tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post6960224555574390463..comments2023-11-05T20:19:44.812+13:00Comments on Ambassador Watch: The Christmas ConundrumGavinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03060097218905523899noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-21932811572140944642007-12-18T11:43:00.000+13:002007-12-18T11:43:00.000+13:00Jared says,"Well, all agree that Micah was written...Jared says,<BR/>"Well, all agree that Micah was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Oh yeah, I forgot, Jesus wasn't really born in Bethlehem, assuming He existed at all."<BR/><BR/>Verses written by Micah apparently caused Matthew to believe that Jesus' birth was predicted to occur in the town of Bethlehem. However, Micah may not have been referring to a town, but a person, the head of a clan from whom would come a great leader who would save his people from the Assyrians. Here are the Micah verses:<BR/><BR/><BR/>"Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting....And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land....and they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword..." (Micah 5:1-6)Corkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15894537940881776504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-42011681002851072692007-12-18T10:06:00.000+13:002007-12-18T10:06:00.000+13:00It's more than hypothetically possible because hum...<I>It's more than hypothetically possible because humans can't foretell the future to any great degree of accuracy.</I><BR/><BR/>Not without supernatural assistance, that is.<BR/><BR/><I>Now, a god might be able to time travel to the future and make an accurate prophecy but if he did then the future has already happened in the past and that's impossible.</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, a god could hypothetically do that. God, however, doesn't have to time travel to the future for Him to know the future, since He inhabits eternity and exists outside and above the time stream -- He experiences all of time, past, present, and future, as one moment.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>Prophecies in the Bible that were written before the events described have not happened and can never happen except maybe by coincidence.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, all agree that Micah was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Oh yeah, I forgot, Jesus wasn't really born in Bethlehem, assuming He existed at all.<BR/><BR/>As for the "coincidence" explanation, well, there sure have been an awful lot of "coincidences."<BR/><BR/><I>Only one way could exist for a god to make an accurate prophecy and that is to cause it to happen the way the prophecy describes. In that case though, there is no free will and everything is predestined.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, certainly if the material world is all there is, then there is no free will and everything is predetermined. But it doesn't follow that free will is incompatible with God arranging things so that His prophecies will be fulfilled, any more than my scheduling a birthday party next week and putting the time and place in the invitations cancels out the free will of those who come to celebrate. Their foreknowledge of what would occur doesn't impinge on or lessen their decision-making abilities at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-68656934436435027292007-12-16T05:10:00.000+13:002007-12-16T05:10:00.000+13:00Jared says,"It's hypothetically possible that Isai...Jared says,<BR/><BR/>"It's hypothetically possible that Isaiah's prophecy of the exile was written after the fact, but there isn't any proof of that hypothesis."<BR/><BR/>It's more than hypothetically possible because humans can't foretell the future to any great degree of accuracy.<BR/><BR/>Now, a god might be able to time travel to the future and make an accurate prophecy but if he did then the future has already happened in the past and that's impossible.<BR/><BR/>That's why time travel is impossible and why the future is called the future.<BR/><BR/>If one were able to time travel to the future - there would be nothing there, because the future hasn't happened yet.<BR/><BR/>Therefore, accurate prophecies in the Bible were written after the fact. Prophecies in the Bible that were written before the events described have not happened and can never happen except maybe by coincidence.<BR/><BR/>Only one way could exist for a god to make an accurate prophecy and that is to cause it to happen the way the prophecy describes. In that case though, there is no free will and everything is predestined. <BR/><BR/>And, in that case, it follows that we don't have any choice in whether we are believers or non-believers or in anything else for that matter. So, why worry about it? "Que Sera Sera".Corkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15894537940881776504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-84072659104455157902007-12-15T09:03:00.000+13:002007-12-15T09:03:00.000+13:00Sorry, the URL got cut off. Let's try that again:...Sorry, the URL got cut off. Let's try that again:<BR/><BR/>http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gq7KQubcoZYlyDvd<BR/>QtL1eVU3fEzQD8TGMBAO0<BR/><BR/>(There's a carriage return after the "Dvd", so if you copy-past that address, be sure to remove the carriage return.)