NO ERRORS IN BIBLE
Faith is in the heart, NOT in the details. Faith does not need proof. The proof is in an inner feeling that the bible calls the Holy Spirit of truth. The heart of faith settles the matter and the mind says "OK, then I don't really need the details either." These details, however, in collaboration with the written material of the early Christian leaders, tell a story of the four gospel writers, in complete collaboration with each other, composing a history (His story) of their hero, Jesus. Taken as a whole, the four gospels reveal a unique 'history' wherein Peter and Paul along with Mark and Luke were all brought together and residing in Rome at the same time that Matthew, now hiding out in Egypt, began writing his gospel to all Jews also living in Diaspora like himself, while John, disposed from Jerusalem as were his brethren, began having revelations, but unlike his brethren, John's Diaspora was on an isolated island prison.
Peter's disciple John Mark (Barnabas' nephew and Paul's earlier adversary) came to Rome at the bequest of Paul (2 Timothy 4:11) and while in Rome wrote his gospel about the factual journey of his mentor (Peter) who related to Mark 'to the best of his recollection' about his chronological walk with Jesus. The bible canon purports that it was Paul himself who wrote fourteen letters (including the disputed Hebrews), seven before he went to Rome and the last seven from Rome where he and his physician Luke wrote their gospel of Luke. While these four were collaborating in Rome Matthew was living in 'Diaspora' within a large Jewish settlement in Alexandria, Egypt. The Roman mail route between Rome and Egypt stopped at Patmos, the island prison holding John. Later when John was released he returned to Asia Minor to again shepherd his seven churches where his own personal copies of the three synoptic gospels, along with his personal copies of the letters of Paul, as well as his own book of Revelation, and his own newly written gospel were now also being copied and distributed amongst themselves. Notice that Jesus singled out John's Philadelphia Church for a special purpose.
Revelation 3:8
I know thy works: behold , I have set before thee an open door (COPY CENTER to the world), and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
These ancient copies, originating from John's seven Asia Minor churches, were first collected by Erasmus in 1500AD and later identified as the 'Textus Receptus' manuscripts, becoming the English version of the King James Bible. The King James Bible tells its own unique historical stories (apart from all other bibles) within the SPECIFIC details of its ENGLISH WORDING. Mark's gospel is presented as the foundational rock with the actual facts laid down by Peter as he remembered them. Matthew and Luke, knowing these facts, had no reason to repeat them but instead often expanded upon them, building their own spiritual stories upon Mark's factual foundation. Numbers and details are changed on purpose to reveal deeper insight and spiritual depth to Mark's (Peter's) basic teachings. A wonderful example is Mark's worldly spiritual blind man (Mark 10:46+) who suddenly becomes in Matthew's story (Matthew 20:29+) two symbolic blind men representing both the 'worldly-pagans' ''blatantly shouting'' as well as His 'religious-disciples' ''furtively whispering''. Whereupon Luke (Luke 18:35+) and John (John 9:1+) then add their own unique, and blatantly contradictory, spiritual insights; Luke revealing that the healing of Jesus is 'timeless' and therefore, in his gospel, took place 'before' entering the city, while John insisted in his gospel that the miracle of spiritual insight is not only performed on the highways and byways leading to or coming from pagan cities like Jericho but must also be found in the very heart of the Jerusalem temple whenever and wherever Jesus ''passed by''.
Understood this way, there is never any error or controversy within or among the four gospels, each apparent deviation is neither a blatant contradiction nor a subtle inconsistency but rather a signal sign post to look deeper into an expanding story as each gospel writer adds their own spiritual insights onto Mark's original biography of Peter's walk with Jesus.
1Peter 2:2...2Peter 3:15
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:... even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
1Colossians 3:2...Hebrews 5:12
I (Paul) have fed you with (Peter's) milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able...For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of (Peter's) milk, and not of strong meat.
Whenever I parallel gospel stories I always begin with Mark's gospel, Peter's milk. Mark wrote only what Peter told him to write. Mark's Gospel was the first one written and holds the historical data as remembered by Peter. Luke came to Rome at Paul's request to help Peter pen his gospel to the Roman world and Paul assisted his doctor Luke in his writing of Luke's Gospel to the Greek world. They of course knew each others work. During this same time Matthew was living in Diaspora in a large Jewish settlement in Alexandria Egypt while John was exiled in the Isle of Patmos. ''All roads lead to Rome'' says the ancient slogan and all mail between Rome and Egypt sailed through Patmos where John both read and mailed back his own revelations to their common synoptic gospels. After being released from his exile in Patmos John returned to his seven churches is Asia Minor and wrote his own gospel. John's seven churches made copies of all gospels and letters of the early church. These copies later became known as the Textus Receptus, the underlying text of the King James New Testament.
