An Introduction to the Bible..

A brief introduction to the Bible

The Bible is the collection of books used by Christians. Christians believe that God speaks to men through His actions and words as they are written down in the Bible.

The word "Bible" comes from the Greek word "biblia" which means "little books". The Bible is actually a library of 66 books written by a least 40 different authors over a period of at least 1500 years. The oldest book was written about 1500 B.C. or earlier. The last was written about A.D. 100.

Good News Bible - Today's English Version

The Bible was originally written in the Hebrew and Greek languages. The "Good News Bible - Today's English Version" is an English translation of the Bible. There are many good English translations of the Bible. The translators of "Today's English Version" made a special effort to use standard English that would be easily understood by those who have learned English as a second language.

Sections of The Bible

See if you can find the "Table of Contents" in your Bible. You will notice in the contents that the Bible is divided into two main sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books. The New Testament has 27 books.

A "testament" is another word for covenant, an agreement established by God setting out the relationship between God and human beings. In the Old Testament (or old covenant), the relationship was based on law. God chose a people for Himself and gave them His law. The people he chose was the nation of Israel, named for one of their ancestors. The history books in the Old Testament show that the relationship based on law failed because people always sin and disobey God's law.

In the New Testament (the new covenant), the relationship between God and human beings is based on grace (God's free acceptance of us) and peace. Grace and peace come through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God himself come to live among men. Jesus died in our place to pay the penalty required for breaking God's law. After three days, he rose up from the dead to give us eternal life.

Books of the Bible

Look at the list of names of the books in the Old and New Testaments. Some of the names will sound strange to you and be hard to pronounce. That's OK. Some of them are hard for Americans to say also. Many of the books are named for their authors. Other books are letters named for the people or groups to whom they were first sent. Other books are named for their subjects.

Old Testament Books

The contents of the books also vary. In the Old Testament there are books of history about the people that God called, government records, moral and religious law, poetry, songs, and wise sayings.

There were also books written by prophets. Prophets were men chosen by God to deliver his message. They asked people to live in ways pleasing to God. They also looked ahead to the coming of a servant and a king who would save his people. A special word used for this person was the "Messiah," the one chosen to be king. The last Old Testament prophet wrote his book about 400 years before Jesus lived.

New Testament Books

The New Testament starts out with the Gospel - four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, named for the men who wrote them. Gospel means "good news." The Gospel describes the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Greek word that means the "Messiah," the servant king looked for by the prophets of the Old Testament.

The next book in the New Testament, Acts, describes the acts of Jesus' followers following Jesus' return to heaven. The other New Testament books are all letters from Jesus' followers to early Christian churches or other Christians. These letters help us understand the good news of Jesus Christ and how to apply it in our own lives.

Finding Things In The Bible

If you turn to the first page of one of the books in the "Good News Bible" (like the book of Genesis on page l), you will first see an "Introduction" and an "Outline of Contents." These were added by the translators to help you understand the book more easily. They were not in the original book.

The actual book starts just after the "Outline of Contents." If you read the book, you will see that each book is divided into chapters a page or two long. The chapters are all numbered. Each chapter is divided into short verses a few lines long. Each verse is also numbered. The books originally were not divided into chapters and verses. The chapter and verse numbers were added later to make it easier to find things in the Bible.

When quoting something from the Bible, people will identify the location of the passage by book, chapter, and verse. You can look up the location of the book in the table of contents to find a page number for chapter 1. Then you look forward in the book to find the right chapter and verse. The page numbers start over from 1 in the New Testament, so be sure to notice whether the book you are looking for is in the Old or the New Testament.

The Message of The Bible

The following verses describe some of the important things that God tells us in the Bible. Practice what we have just learned about finding passages in the Bible by looking up the verses.

Romans 1:28-31 (page 145 in the New Testament) describes what people are like without God.

Acts 17:24-28 (page 132, NT) describes how God intended things to be.

Isaiah 59:1-2 (page 577, OT) and Romans 6:23 (page 149, NT) talk about the results of man's disobedience to God.

Isaiah 53:6 (page 574, OT), Romans 5:6-11 (page 148, NT), and Romans 10:9-13 (page 152,

NT) describe God's plan for bringing people back into a close relationship with himself. History of the Bible: How The Bible Came To Usby Wesley RingerIntroduction

Why should we have some understanding of how the Bible came to us? Young children often think that milk comes in cartons from the grocery store. As they grow up they learn that milk comes from cows on the farm. Likewise many Christians have become so used to having Bibles that they have bought at a book store that they have almost no knowledge of where the present English translations of the Bible came from.

A. Understanding how the Bible came to us gives us a confident foundation for our faith in the reliability the Bible. Evidence presented in a criminal case must be shown to have been protected by a proper chain of custody from being tampered with.

B. We will be able to answer to critics when they claim that the New Testament contains 200,000 errors.

C. We will have some understanding of why the newer translations such as the NIV and NASV  differ from the King James Versions at various points.

