The Right Spin

So, I got my shipment of books from the History Book Club and I'm giddy about Lost Christianities and it's companion book Lost Scriptures. The former tells the story of how we came to have the modern Bible. In the second and third centuries A.D. there were many books floating around all of which believed to be holy and inspired by those who revered them. So, the "Church" of the ancient world was quite fractured. Eventually, it was decided that these books would be gathered and it would be decided which books were truly inspired and which were heresy. This was anything but a peaceful process. However, the end result was the Bible we have today... essentially. Protestant Bibles lack a number of books the Catholic Bible contains and the Greek Orthodox have even more books on top of that. The important thing being, even with the loss of these books (or excess of) these three factions still consider one another Christian. There is little theological friction between these divisions. All believe in the Trinity and the divinity of Yeshua, the virgin birth, forgiveness by grace and so on. The same could not be said of many "Christians" of the second and third centuries A.D. So attempts were made to remedy this which, as we can attest to today, eventually succeeded.

The latter book provides many copies of these exluded texts, some of which unavailable to the public.

Textual criticism of the Bible is a topic that facinates me. I believe that the Bible should be questioned and critically examined. God asks for faith but not blind faith. He gave us minds to use and to park it when it comes to the Bible seems unproductive to say the least. We don't have the unaltered word of God. The Bible did not suddenly appear out of the sky one day. It was written, interpreted and translated by man. Yet it is inspired by God. Because of this paradox (being wholly of man yet wholly of God) we must be critical of the Bible. If there were fierce battles over what was ispired scripture just two to three hundred years after the death of Yeshua why then are we afraid to do the same thing 2000 years after His death? Do not accept the Bible because your family, friends or Church tells you it's true. Accept it because you've looked at it and came to the decision yourself.

This just in:

(09-14) 10:59 PDT San Francisco (AP) --

A federal judge has declared it unconstitutional to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.

Michelle Malkin has more.

I am reminded by something Ronald Reagan once said, “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

From Worldview Weekend:

On February 15, 1959, at an Attorney General’s Conference, President Harry S. Truman warned, “If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State.”

The very form of government our Founders created required that not only the population but, moreover, those in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government acknowledge God and their accountability to Him. This belief was so central to early American leaders that even the individual states adopted constitutions that acknowledge God.

WorldNet Daily has a pretty good write-up here.

I wish I could say more just now but I'm at a loss for words. Will this decision be overturned? I don't know. I doubt it.

We, as a nation, are turning our back on Yahweh. How will we survive when He decides to heed our wishes?

I love swords. Well, I love weapons of all types but swords hold a particular place of honor within my heart. I'm sure a lot of this is the romanticism surrounding the weapon but I don't care. That said, I am familiar with details of the history of swords I'm sure most are not. I'm not saying an expert, I would never say that, just that my knowledge is a bit more than a passing one.

However, apparently I'm completely off about most ancient swords common to Europe. This very, very, very well done piece, as linked by Dean, makes it quite clear these swords were anything but clumsy and lumbersome. If you like swords, or even have a passing interest in ancient/medieval history, you would be well served reading this article.

First: Sorry about the light blogging as of late. With the wife being ill, being crazy busy at work (where I usually blog) and me looking for a new job... there simply isn't enough time (or energy) in a day for me to keep up like I usually do. I expect it to be like this for some time yet. Fair notice (if somewhat late).

Anyway, I try to pay attention to what Hal Lindsey and his ilk are up to. I think he knows what he's talking about when it comes to Middle Eastern politics and End Times prophecy and how the two mix. He's posted a new article that breaks my heart. What he describes can be fixed. I just don't think it will be because of partisan politics and political correctness. Students of Biblical prophecy have often wondered why there seems to be no sign of the United States during the End of Days. We are the lone superpower in the world. What could possibly happen that would render our great military and economic might mute?

"The Arab newspaper, al-Hayat, reported in February 2004 that Osama bin Laden bought some of these devices from the Ukraine in 1998. Al-Hayat wrote that 'bin-Laden is storing them for possible use somewhere, some time – most probably against American cities.'"

And:

[W]e must remember – al-Qaida always coordinates multiple attacks in the same operation. Therefore, we should expect that many cities in the United States would be hit with this nightmare scenario in the same hour.

Kartina shows how utterly unprepared Federal and local authorities are to deal with a known and predictable disaster in a single American city. What about a suitcase sized nuclear device detonate in several American cities at the same time? Say, Washington D.C., L.A., Chicago and New York all at the same moment? Think this isn't possible?

By virtually unanimous agreement, a nuclear strike on the United States by Muslim terrorists is inevitable. Endless parades of experts have testified before Congress that it isn't a case of "if," but "when."

Former Russian security adviser Aleksandr Lebed testified before Congress in 1998 that some 80 to 100 suitcase-size nuclear weapons are missing from the Russian arsenal.

Former U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Charles Curtis doesn't buy Kremlin assurances either: "We believe we have a full accounting of all of Russia's strategic weapons, but when it comes to tactical weapons – the suitcase variety – we do not know, and I'm not sure they do, either."

And the yield of these devices?

Each of these nuclear devices has a yield of about 0.6 kilotons. That is about the same as the Hiroshima bomb dropped on Japan in 1945.

It's also well accepted that during the Cold War the Soviet Union hid several of these devices upon U.S. soil to be used by sleeper agents. The Russian government has been slow to reveal the location of these devices (or of their existance) because many within it still believe a nuclear exchange between them and the U.S. is inevitable. With many within the KGB and Russian Special Forces for sale after the collapse of communism and their poor economy today it is neglegent to believe that al-Queda hasn't earnestly sought them out.

So, I ask you, after reflecting upon Katrina, what will be the Federal response after 4 of our more important cities are evaporated? Mr. Lindsey concludes:

But I believe there is another essential point being missed. Since America has forsaken the Christian principles on which our country was founded and on which all our founding documents were based, God's gracious protection that is so evident in American history is being withdrawn. We are also forcing God's people, Israel, into indefensible positions in the land God swore on oath to give them forever.

I believe unless there is a major national repentance, America is in for worse catastrophes than can possibly be imagined. God help us.

Nations that have a heart for God are blessed and protected by them. The Tanakh attests to this simple fact. As Yahweh is pushed out of the courts, government and public He is pushed out of our nation. With Him goes His divine protection. People ask, "How could God allow this (insert you disaster here) to happen?" How many times do we have to tell Yahweh that we don't want Him around before He goes? And when we are left open to the evil of the world who are when then to blame Him?

There is a price to pay when we abandon our founding documents. I'm not talking about those documents enshrined in bullet proof glass in Washington. The documents I speak of are contained between Genesis and Revelation.