BibleByDon

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Purpose of this Blog:
I want to learn about the History of the Bible and how it was written, and this will be one place where I can store some information and notes as I work on this long term Project.

Comment:
Many years ago I volunteered to do a Sunday School class on the History of the English Bible but after a bit I realized it would take longer than I planned to prepare and that the bigger story was the History of the whole Bible. I withdrew my offer to do the class and have been working on the  bigger project over the years. I might finish in 10 years or so - or never finish. The fun is in working on it for I never with acquire enough understanding to finish this project in an adequate manner.

Though these notes are mainly for  giving me a place to put ideas, feel free to give me info and feed back if you want. 

Here are some issues prompting me to learn more about this subject

1. What is the right Bible, is it the original writing or is it later revisions. what is the right source of the Bible . . is it the oldest source. In general I have thought the older the more accurate, but is an older version always more accurate; not if the "original" was lost of course. Witherington says  "the bottom line is that you want a translation that conveys most accurately the original meaning of the Biblical text" (page 140). Do I agree?
2. Want to know a lot about these people and more
1. John Wycliffe
2. John Hus
3. Johann Gutenberg
4. Thomas Linacre
5. John Colet
6. Erasmus
7. William Tyndale
8. Martin Luther
9. Myles Coverdale
10. John Rogers
11. Thomas Cranmer
12. King Henry VIII
13. Queen Mary
14. John Foxe
15. John Calvin
16. John Knox
17. J B Phillips  -  in 1972 revised ealier version of NT where he had paraphrased and interpolate 
18. King James I
19. John Bunyan
20. John Eliot
21. Noah Webster
22. Constantine
23. John Wesley

1. Differences in the Jewish Bible and the Christian Old Testament Bible
2.  Differences in the Christian Protestant and Catholic Bible
3. According to many scholars, Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible.
4. The Exile into Babylonia and failure of what the Jews expected from God (and vice versa) had much to do with getting the Bible organized
5. Did Jesus use the right Bible when quoting.
6. "Everyone" says the Bible is inspired by God. Which Bible, which version
7. What Bible did Ezra find after returning from Babylonia
8. Errors in the Septuagint were carried over into  many later Bibles , especially the King James and other English ones.
9. The Catholic Church used Latin translations and did not want it translated into the language of the people, in England the Church 's objections led to the deaths of Bible translators. My take on this that "Job Security" was the reason the Catholic preists and leaders of the church did not want others to be able to read the Bible.
10. A side story not related too much is the subject of the Crusades.
11. Merit of not including the Old testament because of the examples of a vengeful God(123)
12. Are all the people writing and revising the Bibles "inspired?"
13. Is the Bible inerrant meaning "free from error" according to Webster, all of it?
14. What is the history of the Jewish Bible vs the history of the Christian Bible.
15. When were verse numbers added, and chapters, and vowels.
16. What material was the Bible written on  and when.
17. Importance of Dead Sea Scrolls, Constantine, Cyrus, Egypt in the history of the Bible.
18. Jews wrote in Hebrew (and Aramaic), Jesus spoke Aramaic, New Testament in Greek, Rome used Latin,King James spoke English, Martin Luther German , etc
19. What are important dates, memorize them. Captivity, building of Temple twice, various Bibles.
20. Know about the various versions of the Bible. James likes the RSV but Ben does not so much. He likes the T.... which I found I did not much.
21. Who are all the famous translators  with dates and accomplishments.
22. What are the Jewish terms such as  Torah which I thought were just first 5 books but find in Jewish Bible preface that can be their whole  Bible.
23. Did Jesus write anything (maybe). Could he read (yes)
24. Place of the apocrypha in the various versions and religions.
25. Why Apocrypha is in some Bible and not in others
26. What about the Bible by Smith
27. What parts of Bible are generally accepted as wrong
28. In the Septuagint writing, what sources were used that were later found not to be older or more reliable.to be
29. Names like Origan, Tyndale, Martin Luther, and a hundred more I want to have a working knowledge of.
30. Differences between the  various popular Bibles RSV, NRSV, King James, Latin, Great Bible, Living . . . on and on
31. 24 was the great commission  part of the original Bible or was it added later to make a good story. Same for Mary after the tomb . . plus other similar situations . .  what do scholars say about such variations.
32. Two different versions of Creation and other similar variances even in the same type version of the Bible.
33. The slant toward male dominance.
34. The anti Jewish bias some say exists.
35. The role and differences of a  Pharisee and Sadducee
36. First printed Bible, first in USA, First printed English Bible.
37. What happened during the  time from the Old Testament ending and beginning of new. 
38. Spong suggests that Paul's problem was homosexual , page 122 of his xxxx (later will add)..
39. Spong says Paul had something to do with the writing of Math Mark Like and John as Paul wrote before those books were written and he feels those books used some of Paul's thoughts.. That is significant in the History of the Bible; I only heard that from one source
40. role of j p q etc in development of the Bible

Versions and Translations

Versions and Translations

20150813 J B Phillips (1972) Translation of the New Testament in Modern English (Revised Edition) 

Click Here for larger pages on Phillips Bible

 This ia an example of a translator getting carried away with his own feelings which  "led me to paraphrase and sometimes to interpolate clarifying remarks which certainly are not in the Greek." He published this Revised edition to correct his ealier version.

 

20150813 J B Phillips (1972) Translation of the New Testament in Modern English (Revised Edition)

Outline byDon

Outline byDon

•  Part 1

1.  Lets talk about 
1. why I am here and 
2. What is the Purpose of this session on the History of the Bible and 
3. purpose of a Bible .
2. Purpose of what we do today
1. Talk about who wrote the Bibles - plural, When I say History of the Bible I really am searching for who wrote it and how it was shared
2. talk about the beginning of the Bible and some of the basic issues in such a review, later we might examine these issues in more detail if there is enough interest
3. We could approach it  as an attempt to worry about whether inspired or not or if there are too many errors or whether it is the truth
4. or approach it that , as Ben Witherington says, it is accurate PERIOD
5. Of course I am not capable of  answering either way but I can help us understand the tremendous efforts of many people and translators and why there were so many objections to translating the Bible into the vulgar - meaning language of the people - especially in English
3. James does ETopcs on many subjects including the writers of the Bible. 
1. While his comments are interesting, he is not very specifice not even with the Moses issue. 
2. I will add more from his work here later but the link is as follows:
3.  eBible Questions
4. Originally I was looking into the history of the English Bible
1. I knew the KJV was used often and now there are other versions in English people use
2. So first I was interested in the History of the King James version but that led to examining the History of the English Bible which is even broader
3.  and onto examining the translations from the original language
4. What Language was the Bible in
1. Old Testament
1. Hebrew mainly
2. Some Aramaic
2. New Testament
1. Greek mainly
3. Apocrypha
1. ???
5. Jesus spoke Aramaic, read a Hebrew Bible translated to Greek
6. What have we heard is the purpose of a Bible, not necessarily what you think it is, what you heard
1. Word of God, 
2. Guidance in living,
3. Make sure the Chosen Race behaves
4. learning how to get to Heaven, 
5. How to be better people 
6. to set up punishment if did not worship God
7. I am not here to address  a much more important point - how the Bible can help us  get to Heaven, or salvation as it usually is called
8. The main thing I hope you will leave here with is 
1. understand the tremendous efforts of many people and translators in bringing the Bible to us
2. Appreciate the wide variety of input into the Bible
9.  Back on date) the Library at MPUMC sponsored a display included Bibles from mebers.
1. It can be seen on line at the following link
1. 
   