<BR/><BR/>Here are some excerpts from the story:<BR/><BR/>Religion Today<BR/>By TOM BREEN<BR/><BR/>CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — As Christmas draws near, Pastor John Foster won't be decorating a tree, shopping for last-minute gifts or working on a holiday sermon for his flock. After all, it's been 50 years since Christmas was anything more than a day of the week to him.<BR/><BR/>He's one of very few American Christians who follow what used to be the norm in many Protestant denominations — rejecting the celebration of Christmas on religious grounds.<BR/><BR/>"People don't think of it this way, but it's really a secular holiday," said Foster, a Princeton-based pastor in the United Church of God. He last celebrated Christmas when he was 8.<BR/><BR/>.....<BR/><BR/>"Some somehow observe the day," wrote Boston Puritan Samuel Sewall on Christmas Day 1685, "but are vexed, I believe, that the body of people profane it, and blessed be God no authority yet compels them to keep it."<BR/><BR/>Some 322 years later, Sewall might be surprised to see his congregation — today known as Old South Church — proudly displaying a decorated Christmas tree outside the church.<BR/><BR/>[NOTE: Surprised, yeah -- and appalled. Rev. Sewall would probably also be surprised, and probably appalled, to find his church head by someone named "Nancy Taylor.]<BR/><BR/>"We think it's cheerful and seasonal," said Nancy Taylor, senior minister of Old South, one of America's most venerable congregations, counting among its past worshippers not only Sewall but Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams.<BR/><BR/>......<BR/><BR/>"In America, the saying is that the minister follows the people, the people don't follow the minister," Restad said. "This was more of a sociological change than a religious one. The home and the marketplace had more sway than the church."<BR/><BR/>That's partly why Christians like the United Church of God reject the holiday: They say divine instruction, rather than culture and society, should determine whether the holiday is appropriate.<BR/><BR/>"It's common knowledge that Christmas and its customs have nothing to do with the Bible," said Clyde Kilough, president of the United Church of God, which has branches all over the world. "The theological question is quite simple: Is it acceptable to God for humans to choose to worship him by adopting paganism's most popular celebrations and calling them Christian?"<BR/><BR/>....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-63814087529689158672007-12-15T08:55:00.000+13:002007-12-15T08:55:00.000+13:00By the way, the UCG made it into an AP story about...By the way, the UCG made it into an AP story about how some Christians don't celebrate Christmas (leaving aside the fact that most Christians do not regard Armstrongism as a form of Christianity, of course):<BR/><BR/>http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gq7KQubcoZYlyDvdQtL1eVU3fEzQD8TGMBAO0Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-12725751294892750352007-12-15T08:53:00.000+13:002007-12-15T08:53:00.000+13:00So, these books were written during or after the e...<I>So, these books were written during or after the exile and does include Isaiah because Isaiah 37 and 2 Kings 19 are identical.</I><BR/><BR/>Sorry, I missed the part where you mentioned where is Hilkiah the High Priest mentioned in the Book of Isaiah.<BR/><BR/>The fact that a few chapters drawn from Judah's chronicles during the reign of Hezekiah (not Josiah, the king reigning during the lifetime of Hilkiah the High Priest) separate the first half of Isaiah from the the second half of Isaiah does nothing to establish that the entirety of Isaiah is post-exilic. For all we know, those chapters were included in the Isaianic corpus prior to the exile. For all we know, Isaiah was the one who wrote those chapters, which then were incorporated into the books of Kings.<BR/><BR/><I>Which goes to show that Isaiah's prophecy of the exile was written after the fact.</I><BR/><BR/>It's hypothetically possible that Isaiah's prophecy of the exile was written after the fact, but there isn't any proof of that hypothesis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-65096443930434580472007-12-15T05:47:00.000+13:002007-12-15T05:47:00.000+13:002Ki 25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and th...2Ki 25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;<BR/><BR/>So, these books were written during or after the exile and does include Isaiah because Isaiah 37 and 2 Kings 19 are identical.<BR/><BR/>Which goes to show that Isaiah's prophecy of the exile was written after the fact.Corkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15894537940881776504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-50040831526269503922007-12-14T10:59:00.000+13:002007-12-14T10:59:00.000+13:00Your mind may have slipped a CoG. It was Hilkiah w...<I>Your mind may have slipped a CoG. It was Hilkiah who found the book of the law, not Josiah.