George Joseph Oyaro, I’m going to address some of your points. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to really do this right, so I’m only going to at least address some select blunders you’ve made. But this should be enough to show you are way out in left field. #1. You don’t seem to realize that you have ultimately rejected the Messiah that was prophesied through the OT prophets, and have adopted instead a totally pagan understanding of spiritual beings. You said, “Jesus Christ is according to the Bible, God incarnate in man.” Romans 3:4 …let God be true, but every man a liar The idea of “God incarnate in man” is something that biblical Jewish prophets absolutely never believed or taught. Jesus said, in John 4:22, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” This verse alone ought to settle the issue. You have to believe that Jesus lied here. I believe he is the way, the truth and the life. Thus you have made your “God” into a liar already! Where does the Bible actually and CLEARLY state, expound or discourse on your interpretation? Although no Jewish prophet ever stated or believed your interpretation, it was clearly a pagan view of spiritual beings. In the book of Acts we find the first and only biblical account of this pagan concept that I am referring to. The setting is Lystra, recounted in Acts 14, and the pagan concept is described by the pagans themselves who witnessed a cripple being healed through the words of Paul- Acts 14:11-15 11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, THE GODS ARE COME DOWN TO US IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. 12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14 WHICH WHEN THE APOSTLES, BARNABAS AND PAUL, HEARD OF, THEY RENT THEIR CLOTHES, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? WE ALSO ARE MEN OF LIKE PASSIONS WITH YOU, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: It is well known among historians that, just like this passage bears witness: THE IDEA OF GODS APPEARING ON EARTH AS HUMANS IS A THOROUGHLY PAGAN IDEA. One writer, in referring to the above passage, explains the pagan back-drop to their very pagan-inspired conclusion of Paul and Barnabus in Acts 14- “Ovid records a famous myth that serves as the likely backdrop to this incident. According to this story, ZEUS AND HERMES COME TO EARTH DISGUISED AS HUMANS, and go to a thousand homes looking for shelter. They are turned away time after time, until finally one pious couple who lived in a humble home invite them in and provide food and hospitality. The gods reveal themselves to the couple and bless them for their good deeds, transforming their house into a temple and making them into priests (Meta. 8.626ff.). THUS, WHEN THE PEOPLE OF LYSTRA BEHOLD PAUL’S POWER TO WORK MIRACLES, THEY ASSUME THE GODS HAVE COME DOWN TO THEM IN HUMAN FORM...That Lystra was likely aware of this myth is demonstrable, first, from the fact that the myth was set in the nearby Phrygian hill country, and second, because inscriptions and altars found near Lystra contain references to Zeus and Hermes, the key gods in this story (Witherington, 421-22). “14:12 The people of Lystra now explicitly identify the apostles with the gods from this local myth: Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes. Reliefs discovered near Lystra depict Zeus as an elderly man with a beard, and Hermes as his young assistant (Witherington, 422). This suggests that Barnabas was an older man than Paul (Bock, 476). Luke adds that Paul was identified with Hermes because he was the “leading speaker”... A very similar expression…is used to describe Hermes by a later Neoplatonist writer (Bruce, 275); Paul’s powerful rhetoric is therefore compared favorably with how Hermes was supposed to speak.” -taarcheia.files.wordpress/2012/08/exegesis-of-acts-14-8-20.pdf THE GOSPEL FOR PAGANS: PAUL AND BARNABAS IN LYSTRA; Acts 14:8-20; Kyle R. Hughes; NT330A The Book of Acts (last accessed 10/12/2014). (Continued in part 2)
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 10:45:07 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015