10.  Interesting Bible facts
1. Jesus spoke Aramaic, read a Greek Bible that had been translated from Hebrew; He never read the KJV
2. The Catholic Church did not want people to be able to read the Bible (why? Some say job security) so they forced the churches to have it read in Latin - which most worshipers did not understand
3. Many people were killed  at the direction of the Catholic Church for trying to bring a vulgar bible to the masses.
4. The first printed Bible in the American colonies  was in  an Indian language
5. What did Moses write
6. 
   
11. Who wrote Bible, 
1. Lot of oral history of course
2. who knows if Moses was able to write down the story of Creation etc
3. The Dead Sea Scrolls perhaps are the oldest examples of early Bible writing and they confirm later writings
4. When were they written if Moses did not do it
5. Much of it came from when the Jews  living in a foreign land
12. How did the Bible  stories begin
1. Oral for many years until some folks speculate was written in Heirogritherics
2. God wrote the 10 commandments with his finger so the Bible says
3. Moses is attributed with writing the first five books of the Bible . . some even say he wrote about his own death at the end of  which book
4. I am not so sure he wrote all that as we can address another time
13. We mentioned the first 5 books of the Bible, what are they and what called
1. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Duetorominy  and called
2. Torah in Hebrew
3. in Greek called Pentateuch
14. Some of the early Bibles had had 80 books , how is that
15. There are how many books in Bible
1. Old Testament 39 now
2. New Testament 27
3. Apocrypha  14 +/-
4. =80
16. What is Apocrypha
1. Jewish books from period between 150 BCE and 100 Ce
2. Some were parts of the other 39
3. Similar to other books but not felt of enough importance to be included in the CANON 
17. What is Canon?
1.  
18. Dates that are important:
1. 1492  

•  Part 2

1. Writers of the Early Bible(s)

1. Biblical scholars since the 17th century have pointed to evidence that human writers, and in fact a number of different writers, composed the Bible. Mainstream Jewish and Christian organizations, including seminaries and rabbinical schools, generally embrace such scholarship—seeing the voice of God in a text compiled by human hands. In the following interview, Michael Coogan, Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College and Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum, offers insights into how scholars today understand how the first five books of the Bible were written.
2. Mainstream scholars like Coogan point to strong evidence that humans had a hand in the writing and editing of biblical texts. Enlarge Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation

2. An anthology of sacred texts

1. NOVA: Most people may see the Bible as a single text, but is it?

1. Michael Coogan: One way of thinking about the Bible is that it's like an anthology of literature made over the course of many centuries by different people. Think of an analogy: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, which covers over a thousand years, from Beowulf into the 20th century. The Bible covers a similar span. The earliest texts in the Bible likely date to before 1000 B.C., and the latest texts go at least to the 2nd century B.C., and for Christians, into the 2nd century A.D. So it is an anthology of the literature of ancient Israel and early Judaism, and for Christians, of earliest Christianity, as well.
2. Like any anthology, it's selective. There were many other texts that the ancient Israelites and early Christians produced that we no longer have. We have reference in the Book of Numbers, for instance, to the Book of the Wars of Yahweh. Yahweh was the name of the God of Israel. And it must have been a wonderful book, but all we have is a kind of learned footnote.

2. If it's an anthology, what ties the Bible together?

1. More than anything else, the Bible is an account of the actions of God in the world from creation, and especially his dealings with humans, and especially with a certain subset of humans, the ancient Israelites. 
2. So it's really the story of God acting in history.

3. Do you think it has a central theme?

1. That's a difficult question to answer. I think the central message is that there is a God who is deeply and passionately involved in human history, from the scope of empires to the details of an individual's life. 
2. Within that larger framework, one of the major themes of the Bible is that of covenant. In Christian tradition, the two parts of the Bible are the Old and New Testaments, and "testament" is just an archaic word for covenant.

4. Was the Israelites' idea of a having a covenant with God unusual?

1. Well, the word "covenant" in Hebrew, berit, really means contract. It's used in the Bible to describe all sorts of secular agreements. It's used for treaties between one king and another. It's used for marriage. It's used in debt slavery, in which someone would pay off a debt by agreeing to work for someone. Contracts like that are known throughout the ancient world.
2. The biblical writers used this legal metaphor to describe the relationship between God and Israel, and God and various individuals within the ancient Israelite community. And that seems unique. No other ancient people used that metaphor to describe their relationship with their god or gods.
3. For nearly 2,000 years, Jewish and Christian tradition held that Moses, directed by God, composed the first five books of the Bible.

3. The Five Books of Moses -The first five books of the Bible, which Jews know as the Torah, are also called The Five Books of Moses. Where did the idea that Moses wrote these books come from?

1. In the Hebrew Bible, Moses is the single most important human character, and more space is devoted to the account of Moses' life and speeches by Moses than to anyone else in the Bible. Moses is also considered closer to God than anyone else in the Bible. 
2. And certainly by the 5th century B.C., the idea developed that Moses had written down words that God himself had spoken on Mt. Sinai. Eventually—and this didn't happen until several centuries later—it came to be understood that Moses wrote all of the first five books of the Bible.

3. What were some clues that led biblical scholars to question this belief?

1. The view that Moses had personally written down the first five books of the Bible was virtually unchallenged until the 17th century. There were a few questions raised before that. For example, the very end of the last book of the Torah, the Book of Deuteronomy, describes the death and burial of Moses. 
2. So some rabbis said Moses couldn't have written those words himself because he was dead—perhaps Joshua, his divinely designated successor, wrote those words. 
3. But other rabbis said, no, Moses was a prophet, and God revealed to him exactly what would happen at the end of his life.
4. "Underlying the Bible are several different ancient documents or sources, which biblical writers and editors combined at various stages into the Torah."
5. So scholars began to think not just that Moses was not the author, but that ordinary men and women (mostly men) had written these pages.

6. What are some obvious inconsistencies, for instance in the Noah story?

1. In the story of the flood, in Genesis chapters 6 to 9, there seem to be two accounts that have been combined, and they have a number of inconsistencies. For example, how many of each species of animals is Noah supposed to bring into the ark? One text says two, a pair of every kind of animal. Another text says seven pairs of the clean animals and only two of the unclean animals.
1. [For more analysis of the flood story, see Who Wrote the Flood Story?.]
2. The Book of Genesis offers what appear to be two disparate accounts of Noah and the flood interwoven together.  Were there 2x2 or 7x7?
3. Was it a passover meal or something else
4.  Did Jesus cleanse the Temple at beginning or ending of his ministry
5. 
   