</I><BR/><BR/>Josiah ordered the Temple to be cleansed and rededicated, and as they were obeying his order they found the scroll of the Torah.<BR/><BR/>The hypothesis that Pentateuch is entirely post-exilic never had many adherents and has fallen out of favor.<BR/><BR/><I>But, it doesn't matter because the account was written after the exile during the time of Ezra (I Chron. 4:17).</I><BR/><BR/>More likely is that the events were written during the reign of Josiah, in the form of royal annals and chronicles. From the royal annals and other earlier sources, the account in Kings and Chronicles was compiled.<BR/><BR/><I>You might look up Hilkiah too. He is found in 1&2 Chron., 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemia, Isaiah and Jeremiah.</I><BR/><BR/>Hilkiah the High Priest lived in the latter 600s B.C. There is no reference to him in Isaiah, but he appears in several passages and genealogies in the other books you cite. Ezra was one of his descendants. His role in preserving and editing the Torah is generally accepted, I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-26250227670053067852007-12-14T10:52:00.000+13:002007-12-14T10:52:00.000+13:00WHY do NT books that made the canonical cut quote ...<I>WHY do NT books that made the canonical cut quote Apocryphal books that didn't make the "inspired" cut ?</I><BR/><BR/>Perhaps for the same reason NT books quote pagan Greek poets?<BR/><BR/><I>Remember those passages in Genesis that say Abraham came from "Ur of the Chaldees"?<BR/><BR/>Well, the Chaldeans didn't settle in Ur until about 900 BC. So, Genesis could not have been written until after that time. This was about 400 years after the time of Moses, so Moses didn't write Genesis.</I><BR/><BR/>Maybe the Chaldeans didn't settle in one of the cities named Ur until about 900 B.C. It depends on how we interpret the archaeological evidence, and it also depends on which "Ur" we're talking about -- the one in Sumer, the one in northern Mesopotamia, or the one in Syria. There's never been any evidence that "Ur of the Chaldees" is the Sumerian Ur, even though that hypothesis has unduly acquired the status of established fact.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-62151141066470200372007-12-14T06:12:00.000+13:002007-12-14T06:12:00.000+13:00Tom,Your mind may have slipped a CoG. It was Hilki...Tom,<BR/><BR/>Your mind may have slipped a CoG. It was Hilkiah who found the book of the law, not Josiah.<BR/><BR/>But, it doesn't matter because the account was written after the exile during the time of Ezra (I Chron. 4:17).<BR/><BR/>You might look up Hilkiah too. He is found in 1&2 Chron., 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemia, Isaiah and Jeremiah.<BR/><BR/>By the names of his sons, you can tell that it is the same Hilkiah.<BR/><BR/>It all points to Ezra the scribe as the author of the Pentateuch.Corkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15894537940881776504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-15463746343921676532007-12-13T10:00:00.000+13:002007-12-13T10:00:00.000+13:00Thomas Munson said:>>>Now I may have been wrong in...Thomas Munson said:<BR/><BR/>>>>Now I may have been wrong in the earlier posting about the timing of it being after an exile,<<<<BR/><BR/>Sadly, you were and are wrong. This was my question to Corky: "So what book was it that Josiah found in the temple before the exile?" And of course, Corky didn't have the decency to admit that he was also wrong. But, then, anyone with such a sobriquet is bound to have his head stuck in a bottle.<BR/><BR/>However, the events you referred to took place during the reign of King Josiah, which was years before the exile.<BR/><BR/>I am tempted to ask, what was your role with the Pack of Lies?Tom Mahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087223683733643082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-12957525423637235772007-12-13T08:15:00.000+13:002007-12-13T08:15:00.000+13:00Tom daid:"Of course being associated with The Pack...Tom daid:<BR/><BR/>"Of course being associated with The Pack of Lies may have dulled your senses and undermined your capacity to be rational."<BR/><BR/><BR/>I feel so honored to be on the receiving end of one of your righteous and godly judgements, but really, all I care to say in response is:<BR/><BR/>Whatever!!!<BR/><BR/>Thomas MunsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-16437249812034592492007-12-13T08:06:00.000+13:002007-12-13T08:06:00.000+13:00Tom... Read 2 Chronicles 34.The story describes a ...Tom... Read 2 Chronicles 34.<BR/><BR/>The story describes a "discovery" of the book of the law of the lord given by Moses in a destroyed temple by a member of the priesthood. It was being repaired by workmen but somehow it was the priest that found it. Hmmm...<BR/><BR/>Then it was taken and read to the same king who had began his reign of terror at the age of 8. This was the only copy at that time. The King then consulted a prophetess, who gave him a false prophesy, by the way. You know... the usual bible contradiction stuff they never brought up at church.