The rainbow symbolizes national and/or racial diversity in Christianity. Jiukai is pretty much the Gothic equivalent of Greek νίκα ‘prevail’, except it may be optative rather than imperative.
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Category Archives: Doctrine
Assembly of the Divine
A friend made me aware that Dr Michael S. Heiser passed away on February 20 of this year (2023). He was associated with the Logos project and wrote prolifically entertaining articles on his own blog to raise interest in bible study in the ancient languages. I was unaware of his scholarly work on The Council of El as mentioned in Psalm 82. It is a very important topic, so I will try to summarize his findings and give my own perspective on it in purple text so that it’s easy to tell our ideas apart.
Psalm 82 begins: (Psalm by Asaph)
אלהים נצב בעדת–אל בקרב אלהים ישׁפט
Elohim stands in council(/church) of El; among Elohim he judges.
ὁ θεὸς ἔστη ἐν συναγωγῇ θεῶν, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ θεοὺς διακρίνει.
Heiser explains that we can be sure the first instance of Elohim is singular since the verb is grammatically singular, and that the second instance is plural (among the gods) because you can’t be “among” a single person.
To me this is an interesting psalm because the word for council corresponds to the Syriac word for church, as used in the NT Peshitta, and because I have noted that churches as judges’ rings (that I wrote about previously) tend to be located in the same places (on a sandy hill, ca 100 m from a creek or a lake). Indeed, “church” has etymological connections to words for rings. Could this psalm be an example of democracy mentioned in the Old Testament and what is the connexion between democracy and theocracy?
I would like to note that this verse supports the idea expressed by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:12 that members of a church typically should judge other members of that church but not persons who are outside the church.
Ring rhymes on Thing
One of the things that connect Scandinavian iron-age burial culture with that of the Wisła/Vistula river mouth, and therefor the Wielbark archeological culture, is the stone circles — graves which, according to Scandinavian tradition, were used as thing-sites and judicial courts: called domarringar ‘judges’ rings’. They are circular formations of an odd number of raised or boulder-shaped stones, typically located on a hill ca 100 m from a watercourse.
Do they hold a mystery for us?
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On Malign Parents
It’s Easter-time again, so let’s look at some gospel passages.
The Almighty Pantokrator Trick
It is a well known rhetoric tactic to either pretend that you are bad at convincing people or to pretend that your opponent in a discussion would be very good at convincing people. It sounds like a honest acknowledgement of his or her skill, but is really intended to make the audience suspicious towards their arguments and premises.
This tactic applies on a large scale as well, except in war-time when people, organizations and empires want to appear powerful in order to get a psychological advantage. Holy scripture has survived many wars. It is perhaps more difficult for it to survive peace. In this article, let us look at two examples of when God has been described as “almighty” in the scripture of the Christians.
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Was the Wuhan Virus nCoV2019 sent by God?
This will be a short post to let you know that I’m not dead yet. :}
The first thing to note is that the persons who suggest that this virus would have been “sent from God” or a “gift from God” are mostly atheists who scorn the Christians and their God. The second thing to note is that the same people often advocate the virus, claiming that it is not dangerous for young persons (which it is) and criticizing the attempts that most people do to avoid getting infected.
Amos 3:7 reads:
Will a trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be terrified?
Will there be evil in a city, which the Lord did not do?For the Lord God will not do a thing unless he reveals instruction to his slaves the prophets. (NETS)
Maybe it was just me who missed the prophecy in this case, but as far as I know there was none. This text in Amos also hints that “Lord God” sometimes is blamed for things that other persons do.
Our divine Lord rarely if ever targets the whole world at once, but only some areas where his actions can make a positive difference. I’d like to point out that this also holds true for the Deluge, because what is translated as “the whole world” in many bibles is Hebrew “kol ha arets” which could just as well mean “the whole land”. COVID-19 as the Wuhan Virus sickness is officially called, has now been recognized as a pandemic, that is to say a globally spread disease. That is almost like an official recognition that it wasn’t sent by the god of the Christians.
However, this expression “the Christians” can be a bit ambiguous. There exists a tendency for people who are born to Christian parents to assume that they themselves are Christian without really having researched their own faith, history or holy scriptures. Perhaps they do know a few things their parents have taught them, and so when life becomes tough, they turn to their culture and try to find concepts that will help them manage and deal with various problems.
Some might find a connexion between the divine and light and begin to think that this has something to do with skin colour. But it isn’t so simple.
Some persons will read about how the Roman emperor Constantin introduced Christianity to the Roman Empire and might think that God is just people with a lot of power. But it isn’t so simple.
Some will note that God comes across as very intelligent throughout the whole Old Testament, and so does Jesus in the NT, and conclude that God is the person with the most IQ. But it isn’t so simple.
People who adhere to such heresies could be behind the Wuhan Virus, but I see no particular reason to think so.