7. Why would the biblical writers compiling the various accounts include such clear discrepancies?

1. Even before the Bible became the Bible, even before these texts became official canonical scriptures, there was an idea of preserving ancient traditions. 
2. Preserving ancient traditions was more important than a kind of superficial consistency of plot or detail.

4. The Documentary Hypothesis -What is the Documentary Hypothesis?

1. The Documentary Hypothesis is a theory to explain the many repetitions, inconsistencies, and anachronisms in the first five books of the Bible. 
2. In its classic form, it says that underlying the Bible are several different ancient documents or sources, which biblical writers and editors combined at various stages into the Torah as we have it today.

3. What's the earliest source? It might be "J"

1. The earliest of these sources is the one known as J, which many scholars initially dated to the 10th century B.C., the time of David and Solomon, or perhaps a bit later, to the 9th century, after the split of the United Kingdom into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. 
2. Some scholars today, however, question that dating, placing J as late as the 4th century B.C.

3. How did it get the name "J"?

1. The J source gets its name because it uses the divine name "Yahweh." In the stories about Abraham, for instance, God is called Yahweh. 
2. The German word for Yahweh is spelled with a J instead of a Y. And the German scholars who initially worked on the Documentary Hypothesis called the source "J."
3. Separate biblical writers in Genesis seem to have used different names for God. One of these names is YHWH, generally pronounced "Yahweh." Enlarge Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation

4. People reading the Bible today in English don't come across the name Yahweh. Why is that? Tell us more about the name.

1. It's a very mysterious name. In Jewish tradition it came to be considered so sacred that it was never to be pronounced. When you ran across this name in the Bible, written with its four consonants, which in English would be YHWH, you never read what that name was, you read some other word, usually a word that means "Lord." The Hebrew word is Adonai. This pious substitution became standard in Jewish tradition and also in Christian tradition. Almost all translations of the Bible say "The Lord."
2. It's also a mysterious name because we don't know exactly what it means. It seems to have been the personal name of the god of Israel. His title, in a sense, was God, and his name was these four letters, which we think were probably pronounced something like Yahweh.

5. How does the Bible, in the sections that are attributed to this oldest source, J, depict Yahweh when he first appears?

1. The earliest poems we have in the Bible depict the God of Israel, Yahweh, as a god who comes from the south, surrounded by an entourage of heavenly warriors who fight with him. 
2. He appears on mountains with all the accoutrements of a storm—the mountains quake, and the Earth shakes, and the clouds drop down water. 
3. He is, in effect, a storm god, like many other storm gods of the ancient Mediterranean world. J uses some of this language, 
4. and also, J describes Yahweh as a god personally involved with humans, like deities in myths of other cultures.
5. In Jewish tradition, when reading from the Torah, the Hebrew word Adonai ("The Lord") is substituted for the sacred name "Yahweh." Enlarge Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation

4. The E and D sources - So the J source used the name Yahweh, but other sources used a different name for God. Tell us about the so-called E source.

1. In Genesis, in many passages, God is called not Yahweh but Elohim. And some of these passages were identified in the Documentary Hypothesis as coming from a source called E, for Elohim. The E source is very difficult to characterize. The J source has a fairly coherent narrative, but the E source is extremely fragmentary. Some scholars even wonder if there is an E source.
2. In the classic understanding, the E source seems to have a northern origin, because the stories in the book of Genesis are frequently set in the northern part of Israel, in what became the northern Kingdom of Israel.
3. "In the Book of Deuteronomy there seems to be a new understanding of God's relationship with Israel and Israel's relationship with its God."

4. Does E depict God differently than J does?

1. Yes. In the J source, God appears directly to people. For example, he speaks directly to Abraham—he even comes to visit him and has dinner with him in his tent. I
2. n the E source, however, God is more remote. God doesn't appear in person to human beings, but God appears to them in dreams or sends messengers, later to be called angels, or sends prophets, but doesn't deal with human beings directly.
3. To portray the writers of the biblical texts, NOVA turned to actual scribes living in Jerusalem today. Enlarge Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation

5. What's the next source, according to the chronology of the Documentary Hypothesis? The third source is called D

1. The third source is called D, and it takes its name from the Book of Deuteronomy. It is found almost exclusively in the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy has a very distinctive style, which is very different from that found in the earlier books of the Torah. 
2. t also has important themes that, although found earlier in the Torah, are given special emphasis in Deuteronomy, especially the insistence on the exclusive worship of the God of Israel.

3. Is it known when this source was written?

1. Many scholars think that it was written in the late 8th century B.C. It was subsequently used by King Josiah, in the late 7th century B.C., in support of his effort to unify the kingdom and to enforce religious observance.

2. What does the Bible itself—the later books of the Bible—tell us about Josiah and his link to Deuteronomy?

1. We are told in the Book of Kings that King Josiah learned that a scroll had been discovered in the temple archives. 
2. The scroll was brought to him and read out loud before him. And the narrative goes on to say that, as the scroll was being read, 
3. Josiah began to weep, because he realized that it was a sacred text containing divine commands that the people had been breaking.
4. After he heard the scroll read, King Josiah ordered a sweeping religious reform throughout his kingdom. 
5. And the details of that reform, as described in the Book of Kings, correspond in many details to the divine requirements in the Book of Deuteronomy.

6. What were some of the requirements?

1. Josiah required, for example, that all of the shrines to other gods and goddesses throughout the land be destroyed. He also forbade the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel, at any place other than Jerusalem. 
2. The Book of Deuteronomy says, "You shall worship the Lord, your God, only at one place, at the place he will choose."
3. Scholars have wondered about Josiah's motivation. Was it simply his piety? Or was there a political motivation as well? By requiring that all Israelites worship Yahweh only in Jerusalem, Josiah brought under his direct control the enormous religious establishment of ancient Israel, which up until that time had been scattered in various centers of worship throughout the land.

7. How does Deuteronomy describe Israel's relationship with God?

1. In the Book of Deuteronomy there seems to be a new understanding of God's relationship with Israel and Israel's relationship with its God. One of the terms that Deuteronomy uses repeatedly is the term "love." "You should love the Lord, your God, because he has loved you. 
2. He has loved you more than any other nation." So the divine love for Israel requires a corresponding loyalty to God, an exclusive loyalty to God. And Deuteronomy, more than any other part of the Bible, is insistent that only the God of Israel is to be worshipped.

