HOW WOULD SOCRATES' STUDENTS REACT TO THESE CONFLICTING TESTIMONIES?
There is only one God & there are several gods
one:
Dt.4:35 "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him."
- 4:39 "The LORD he is God in heaven above, upon the earth beneath: there is none else."
more than one:
- Is.43:10 "I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." [CONTRADICTING REVELATION'S CHRIST STATING HE WILL BE A GOD] Rev. 21.7: HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS; & I WILL BE HIS GOD, HE SHALL BE MY SON
Ps. 96:4 "For the Lord ... is to be feared above all gods."
Ex.- 15:11 "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?"
- 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" obviously the Almighty is not going to be jealous of idols, as jealousy is a weak human trait; could the Creator be jealous?
IF THE SUPPOSEDLY JUST GOD OF O. T. IS TO BE BELIEVED, IT WOULD BE FOOLISH TO THINK THE ALMIGHTILY WOULD CREATE PEOPLE FOR THE SAKE OF MURDER - THE SCRIBES SANCTIONED BLOODSHED TO JUSTIFY THE ACTIONS OF THE JEWS, THEN, TODAY & TOMORROW; A JUST GOD PORTRAYED VERY POORLY AS THE ALMIGHTLY SUPPOSEDLY PERFECT
Deceived (Jer. 4:10, 15:18, 20:7, 2 Chron. 18:22, Ezek. 14:9, 2 Thess. 2:9-12);
LIED (Ex. 3:18, 1 Sam. 16:2); He lied (Gen 2:17, 2 Sam. 7:13);
Rewarded liars (Ex. 1:15-20);
rewarded the transgressor (Prov.26:10);
spread dung on people's faces (Mal. 2:3));
ordered stealing (Ezek. 39:10, Ex. 3:22);
made false prophecies (Jonah 3:4. Gen. 5:10);
Changed his mind (Jonah 3:10);
ordered the taking of a harlot (Hosea 1:2, 3:1-2);
killed (Num. 16:35, 21:6, Deut. 32:39, 1 Sam. 2:26, Psalm 135:10);
ordered killing (Lev. 26:7-8, Num. 25:4-5);
Had a temper (Deut. 13:17, Judges 3:8);
often jealous (Deut. 5:9, 6:15);
wasn't omnipresent (Gen4:16, 11:5, 1 Kings 19:11-12); (Deut. 8:2, 13:3, 2 Chron. 32:31);
degraded deformed people (Lev. 21:16-23);
punished a bastard for being illegitimate (Deut. 23:2);
punished many for the acts of one (Gen. 3:16, 20:18);
punished children for the sins of their fathers (Ex. 12:29, 20:5, Deut. 5:9);
prevented people from hearing his word (Isa. 6:10, John 12:39-40);
supported human sacrifice (Ex. 22:29-30, Ezek. 20:26);
ordered cannibalism (Lev. 26: 29, Jer. 19:9);
demanded virgins as a part of war plunder (Num. 31:31-36);
sanctioned violation of the enemies women (Deut. 21:10-14);
required a woman to marry her rapist (Deut. 22:28:29);
taught war (Psalm 144:1);
killed a man who refused to impregnate his widowed sister-in-law (Gen. 38:9-10);
There has been a just, righteous, good or perfect person - Never has there been
never
1 Kg.8:46 "There is no man that sinneth not."
2 Chr.6:36 "There is no man which sinneth not."
Ec.7:20 "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, sinneth not."
Rom.3:10 "There is none righteous, no, not one."
1 John1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, the truth is not in us." perhaps the sin was in a previous life [like Christ's disciples believed in, karma - John 9: 1&2]
- 1:10 "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, his word is not in us."
Rom.3:23 "For all have sinned, come short of the glory of God."
was
Gen.6:9 "Noah was a just man perfect."
- 7:1 "For thee have I seen righteous before me."
1 Kg.15:14, 2 Chr.15:17 "Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days."
Job 1:1, 8 "Job ... was perfect upright, on that feared God, eschewed evil."
- 2:3 "the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job ... a perfect an upright man, one that feareth God, escheweth evil?"
Lk.1:6 "They were both righteous before God, walking in the commandments ordinances of the Lord blameless."
2 Pt.2:7-8 "That righteous man [Lot]." [why they never counted the incest with his daughters a sin?]
1 Jn.3:6 "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not."
Man was created after the other animals - before the animals
BEFORE, Gen.1:25-27 God made the beast of the earth after his kind, cattle after their kind, every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: God saw that it was good. God said, Let us make man in our image.... So God created man in his own image.