Matthew living in Egypt, and Luke living in Rome were fully aware that Mark/Peter's Gospel clearly stated that only one blind man was healed AFTER Jesus had passed Jericho, Did Matthew and Luke purposefully alter the foundational historical details of Mark's Gospel in order to reveal deeper spiritual truths? Were they in fact following Old Testament tradition? Is there perhaps another reason Matthew 'apparently' disagrees with Mark and records two blind men while Luke 'apparently' disagrees with both Mark and Matthew saying the healing happened BEFORE they passed Jericho. I believe these discrepancies follow an Old Testament technique and are not errors by scribes nor inconsistencies by the gospel authors but are rather layers of spiritual truth added upon Mark's original gospel. Following an Old Testament tradition Matthew's Gospel spiritually builds upon the foundational chronological story that is told in Mark. Luke the Greek doctor and writer of Acts builds his gospel from a common mix of Mark and Matthew. And John also wrote his own gospel in complete harmony (although at times anti-tonal) and with full knowledge of the synoptic events. Notice in the example below how John builds upon Luke's literal story, which now also invites a deeper spiritual under-standing growing from Luke's literal story.
Luke 5:6 (recording an event before the resurrection)
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
John 21:11 (recording an event after the resurrection)
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Peter would not allow Mark's gospel to boast about the time Peter walked on water or about the time Jesus called Peter the rock. But Matthew was free to boast about his hero, the rock that walked on water. And therefore Matthew wrote in his gospel that Peter's faith was the very foundation of the church. Peter's faith was the rock upon which the church was to be built. Matthew's Gospel is not merely endorsing Peter but is also implying/insisting that we begin with Peter's foundational teachings given in Mark's Gospel. As babes in Christ we first read the broad strokes of Matthew and then we read the shorter gospel of Mark, which hammers home the basic basics of our faith. Once we babies finish Revelation we are ready for first grade. A little meat with our milk and we now start comparing gospels rather than just the verses within a gospel. When paralleling gospel stories I ALWAYS begin with Mark. Once Peter's basic foundational teaching is understood then the fun is allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal WHY Matthew, Luke, and John purposefully change certain specific/definite numbers and facts of which they were totally aware.
Continued...
Faith is in the heart, NOT in the details. Faith does not need proof. The proof is in an inner feeling that the bible calls the Holy Spirit of truth. The heart of faith settles the matter and the mind says "OK, then I don't really need the details either." These details, however, in collaboration with the written material of the early Christian leaders, tell a story of the four gospel writers, in complete collaboration with each other, composing a history (His story) of their hero, Jesus. Taken as a whole, the four gospels reveal a unique 'history' wherein Peter and Paul along with Mark and Luke were all brought together and residing in Rome at the same time that Matthew, now hiding out in Egypt, began writing his gospel to all Jews also living in Diaspora like himself, while John, disposed from Jerusalem as were his brethren, began having revelations, but unlike his brethren, John's Diaspora was on an isolated island prison.
Peter's disciple John Mark (Barnabas' nephew and Paul's earlier adversary) came to Rome at the bequest of Paul (2 Timothy 4:11) and while in Rome wrote his gospel about the factual journey of his mentor (Peter) who related to Mark 'to the best of his recollection' about his chronological walk with Jesus. The bible canon purports that it was Paul himself who wrote fourteen letters (including the disputed Hebrews), seven before he went to Rome and the last seven from Rome where he and his physician Luke wrote their gospel of Luke. While these four were collaborating in Rome Matthew was living in 'Diaspora' within a large Jewish settlement in Alexandria, Egypt. The Roman mail route between Rome and Egypt stopped at Patmos, the island prison holding John. Later when John was released he returned to Asia Minor to again shepherd his seven churches where his own personal copies of the three synoptic gospels, along with his personal copies of the letters of Paul, as well as his own book of Revelation, and his own newly written gospel were now also being copied and distributed amongst themselves. Notice that Jesus singled out John's Philadelphia Church for a special purpose.