5. The final synthesis

1. These last writers, the priestly writers, are known as P, right?

2. What events led to the last major phase of the writing of the Torah?

1. In the 6th century B.C. the Babylonians invaded the Kingdom of Judah twice. In the second invasion, which began in 587 B.C. and ended in 586 B.C., they destroyed the city of Jerusalem. It was the end of a way of life. It was the end of control of the Promised Land by the descendants of Abraham for many, many centuries. It was the end of the dynasty founded by David. The Temple, which was supposed to be the only place where Yahweh was worshipped, was destroyed, and a significant part of the population was taken to exile in Babylon. It was a crisis of enormous proportion.
2.  
3. The great Israeli biblical scholar Yehezkel Kaufmann said it is a watershed, it is when ancient Israel ends and Judaism begins. Amongst the exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon were priests from the temple. And they seem to have brought with them their sacred documents, their sacred traditions. According to the Documentary Hypothesis, they consolidated these traditions—they edited them, and they constructed what became the first version of the Torah.

4. "The priests collected the ancient traditions and shaped them into the Torah."

3. These last writers, the priestly writers, are known as P, right?

1. Yes. So it was P who took all these earlier traditions—the J source, the E source, the D source, and other sources as well—and combined them into what we know as the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. The P source, in fact, frames the Torah with its own material: The first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is from the P source, and most of the last chapter of the last book of the Torah, the Book of Deuteronomy, is also from the P source.
2. 588 "P' mentioned as looked back  to past and found a reason for hope. (Armstrong 25) Built on PE adding Numbers and Leviticuse 
3. Coogan and other scholars think that a group they call the Priestly Writers compiled the work of previous authors during the Babylonian Exile. Enlarge Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation

4. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the Israelites retained their faith. That seems remarkable.

5. Yes. In the ancient world, if your country was destroyed by another country, it meant their gods were more powerful than yours. And the natural thing to do was to worship the more powerful god. But the survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. did not give up the worship of Yahweh. They continued to worship Yahweh and struggled to understand how this could have happened.
6. One explanation was that they were being punished deservedly for their failure to live up to the covenant obligations. Probably one of the reasons why the priests collected the ancient traditions and shaped them into the Torah was so that these covenant obligations would not be forgotten again.

1. So they kept the faith that, as long as they were loyal to God, God would protect them and return them one day to the Promised Land.

1. Yes. One of the pervasive themes in the Torah is the theme of exile and return. Over and over again, individuals and groups leave their land only to return. Abraham goes down to Egypt and comes out of Egypt. Jacob goes to a foreign land and returns. The Israelites go to Egypt and get out. And for the exiles in Babylon in the 6th century B.C., that theme must have resonated very powerfully. God, who had acted on their behalf in the past, will presumably do so again.
2. To assure that divine protection, the priestly writers stress aspects of religious observance that were not tied down to the land of Israel itself, that were not attached to any particular institution such as the temple, that did not require a monarchy—all of those had ceased to exist. So the P tradition emphasizes observances such as the Sabbath observance, such as dietary observance, such as circumcision. You don't need to be in the land of Israel to keep the Sabbath. You don't need a temple or a king or a priesthood to observe the dietary laws. Any Jew anywhere in the world can do that. So the priestly tradition, writing for these exiles, was teaching them how to be faithful to the covenant.
3. [For more on the The Rise of Judaism, read this interview with Shaye Cohen.]
4. This feature originally appeared on the site for the NOVA program "The Bible's Buried Secrets". See the original site for more related features.
5. Interview conducted in September 2007 by Gary Glassman, producer, writer, and director of "The Bible's Buried Secrets," and edited by Susan K. Lewis, senior editor of NOVA Online

6. It wasn't until the 17th century, that people began to look at the Bible not just as a sacred text but as they would look at any other book

1.  with the rise of critical thinking in many disciplines—in science, in philosophy, and others—that people began to look at the Bible not just as a sacred text but as they would look at any other book. 
2. And they began to notice in the pages of the first five books of the Bible a lot of issues that didn't seem consistent with the idea that Moses was their author. For example, Moses never speaks in the first person; Moses doesn't say, "I went up on Mt. Sinai." 
3. There are also a lot of repetitions—the same stories told from different perspectives. And there are also many, many inconsistencies; as the same stories are retold, many of the details change.

7. Temporary holding for J D E P:

   Need to put J D E  JE and P in some years (see where some might go at 588BC in chart below)
   good link: Writers of the Bible http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/writers-bible.html
   The J source
8. The J source
9. gets its name because it uses the divine name "Yahweh." In the stories about Abraham, for instance, God is called Yahweh. The German word for Yahweh is spelled with a J instead of a Y. And the German scholars who initially worked on the Documentary Hypothesis called the source "J.
10. How does the Bible, in the sections that are attributed to this oldest source, J, depict Yahweh when he first appears?
• The earliest poems we have in the Bible depict the God of Israel, Yahweh, as a god who comes from the south, surrounded by an entourage of heavenly warriors who fight with him. 
• He appears on mountains with all the accoutrements of a storm—the mountains quake, and the Earth shakes, and the clouds drop down water. 
• He is, in effect, a storm god, like many other storm gods of the ancient Mediterranean world. J uses some of this language, 
• and also, J describes Yahweh as a god personally involved with humans, like deities in myths of other cultures.

The E and D sources 

• So the J source used the name Yahweh, but other sources used a different name for God. Tell us about the so-called E source.   
• In Genesis, in many passages, God is called not Yahweh but Elohim. And some of these passages were identified in the Documentary Hypothesis as coming from a source called E, for Elohim. The E source is very difficult to characterize. 
• The J source has a fairly coherent narrative, but the E source is extremely fragmentary. Some scholars even wonder if there is an E source. 
• In the classic understanding, the E source seems to have a northern origin, because the stories in the book of Genesis are frequently set in the northern part of Israel, in what became the northern Kingdom of Israel.
• "In the Book of Deuteronomy there seems to be a new understanding of God's relationship with Israel and Israel's relationship with its God."
• Does E depict God differently than J does?Yes. 
• In the J source, God appears directly to people. For example, he speaks directly to Abraham—he even comes to visit him and has dinner with him in his tent. In the E source, however, God is more remote. God doesn't appear in person to human beings, but God appears to them in dreams or sends messengers, later to be called angels, or sends prophets, but doesn't deal with human beings directly.

 000000Tthird source is called D What's the next source, according to the chronology of the Documentary Hypothesis?

• The third source is called D, and it takes its name from the Book of Deuteronomy. It is found almost exclusively in the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy has a very distinctive style, which is very different from that found in the earlier books of the Torah. It also has important themes that, although found earlier in the Torah, are given special emphasis in Deuteronomy, especially the insistence on the exclusive worship of the God of Israel.
• Is it known when this source was written?
• Many scholars think that it was written in the late 8th century B.C. It was subsequently used by King Josiah, in the late 7th century B.C., in support of his effort to unify the kingdom and to enforce religious observance.

Part 3

1. xxxx contends that the New Testament of the  Bible is  mainly a myth and he defines a myth as 
2. He goes into great detail to make his point including
3. Q now comes into play as a source of writings for the new testament to go along with P E D R.