Important terms to remember:

Skeptics often claim that the Bible has been changed. However, it is important to define the terms that apply to the source of our English Bible.

Autographs: The original texts were written either by the author's own hand or by a scribe under their personal supervision.

Manuscripts: Until Gutenberg first printed the Latin Bible in 1456, all Bibles were hand copied onto papyrus, parchment, and paper.

Translations: When the Bible is translated into a different language it is usually translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. However some translations in the past were derived from an earlier translation. For example the first English translation by John Wycliffe in 1380 was prepared from the Latin Vulgate.

Old Testament

The Bible comes from two main sources - Old and New Testaments - written in different languages. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with some books written in Aramaic. The following are brief snap shots of the beginning and ending of the Old Testament and the reasons for the first two translations of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Aramaic and Greek

1875 B.C. Abraham was called by God to the land of Canaan. 1450 B.C. The exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt.

Autographs

There are no known autographs of any books of the Old Testament. Below is a list of the languages in which the Old Testament books were written.

1450-1400 B.C. The traditional date for Moses' writing of Genesis-Deuteronomy written in Hebrew.

586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were taken into captivity to Babylon. They remained in Babylon under the Medo-Persian Empire and there began to speak Aramaic.

555-545 B.C. The Book of Daniel Chapters. 2:4 to 7:28 were written in Aramaic. 425 B.C. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written in Hebrew. 400 B.C. Ezra Chapters. 4:8 to 6:18; and 7:12-26 were written in Aramaic.

Manuscripts

The following is a list of the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament that are still in existence.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: date from 200 B.C. - 70 A.D. and contain the entire book of Isaiah and portions of every other Old Testament book but Esther.

Geniza Fragments: portions the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic, discovered in 1947 in an old synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, which date from about 400 A.D.

Ben Asher Manuscripts: five or six generations of this family made copies of the Old Testament using the Masoretic Hebrew text, from 700-950 A.D. The following are examples of the Hebrew Masoretic text-type.

o Aleppo Codex: contains the complete Old Testament and is dated around 950 A.D. Unfortunately over one quarter of this Codex was destroyed in anti-Jewish riots in 1947.

o Codex Leningradensis: The complete Old Testament in Hebrew copied by the last member of the Ben Asher family in A.D. 1008.

Translations

The Old Testament was translated very early into Aramaic and Greek.

400 B.C. The Old Testament began to be translated into Aramaic. This translation is called the Aramaic Targums. This translation helped the Jewish people, who began to speak Aramaic from the time of their captivity in Babylon, to understand the Old Testament in the language that they commonly spoke. In the first century Palestine of Jesus' day, Aramaic was still the commonly spoken language. For example maranatha: "Our Lord has come," 1 Corinthians 16:22 is an example of an Aramaic word that is used in the New Testament.

250 B.C. The Old Testament was translated into Greek. This translation is known as the Septuagint. It is sometimes designated "LXX" (which is Roman numeral for "70") because it was believed that 70 to 72 translators worked to translate the Hebrew Old Testament in Greek. The Septuagint was often used by New Testament writers when they quoted from the Old Testament. The LXX was translation of the Old Testament that was used by the early Church.

1. The following is a list of the oldest Greek LXX translations of the Old Testament that are still in existence.

o Chester Beatty Papyri: Contains nine Old Testament Books in the Greek Septuagint and dates between 100-400 A.D.

o Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus each contain almost the entire Old Testament of the Greek Septuagint and they both date around 350 A.D.

The New Testament

Autographs

45- 95 A.D. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Pauline Epistles, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts are all dated from 45-63 A.D. The Gospel of John and the Revelation may have been written as late as 95 A.D.

Manuscripts

There are over 5,600 early Greek Manuscripts of the New Testament that are still in existence. The oldest manuscripts were written on papyrus and the later manuscripts were written on leather called parchment.

125 A.D. The New Testament manuscript which dates most closely to the original autograph was copied around 125 A.D, within 35 years of the original. It is designated "p 52" and contains a small portion of John 18. (The "p" stands for papyrus.)

200 A.D. Bodmer p 66 a papyrus manuscript which contains a large part of the Gospel of John.

200 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 46 contains the Pauline Epistles and Hebrews.

225 A.D. Bodmer Papyrus p 75 contains the Gospels of Luke and John. 250-300 A.D. Chester Beatty Biblical papyrus p 45 contains portions of the four Gospels

and Acts. 350 A.D. Codex Sinaiticus contains the entire New Testament and almost the entire Old

Testament in Greek. It was discovered by a German scholar Tisendorf in 1856 at an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Sinai.

350 A.D. Codex Vaticanus: {B} is an almost complete New Testament. It was cataloged as being in the Vatican Library since 1475.

Translations

Early translations of the New Testament can give important insight into the underlying Greek manuscripts from which they were translated.

180 A.D. Early translations of the New Testament from Greek into Latin, Syriac, and Coptic versions began about 180 A.D.

195 A.D. The name of the first translation of the Old and New Testaments into Latin was termed Old Latin, both Testaments having been translated from the Greek. Parts of the Old Latin were found in quotes by the church father Tertullian, who lived around 160-220 A.D. in north Africa and wrote treatises on theology.

