s capital, who’s golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” As you probably know, the words "under God" were first added to the pledge in 1954 by Dwight...

A new app called “Texas Bible” replaces “you” with “y’all” in English bible translations wherever the original language used a second-person plural. John Dyer, its creator, explains: Just about any time I teach from the Scriptures I have to point out a place where the English Bible says “you,” but the original Hebrew or Greek indicates you plural rather than you singular. This means the original author was addressing to a group of people, but a modern English reader can’t detect this because in common English we use “you” for both singular (“you are awesome”) and plural (“you are a...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday issued a stark warning to Israel to resume long-stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying that if efforts fail now they may never get another chance. "We are running out of time. We're running out of possibilities... If we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance," Kerry told a forum held by the American Jewish Community, according to the AFP news agency. Kerry’s warning came amid reports that he is planning to return to the Middle East region within days, for his fifth trip to Israel since he...

Delaying the so-called “two-state solution” is an historical mistake, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni claimed on Monday. Livni, who is in charge of the peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, spoke at the American Jewish Committee 2013 Global Forum in Washington, D.C. She warned in her speech of “devastating consequences” for Israel in case U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest attempt to renew peace talks fails. “Time is working against those who believe that two states is the only Zionist way to maintain our identity,” Livni said. “There are those who want to postpone this decision, but it would be...

The church’s engagement with the culture involves a host of issues, controversies, and decisions–but no issue defines our current cultural crisis as clearly as homosexuality. Some churches and denominations have capitulated to the demands of the homosexual rights movement, and now accept homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle. Other denominations are tottering on the brink, and without a massive conservative resistance, they are almost certain to abandon biblical truth and bless what the Bible condemns. Within a few short years, a major dividing line has become evident–with those churches endorsing homosexuality on one side, and those stubbornly resisting the cultural...

<p>JERUSALEM—Israel’s defence minister on Tuesday signalled that his military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria, in a rare implied threat to Moscow.</p> <p>Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon issued his warning shortly after a top Russian official said his government reserves the right to provide Syria with state-of-the-art S-300 air defence missiles.</p>

REFLECTION ON SUNDAY READINGS ON THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY READING 2: Roman 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through...

DEAD SEA, Jordan — Hoping to use economic promise as a bridge to a peace deal between Palestinians and Israel, Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced an estimated $4 billion economic development proposal for the West Bank on Sunday that he said could cut the 21 percent unemployment rate by two-thirds. “The greatest existential threat and the greatest economic threat to both sides is the lack of peace,” Kerry said. “To not try to head these off would be tragic, and it would be irresponsible.” International business leaders rallied by former British prime minister Tony Blair will propose new...

President Peres reportedly plans to tell Arab leaders that most Israelis favor a return to 1949-1967 borders. President Shimon Peres plans to tell Arab leaders that the overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens favor a return to the 1949-1967 borders, according to Maariv reporter Shalom Yerushalmi. Peres is planning to speak Sunday evening at a WEF economic conference in Jordan.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States and Israel raised hopes Thursday for a restart of the Middle East peace process, despite little tangible progress so far from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's two-month-old effort to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. As they met in Jerusalem, Kerry praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the "seriousness" with which he is looking at ways to revitalize peace hopes. Kerry expressed optimism without outlining any concrete strategy for ending a stalemate between the two sides that has seen them hardly negotiate one-on-one at all over the last 4½...

An atheist, Buckner believes that no religious literature should be provided in government-owned lodging, and he presented that concern to management at the Amicalola Falls State Park. Officials told Buckner they would remove the Bibles from all state park resorts while the state attorney general looked into the matter. Not long afterward, however, the AG issued a ruling saying the state was on firm legal ground because it hadn’t paid for the books. On Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal ordered the Bibles returned. Deal argued that if the state didn’t pay for them, it can’t be seen as endorsing them. He...

My dear friends, I know I'm going to get it for this post but in love I must say it (2 Cor. 12:15). Someone has to and it might as well be me. For the past 5 years I have been feeling the spiritual temperature at Free Republic and other conservative forums and have found that moral and biblical relativism, biblical ignorance, conservative optimism, Christian ecumenicalism and the outright rejection of the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, Rom. 10:2-4, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Eph. 2:8-9) nearly dominate this and other conservative forums. Thank God for Free Republic, they do...

Full Title: “Gay Marriage” Shows Us Why Theology Matters. Three ways Biblically sound theology will help in the same-sex marriage debate To invite homosexuals to embrace themselves so that they are no longer lonely is agreeing with those on the left that God was wrong in ordaining the family as one man and one woman together in marriage. It is agreeing with those whom God is pouring out His wrath. It is agreeing with those who have cast off any notions of holiness, purity and piety in the church. It is, as I have said, theological suicide. Over the weekend...