20150721 Paul and Women

Hi folks

Enjoyed lunch as always Sunday and talking with you. Good to see Liz too.  One thing I mentioned was the above scripture, especially   v 15. 
I promised to get back to you on where it was in Bible - and I have added a few comments! Gena Haywood was our teacher for the class Sunday, and she always does a fine job.
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I bet we all are familiar with most of this scripture but I never noticed v 15 of   I Timothy 2, 1-15  before . Below are quotes from 3 versions of the Bible, they are about the same. Also below is scripture from the Living Bible which is  different. Then last is scripture from the Phillips Bible. It is really different. See the note I attached to it.

On class we were discussing Paul including,

• how some of  "his" Books seem different from earlier ones
• He had plenty of woman helping him as leaders and supporters and officials in their churches even though "his"  books are tough on women at times.
  
• that perhaps someone wrote books attributed to him  to modify his earlier comments by trying to make them more in line with the then current thinking
• How are we are deal with  passages such as  this  today

In Ownbey, Ace has discussed that all the books attributed to Paul were not written by him. (Ace discussed the ambiguity of authors in his Ownbey class  9/29/14  on Hebrews here.)
Some claim were written  by people "who knew what he would say." Kinda like Billy Graham does not write his column in the paper, others do and claim  they know what Billy would say.

The 7 "Genuine" Paul letters are as follows: (according to various sources and  the Living class I am taking during SS hour).

1. 1 Thessalonians,
2. 1 and
   
3. 2 Corinthians
4. Galatians
5. Philemon
6. Philippians
7. Romans. 

1 Thessalonians is probably the earliest and Romans the latest.
----------------
The other 6 are not thought to be  his:

1. Colossians
2. 1 and 2 Timothy
3. 2 Thessalonians
4. Ephesians
5. Titus
6. Hebrews

Don 7/21/2015

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Here are the scriptures  from the RSV, NRSV, and original King James

1 Timothy 2:8-15 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire ¹⁰ but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion. ¹¹ Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. ¹² I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet woman will be saved through bearing children,^[a] if she continues^[b] in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Timothy 2:15 Or by the birth of the child  1 Timothy 2:15 Greek they continue

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1 Timothy 2:8-15 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

⁸ I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument; ⁹ also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, ¹⁰ but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. ¹¹ Let a woman^[a] learn in silence with full submission. ¹² I permit no woman^[b] to teach or to have authority over a man;^[c] she is to keep silent. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Timothy 2:11 Or wife   1 Timothy 2:12 Or wife     1 Timothy 2:12 Or her husband

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1 Timothy 2:8-15 King James Version (KJV)

⁸ I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. ⁹ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; ¹⁰ But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.  ¹¹ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.¹² But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵ Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

No Footnotes!

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1 Timothy 2:8-15 Living Bible (TLB)

⁸ So I want men everywhere to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from sin and anger and resentment. ^9-10 And the women should be the same way, quiet and sensible in manner and clothing. Christian women should be noticed for being kind and good, not for the way they fix their hair or because of their jewels or fancy clothes. ¹¹ Women should listen and learn quietly and humbly.
¹² I never let women teach men or lord it over them. Let them be silent in your church meetings. ¹³ Why? Because God made Adam first, and afterwards he made Eve. ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was fooled by Satan, but Eve, and sin was the result. ¹⁵ So God sent pain and suffering to women when their children are born, but he will save their souls if they trust in him, living quiet, good, and loving lives.

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1 Timothy 2:8-15 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Notes byDon:
J. B. Phillips is an interesting man and translator. He did a Bible  and tried to make it clearer for (young) people to read by modifying and adding his thoughts into the text of the Bible (not in footnotes) and his version supposedly became so popular in schools teaching Bible that he decided he had done a disservice. He subsequently again modified the Bible  to reflect more of the "originals and less of his thoughts). He even apologized in the front of his version for have done the first version that way. I would quote it but  can not find that Bible now. That probably has happened to many or all of the books of the Bible, folks wanted to make it clearer and easier to read with more versions even if changing the originals. With Phillips,  I am not sure which is which when reading his Bibles
Here is one of his versions of this scripture

⁸ I want the men to pray in all the churches with sincerity, without resentment or doubt in their minds.

My views on men and women in the Church

^9-15 The women should be dressed quietly, and their demeanour should be modest and serious. The adornment of a Christian woman is not a matter of an elaborate coiffure, expensive clothes or valuable jewellery, but the living of a good life. A woman should learn quietly and humbly. Personally, I don’t allow women to teach, nor do I ever put them into positions of authority over men—I believe their role is to be receptive. (My reasons are that man was created before woman. Further, it was Eve and not Adam who was first deceived and fell into sin. Nevertheless I believe that women will come safely through child-birth if they maintain a life of faith, love, holiness and gravity).

Quiz on How We Got the Bible byDon (1)

x
Quiz on How We Got the Bible byDon
No need to sign
http://biblebydon.blogspot.com/2014/10/quiz-on-bible-history-bydon.html

1. Which Bible is older
1. King James Version
2. Living Bible
2. Who is most recent
1. Moses
2. Paul
3. Which Bible was in Greek
1. Septuagant
2. New American Standard Bible
4. Most English Bibles have How many Books in the Old Testament
1. 67
2. 39
3. 12
5. Most English Bibles have How many Books in the New Testament
1. 3x9 or 27
2. 102
3. 23
6. The content of the Jewish Bibles and the Christian Bibles generally is  the same  (True) (False)
7. Which Bible is more prone to have the Apocrypha
1. King James Version
2.  Catholic Bibles
8. Following are names associated with  How We Got the Bible in some way. Check if any names are familiar to you, do not need to know about them!

1. John Wycliffe	Queen Mary
   Johann Gutenberg	John Calvin
   Erasmus	John Knox
   William Tyndale	King James I
   Myles Coverdale	Noah Webster
   King Henry VIII

9. If did a class on the How We Got the Bible , what would be one thing you  think  the class would be interested in hearing/discussing? (not necessarily the most important.) Indicate if no interest if such be the case, thanks
10. What is the purpose of the Bible: (circle more than one if you want)
1. Know word of God,
2. Guidance in living, 
3. learning how to get to Heaven, 
4. How to be better people 
5. other _________________
   
11. Any Comment  ?

  For more professional tests, click her. Below is one I aced the first time:

I think a secret to high score is to answer what you think they think, not always what you think.

1. Results for: The Bible

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   1) What do most Christians believe about the Bible? Your answer was: It is inspired by God, but written by various human authors. That's correct! The Christian Bible consists of two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. Each of these sections contains many books written by various human authors, many of whom are unknown. Christians believe all the ancient writings of the Bible were inspired by God, and tell the story of God's progressive revelation to His people.

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   2) What else do Christians believe about the Bible? Your answer was: It tells the history of God's salvation of His people. That's correct! The Old and New Testaments are unified by the continuing story of God's acts of salvation for His people. From God's call of Abraham 4000 years ago, the Old Testament prophets, Jesus' life, death and resurrection, the kingdom of God, and finally to Jesus' promise to return and put an end to all suffering and death, the Bible tells of God's plan of salvation for mankind.