300 A.D. The Old Syriac was a translation of the New Testament from the Greek into Syriac.

300 A.D. The Coptic Versions: Coptic was spoken in four dialects in Egypt. The Bible was translated into each of these four dialects.

380 A.D. The Latin Vulgate was translated by St. Jerome. He translated into Latin the Old Testament from the Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. The Latin Vulgate became the Bible of the Western Church until the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's. It continues to be the authoritative translation of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. The Protestant Reformation saw an increase in translations of the Bible into the common languages of the people.

Other early translations of the Bible were in Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic, Slavic, and Gothic.

1380 A.D. The first English translation of the Bible was by John Wycliffe. He translated the Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate. This was a translation from a translation and not a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek. Wycliffe was forced to translate from the Latin Vulgate because he did not know Hebrew or Greek.

The Advent of Printing

Printing greatly aided the transmission of the biblical texts.

1456 A.D. Gutenberg produced the first printed Bible in Latin. Printing revolutionized the way books were made. From now on books could be published in great numbers and at a lower cost.

1514 A.D. The Greek New Testament was printed for the first time by Erasmus. He based his Greek New Testament from only five Greek manuscripts, the oldest of which dated only as far back as the twelfth century. With minor revisions, Erasmus' Greek New Testament came to be known as the Textus Receptus or the "received texts."

1522 A. D. Polyglot Bible was published. The Old Testament was in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin and the New Testament in Latin and Greek. Erasmus used the Polyglot to revise later editions of his New Testament. Tyndale made use of the Polyglot in his translation on the Old Testament into English which he did not complete because he was martyred in 1534.

1611 A.D. The King James Version into English from the original Hebrew and Greek. The King James translators of the New Testament used the Textus Receptus as the basis for their translations.

1968 A.D. The United Bible Societies 4th Edition of the Greek New Testament. This Greek New Testament made use of the oldest Greek manuscripts which date from 175 A.D. This was the Greek New Testament text from which the NASV and the NIV were translated.

1971 A.D. The New American Standard Version (NASV) was published. It makes use of the wealth of much older Hebrew and Greek manuscripts now available that weren't available at the time of the translation of the KJV. Its wording and sentence structure closely follow the Greek in more of a word for word style.

1983 A.D. The New International Version (NIV) was published. It also made use of the oldest manuscript evidence. It is more of a "thought-for-thought" translation and reads more easily than the NASV.

o As an example of the contrast between word-for-word and thought-for-thought translations, notice below the translation of the Greek word "hagios-holy" NASV Hebrews 9:25. "...the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own."NIV Hebrews 9:25. "...the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own."

o The NIV supplies "understood" information about the Day of Atonement, namely that the high priest's duties took place in the compartment of the temple known specifically as the Most Holy Place. Note that the NASV simply says "holy place" reflecting the more literal translation of "hagios."

The Integrity of the Manuscript Evidence

As with any ancient book transmitted through a number of handwritten manuscripts, the question naturally arises as to how confident can we be that we have anything resembling the autograph. Let us now look at what evidences we have for the integrity of the New Testament manuscripts. Let us look at the number of manuscripts and how close they date to the autographs of the Bible as compared with other ancient writings of similar age.

A. Tacitus, the Roman historian, wrote his Annals of Imperial Rome in about A.D. 116. Only one manuscript of his work remains. It was copied about 850 A.D.

B. Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote The Jewish War shortly after 70 A.D. There are nine manuscripts in Greek which date from 1000-1200 A.D. and one Latin translation from around 400 A.D.

C. Homer's Iliad was written around 800 B.C. It was as important to ancient Greeks as the Bible was to the Hebrews. There are over 650 manuscripts remaining but they date from 200 to 300 A.D. which is over a thousand years after the Iliad was written.

D. The Old Testament autographs were written 1450 - 400 B. C. 1. The Dead Sea Scrolls date between 200 B.C. to 70 A. D and date within 300 years

from when the last book of the Old Testament was written.2. Two almost complete Greek LXX translations of the Old Testament date about

350 A. D.3. The oldest complete Hebrew Old Testament dates about 950 A. D.4. Genesis-Deuteronomy were written over 1200 years before the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Codex Vaticanus is an almost complete Greek translation of the Old Testament dating around 350 A.D. The Aleppo Codex is the oldest complete Old Testament manuscript in Hebrew and was copied around 950 A.D. The Dead Sea Scrolls date from within 200-300 years from the last book of the Old Testament. However since the five books of Moses were written about 1450- 1400 B.C. the Dead Sea Scrolls still come almost 1200 years after the first books of the Old Testament were written.

E. The New Testament autographs were written between 45-95 A. D. 1. There are 5,664 Greek manuscripts some dating as early as 125 A. D. and an

complete New Testament that dates from 350 A. D.2. 8,000 to 10,000 Latin Vulgate manuscripts.3. 8,000 manuscripts in Ethiopic, Coptic, Slavic, Syriac, and Armenian.4. In addition, the complete New Testament could be reproduced from the quotes

that were made from it by the early church fathers in their letters and sermons.