AFTER, Gen.2:18-19 the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, every fowl of the air; brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
as said in Gen.7:11-13 In the selfsame day after the fact is stated
Adam shall die
From the beginning of the O. T. conflict begins [The almighty does not keep the warning]
dies - Adam will die on the day that he eats from the tree - Gen.2:17 "But of the tree of knowledge of good & evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. "
does not die - Gen. 3:6 " when the woman saw that the tree was good for food ... she took of the fruit thereof, did eat, gave also unto her husband with her; he did eat." Gen 5:5 " all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years: he died." Long after the days of the eaten forbidden fruit.
A concluding false prophecy among the scores available,
Deuteronomy 23: "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever."
Ruth 1:4, 1:22, 4:13, 4:17 Ruth a Moabitess, not only entered the congregation of the Lord as Ruth, but gave birth to the ancestors of David Jesus.
Even more noteworthy are prophecies that don't exist such as found in Matt. 2:23 "he came dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." There is no such prophecy recorded - he shall be called a Nazarene does not exist in the Old Testament. .
The twelve tribes of Israel
IN Gen.49:3-27 - Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Zebulun Issachar Dan Gad Asher Naphtali Joseph Benjamin
IN Rev.7:4-8 - Reuben Simeon Levi Juda Zabulon Issachar Manasses Gad Aser Nephthalim Joseph Benjamin
The cock shall crow
John 13:38 Jesus said: "...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou (Peter-ed) hast denied me thrice."
Mark 14:66-68 "as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, said, thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. He went out into the porch; the cock crew."
According to Jesus' prophecy the cock was not to speak until after the third denial, not after the first.
The thief
Jesus told the thief on the cross: Luke 23:43 "... Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." This prophecy could not have been kept unless Jesus went to heaven that day, in which case he would not have been buried 3 days
Love
Jesus told people to: Matt. 5:44 "...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, ...
Matt. 23:15, 23:17, 19, 27, 33, John 10:8, Luke 11:40, Matt 12:34] "Yet repeatedly called his opponents names & hurled epithets.
Contradictory accounts in the 4 gospels surrounding the events connected with the Resurrection:
what time in the morning did the women visit the tomb?- Mark 16:2 At the rising of the sun vs.- John 20:1 when it was yet dark
Who came? - John 20:1 Mary Magdalene alone vs. Matt. 28:1 Mary Magdalene the other Mary -Mark 16:1 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James Salome - Luke 24:10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James other women
Was the tomb opened or closed when they arrived? - Luke 24:2 Open vs. Matt 28:1-2 Closed
Who did they see at the tomb? an angel Matt. 28:2 vs. a young man Mark 16:5 vs. two men Luke 24:4 vs. two angels John 20:11-12
Were these men or angels inside or outside the tomb? Outside Matt. 28.2 vs. inside Mark 16:5, Luke 24:3-4, John 20:11-12
Were they standing or sitting? - Standing Luke 24:4 vs sitting Matt. 28:2, Mark 16:5, John 20:12.
Did Mary Magdalene know Jesus when he first appeared to her? Yes, she did Matt. 28:9 vs. no she did not John 20:14.
MARY MAGDALENE:
Christ, concerning the 3 days & of Mary Magdalene's importance: Matthew 28:1 BUT AFTER THE SABBATH, AS IT BEGAN TO DAWN TOWARD THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, CAME MARY MAGDALENE & THE OTHER MARY TO SEE THE SEPULCHRE
This event was recorded, slightly differently amongst writers, a great many years after the fact:
Jesus said: Matt. 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days & three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days & three nights in the heart of the earth."
This Jew, Christ, & His Jewish disciples practiced the Sabbath, Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown. Christ is released from the cross & immediately entombed Friday night just before sunset; still entombed Saturday during the day; still entombed Saturday evening; gone Sunday morning - 2 nights & 1 day, plus a little bit; not 3 days & 3 nights
Christ & Mary
VIRGIN MARY:
HINNEH HA-ALMAH HARAH VE-YELDETH BEN VE-KARATH SHEM-O IMMANUEL" does not say a virgin, but rather a girl, maid, young woman [a female in general] - it misses the word "BETHULAH" which specifies "virgin". The Hebrew word for virgin is "ALMAH" - according to the Strong's Concordance it means, "virgin, young woman:
of marriageable age - maid or newly married
Therefore, the word "ALMAH" does not always mean virgin.
"ALMAH" occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament - once in Genesis 24:43 maiden - Exodus 2:8 girl - Psalm 68:25 maidens - Proverbs 30:19 maiden - Song of Songs 1:3 maidens
The LXX is a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, done around 200 B.C. by 70 Hebrew scholars. In Isaiah 7:14, they translated the word "ALMAH" into the Greek word "PARTHENOS." According to a Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament & Other Early Christian Literature, parthenos means "virgin." This word is used in the New Testament of the Virgin Mary [Matt. 1:23; Luke 1:27] & of the ten virgins in the parable [Matt. 25:1, 7, 11]. If the Hebrews translated the word into the Greek word for virgin, then they understood what the Hebrew text meant here. Why would the Isaiah choose to use the word ALMAH & not BETHULAH?