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   3) Which of these is NOT part of the Bible? Your answer was: The history of the medieval Church That's correct! The Old Testament contains history of Israel, teachings of many prophets and books of wisdom. The New Testament tells of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and contains additional writings by His followers from the early years of Christianity.

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   4) Which of these is taught by the Bible? Your answer was: How to live in harmony with God and with all of humanity That's correct! More than anything else the Bible contains timeless ethical, moral and spiritual guidance which is as valid today as when the ancient Bible books were written. It shows a us a new set of beliefs and attitudes that lead to personal and spiritual fulfillment in this life and ultimately to eternal life with God. However, the Bible is not a work of mysticism, secret knowledge, magic or ciphers. Its teachings are very much involved with the daily lives and choices of ordinary people.

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   5) Nearly all the events of the Bible occurred in one region of the world. Which region? Your answer was: The Middle East That's correct! The Bible is set in Palestine, the region that is now Israel and the surrounding area. It was a region where trade routes crossed and many different cultures came together, often violently. In Biblical times Palestine was ruled successively by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Roman Empire. The three great monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- all emerged from this small strip of land.

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   6) What can be said about the original writings that make up the Bible? Your answer was: None of the original documents are known to exist. That's correct! From the time they were first written, two to three thousand years ago, until printing was invented in the 15th century, the Bible books were copied entirely be hand on papyrus, animal skins or parchment. As a result, there are many minor variations in the texts. Scientific dating methods have enabled 20th century Bible scholars to determine which of the surviving copies are the oldest and thus probably closest to the originals.

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   7) The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves around the Dead Sea in 1947, and are considered a major source of knowledge about the Bible. What do they contain.? Your answer was: The oldest known copies of parts of the Old Testament of the Bible That's correct! The Dead Sea Scrolls contain copies of the Old Testament books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Isaiah. These copies date from around 100 B.C., much older than any other surviving copies.

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   8) In the 4th century Pope Damascus assigned his secretary, Jerome, the task of producing an accurate translation of the Bible in Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. Jerome completed the task in 405 A.D., and his translation became the standard Bible of Christianity for over 900 years. What was this version called? Your answer was: The Vulgate That's correct! Jerome did a good job of correcting the mistakes in previous Latin versions. The Vulgate became a respected and enduring translation. The high cost of hand-copied Bibles and the fact that they were available only in Latin kept Bibles out of the reach of ordinary people until well after printing was invented in the 15th century. Even after that many of the churches opposed letting common people read the Bible on the grounds they would not be able to interpret it correctly. Widespread Bible availability is a relatively recent development.

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   9) When was the whole Bible first translated into English? Your answer was: 1380 A.D. That's correct! John Wycliffe (1330 - 1384) was a scholar, preacher and social reformer in England who spoke out against corruption in the Church and non-Biblical Church teachings. He wanted to make the Bible accessible to the common people instead of just the few scholars and clergymen who could read Latin. So, he took on the task of translating the Latin Vulgate into English.

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   10) Who was responsible for producing the first printed version of the Bible? Your answer was: Johann Gutenberg That's correct! Johann Gutenberg, a German goldsmith, invented the movable type press in the 1440's and began production of his printed edition of the Latin Vulgate. Gutenberg lost his printing shop to financier Johann Fust in a 1455 lawsuit, but is believed to have completed the major part of the production prior to that time. This was the beginning of making the Bible widely available, instead of only to the privileged few who could afford a hand-copied edition. 47 copies of the Gutenberg Bible are still in existence. Click on the image for a larger view of the intricate decoration of this page of the Gutenberg Bible.

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   11) What is the King James Version? Your answer was: An English translation commissioned by James I of England and first published in 1611 That's correct! King James commissioned a group of 47 scholars to produce a new English version of the Bible, and the KJV was first published in 1611. The translators were masters of English style, and the KJV has enjoyed wide public acceptance among Protestants to this day. Today, the KJV sounds majestic with its "thee", "thy" and "thou" pronouns and other archaic language, and many people still prefer it. However, the archaic language often prevents modern readers from fully understanding its meaning.

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   12) About how many languages has the Bible been translated into? Your answer was: 1500 That's correct! In whole or part, the Bible has been translated into over 1500 Languages.

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   13) What is the Apocrypha? Your answer was: A group of Jewish writings that were included in some versions of Jewish scripture, but were excluded from the official canon of Judaism That's correct! The Apocrypha is a group of 15 late Old Testament books written during the period 170 B.C. to 70 A.D. These Jewish books were included in many versions of the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) in circulation as the New Testament was being formed, but were excluded from the official canon of Judaism, established about 100 A.D.

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   14) What is the difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles? Your answer was: The Old Testament of the Catholic Bible contains the books of the Apocrypha, but most Protestant Bibles do not. That's correct! The books of the Apocrypha were originally included with other Old Testament books. But Protestant reformers considered them less authentic and put them in a separate section of the Bible -- the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha was routinely printed as part of Protestant Bibles until the mid 1800s, but is now rarely included.

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   Congratulations!
   You scored 14 out of 14 for a PERFECT score of 100 %.
   This quiz has been taken 72025 times with an average score of 58 %.
   
   
   
    
   

   Results for: Bible Versions I

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   1) Most of the Old Testament was originally written in what language? Your answer was: Hebrew That's correct! Most of the OT was written in Hebrew, but parts of the book of Daniel were written in Aramaic, the commonly spoken language of Palestine.

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   2) The New testament was originally written in what language? Your answer was: Greek That's correct! Although Jesus and his disciples probably spoke Aramaic, the New Testament books were written in Greek, the commonly used language of writing.

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   3) How many books are in Protestant versions of the Old testament? Your answer was: 39 That's correct!

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   4) How many books are in Catholic versions of the Old testament? Your answer was: 49 The correct answer is: 46 In addition to the books in the Protestant Bible, Catholic versions of the Old testament include Tobit, Judith, First Maccabees, Second Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch

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   5) How many books are in the New Testament? Your answer was: 27 That's correct! The 27 New Testament books were formally adopted by the Synod of Carthage in 397 A.D. There are 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 13 Epistles (letters) attributed to Paul, and 9 other Epistles.

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   6) For how many books of the Bible do the original manuscripts still exist? Your answer was: None That's correct! As far as is known, no original manuscripts still exist, even from the New Testament. All the most ancient sources are hand made copies of copies.

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   7) What is the time period covered from the call of Abram in Genesis 12 to the end of the Old Testament? Your answer was: 2000 B.C. to 400 B.C. That's correct! The call of Abram probably dates from around 2000 B.C. Events from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Joshua occurred around 1250 B.C. Events from Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra and Nehemiah are from the period 700 - 400 B.C.

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   8) The events of the New Testament occurred about how long ago? Your answer was: 2000 years That's correct! The New testament tells of the Life of Jesus, born around 4 B.C., and the ensuing beginnings of Christianity.