Authorship and dating of the New Testament books

Skeptics and liberal Christian scholars both seek to date the New Testament books as late first century or early second century writings. They contend that these books were not written by eyewitnesses but rather by second or third hand sources. This allowed for the development of what they view as myths concerning Jesus. For example, they would deny that Jesus actually foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. Rather they would contend that later Christian writers "put these words into his mouth."

A. Many of the New Testament books claim to be written by eyewitnesses.1. The Gospel of John claims to be written by the disciple of the Lord. Recent

archeological research has confirmed both the existence of the Pool of Bethesda and that it had five porticoes as described in John 5:2. This correct reference to an

incidental detail lends credibility to the claim that the Gospel of John was written by John who as an eyewitness knew Jerusalem before it was destroyed in 70 A. D.

2. Paul signed his epistles with his own hand. He was writing to churches who knew him. These churches were able to authenticate that these epistles had come from his hands (Galatians 6:11). Clement an associate of Paul's wrote to the Corinthian Church in 97 A. D. urging them to heed the epistle that Paul had sent them.

B. The following facts strongly suggest that both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written prior to 65 A.D. This lends credibility to the author's (Luke) claim to be an eyewitness to Paul's missionary journeys. This would date Mark prior to 65 A.D. and the Pauline epistles between 49-63 A.D.

1. Acts records the beginning history of the church with persecutions and martyrdoms being mentioned repeatedly. Three men; Peter, Paul, and James the brother of Jesus all play leading roles throughout the book. They were all martyred by 67 A.D., but their martyrdoms are not recorded in Acts.

2. The church in Jerusalem played a central role in the Book of Acts, but the destruction of the city in 70 A.D. was not mentioned. The Jewish historian Josephus cited the siege and destruction of Jerusalem as befalling the Jews because of their unjust killing of James the brother of Jesus.

3. The Book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome under house arrest in 62 A.D. In 64 A.D., Nero blamed and persecuted the Christians for the fire that burned down the city of Rome. Paul himself was martyred by 65 A.D. in Rome. Again, neither the terrible persecution of the Christians in Rome nor Paul's martyrdom are mentioned.

Conclusion: These books, Luke-Acts, were written while Luke was an eyewitness to many of the events, and had opportunity to research portions that he was not an eyewitness to.

The church fathers bear witness to even earlier New Testament manuscripts

The earliest manuscripts we have of major portions of the New Testament are p 45, p 46, p66, and p 75, and they date from 175-250 A. D. The early church fathers (97-180 A.D.) bear witness to even earlier New Testament manuscripts by quoting from all but one of the New Testament books. They are also in the position to authenticate those books, written by the apostles or their close associates, from later books such as the gospel of Thomas that claimed to have been written by the apostles, but were not.

A. Clement (30-100 A.D.) wrote an epistle to the Corinthian Church around 97 A.D. He reminded them to heed the epistle that Paul had written to them years before. Recall that Clement had labored with Paul (Philippians 4:3). He quoted from the following New Testament books: Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Titus, 1 and 2 Peter, Hebrews, and James.

B. The apostolic fathers Ignatius (30-107 A.D.), Polycarp (65-155 A.D.), and Papias (70-155 A.D.) cite verses from every New Testament book except 2 and 3 John. They thereby authenticated nearly the entire New Testament. Both Ignatius and Polycarp were disciples of the apostle John.

C. Justin Martyr, (110-165 A.D.), cited verses from the following 13 books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, and Revelation.

D. Irenaeus, (120-202 A.D.), wrote a five volume work Against Heresies in which,1. He quoted from every book of the New Testament but 3 John.2. He quoted from the New Testament books over 1,200 times.

How was the New Testament canon determined?

The Early church had three criteria for determining what books were to be included or excluded from the Canon of the New Testament.

1. First, the books must have apostolic authority-- that is, they must have been written either by the apostles themselves, who were eyewitnesses to what they wrote about, or by associates of the apostles.

2. Second, there was the criterion of conformity to what was called the "rule of faith." In other words, was the document congruent with the basic Christian tradition that the church recognized as normative.

3. Third, there was the criterion of whether a document had enjoyed continuous acceptance and usage by the church at large.

