Posted on 04/07/2004 1:38:48 PM PDT by churchillbuff
Doha (AsiaNews) – “”Do you have the New Testament in Arab? Me and all my friends would like to read it.” This was the request of 2 students from Qatar, after seeing Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”.
Already on the second day after the film started showing in Qatar, many local newspapers are reporting the film on their front pages. According to the English language daily, The Peninsula Qatar, since the first three days of its release, 66,321 tickets have been sold –smashing the record once held by Matrix Reloaded, which had sold 59,000.
The film is becoming so popular in Qatar that some theaters have cancelled showings of other films in order to increase viewings of Gibson’s blockbuster.
Middle East Christians are spellbound by the interest Arabs have taken in the seeing the Gospel portrayed on the big screen.
The movie has sparked hours of discussion between Christians and Muslims regarding questions of faith. Many Arabs were interested in seeing the film only because of the anti-Semitic controversy surrounding it. However the movie’s theme is an unavoidable subject. “The message of loving your enemies and Jesus who, even while up on the cross, prayed for and forgave them strikes all viewers deeply,” said David and Natalie, an American married couple working in Qatar.
The American couple said they were amazed the government had permitted the film to be released in an Islamic country like Qatar. “In the next few weeks tens of thousands of people living here will go and see this powerful retelling of Christ’s suffering and death. Many moviegoers react to the film. For example, those sitting next to us in the theater were moved and breathless. Others wept or had looks of disgust on their facers when watching the brutality Jesus underwent,” they said.
"This film is generating huge interest in Jesus and the Bible,” said David and Natalie. “All this has never happened before!”
We don't agreee on all that much, especially hunting, but it's nice to see an upbeat post on some threads.
Happy Easter!
Happy Passover! (JFJ celebrates that too)
2/3 of Apostolic quotes of the Old Testament in the New Testament are from the Septuagint.
The Church canonized Scripture. Who determined the non-Catholic canon?
The Church translated the Bible into the vernacular long before Luther's time. The Church suppressed poor vernacular translations. For example, the Seventh Commandment in the non-Catholic "Wicked Bible" of 1632 reads, "thou shall commit adultery."
Council of Rome, 382 A.D.:
The Decree of Pope St. Damasus I, Council of Rome. 382 A.D.... ST. DAMASUS 1, POPE, THE DECREE OF DAMASUS: It is likewise decreed: Now, indeed, we must treat of the divine Scriptures: what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she must shun. The list of the Old Testament begins: Genesis, one book; Exodus, one book: Leviticus, one book; Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Jesus Nave, one book; of Judges, one book; Ruth, one book; of Kings, four books; Paralipomenon, two books; One Hundred and Fifty Psalms, one book; of Solomon, three books: Proverbs, one book; Ecclesiastes, one book; Canticle of Canticles, one book; likewise, Wisdom, one book; Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), one book; Likewise, the list of the Prophets: Isaiah, one book; Jeremias, one book; along with Cinoth, that is, his Lamentations; Ezechiel, one book; Daniel, one book; Osee, one book; Amos, one book; Micheas, one book; Joel, one book; Abdias, one book; Jonas, one book; Nahum, one book; Habacuc, one book; Sophonias, one book; Aggeus, one book; Zacharias, one book; Malachias, one book. Likewise, the list of histories: Job, one book; Tobias, one book; Esdras, two books; Esther, one book; Judith, one book; of Maccabees, two books...
God said that he is watching over His word, to preform it. He does not care any less about the Arabs or Muslims. He is knocking on hearts, pray some open the door. What could be better than a Muslim coming to know the Jewish Messiah!
Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Baruch, as well as longer versions of Daniel and Esther.
Luther did not believe in Purgatory, so he desired to remove 2 Maccabees from the canon of Scripture, specifically, the following passage:
2 MacabbeesThe pretext for removing this passage and book was the elimination of the "deuterocanon," books of Scripture that were cited by the Apostles (who used the Septuagint), but rejected by the Pharisees (who used the OT found in Protestant Bibles) and the Saducees (who only accepted the Torah). Luther decided to take his canon from the Jewish "council" of Jamnia (90 A.D.), the same "council" that rejected the NT as Scripture.44 for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.
45 But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.
46 Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.
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