... But if the Bible is so vital for life, why does it often feel difficult to read and understand? How can it be so hard to commit to daily devotion? It could be that all you need is the right tools. These free, downloadable Bible Study programs could help you truly delve deeper into the Word of God ...

I’ve read with interest Francis (Frank) Beckwith’s book, Return to Rome, because like him, I was baptized and raised Roman Catholic, attending parochial schools through my primary grades and a preparatory school run by a Benedictine monastery throughout my high school years. And, like Dr. Beckwith, in my teens I turned away from the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity altogether but was converted in my early twenties and began attending a Protestant Evangelical church. And for the past thirty seven years I have been a committed Evangelical Protestant. I was also quite interested in reading Dr. Beckwith’s book because he...

Former megachurch pastor Rob Bell appeared in a recent radio discussion with Christian British minister Andrew Wilson to discuss his new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, and grew frustrated when pressed by Wilson to explain his theological reasons for affirming homosexuality and same-sex relationships. Bell and Wilson appeared on the U.K. faith debate program "Unbelievable?" hosted by Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio. Wilson is a published theologian and elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The men, moderated by Brierley, started the discussion by debating various issues during the hour-plus program, but it...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - May 5th, 2013 Pastor JD talks about Syria and Egypt in Bible Prophecy and how they point to yet another reason that Christ's return for His church is sooner than we may think.

Obama admin. surrenders in HHS mandate case against Bible publisher WASHINGTON, May 6, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At the government’s own request, a federal appellate court Friday dismissed the Obama administration’s appeal of an order that stopped the president from enforcing the HHS birth control mandate against a Bible publisher. The administration’s retreat marks the first total appellate victory on a preliminary injunction in any abortion pill mandate case. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Tyndale House Publishers say the administration is apparently nervous about trying to defend its position that a Bible publisher is not religious enough for a religious exemption...

You just have to shake your head at some liberals who think that having a baby is like catching a disease. Mitt Romney gave the commencement address at Southern Virginia University, a largely Mormon school, where he told the grads to marry young and have children. He quoted Psalms 127: Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in...

A report by the Church of Scotland, published this week, denies any special privilege for the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The church, which in recent years has jettisoned its once philosemitic character, opened a wide rift with the Scottish Jewish community with the report. Among other controversial statements, the report argues that, “Christians should not be supporting any claims by Jews, or any other people, to an exclusive or even privileged divine right to possess particular territory.” The report, titled “The inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land’”, was prepared for the general assembly of...

An Air Force spokesperson said personnel are not allowed to proselytize but are free to express their personal religious beliefs so long as it “does not make others uncomfortable.” But a critic pointed out an Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible that was on his desk. “When on duty or in an official capacity, Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable,” Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said in a statement to Fox News. “Proselytizing (inducing someone to convert to one’s faith) goes over that line.”...

ROME, April 30 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis in the Vatican Tuesday, inviting him to Israel and seeking help restarting the Palestinian peace process. Peres told Francis he has a unique and potentially very helpful role in restarting the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. "The citizens of Israel see in you a leader of peace and good will," Peres said. "The sooner you visit the better, as in these days a new opportunity is being created for peace and your arrival could contribute significantly to increasing the trust and belief...

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the U.S., at it meeting on April 19, 2013, adopted a statement concerning Homosexuality and Same Sex marriage. They intentionally included positions from the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the hope that they would once again join in making a prophetic statement to those in civil authority that the fear and judgment of God may at least move enough legislators and judges not to approve of or support legalizing “same sex marriage.” Their desire is that the whole Christian, and especially the Reformed church, should protest this matter. Resolution Adopted...

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday thanked the emir of Qatar for the "excellent relationship" between the two countries with respect to security and trade. "Qatar has been a center of innovation," Obama said after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. "We've seen enormous progress within the country on everything ranging from education to health care. And I think His Highness has shown extraordinary leadership over the last many years in helping to guide this country. "Obviously, Qatar is also an important country in the region, and has an influence that extends beyond its relatively...

Pope: The Unbreakable Unity between Scripture and Tradition April 12, 2013 by O'Meara Ferguson   Filed under O'Meara Ferguson News Vatican Radio – April 12, 2013 (Vatican Radio) On Friday Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission at the end of their plenary assembly here at the Vatican on ‘inspiration and truth in the Bible’.Listen to the report from Emer McCarthyPope Francis told them “the Holy Scriptures are the testimony in written form of God’s Word, the canonical memorial that attests to the event of Revelation. The Word of God, therefore, precedes and exceeds the Bible. It is...

The U.S. Army is directing troops to remove a Bible inscription that a vendor etched into the serial numbers of weapon scopes, Fox News has learned.Soldiers at Fort Wainwright in Alaska told Fox News they received a directive to turn in their scopes so the Bible references could be removed.The scopes were made by Trijicom and referenced New Testament passages in John 8:12 and Second Corinthians 4:6. The verses appeared at the end of the scope serial numbers – “JN8:12” and “2COR4:6.”“The biblical verse (JN8:12) must be removed utilizing a Dremel type tool and then painted black,” read instructions on...