4. The gospel of Thomas is not included in the Canon of the New Testament for the following reasons.

a. The gospel of Thomas fails the test of Apostolic authority. None of the early church fathers from Clement to Irenaeus ever quoted from the gospel of Thomas. This indicates that they either did not know of it or that they rejected it as spurious. In either case, the early church fathers fail to support the gospel of Thomas' claim to have been written by the apostle. It was believed to by written around 140 A.D. There is no evidence to support its purported claim to be written by the Apostle Thomas himself.

b. The gospel of Thomas fails to conform to the rule of faith. It purports to contain 114 "secret sayings" of Jesus. Some of these are very similar to the sayings of Jesus recorded in the Four Gospels. For example the gospel of Thomas quotes Jesus as saying, "A city built on a high hill cannot be hidden." This reads the same as Matthew's Gospel except that high is added. But Thomas claims that Jesus said, "Split wood; I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find me there." That concept is pantheistic. Thomas ends with the following saying that denies women salvation unless they are some how changed into being a man. "Let Mary go away from us, because women are not worthy of life." Jesus is quoted as saying, "Lo, I shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter into the kingdom of heaven."

c. The gospel of Thomas fails the test of continuous usage and acceptance. The lack of manuscript evidence plus the failure of the early church fathers to quote from it or recognize it shows that it was not used or accepted in the early Church. Only two manuscripts are known of this "gospel." Until 1945 only a single fifth-century copy translation in Coptic had been found. Then in 1945 a Greek

manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas was found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. This compares very poorly to the thousands of manuscripts that authenticate the Four Gospels.

Textual Criticism: What Is It And Why It Is Necessary

Important terms:

Textual criticism is the method used to examine the vast number of manuscripts to determine the probably composition of the original autographs.

"Lower" Textual Criticism: the practice of studying the manuscripts of the Bible with the goal of reproducing the original text of the Bible from this vast wealth of manuscripts. This is a necessary task because there exists minor variations among the biblical manuscripts. So, unless one manuscript is arbitrarily chosen as a standard by which to judge all others, then one must employ textual criticism to compare all manuscripts to derive the reading which would most closely reflect the autographs.

"Higher" criticism: "The Jesus Seminar" is a group of liberal Christian higher critics who vote on which of the sayings of Christ they believe to have actually been spoken by Him. This is an example of "higher" criticism. It is highly subjective and is colored by the view points of various "higher" critics.

Textual Variants: Since all Greek manuscripts of the New Testament prior to Erasmus' first printed Greek New Testament were copied by hand scribal errors or variants could have crept into the texts.. When these Greek New Testament manuscripts are compared with each other we find evidence of scribal errors and places where the different manuscripts differ with one another.

Textual variants and the integrity of the New Testament text

Many scholars have spent a lifetime of study of the textual variants. The following is the conclusion of the importance of these variants as they relate to the integrity of the New Testament text.

A. There are over 200,000 variants in the New Testament alone. How do these variants effect our confidence that the New Testament has been faithfully handed down to us?

B. These 200,000 variants are not as large as they seem. Remember that every misspelled word or an omission of a single word in any of the 5,600 manuscript would count as a variant.

C. Johann Bengel 1687-1752 was very disturbed by the 30,000 variants that had recently been noted in Mill's edition of the Greek Testament. After extended study he came to the conclusion that the variant readings were fewer in number than might have been expected and that they did not shake any article of Christian doctrine.

D. Westcott and Hort, in the 1870's, state that the New Testament text remains over 98.3 percent pure no matter whether one uses the Textus Receptus or their own Greek text which was largely based on Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.

E. James White, on p. 40 of his book The King James Only Controversy states: "The reality is that the amount of variation between the two most extremely different manuscripts of the New Testament would not fundamentally altar the message of the Scriptures! I make this statement (1) fully aware of the wide range of textual variants in the New Testament, and (2) painfully aware of the strong attacks upon those who have made similar statements in the past."

F. Scholars Norman Geisler and William Nix conclude, "The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts that any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book-a form that is 99.5 percent pure."

G. When textual critics look at all 5,600 Greek New Testament manuscripts they find that they can group these manuscripts into text-types or families with other similar manuscripts. There are four text-types.

Figure 1. Age differences between Alexandrian and Byzantine manuscripts.

1. The Alexandrian text-type, found in most papyri and in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus all of which date prior to 350 A.D.

2. The Western text-type, found both in Greek manuscripts and in translations into other languages, especially Latin.

3. The Byzantine text-type, found in the vast majority of later Greek manuscripts. Over 90 percent of all 5,600 Greek New Testament manuscripts are of the Byzantine text-type. The Byzantine text-type is "fuller" or "longer" than other text-types, and this is taken as evidence of a later origin. The reason that we have so many manuscripts of the Byzantine text-type is because the Byzantine Empire remained Greek speaking and Orthodox Christian until Islamic Turks overran its capital, Constantinople, in 1453. Constantinople is now called Istanbul and is Turkey's largest city, although no longer its capital.

4. The Caesaarean text-type, disputed by some, found in p 45 and a few other manuscripts.

Why does the KJV differ from the NIV?

The reason the King James version differ from the NASV and the NIV in a number of readings is because it is translated from a different text-type than they are.

A. The King James Version was translated from Erasmus' printed Greek New Testament which made use of only five Greek manuscripts the oldest of which dated to the 1,100 A.D. These manuscripts were examples of the Byzantine text-type.