<BR/><BR/>The king then gathered all the people with the priests and Levites by his side and read the books to all the people. They had never heard what was said before, and the priesthood was from then forward backed by the book and the king. <BR/><BR/>Now I may have been wrong in the earlier posting about the timing of it being after an exile, I don't know. But my memory served me correctly about the main story line though.<BR/><BR/>Thomas MunsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-36325530691881865072007-12-13T04:22:00.000+13:002007-12-13T04:22:00.000+13:00Not to mention that Tom seems to operate with piou...Not to mention that Tom seems to operate with pious conviction in a marginally small box.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-33484557100964419102007-12-13T03:29:00.000+13:002007-12-13T03:29:00.000+13:00Saint Tom saith: "It must be very embarrassing hav...Saint Tom saith: "It must be very embarrassing having to explain to them your change of behaviour. But then, you can take a pig out of the gutter, but you can't take gutter out of the pig!"<BR/><BR/>On the contrary Tom, my relatives and friends were overjoyed...and that is an understatement.<BR/><BR/>What *was* embarassing, was 26 years of trying to explain armstrongism to people. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Bykey Bob said: "Well, I just can't help myself any longer, and am about to cut loose with a long cherished BBism: Tom, you must always remember, there is the power of positive thinking, but, there is also the power of suppository thinking!"<BR/><BR/>My father has a good saying for folks like Tom. They suffer from a mind debilitating disease called "Optical Rectumitis". I'm sure you can figure out exactly what that means.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-45508744763158201432007-12-12T23:20:00.000+13:002007-12-12T23:20:00.000+13:00Thomas Munson said:>>>How convenient for the pries...Thomas Munson said:<BR/><BR/>>>>How convenient for the priesthood to return from exile and find in a destroyed temple an intact copy of the books of Moses.<<<<BR/><BR/>I will bow to your superior wisdom, but I can't find a reference of the priests finding a book of the law in the destroyed temple, after returning from the 70 year exile.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, there is evidence that books of the law were taken to Babylon by captives. For it was by reading the book of Jeremiah, that Daniel learned about the duration of the captivity.<BR/><BR/>>>>They then read the books to their fellow countrymen and none of them ever heard any of what was read before.<<<<BR/><BR/>Why does this appear surprising or doubtful to you? The captivity lasted 70 years. Anyone over the age of 10 at the time of the captivity, would have been probably dead by the time of Cyrus' proclamation for the rebuilding of the temple. And as the captives were probably not allowed to practice their religion in Babylon, they would have been undoubtedly ignorant of the law of God, apart from what they may have heard from those who were long dead.<BR/><BR/>Of course being associated with The Pack of Lies may have dulled your senses and undermined your capacity to be rational.Tom Mahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087223683733643082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-56857974965115081652007-12-12T22:25:00.000+13:002007-12-12T22:25:00.000+13:00byker bob said:>>>Tom, you must always remember, t...byker bob said:<BR/><BR/>>>>Tom, you must always remember, there is the power of positive thinking, but, there is also the power of suppository thinking!<<<<BR/><BR/>What does this have to do with people celebrating x'mas, who once believe it was a pagan festival?Tom Mahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087223683733643082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-42287547849814000872007-12-12T22:22:00.000+13:002007-12-12T22:22:00.000+13:00Bamboo bends said:>>>But its not too late! All my ...Bamboo bends said:<BR/><BR/>>>>But its not too late! All my fellow wallowing pigs and dogs can send those Christmas cards with those regurgitated cliche's (its called rendering custom unto whom custom is due...Tom) to relatives and old friends and maybe make up for lost time!<<<<BR/><BR/>It must be very embarrassing having to explain to them your change of behaviour. But then, you can take a pig out of the gutter, but you can't take gutter out of the pig!Tom Mahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02087223683733643082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-91765212152605129722007-12-12T18:34:00.000+13:002007-12-12T18:34:00.000+13:00Well, I just can't help myself any longer, and am ...Well, I just can't help myself any longer, and am about to cut loose with a long cherished BBism: Tom, you must always remember, there is the power of positive thinking, but, there is also the power of suppository thinking!<BR/><BR/>BBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-32794976818221991922007-12-12T15:45:00.000+13:002007-12-12T15:45:00.000+13:00Gavin, Can we all pitch in together here and buy T...Gavin, <BR/><BR/>Can we all pitch in together here and buy Tom a "Submissive Jesus Prayer Answering Talking Head?" He sounds like he needs some prayers answered!