Revelation 3:8
I know thy works: behold , I have set before thee an open door (COPY CENTER to the world), and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
These ancient copies, originating from John's seven Asia Minor churches, were first collected by Erasmus in 1500AD and later identified as the 'Textus Receptus' manuscripts, becoming the English version of the King James Bible. The King James Bible tells its own unique historical stories (apart from all other bibles) within the SPECIFIC details of its ENGLISH WORDING. Mark's gospel is presented as the foundational rock with the actual facts laid down by Peter as he remembered them. Matthew and Luke, knowing these facts, had no reason to repeat them but instead often expanded upon them, building their own spiritual stories upon Mark's factual foundation. Numbers and details are changed on purpose to reveal deeper insight and spiritual depth to Mark's (Peter's) basic teachings. A wonderful example is Mark's worldly spiritual blind man (Mark 10:46+) who suddenly becomes in Matthew's story (Matthew 20:29+) two symbolic blind men representing both the 'worldly-pagans' ''blatantly shouting'' as well as His 'religious-disciples' ''furtively whispering''. Whereupon Luke (Luke 18:35+) and John (John 9:1+) then add their own unique, and blatantly contradictory, spiritual insights; Luke revealing that the healing of Jesus is 'timeless' and therefore, in his gospel, took place 'before' entering the city, while John insisted in his gospel that the miracle of spiritual insight is not only performed on the highways and byways leading to or coming from pagan cities like Jericho but must also be found in the very heart of the Jerusalem temple whenever and wherever Jesus ''passed by''.
Understood this way, there is never any error or controversy within or among the four gospels, each apparent deviation is neither a blatant contradiction nor a subtle inconsistency but rather a signal sign post to look deeper into an expanding story as each gospel writer adds their own spiritual insights onto Mark's original biography of Peter's walk with Jesus.
1Peter 2:2...2Peter 3:15
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:... even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
1Colossians 3:2...Hebrews 5:12
I (Paul) have fed you with (Peter's) milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able...For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of (Peter's) milk, and not of strong meat.
Matthew living in Egypt, and Luke living in Rome were fully aware that Mark/Peter's Gospel clearly stated that only one blind man was healed AFTER Jesus had passed Jericho, Did Matthew and Luke purposefully alter the foundational historical details of Mark's Gospel in order to reveal deeper spiritual truths? Were they in fact following Old Testament tradition? Is there perhaps another reason Matthew 'apparently' disagrees with Mark and records two blind men while Luke 'apparently' disagrees with both Mark and Matthew saying the healing happened BEFORE they passed Jericho. I believe these discrepancies follow an Old Testament technique and are not errors by scribes nor inconsistencies by the gospel authors but are rather layers of spiritual truth added upon Mark's original gospel. Following an Old Testament tradition Matthew's Gospel spiritually builds upon the foundational chronological story that is told in Mark. Luke the Greek doctor and writer of Acts builds his gospel from a common mix of Mark and Matthew. And John also wrote his own gospel in complete harmony (although at times anti-tonal) and with full knowledge of the synoptic events. Notice in the example below how John builds upon Luke's literal story, which now also invites a deeper spiritual under-standing growing from Luke's literal story.
Luke 5:6 (recording an event before the resurrection)
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
John 21:11 (recording an event after the resurrection)
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
Peter would not allow Mark's gospel to boast about the time Peter walked on water or about the time Jesus called Peter the rock. But Matthew was free to boast about his hero, the rock that walked on water. And therefore Matthew wrote in his gospel that Peter's faith was the very foundation of the church. Peter's faith was the rock upon which the church was to be built. Matthew's Gospel is not merely endorsing Peter but is also implying/insisting that we begin with Peter's foundational teachings given in Mark's Gospel. As babes in Christ we first read the broad strokes of Matthew and then we read the shorter gospel of Mark, which hammers home the basic basics of our faith. Once we babies finish Revelation we are ready for first grade. A little meat with our milk and we now start comparing gospels rather than just the verses within a gospel. When paralleling gospel stories I ALWAYS begin with Mark. Once Peter's basic foundational teaching is understood then the fun is allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal WHY Matthew, Luke, and John purposefully change certain specific/definite numbers and facts of which they were totally aware.
Continued...