B. The NASV and the NIV make use of the United Bible Societies 4th Edition 1968 of the New Testament. This edition of the Greek New Testament relies more heavily on the Alexandrian text-type while making use of all 5,664 Greek manuscripts. The reasons that the NASV and NIV find the Alexandrian text-type more reliable are the following:

1. This text-type uses manuscripts date from 175-350 A.D. which includes most of the papyri, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus.

2. The church fathers from 97-350 A.D. used this text-type when they quoted the New Testament.

3. The early translations of the New Testament used the Alexandrian text-type.

Examples that show why the KJV differs from the NIV and NASV in certain verses

In the following examples the King James Version differs from the NIV, and NASV. because it bases it's translation on the Byzantine text-type and the NIV and NASV base theirs on the Alexandrian text-type.

A. KJV 1 John 5:7-8 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one."NIV 1 John 5:7 "For there are three that testify: v. 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood: and the three are in agreement."

1. When Erasmus first printed the Greek New Testament in 1514 it did not contain the words "in heaven, the Father, the Word, and Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth," because they were not found in any of the Greek manuscripts that Erasmus looked at.

2. These words were not quoted by any of the Greek church fathers. They most certainly would have been used by the church fathers in their 3rd and 4th century letters if found in the Greek manuscripts available to them.

3. These words are not found in any ancient versions of the New Testament. These include Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Arabic, Slavonic, nor in the Old Latin in its early form.

4. These words begin to appear in marginal notes in the Latin New Testament beginning in the fifth century. From the sixth century onward these words are found more and more frequently.

5. Erasmus finally agreed to put these words into new editions of his Greek New Testament if his critic's could find one Greek manuscript that contained these

words. It appears that his critics manufactured manuscripts to include these words.

6. These additional words are found in only eight manuscripts as a variant reading written in the margin. Seven of these manuscripts date from the sixteenth century and one is a tenth century manuscript.

7. Erasmus' New Testament became the basis for the Greek New Testament, "Textus Receptus", which the King James translators used as the basis for their translation of the New Testament into English.

B. Mark 16 verses 9-20 are found in the King James Version. However, both the NASV and the NIV note that these verses are not found in the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark (see The Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20).

1. Neither Codex Sinaiticus nor Codex Vaticanus have Mark 16:9-20.2. Mark 16:9-20 is also absent from some Old Latin, Syriac, Armenian, and

Georgian manuscripts.3. Clement of Alexandria and Origen show no knowledge of the existence of these

verses.4. 4. The earliest church father to note the longer ending of Mark 16:9-20 was

Irenaeus, around 180 A. D.C. Luke 2:14 reads:

KJV: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men."NIV: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

The Greek text from which these two versions are translated differ by only one letter. The NIV is translated from manuscripts that have an "s" on the end of the Greek word for good will. This reading is supported by the oldest Alexandrine text-types.

Thank You Once Again lyrics

We hardly shared a glanceTo greet and know each otherAnd now the time is upThe band is packing up

We'll find another chanceTo meet again togetherAnd fill each other's cupI feel like breaking up

It's this time that almostAlways makes me cryBefore we say goodbyeI want to let you know I love you...

Thank you for playing my musicAnd thank you for singing my songThank you for sharing a moment'Cause with you I feel I really belong

Thank you for keeping me companyAnd thank you for being my friendAnd if our paths should cross somewhere somedayI'd love to sing this song again

I pray the Lord our GodRichly bless and keep youTogether let us callAnd thank Him most of all

Somehow I'm feeling sadI know I'm gonna miss youI know I will recallThis warm and cozy hall

Still there's one more thingBefore the day is doneBefore the lights are goneBefore the curtain closes, let me...

Thank you for playing my musicAnd thank you for singing my songThank you for sharing a moment

'Cause with you I feel I really belong

Thank you for keeping me companyAnd thank you for being my friendAnd if our paths should cross somedayThen I'd really be glad, yes I'll really be glad, I'd like to THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN

Intro: C G C F G C G

C Em Am Every now and then C7 F We find a special friend Dm G Who never lets us down C Em Am Who understands it all C7 F Reaches out each time we fall Dm G You're the best friend that I've found C Bb I know you can't stay F C A part of you will never ever go away G7 Your heart will stay

C C7 F I'll make a wish for you G C And hope it will come true Am C That life would just be kind C7 F To such a gentle mind C C7 F If you lose your way Dm G Think back on yesterday A7 Dm Remember me this way G C G C Remember me this way

I don't need eyes to see The love you bring to me No matter where I go And I know that you'll be there Forever more a part of me You're everywhere I'll always care

I'll make a wish for you

And hope it will come true That life would just be kind To such a gentle mind If you lose your way Think back on yesterday Remember me this way Remember me this way Bb G7 And I'll be right behind your shoulder C watching you Am I'll be standing by your side D7 with all you do Gm And I won't ever leave C7 F As long as you believe A7 You just believe

(Move the chords two frets higher) I'll make a wish for you And hope it will come true that life would just be kind To such a gentle mind If you lose your way Think back on yesterday Remember me this way Remember me this way

In 1927, Catholic Mexico was immersed in a violent storm of religious persecution. The President of Mexico at that time was a despot named Plutarco Calles.  His hatred for the Church had no limits. He killed priests and burned churches.