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   9) The books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are known as what? Your answer was: The Pentateuch That's correct! Pentateuch is a Greek term meaning "five volumed" and refers to the first five books of the Old Testament. For Jews, this was the "Book of the Law," or simply "The Law."

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   10) The books of Tobit, Sirach, Maccabees, etc., are known as what? Your answer was: The Apocrypha That's correct! The Apocrypha (meaning "things hidden") is a collection of Jewish books dating from the period 150 B.C to 70 A.D. which are traditionally included in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, but are excluded or put in a separate section of Protestant Bibles.

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   Congratulations!
   You scored 9 out of 10 for an EXCELLENT score of 90 %.
   This quiz has been taken 42266 times with an average score of 62 %.
   

   Results for: Bible Versions I

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   1) Most of the Old Testament was originally written in what language? Your answer was: Hebrew That's correct! Most of the OT was written in Hebrew, but parts of the book of Daniel were written in Aramaic, the commonly spoken language of Palestine.

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   2) The New testament was originally written in what language? Your answer was: Greek That's correct! Although Jesus and his disciples probably spoke Aramaic, the New Testament books were written in Greek, the commonly used language of writing.

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   3) How many books are in Protestant versions of the Old testament? Your answer was: 39 That's correct!

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   4) How many books are in Catholic versions of the Old testament? Your answer was: 49 The correct answer is: 46 In addition to the books in the Protestant Bible, Catholic versions of the Old testament include Tobit, Judith, First Maccabees, Second Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch

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   5) How many books are in the New Testament? Your answer was: 27 That's correct! The 27 New Testament books were formally adopted by the Synod of Carthage in 397 A.D. There are 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 13 Epistles (letters) attributed to Paul, and 9 other Epistles.

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   6) For how many books of the Bible do the original manuscripts still exist? Your answer was: None That's correct! As far as is known, no original manuscripts still exist, even from the New Testament. All the most ancient sources are hand made copies of copies.

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   7) What is the time period covered from the call of Abram in Genesis 12 to the end of the Old Testament? Your answer was: 2000 B.C. to 400 B.C. That's correct! The call of Abram probably dates from around 2000 B.C. Events from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Joshua occurred around 1250 B.C. Events from Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra and Nehemiah are from the period 700 - 400 B.C.

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   8) The events of the New Testament occurred about how long ago? Your answer was: 2000 years That's correct! The New testament tells of the Life of Jesus, born around 4 B.C., and the ensuing beginnings of Christianity.

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   9) The books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are known as what? Your answer was: The Pentateuch That's correct! Pentateuch is a Greek term meaning "five volumed" and refers to the first five books of the Old Testament. For Jews, this was the "Book of the Law," or simply "The Law."

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   10) The books of Tobit, Sirach, Maccabees, etc., are known as what? Your answer was: The Apocrypha That's correct! The Apocrypha (meaning "things hidden") is a collection of Jewish books dating from the period 150 B.C to 70 A.D. which are traditionally included in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, but are excluded or put in a separate section of Protestant Bibles.

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   Congratulations!
   You scored 9 out of 10 for an EXCELLENT score of 90 %.
   This quiz has been taken 42266 times with an average score of 62 %.
   

   Results for: Bible Facts I

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   1) Where did the Ten Commandments come from? Your answer was: God gave them to Moses. That's correct! Over 3000 years ago, God called Moses, the leader of the Hebrew people, to the top of a mountain. There, God appeared to Moses in a cloud of smoke and fire and gave him the Ten Commandments. They are, 1. Worship only God. 2. Do not worship any statues or other "things." 3. Do not swear. 4. Keep one day of the week for rest and worship. 5. Obey your father and mother. 6. Never kill another person. 7. Be faithful to your wife or husband. 8. Never take anything that does not belong to you. 9. Do not tell lies about anybody. 10. Don't spend your time wishing for things you don't have. The Ten Commandments are in Exodus 20:1-21, and are as important today as they were 3000 years ago.

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   2) What happened to the prophet Jonah? Your answer was: He was swallowed by a giant fish. That's correct! The Bible book of Jonah tells this funny story of Jonah and the giant fish. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people there to change their evil ways. But Jonah didn't want to go and tried to get away from God by getting on a ship headed to the other side of the world. But God made a big storm at sea and Jonah knew it was a sign from God. He told the sailors to throw him into the sea and, as soon as they did, the storm was over. Underwater, Jonah saw a huge fish, and to his horror, the fish opened its mouth and swallowed him whole! Three days later the fish spit Jonah out, unharmed, on a dry beach. Jonah knew then there was no getting away from God, and he went to Nineveh as he had been told.

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   3) What happened to the prophet Daniel? Your answer was: He was thrown into a fiery furnace. The correct answer is: He was thrown into a den of lions. The story of Daniel and the lions' den is told in Daniel 6:1-28. Daniel was the chief advisor to King Darius, but the king's other advisors were jealous and wanted Daniel killed. They tricked the king into making a law that everyone should worship him as a god, but Daniel knew that was wrong and refused to do it. Because Daniel had not followed the new "law," he was thrown in a pit of lions to be eaten! However, God performed a miracle and protected Daniel from the lions. When the king saw that the ferocious lions had not harmed Daniel, he declared that the people should worship only Daniel's God, the one true God..

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   4) How did Moses' mother save him from being killed by the evil pharaoh? Your answer was: She hid him in a basket floating in the river. That's correct! The evil pharaoh (king) of Egypt hated the Hebrews. He made them slaves and ordered that all Hebrew boys should be killed! In desperation, Moses' mother made a basket to hold him and floated it in the tall reeds beside the river to hide him from the Egyptian soldiers. The pharaoh's own daughter came by and found baby Moses. She was not evil like her father and she felt sorry for the baby. She took him and raised him as her own child. The story of Moses' birth is told in Exodus 2:1-10.

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   5) What happened to the three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Your answer was: They were thrown into a fiery furnace. That's correct! King Nebuchadnezzar built a tall statue of gold and called it his god. He said everyone must pray to the statue or he would throw them in a fiery furnace to die. The three good men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, knew that God had forbidden worshipping statues, so they refused the king's order. The king was furious and had the three men thrown in the blazing furnace, but God protected them from the fire and they were not hurt. The king knew then that God was the greatest, not his statue. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is told in Daniel 3:1-30.

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   Congratulations!
   You scored 4 out of 5 for a VERY GOOD score of 80 %.
   This quiz has been taken 59161 times with an average score of 95 %.
   
   
   
   
   

   Results for: The Old Testament

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   1) The Old Testament of the Bible contains the sacred writings of which people? Your answer was: The Jews That's correct! The Jews are also known as Hebrews or Israelites in the Old Testament. The Jews divide their Bible into 24 books, but the Christian Old Testament contains the same material, arranged differently, and divided into 39 books. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain additional books that are not part of the Jewish canon.

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   2) When was the Old Testament written? Your answer was: Between 3000 B.C. and 1000 B.C. The correct answer is: Between 1000 B.C. and 100 B.C. The events narrated in the Old Testament, beginning with the call of Abraham, occurred between roughly 1800 B.C. and 400 B.C. Stories of these events were passed from generation to generation in oral form for many centuries before first being written down somewhere around 1000 B.C.

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   3) What language was most of the Old Testament originally written in? Your answer was: Hebrew That's correct! The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language with a few sections written in the closely-related Aramaic language.

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   4) Who was Noah? Your answer was: A Man who built an ark to survive the Great Flood That's correct! Genesis chapters 6, 7 and 8. The people of the earth had become so evil that God decided to destroy them in a flood and start over. God instructed one righteous man, Noah, to build an ark. Noah took his family and a male and female of each animal aboard the ark to survive the flood and repopulate the earth. The stories in Genesis chapters 1-11: the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Forbidden Fruit , Cain and Abel, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel are part of the "prehistory" of Israel. They have no definite time or place. Many people believe they are intended to be interpreted like parables to teach us lessons about God and our relationship to Him, rather than as historical events.

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   5) Who was Abraham? Your answer was: Ancestor of the Jews That's correct! Genesis chapters 12-25. Somewhere around 1800 B.C. God said to Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (NIV, Genesis 12:2-3). Abraham was the ancestor of both the Jews and the Arabs. The Jews trace their lineage to Isaac, son of Abraham and Sarah. The Arabs trace their lineage to Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar.

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   6) Who was Moses? Your answer was: A prophet who led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt That's correct! Sometime around 1300 B.C. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6) and called him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh did not want to lose his slaves, but a series of miraculous plagues upon the Egyptians, and finally the death of all Egyptian firstborn children, convinced him to give the Israelites their freedom. Moses then led them out of Egypt to begin a 40-year journey to their Promised Land. The Jewish holiday of Passover celebrates the Israelites' liberation from slavery in Egypt.

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   7) Which book of the Bible contains the Ten Commandments? Your answer was: Genesis The correct answer is: Exodus Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Three months after leaving Egypt, God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments Virtually all the moral teachings and wisdom of the Bible have their roots in the Ten Commandments. Though these principles are more than 3000 years old, they still define the basis for a well-functioning society.

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   8) Who was Ruth? Your answer was: A pious woman, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, wife of Boaz and great-grandmother of King David That's correct! Ruth chapters 1-4. Ruth was a woman of exceptional piety and virtue. She refused to abandon her mother-in-law, Naomi, as they traveled to Palestine, even though Naomi urged Ruth to leave for her own good. Her good deeds were rewarded. While gleaning a field she caught the eye of Boaz, the owner of the field. Eventually she and Boaz were married and had a son, Obed, who was the grandfather of King David.

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   9) Who was David? Your answer was: The second king of Israel. He killed the Philistine giant Goliath with a slingshot. That's correct! 1 Samuel, 1 Kings. Saul was the first king of Israel, but became jealous of David's abilities and tried many times to kill him. Eventually Saul died in battle and David became king around 1000 B.C. David was a brilliant military leader and conquered many of the neighboring states. He was also an accomplished musician. David's adultery with Bathsheba and his arrangement for her husband to be killed were a blot on his reign.

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   10) Who was Solomon? Your answer was: The third king of Israel. He was known for wisdom. That's correct! 1 Kings. At David's death, his son, Solomon, became king and ruled for 40 years. Solomon's reign was a time of peace and prosperity for Israel. Solomon was noted for wisdom, as in his decision regarding two women both claiming the same baby (1 Kings 3:16-28). However, Solomon took many foreign wives and their pagan practices led to moral decay in Israel. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, succeeded him as king. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign Egypt invaded Jerusalem, and Rehoboam was forced to give up the Temple treasures as the price of peace.

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   11) Who was Elijah? Your answer was: A prophet who built an altar atop Mount Carmel that was set ablaze by God. He was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind. That's correct! 1 Kings chapters 17-19. Around 870 B.C. Ahab became the seventh king of Israel. His wife Jezebel was an evil woman who influenced Ahab to adopt pagan worship and to kill God's prophets. At this point the prophet Elijah began preaching and predicted a severe drought as punishment for Ahab's misdeeds. After three years of drought Elijah made a challenge to the 850 pagan prophets. Each side would build a sacrificial fire to their gods, but not light it. The god who was able to light the fire would be revealed as the true god. When fire fell from heaven and lit Elijah's altar, the people were convinced. The pagan prophets were killed and God sent rain to end the drought.

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   12) Who was Jonah? Your answer was: A prophet who was swallowed by a giant fish before obeying God's command to preach to the Ninevites. That's correct! Around 760 B.C. the Israelite prophet Jonah was called by God to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire. To the Israelites the Assyrians were despised pagan enemies, and Jonah did not want to go. He boarded a ship to try to escape from God. However, a terrible storm arose and Jonah ended up in the sea, where he was swallowed by a giant fish. After three days the fish spit him out on dry land, and Jonah realized it was not wise to try to defy God. He did go to Nineveh and preach as God had told him.

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   13) Who was Isaiah? Your answer was: Known as "the weeping prophet", God touched his mouth and gave him the right words to speak. The correct answer is: An official of King Uzziah who received the call to be a prophet and predicted the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah began his forty years of prophecy around 740 B.C. when King Uzziah died. Isaiah preached mainly of the judgment God would bring on His people because of their sinfulness and rebellion. But he also predicted the coming of the Messiah: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (KJV, Isaiah 7:14). Isaiah was a man of great literary skill, as shown by the Old Testament book that bears his name.

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   14) Who was Jeremiah? Your answer was: An official of King Uzziah who received the call to be a prophet and predicted the coming of the Messiah. The correct answer is: Known as "the weeping prophet", God touched his mouth and gave him the right words to speak. Jeremiah began his forty years of prophecy around 627 B.C. God had destined Jeremiah to be a prophet even before he was born (Jeremiah 1:4-10), but Jeremiah protested that he was only a child and did not know how to speak. But God touched Jeremiah's mouth and said, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth." Like Isaiah, Jeremiah spoke of God's coming judgment on his people, and he wept over the sins of Israel (Jeremiah 9:1-11). The Israelites ignored Jeremiah's warnings, and the judgment came in 587 B.C. when Jerusalem was captured and destroyed by the Babylonian army.

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   15) Who was Esther? Your answer was: Queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who saved her people from a plot to eliminate them That's correct! Around 470 B.C. the Persian king Ahasuerus, in a drunken stupor, demanded that Queen Vashti display herself to his guests. She refused and was banished from the palace. Ahasuerus then ordered all the beautiful young virgins of his kingdom brought to the palace so he could choose her replacement. The Jewish girl Esther was very beautiful and was appointed queen. At this time one of the king's advisors, Haman, hatched a plot to kill the Jews of the kingdom and seize their property, and persuaded the king he must consent. However, Esther, using great skill and tact, exposed Haman's plot and evil nature and saved her people from destruction. The Jewish Feast of Purim celebrates this event.

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