<BR/><A HREF="http://video.aol.com/video-detail/submissive-jesus-prayer-answering-talking-head-4/2199587699" REL="nofollow">Submissive Jesus Prayer Answering Talking Head?</A>KScribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07034049680872790004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-27447049438605295812007-12-12T15:02:00.000+13:002007-12-12T15:02:00.000+13:00Paul said... Yes, so much better to pay 10-...<I>Paul said...<BR/> <BR/> Yes, so much better to pay 10-20% of your yearly income keeping the double breasted parasites behind the podium fed <BR/></I><B><BR/><BR/>ROTFL!!! What a great turn of phrase! "double breasted parasites"...I'm gonna steal that one!</B><BR/><BR/><I><BR/>while keeping away from the rest of the family. The WCG story in a nutshell. Give us your money and forsake your family.</I><BR/><B><BR/>..and friends! This sadly is the real legacy of Herbert Armstrong, broken relationships in the name of "the work"! <BR/><BR/>But its not too late! All my fellow wallowing pigs and dogs can send those Christmas cards with those regurgitated cliche's (its called rendering custom unto whom custom is due...Tom) to relatives and old friends and maybe make up for lost time!<BR/><BR/>As for Tom...if you send me an address I'll buy you a DVD set of Joseph Campbell's series on Myths and you might just get a clue.<BR/><BR/>You know if you substitute "peasant" or "country folk" for "pagan" which is the real meaning of the word, all this pagan talk sounds horribly elitist.<BR/><BR/>Its like saying you hate Elvis or something.<BR/><BR/>Thank you very much!!!<BR/></B> AMERICAN KABUKIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11064036099785125749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-91350853357505047222007-12-12T14:59:00.000+13:002007-12-12T14:59:00.000+13:00Tom, Uncle Herbies holy days where also pagan. Did...Tom, <BR/>Uncle Herbies holy days where also pagan. Did you know that? Watch and learn Homer!<BR/><A HREF="http://www.veoh.com/videos/v187043faEcJpYW&source=embedVideo" REL="nofollow">Gods Pagan Holy Day's</A>KScribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07034049680872790004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-29190834820253636292007-12-12T14:05:00.000+13:002007-12-12T14:05:00.000+13:00Hi Sting...Yes, the Lot tale is a middle eastern h...Hi Sting...<BR/><BR/>Yes, the Lot tale is a middle eastern hospitality story and has nothing to do with the whole gay town wanting to be gay with Angels.<BR/><BR/>In that culture, strangers in town were a threat to the tribe. Could be spies and such. So to put a man in his place and warn him not to mess with the clan's town, you treated him like a woman if only symbolically. <BR/><BR/>Lot's dilemma was that they sought safety and hospitality under his roof and to let this happen to them would reflect badly on him. Solution? Take my daughers..they are just property anyway, and my good name as a good host is more important than their virginity or mental health.<BR/><BR/>You have to wonder what kind of a piece of sh... lot was, but that is a common question one has to ask of several OT father types and how they treat their kids.<BR/><BR/>"Hey Isaac...wanna go take a hike to the Mtns with daddy and make a sacrifice to El? Oh don't give that a thought...we'll figure something out..." :(DennisDiehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05069884969156562133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-70011835593658594462007-12-12T13:43:00.000+13:002007-12-12T13:43:00.000+13:00Righteous Lot.Yeah, I never quite knew how that wa...<B>Righteous Lot.</B><BR/><BR/>Yeah, I never quite knew how that was supposed to work, Dennis. Here is a guy who is willing to sacrifice his virgin daughters to the mob outside -- and Peter calls him "righteous."<BR/><BR/>Hmmmm. Maybe in reality those "angels" were so afraid of the mob that we missed the best part of the story. Which never got written, of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28426681.post-17413213503574594102007-12-12T11:27:00.000+13:002007-12-12T11:27:00.000+13:00How convenient for the priesthood to return from e...How convenient for the priesthood to return from exile and find in a destroyed temple an intact copy of the books of Moses. The only one know to exist! They then read the<BR/> books to their fellow countrymen and none of them ever heard any of what was read before. <BR/><BR/>Now all of the people have to pay 10% to support the priesthood, and follow the teaching and authority of priests. But they are Gods chosen people with a rich history so it is worth it.<BR/><BR/>The most likely scenario is that while in exile, the learned elders concocted a scheme to write and "discover" the "books of Moses" and thereby set themselves and their heirs up for life.<BR/> <BR/>But no one would be that greedy as to make up a religion, now would they?? And God would surely stop them if they ever tried now wouldn't he?? Yeah right!!!<BR/><BR/>Old testament = hoax.<BR/>New testament = hoax.<BR/>All for the acquisition of money for the priests!!<BR/><BR/>Way too many errors and contradictions to be inspired and written by a God.<BR/><BR/>Thomas MunsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com