Christ's laws & customs of his day required married Rabbis "no unmarried man can teach". Jesus would not have had much credibility as a leader had He not been married. Jesus was a non-conformist & had many conflicts with Jewish tradition, but His parents, Joseph & Mary, were not [they obeyed the laws of their people]. - since Jewish culture practiced arranged early marriages, it is only reasonable to assume that Christ's parents would have performed duties, arranging a bride for Him. There is supposedly 18 silent years in His life.
- Mary Magdalene enters the tomb in the manner of the wife of the deceased.
One might wonder where are the 12 disciples who supposedly knew when Christ was to leave His tomb & ascend to the heavens. At such an event, logic points out that they would have been there.
Magdalene goes about unescorted [which only a married woman of her day could do]. The Greek word for "woman" & "wife" is the same. When Mary is referred to as a "woman" who followed Jesus, it can just as easily be translated as "wife". WAS SHE CHRIST'S WIFE?
Logically Christ was married by the laws of His people, possibly to Mary, then one should consider what else was manipulated in the Papacy's history of Christ the Jew
Why is so little written on this great person [Mary Magdalene] in Christ's life: perhaps because she was a woman & the scribes gave little significance to females in their male dominated Bible - rather they were quite sexist: 1 Corinthians 14:34 - " Let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law. if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church. 1 Timothy Chapter 2:11 - "Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; & Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith & love & sanctification with sobriety."
IF GOD DID NOT CREATE EVIL THEN EVIL SHOULD NOT EXIST, THAT IS, IF SATAN IS EVIL;
The Hebrew word for Satan in O. T. is ha-satan - "The adversary."
In the O. T., the term is used exclusively to describe the enemies of God or the enemies of the Israelite race
Not until the N. T. does the term ha-satan take on the role of the Devil - the evil one; Satan becomes an angel fallen from grace & expelled from heaven.
If the Creator is perfect, then no aspect of God's creations should contain evil.
Gen 1:26 LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS - THUS MAN WAS DESIGNED LIKE THEM; IF ADAM & EVE WERE CREATED WITH FAULT THEN THESE ISRAELI CREATORS WERE ALSO WITH FAULT.
IF SATAN DID EXIST, CREATED BY GOD, PART OF THE PERFECT HEAVEN, HOW COULD IT BECOME AN ENEMY OF GOD? DOES GOD NOT KNOW THE FUTURE?
If God does not know the future, then how could Revelations exist as a Book of Future Prophecy, & for that manner, how could God give the likes of Moses & others a glimpse of their future in regards to what will happen & what will be;
If Satan exists, then it was designed long before man - thus evil was designed long before man.
Even so, if God purposely designed Satan to influence mankind, then God designed mankind with great weaknesses
"... there are angels who did not remain in the state of righteousness holiness in which they had been created, but who sinned, leaving their own habitation, the mansions of Heaven, by God were cast down to hell...
thus Satan was obviously designed by the ALL KNOWING CREATOR to defy God's self; or n was created by onther god
The following is excerpted & condensed from the book The Mystic Christ
Jesus never said he was the only way. In John 14:6 we read, "I am HE way, & the truth, & the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." 7 If you have known me, you shall know my Father also; and even now you know him and lave seen him. In the original Greek version of this scripture, the word for "comes" is erchetai & it is very present tense meaning it does not apply to all people for all time. This verse applied only to those people Jesus was talking to at that time, especially Thomas. In the Aramaic Bible, Jesus" own language, the word for "I" in this scripture is ena-ena or I-I. The meaning is not the same as ena which is an individual "I." Ena-ena is a cosmic "I" or I AM THAT I AM [Ex. 3:13 -14].
In another scripture, Jesus tells us that we make a mistake if we think he is good, "Why callest me good? None is good but one, GOD." Luke 18:19.
The way to reconcile "I am the way..." And "Don't call me good..." is to understand that it is the I AM [ena-ena] that is talking in John 14:6. The I AM is bigger than Jesus in the same way that all the water on this earth is more than any individual lake. By analogy, Jesus, Buddha & Krishna are lakes filled with the one living I AM.
In another scripture, Jesus clearly says the only requirement for attaining eternal life is loving God & loving our neighbor: "On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher," he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 'And he said to him: What is written in the law? How readest thou?" he replied. 'How do you read it?" He answered: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. 'You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. 'Do this & thou shalt live."" Luke 10:25-28. If believing in Jesus were necessary to attain eternal life, Jesus would have been guilty of lying to the temple official in this scripture.
Not a single time did Jesus ever warn us about other religions. Rather, he said "And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us." Luke 9:49-50. A Buddhist that is not against Jesus is for Jesus.