In legitimate self defense, countless Catholics took up arms to defend their Faith.  Whenever they charged into battle, the Cristeros, as they were called, shouted: "Viva Cristo Rey!" "Long live Christ the King!"

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Young Jose Joins the Cristeros

Many Catholics shed their blood in this conflict.  Many were martyred. And Blessed Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio was among

them.  From a young age he had a great love and enthusiasm for the Blessed Sacrament, and encouraged his friends to have more devotion to Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Whenever Jose heard of the glorious battles of the Cristeros, which his two brothers were engaged in, his desire to join the holy army only intensified.  Finally, Jose wrote a letter to one of

Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio

the Cristero Generals, Prudencio Mendoza, pleading to be allowed to fight. The general acquiesced.

Capture and Imprisonment

In a certain battle, Jose was rushing to bring a fellow soldier a new supply of ammo.  Just then, he caught sight of the General whose horse had been shot dead.  On foot, without a horse, the General was extremely vulnerable. 

Making a sacrifice that might cost him his life, Jose freely gave the general his own horse.  Moments later, he was caught by the federalists and locked up in a church sacristy that had been turned into a prison.  One of the guards had put a number of expensive fighting roosters inside the church for safekeeping.  This sacrilege troubled young Jose. He said: "This is not a barnyard! This is a place for God!"  He soon caught all the prized roosters and snapped their necks.

The enemies of Christ the King soon decided to kill him.

Holy Boldness in Defense of the Faith

On the way to execution, soldiers struck him savagely with sharp machetes.  With every blow, the young boy cried out, "Viva Cristo Rey!"  When he got to the cemetery, he was bleeding heavily.  His torturers had also cut off the soles of his feet and forced him to walk on salt.  The boy screamed with pain but would not give in.  As the road was nothing but rocks and dirt, the stones where he had walked were soaked in his blood.  The soldiers said:  "If you shout, ‘Death to Christ the King’, we will spare your life."  He only answered: "Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe!"

The commander ordered the soldiers to bayonet Jose.  They pierced his body.   But with every stab he only shouted louder and louder: "Viva Cristo Rey!"  The commander was so enraged that he pulled out his pistol and on February 10, 1928 killed Blessed Jose on the spot.  There was no trial.

Blessed Jose is an outstanding example of faith and courage for all Catholic young men — for you— who wish to be faithful to Christ.  He was declared a martyr and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005.

Blessed Jose, pray for us!

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Altar, Sacred Vessels, and Vestments

altar and Sanctuary

Observe well the picture of the altar and sanctuary.  It is here that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered

up. This picture shows everything that is necessary for Mass, and gives the proper name of the furniture of

the sanctuary.

1. The Crucifix

2. Canopy or Throne of the Altar

3. Tabernacle covered by veil (wherever used the veil is of the color of the day or

white)

4...9. Large Candlesticks (lighted only for High Mass and Benediction)

10...11. Small Candlesticks (lighted only for Low Mass)

12...14. Altar Cards (the larger is in the center, containing prayers which the priest reads at the Offertory and Canon. The smaller one on the Epistle side has the prayers read by the priest when washing his hands after the Offertory. The other smaller one on the Gospel side has the Gospel of St. John, which is most frequently read at the end of Mass)

15. First Gradine or Candlebench for the smaller Candlestick

16. Second Gradine or Candlebench for the larger Candlestick

17. Mensa or Altar Table

18. Altar Table Coverings (one wax and three linen cloths cover the altar table. The fourth or top one of linen frequently edged with lace hangs down over the side of the altar to the floor)

19. Antependium or Frontal (wherever customary a cloth of the color of the day hangs down in front of the altar)

20. Gospel Side of the Altar

21. Epistle Side of the Altar

22. Sanctuary Floor

23. First Altar Step

24. Second Altar Step

25. Predella or Altar Platform (sometimes called the Footpace)

26. Credence Table

27. Water and Wine Cruets

28. Finger Basin

29. Towel

30. Communion Paten

31. Sedilia or Priests’ Bench

32. Bell

33. Communion Rail

Sacred Vessels

The Chalice and its Appurtenances

(a) Chalice This is a cup made of gold or silver, or if of silver, the interior must be of gold. It holds the wine for the Holy Sacrifice, and is a striking figure of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

(b) Purificator This is a linen cloth used for wiping the chalice, and the fingers and mouth of the celebrant after Communion. It is spread over the cup of the chalice at the beginning and end of Mass.

(c) Paten This is a plate of gold or silver upon which the large bread for consecration rests until the Offertory. Of old it was necessarily larger than now, for it held all the breads to be consecrated.

(d) Pall This is a square pocket-shaped piece of linen with a cardboard inserted in order to stiffen

it. It is placed over the chalice to prevent dust or other matter falling into it.

(e) Chalice Veil

This is the cloth which covers the chalice until the Offertory, and again after the Communion. It also is made of the same material and color as the vestments.

(f) Burse & Corporal

The Burse is a square container for the corporal when the latter is not in use. It is made of the same material and color as the vestments. The Corporal is a square piece of linen. In size and appearance it resembles a small napkin. It is spread out on the altar, and the chalice is placed upon it. During the Mass the Sacred Host rests for a time on the Corporal.

Vestments

By God’s command the Jewish priests wore a distinctive garb when they ministered in the Temple. The Bible tells us they were vested in violet and purple, scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen. Gold and precious stones were also used to give the person of the priest that dignity demanded by his exalted office.

No special dress was at first prescribed for the Christian priesthood.  During the early days the garments worn at the Holy Sacrifice were not dissimilar in form to the clothing of civilians.  They were distinguished, however, from profane apparel in richness and beauty of decorations; and, of course, their use was restricted to divine worship.

Secular fashion changed, but the Church clung to the old style.  Thus it was that garments once common to all, presently became the privileged dress of the clergy.  Faith then saw in each

particular vestment a symbol relating to the Passion of Our Lord, and a reminder of some

Christian duty.The Vestments Worn at Mass

Vestment Historical Origin Symbolic Ref.

(h) Amice The amice is a piece of fine linen in the form of an oblong. The priest places it for a moment on his head, and then allows it to rest upon his shoulders. As he does so he prays: “Place, O Lord, on my head the helmet of salvation, that so I may resist the assaults of the devil.”

A covering for the head and neck worn like a hood. When indoors it was lowered and thrown over the shoulders.

(a) The linen cloth that the soldiers put over Our Lord’s head; when thus blindfolded. He was mockingly asked who struck Him. (b) The helmet of Salvation (Cf. Ephes. 6:17)

(i) Alb A wide linen robe reaching to the feet and covering the whole body. The vesing prayer is: “Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse my heart; that being made white in the Blood of the Lamb I may deserve

The alb, or tunic, was worn in ancient times by all who enjoyed any dignity.

(a) The garment with which Herod clothed Our Lord. (b) Signifies the purity of conscience demanded of God’s priests.

an eternal reward.”

(j) Cincture The cincture, or girdle, is a cord of linen fastened about the waist to confine the alb. The vesting prayer is: “Gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity, and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me.”

Walking and active exertion made it necessary for one to gird up a long garment like the alb. Hence the cincture was an essential article of dress.

(a) The cord that bound Our Lord to the pillar when He was being scourged. (b) Symbolizes modesty, and also readiness for hard work in God’s service.

(k) Maniple A strip of silken cloth worn on the left arm of the priest. The vesting prayer is: “May I deserve, O Lord, to bear the maniple of weeping and sorrow in order that I may joyfully reap the reward of my labors.”

Originally a strip of linen worn over the arm. During the long services, and in the intense heat of southern countries its use was frequently necessary to wipe the perspiration from the face and brow.

(a) The rope whereby Our Lord was led, and the chains which bound His sacred hands. (b) An emblem of the tears of penance, the fatigue of the priestly office and its joyful reward in heaven.

(l) Stole A long band of silk of the same width as the maniple, but three times its length. It is worn around the neck and crossed on the breast. The vesting prayer is: “Restore to me, O Lord, the state of immortality which I lost through the sin of my first parents and, although unworthy to approach Thy Sacred Mysteries, may I deserve nevertheless eternal joy.”

A kind of neck-piece or kerchief; a part of the dress of the upper classes. It gradually became the distinctive mark of spiritual authority in the higher clerics, viz., the priest and deacon.

(a) The cords with which Jesus was tied. Worn as it is over the shoulders, it reminds us, too, of the cross Our Lord carried. (b) A reminder of the yoke of Christ. The priest’s burden is a heavy one, which Christ nevertheless makes sweet.

(m) Chasuble The chasuble is the outer and chief vestment of the priest. It is essentially the Mass vestment and is now exclusively reserved to the priest. The vestment is familiar to all by reason of the cross usually embroidered on it. The vesting prayer is: “O Lord, who has said, ‘My yoke is sweet and My burden light,’ grant that I may so carry it as to merit Thy grace.”

Imagine a large circular cloth with a hole cut in the center for the head. This will help one to visualize the ancient chasuble, which was an immense cloak, over the head and completely enveloped the body. When it was necessary to use the hands, the garment had to be folded up on each side over the arms. Because of its inconvenience (for two assistants were needed to manipulate it), the vestment was

(a) The purple cloak worn by Our Lord when He stood before Pilate. (b) An emblem of love. When the ordaining bishop gives it to the new priest, he says: “Receive the priestly garment, for the Lord is Powerful to increase in you love and perfection.”

gradually cut and altered until it now has its present shape. It is usually ornamented with a large cross on the back, and sometimes on the front of the garment (fig n.). We occasionally see chasubles made in the Gothic or Medieval style. These are more ample and drape over the shoulders down to the wrists. The cross on such chasubles has the shape of the letter “Y,” the top arms of which extend over the shoulders towards the front.

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