A trail on 1 Corinthians 14:34
Let us compare the handed down text of 1 Corinthians 14:31-40 with my reconstruction of the ausgangstext translated to English King James style, and a suggestion for how to render it in a modern bible!
| v. | KJV | Reconstruction | Suggestion |
| 31 | For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. | For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. | For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. |
| 32 | And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. | And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. | And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. |
| 33 | For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. | For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. | For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all congregations of the saints. |
| 34 | Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. | — | — |
| 35 | And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. | — | — |
| 36 | What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? | What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? | What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? |
| 37 | If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. | If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. | If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. |
| 38 | But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. | But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. | But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. |
| 39 | Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. | Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. | Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. |
| 40 | Let all things be done decently and in order. | Let all things be done decently and in order. | Let all things be done decently and in order. |
| 41 | — | — | [Let the women keep silence in congregation: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. |
| 42 | — | — | And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in congregation.] |
The verses 34-35 exist in all manuscripts, however in the Book of Armagh (ca year 808) and in Codex Claromontanus (mid 5th century), they appear at the end of chapter 14. These two are also supported by Ambrosiaster’s commentary. How do I know?
A grant from the European Union enabled Brill to release for free a digital copy of a collation of Old Latin witnesses to Paul’s letters. You can download it here.
The word that KJV translated “church” is Greek εκκλησια. Liddel & Scott’s dictionary says:
An assembly of the citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly: at Athens, the ordinary assemblies were called κύριαι ἐκκλησίαι, four in each πρυντανεία […]
The word εκκλησια can mean church, but doesn’t necessarily refer to a Christian congregation, so translating it with ‘church’ in 1 Cor 14:34 involves some unnecessary speculation.
At the end of the verse we read: “… as also saith the law.” When “the law” is mentioned in Paul’s letters it is usually understood to mean the Mosaic law. However, in this case it becomes farfetched to try to find something in the Mosaic law that forbids women from speaking in assemblies. It would also be anachronistic to try anhave this bronze-age law collection talk about Christian churches.
The Greek-English lexicon BDAG provides some pointers that may be relevant. Under headword λαλέω, it mentions in connection with 1 Corinthians 14:34, Plutharch’s Moralia 142 D, which reads:
Τὴν Ἠλείων ὁ φειδίας Ἀφροδίτην ἐποίησε χελώνην πατοῦσαν,
οἰκουρίας σύμβολον ταῖς γυναιξὶ καὶ σιωπῆς.
Δεῖ γὰρ ἢ πρὸς τὸν ἂνδρα λαλεῖν ἢ διὰ τοῦ ἀνδρος,
μὴ δυσχεραίνουσαν εἰ δι ἀλλοτρίας γλώσσης ὥσπερ αὐλητὴς φθέγγεται σεμνότερον.
— Moralia 142 D.
They also reference Inscriptiones Graecae 1369, so let’s quote it as well:
Α Γ Λ Α Υ Ρ Ο Υ Ι Ε Ρ Ε Α Φ Ε Ι Δ Ο Σ Τ Ρ Α Τ Η
Ε Τ Ε Ο Κ Λ Ε Ο Υ Σ Α Ι Θ Α Λ Ι Δ Ο Υ Θ Υ Γ Α Τ Η Ρ
… normalised …
Ἀγλαύρου ἱέρα Φειδοστράτη
Ἐτεοκλέους Αιθαλίδου θυγάτηρ.
It is considered bad practice to omit a portion of text from a bible if that text is in all manuscripts, even if we believe it is not original. In this case, verses 34-35 may have been original in their position at the end of chapter 14, or they may originate in the very first letter that Paul sent to the Corinthians, for he had addressed them previously (1 Cor 5:9). If so, it becomes easy to understand why Paul doesn’t provide us with context to his advice or specify which law he refers to, since his first letter wasn’t intended to circulate as scripture.
Exodus and Exit everywhere and look at Matthew 6:19
I was transcribing some Gothic and noticed that Codex Argenteus has two different words for stealing in verse 19 and verse 20 respectively of Matthew chapter 6. These verses aren’t particularly known for textual variants. Here’s ESV to give you an idea what we’re talking about:
19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Whoever has, to him more shall be given — Why?
For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. — Matthew 13:12, ESV.
A friend brought up this verse recently and said it has been abused and interpreted to mean that it would be fair to redistribute resources from persons who have less to those who have more. Is Christ the Anti-Robin-Hood? Such an interpretation should be rejected, of course, with ease by any Christian, but a few questions remain:
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How do I recognize a true prophecy before it gets fulfilled?
It was a pretty boring lesson a warm springday but Charlotte1, the teacher, just explained the subject as well and clearly as she could so that at least those who were motivated could grasp it.
All of a sudden, Magnus1 fell off his chair and was lying on the floor unconscious. Almost all gathered around him to see what had happened. Charlotte asked Jenny1 to open a window for the ventilation was quite deficient. Perhaps that was why he fell unconscious?
Magnus opened his eyes and sat up. With squeaky voice and an appalled look he said: “Fredric1, if you do not instantly cease pecking your artery and learn to respect life, you will die!”
After the initial shock, the whole room burst out in a belly laugh. Apparently, the guy was oversensitive and couldn’t endure seeing someone play with their arteries. Charlotte asked them all to refrain from that activity and, come the break, most of the children gathered around Magnus to see if they could make him swoon again by pecking their arteries, hit them with pieces of stone or sawing with rulers. It had no effect.
What use do we have for prophets if we cannot tell apart a real one from one who makes things up? This article aims to give you a number of criteria to help you discern which messages should be taken seriously.