Mr. O’Reilly, You consistently challenge your guests to “tell me where I am wrong”. Well, you are wrong on the homosexual marriage issue in a number of areas.

It’s an old gospel song: Just like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved. But if you’re the magnolia tree the president of the United States planted today in Jerusalem, there’s a chance you might be moved. Obama planted a tree on Wednesday in Israeli President Shimon Peres’s Jerusalem garden. It’s a gift for a man Obama said has planted “the seeds of progress, the seeds of security, the seeds of peace — all the seeds that have helped not only Israel grow but also the relationship between our two nations grow.”

In his first congressional hearing as secretary of State, John Kerry tells lawmakers that, after the Benghazi attacks, the US must fortify security for diplomats, press for a two-state solution in the Middle East. Seven months after the deadly terrorist attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department is proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in new security spending – tacit acknowledgement that some of the most effective security enhancements for America’s overseas diplomats are still months or years away. Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday that the department’s proposed fiscal...

President Shimon Peres said on Monday that he does not regret the Oslo Accords, despite the fact that their signing brought about hundreds of Israeli victims who were killed in terror attacks.Speaking in an interview with the Walla website, on the occasion of Israel’s 65th Independence Day, Peres said that terrorist attacks against Jews had taken place long before the signing of the Oslo Accords. “There were terror victims before the Oslo Accords. Before the Accords there was only one Palestinian camp and that camp supported terrorism. Now we have two camps, and one camp is against terrorism and in...

A thoughtful pastor’s teaching on what the Apostle Paul says about homosexual behavior in his letter to the Romans Homosexuality is the most vivid form of that breakdown. God and man in covenant worship are represented by male and female in covenant sexual union. Therefore, when man turns from God to images of himself, God hands us over to what we have chosen and dramatizes it by male and female turning to images of themselves for sexual union, namely their own sex. Homosexuality is the judgment of God dramatizing the exchange of the glory of God for images of ourselves.

In his speech to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Pope Francis said “the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always confront itself with, be inserted within and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church” The speech given by Francis to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission this morning followed faithfully in the footsteps of his predecessor Benedict XVI teaching. Members of the Commission – scholars and theologians from all over the world gathered under the leadership of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mgr. Gerhard...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic faith is not centered simply on a book -- the Bible -- but on Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, Pope Francis said. "The sacred Scriptures are a written testimony to the divine Word," which came before the Bible and exceeds it, the pope said April 12 during a meeting with members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international body of scholars that advises the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Commission members met at the Vatican April 9-12 to conclude work on a document about inspiration and truth in the...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated on Wednesday, at his press conference with President Barack Obama, that Israel is "fully committed" to resolving the decades-long conflict with the Arabs with a solution which involves two states for two peoples. During the joint news conference, Netanyahu said the U.S. president's historic visit presented "an opportunity to try and find a way to advance peace" with the Palestinian Authority. "My new government was sworn in two days ago. I know there have been questions regarding what the policy of the new government will be towards peace with the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu. “So let...

One of Scotland’s councils has just implemented a boycott of Israel after comparing the country to apartheid South Africa. The Clackmannanshire Council declared it would resist all economic and political support for Israel in order to “end suffering in Palestine”. In Scotland, once known as the only European country which has no history of state persecution of Jews, a region is officially dedicated to the eradication of the Jewish State as a malevolent, “settler” and foreign entity. Last year, the Scottish University of Dundee banned water from Eden Springs on the campus, because—it claimed—“it steals water from the Salukia spring...

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he...

This weekend, an email written by Ron Trowbridge, the undersheriff of Prowers County, Colorado, started sweeping some of the viral corners of the internet. It alleges that a Colorado State Police training encouraged law enforcement officials to look at Bible-believing Christians with intense skepticism. At first glance, the startling allegations in the letter, which was first posted on the conservative site Red Statements, were seemingly unbelievable. But TheBlaze reached out to Trowbridge to confirm that he wrote the note and to speak further about its contents. In sum, the undersheriff said that he, indeed, wrote it and that the version...

One hundred Russian Jewish notables urged Benjamin Netanyahu to ignore recent pleas by American Jews calling on the Israeli prime minister to cede land for peace. In an open letter from Russia published Tuesday, the Russian Jews wrote that their message was a reaction to the April 3 letter initiated by the dovish Israel Policy Forum by 100 American Jews, including philanthropists Charles Bronfman, Danny Abraham, Lester Crown and Stanley Gold, and former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim. Among the signers of the Russian letter were the president of the Russian Jewish Congress, Yuri Kanner, and businessman Mikhail Fridman,...

Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation? Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people. “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell...