Bible

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!
Psalm45:9:

God the Father or God the Son spoke to them directly or he moved them by God the Holy Spirit.

Then the men and women moved by the Holy Spirit preached orally his word and then, later on, wrote some of it down.

Did they know what God wants to say BEFORE God revealed His Word?
Psalm45:9:

But how do you know what is scripture?

What do you mean by “Scripture”? Do you mean the Word of God? If yes, then please explain first what is the Word of God.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[Psalm45_9]

YAQUBOS:

Did they know what God wants to say BEFORE God revealed His Word?

No. Did the Apostles know Christ’s teachings before he pulled out his Bible?

YAQUBOS:

What do you mean by “Scripture”? Do you mean the Word of God?/

I mean the written Word of God. Sorry, God’s word is not limited to the Bible.

YAQUBOS:

If yes, then please explain first what is the Word of God.

God’s Revelation to Humanity, which is both the oral word (Apostolic Tradition) and the written word (The Bible).

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

Dear Psalm45:9, I asked what is the Word of God, and you didn’t stop giving me circular answers. Do you know why? Because you don’t want to believe God, but humans!

So I will stop waiting for a good answer from people who don’t know what the Word of God is…

Many people have a wrong understanding about the Word of God. Some think it is a book, and others think it is words of humans approved by God. And thus you find them defending their ideas about what THEY think is the Word of God with a great enthusiasm which is in fact without knowledge.

Those who have a wrong understanding about the Word, will not have any problem to add human writings to the Word of God, because their understanding of what the Word of God is was wrong in the first place.

Here we find questions like:

• If the Christian poets today are inspired by God, then why don’t we add our hymns to the Scripture? How are they different from the Psalms?
• What is the difference between the inspiration of a biblical author, and the inspiration of a Christian poet today?
• Why don’t we add the writings of Christian bishops to the Scripture?
• How do we know if a writing is the Word of God or not?

In one question:

What is the Word of God?

This is the question we must answer before we discuss any other matter about the Scripture. This is what we must understand before we discuss about any book added to the Scripture by some Christians. When we talk about all those matters, we must first talk the same language, i.e. we must be talking about the same definition of the Word of God. Some people may talk about words of man although they call them “Word of God”…

I tried to open a new thread about this, but it seems that there was a problem, and I didn’t find my thread posted. So I decided to write here and study with you what GOD SAYS is the WORD OF GOD.

To be continued, if He permits.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

Continuing by His Grace.

There is a big misunderstanding among many Christians about the Canon of the Scripture. They think some humans ( the Jews for the Old Testament, and the Church for the New Testament ) DECIDED what is Word of God and what is not. And this is totally wrong. The faithful people of God just **DECLARED **what God has **REVEALED **as Word of God. For instance, the Church never doubted any Book of the Scripture as not being part of the Word of God. SOME believers ( even “Fathers” of the Church ) doubted SOME of the New Testament Books. But these SOME don’t make the WHOLE Church of Christ. And when the Church declared which Books are Word of God, they had not a choice between thousands of books among which they had to pick out those that are the Word of God. They ALREADY knew what God had revealed as Word of God, and they studied those inspired Books to find the rules ( Canon ) by which they could clearly show that all heretical and wrong books didn’t meet those rules or standards.

In one word: the Canon is taken from the Word of God, and not the opposite.

Now, every book or word that doesn’t meet those BIBLICAL Standards, is NOT THE WORD OF GOD.

In the following, we will study by His Grace what God says is the Word of God. And in the same time, we will see how human and satanic books cannot meet the standards taken from the Word of God. True and faithful Christians ( the Church ) declare what is Word of God according to those BIBLICAL Standards.

To be continued, if the Lord wills.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

What are the standards according to which the faithful children of God ( the Church ) accept and reject books as canonical?

In brief: According to God, what is the Word of God?

Answering this simple question will help us see how all human and satanic writings are NOT canonical.

“Canon” comes from Greek and Hebrew words meaning “measuring rod”, so it is a standard that all Scriptural Books must meet. And that standard is not made by humans, but it is revealed by God Himself.

So let’s see what are the five questions that are asked by the faithful children of God in accepting and rejecting books as canonical:

1. Was it written by a prophet or a directly inspired man of God?
   Why this question? Because God says that ONLY a prophet of God will speak the Word of God:

“'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” ( Deuteronomy 18:18 )

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers** in the prophets** in many portions and in many ways” ( Hebrews 1:1 )

“no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” ( 2 Peter 1:21 )

1. Was he ( the prophet or the man of God ) confirmed by an act of God?
   Why this question? Because God says:

“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” ( Hebrews 2:3-4 )

This means that we should expect some miraculous confirmation of those who speak the Word of God. Moses had his rod that turned into a serpent, Jesus had principally the Resurrection, and the Apostles continued Jesus’ miracles…

1. Does it tell the truth about God?
   Why this question? Because:

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” ( Galatians 1:8 ).

So agreement with all earlier revelation is essential. This also helps us recognize false prophecies made in the Name of God, like the Qur’an!

And remember the following:

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” ( Deuteronomy 18:22 )

We see the 4th question and the rest in the next reply, if the Lord permits.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

We continue by His Grace.

1. Does it have the power of God?
   Why this question? Because God says that His Word has the Divine transforming power in the lives of its readers!

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” ( Hebrews 4:12 ).

1. Was it accepted by the People of God?
   Why this question? Because:

“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:13 )

The People of God means the REAL People of God, and not simply a faction of those who call themselves People of God!!!

• The scrolls of Moses were immediately placed in the ark of the covenant ( Deuteronomy 31:24-26 )
• The same for Joshua ( Joshua 24:26 )
• The same for Samuel ( 1 Samuel 10:25 )
• Daniel studies the Book of Jeremiah within FIFTY years after it was written! This shows that Jeremiah’s Book was accepted by the People of God as Scripture! ( Daniel 9:2 )
• Peter calls Paul’s writings as Scripture ( 2 Peter 3:16 )
• Paul’s Letters were circulated among the churches ( Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27 )

So these are the five questions according to which the children of God declared as Word of God those Books that God revealed as Scripture!

Consider them with the filial fear of the Lord…

Here is the challenge: bring any writing or words that can meet this DIVINE CANON, and we will declare it as Word of God!!! But if you have in your hands books that YOU consider as Word of God, although they do NOT meet the DIVINE CANON, so you are in disobedience to God.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

Now let’s compare some human writings that many HUMANS consider as divine to the previous questions of the DIVINE CANON!

I will take the example of the human writings written between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. These books are called by some as Deuterocanonical and by others as Apocrypha. These books were never accepted by the Jews as Scripture and are not included in the Hebrew Bible! And the sad thing is that those who accept them, accept them as a part of that Old Testament!!! They want to accept them, although the People of God in the Old Testament do NOT accept them!!!

Those churches that have accepted these writings as Bible ( yet, they didn’t accept them OFFICIALLY ), they accepted them in the fourth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, it means long after they were written! And they didn’t have the right to declare them as Word of God, because they are part of the Old Testament!

Augustine ( a Latin Church Father ) accepted them in the fourth or fifth century A.D., and he didn’t even accept them as canonical, but as having a secondary status to the rest of the Old Testament! By the way, Augustine is a human, and he can make mistakes!

Other Fathers of the Church were against the canonicity of those books, like:

• Jerome: this is the Hebrew scholar who made the official Latin Vulgate version of the Old Testament, and he DIDN’T add those human writings, because he didn’t believe they are Scripture! But the HUMAN authorities of his church ordered their adding to the version! And you know what it means to oppose those authorities…
• Athanasius: one of the most important Fathers of the Church. He is the most known Father in the matter of the Arian controversy! He didn’t accept those human writings as Divine!

When was the FIRST time when those books were officially added to the Bible of a certain Church ( and NOT the Whole Holy Church of God! ) ?
It is in 1546 A.D.! It was added by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent! And this is suspect! Why? Because the Council of Trent came as a reaction to the Reformation of Martin Luther ( 1517 ). Martin Luther called for some biblical support for human wrong beliefs like salvation by works and prayer for the dead! And as the canonical Scripture doesn’t contain such vanities, so the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church was to add those human writings in support to their human teachings! And as they considered those writings as Scripture, they supposed that the Reformation must accept those human teachings, because their added books talk about them!
Oh, but if you know how those books talk about them!!! About prayer for the dead, 2 Maccabees 12:45-46 !!! This is an example of humans praying for PAGANS who used to worship idols, so that they may have good resurrection!!! Oh! Do you believe that we can pray for a pagan who died without believing in God, so that he may have eternal life??? Don’t you believe what the Bible says that TODAY is the Day of Salvation??? As for the salvation by works, we read it in Tobit 12:9 ( and many other passages of those wrong human writings )! They say you can have salvation by your money!!!

None of those human writings claims to be inspired. Indeed, some of them even deny that they are inspired, because they are not written by a prophet of God!

“Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” ( 1 Maccabees 9:27 )

So these words were not written by a prophet…

And remember! The first question of the DIVINE CANON was: “Was it written by a prophet of God?”…

To be continued, if the Lord wills.

In Love,

Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

Let’s thank the Lord for all His gifts. We continue by His Grace.

So we see that those wrong human teachings that Romans accept as Scripture do not meet those five questions asked by the Holy Church of Christ. Let’s see each question:

1. Were they written by a prophet of God?
   No, they are not written by a prophet of God, as we read in those books themselves!

“Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” ( 1 Maccabees 9:27 )

If the prophets ceased to appear in Israel long before these lines were written, then who wrote these lines??? Of course, NOT a prophet of God!

1. Was that prophet who wrote them confirmed by an act of God?
   As we saw in 1 Maccabees 9:27 ( one of those false human teachings ), prophets ceased in Israel since a long time! So those books say they are not written by a prophet! So why do we have to search for miracles confirming them??!! They clearly say they are NOT prophets! So we don’t need to test them if they are prophets or not.
2. Does it tell the truth about God?
   As we saw in Tobit 12:9, and 2 Maccabees 12:45-46, these books not only do not give us the truth of God, but they also give us many imaginary things… Just read “Bel and the Dragon” and you will see…
3. Does it have the power of God?
   No! It even says that it is not sure that it has a strong human power… Just read the following conclusion of the human author of 2 Maccabees:

“So I too will here end my story.
If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do.”

1. Was it accepted by the People of God?
   No! And we saw this in the previous paragraphs. Although some of the Fathers and some of the churches accepted them ( and we saw why and how… ), but many others didn’t!

And as those writings are supposed to belong to the era of the Old Testament, we must see if the Jews accepted them as Scripture… And we see that they didn’t! And our Lord Jesus Christ didn’t even say a word to them about this!

So according to which canon do you receive those human writings as divine? Do you accept them just because your church teaches you that? Or maybe Rome is God ( God forbid!! ) and has the right to create a new canon!

Listen to this very well: if we don’t deny all what is against the Will of God in our background, we will soon deny Christ practically…

This I wrote by His grace, and my only purpose is to tell everyone about that powerful Word of God that changes lives! I want His Glory, and JUST His Glory! Let all humans shut their mouths! “Listen and give heed, do not be haughty, For the LORD has spoken.” ( Jeremiah 13:15 ).

The CHALLENGE: bring any writings or words that meet the DIVINE CANON, and we will declare them as Word of God!!!

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!

YAQUBOS:

Dear Psalm45:9, I asked what is the Word of God, and you didn’t stop giving me circular answers.

Ditto to that, if you will not accept my answer, then save your breath now.

YAQUBOS:

Do you know why? Because you don’t want to believe God, but humans!

No, I believe in God, who gave his authority to the church, you misunderstand me.

YAQUBOS:

So I will stop waiting for a good answer from people who don’t know what the Word of God is…

Ditto

YAQUBOS:

Many people have a wrong understanding about the Word of God. Some think it is a book, and others think it is words of humans approved by God. And thus you find them defending their ideas about what THEY think is the Word of God with a great enthusiasm which is in fact without knowledge.

You’re not telling me anything new, you be surprised to find I believe in the same thing

YAQUBOS:

Those who have a wrong understanding about the Word, will not have any problem to add human writings to the Word of God, because their understanding of what the Word of God is was wrong in the first place.

AMEN! Adding to the word of God is a heresy!

YAQUBOS:

Here we find questions like:

• If the Christian poets today are inspired by God, then why don’t we add our hymns to the Scripture? How are they different from the Psalms?

Because Divine Revelation has ceased.

- What is the difference between the inspiration of a biblical author, and the inspiration of a Christian poet today?

In one case the author was inspiried by the Holy Spirit to reveal divine truth, in the author instance the author is inspired by the Holy Spirit to write about revealed divine truth, just like the writings of the Church Fathers.

The church has bound the canon shut saying that all divine revelation has ceased is one reason. The other reason is the Christian bishops are writing about the Divine truth they received through both scripture AND Apostolic Tradition

- How do we know if a writing is the Word of God or not?

The infallible church has determined that.

YAQUBOS:

In one question:

What is the Word of God?

God’s Revelation to humanity, which is the Bible and Apostolic Tradition

YAQUBOS:

This is the question we must answer before we discuss any other matter about the Scripture. This is what we must understand before we discuss about any book added to the Scripture by some Christians. When we talk about all those matters, we must first talk the same language, i.e. we must be talking about the same definition of the Word of God. Some people may talk about words of man although they call them “Word of God”…

I tried to open a new thread about this, but it seems that there was a problem, and I didn’t find my thread posted. So I decided to write here and study with you what GOD SAYS is the WORD OF GOD.

OK

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!
YAQBUOS:

There is a big misunderstanding among many Christians about the Canon of the Scripture.

That’s for sure!

YAQUBOS:

They think some humans ( the Jews for the Old Testament, and the Church for the New Testament ) DECIDED what is Word of God and what is not. And this is totally wrong.

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

The faithful people of God just DECLARED what God has REVEALED as Word of God.

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

For instance, the Church never doubted any Book of the Scripture as not being part of the Word of God. SOME believers ( even “Fathers” of the Church ) doubted SOME of the New Testament Books. But these SOME don’t make the WHOLEChurch of Christ.

Well now, if there are some who disagree, then that does not equal the whole Church of Christ. The Church Majority agreed on the Canon is the more correct term. Some people did doubt the authenticity of some of the canonical books, which is why the Holy Spirit in the Church determined what is scripture, through various councils.

YAQUBOS:

And when the Church declared which Books are Word of God, they had not a choice between thousands of books among which they had to pick out those that are the Word of God. They ALREADY knew what God had revealed as Word of God, and they studied those inspired Books to find the rules ( Canon ) by which they could clearly show that all heretical and wrong books didn’t meet those rules or standards.

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

In one word: the Canon is taken from the Word of God, and not the opposite.

AMEN! Apostolic Tradition!

YAQUBOS:

Now, every book or word that doesn’t meet those BIBLICAL Standards, is NOT THE WORD OF GOD.

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

In the following, we will study by His Grace what God says is the Word of God. And in the same time, we will see how human and satanic books cannot meet the standards taken from the Word of God. True and faithful Christians ( the Church ) declare what is Word of God according to those BIBLICAL Standards.

Cool!

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!

YAQUBOS:

What are the standards according to which the faithful children of God ( the Church ) accept and reject books as canonical?

The Holy Spirit telling the Church Hierarchy that a writing or a preacher is heretical.

YAQUBOS:

In brief: According to God, what is the Word of God?

Jesus Christ!

YAQUBOS:

Answering this simple question will help us see how all human and satanic writings are NOT canonical.

AMEN, all human and satanic writings are NOT canonical!

“Canon” comes from Greek and Hebrew words meaning “measuring rod”, so it is a standard that all Scriptural Books must meet. And that standard is not made by humans, but it is revealed by God Himself.

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

So let’s see what are the five questions that are asked by the faithful children of God in accepting and rejecting books as canonical:

1. Was it written by a prophet or a directly inspired man of God?
   Why this question? Because God says that ONLY a prophet of God will speak the Word of God:

“'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” ( Deuteronomy 18:18 )

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways” ( Hebrews 1:1 )

“no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” ( 2 Peter 1:21 )

AMEN, what you say is the truth!

YAQUBOS:

1. Was he ( the prophet or the man of God ) confirmed by an act of God?
   Why this question? Because God says:

“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” ( Hebrews 2:3-4 )

This means that we should expect some miraculous confirmation of those who speak the Word of God. Moses had his rod that turned into a serpent, Jesus had principally the Resurrection, and the Apostles continued Jesus’ miracles…

AMEN! Many Catholic Saints have performed miracles!

 

[Psalm45_9]

Continuing solely by his grace!

YAQUBOS:

1. Does it tell the truth about God?
   Why this question? Because:

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” ( Galatians 1:8 ).

So agreement with all earlier revelation is essential. This also helps us recognize false prophecies made in the Name of God, like the Qur’an!

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

And remember the following:

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” ( Deuteronomy 18:22 )

‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."’ (Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-20)

‘And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, `I am the Son of God.’”’ (Matthew 27:39-43)

AMEN!

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!

4. Does it have the power of God?
Why this question? Because God says that His Word has the Divine transforming power in the lives of its readers!

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” ( Hebrews 4:12 ).

‘But he said to them, "Do not be afraid; you will be safe. But praise God for ever. For I did not come as a favor on my part, but by the will of our God. Therefore praise him for ever.’ (Tobit 12:17-18)

“They threw Daniel into the lions’ den, and he was there for six days. There were seven lions in the den, and every day they had been given two human bodies and two sheep; but these were not given to them now, so that they might devour Daniel. Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” Habakkuk said, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.” Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself. Then Habakkuk shouted, "Daniel, Daniel! Take the dinner which God has sent you."And Daniel said, “Thou hast remembered me, O God, and hast not forsaken those who love thee.” So Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of God immediately returned Habakkuk to his own place. On the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel. When he came to the den he looked in, and there sat Daniel. And the king shouted with a loud voice, “Thou art great, O Lord God of Daniel, and there is no other besides thee.” And he pulled Daniel out, and threw into the den the men who had attempted his destruction, and they were devoured immediately before his eyes.” (Bel and the Dragon 31-42)

“But when he arrived at the treasury with his bodyguard, then and there the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority caused so great a manifestation that all who had been so bold as to accompany him were astounded by the power of God, and became faint with terror. For there appeared to them a magnificently caparisoned horse, with a rider of frightening mien, and it rushed furiously at Heliodorus and struck at him with its front hoofs. Its rider was seen to have armor and weapons of gold. Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful and splendidly dressed, who stood on each side of him and scourged him continuously, inflicting many blows on him. When he suddenly fell to the ground and deep darkness came over him, his men took him up and put him on a stretcher and carried him away, this man who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a great retinue and all his bodyguard but was now unable to help himself; and they recognized clearly the sovereign power of God. While he lay prostrate, speechless because of the divine intervention and deprived of any hope of recovery, they praised the Lord who had acted marvelously for his own place. And the temple, which a little while before was full of fear and disturbance, was filled with joy and gladness, now that the Almighty Lord had appeared. Quickly some of Heliodorus’ friends asked Onias to call upon the Most High and to grant life to one who was lying quite at his last breath. And the high priest, fearing that the king might get the notion that some foul play had been perpetrated by the Jews with regard to Heliodorus, offered sacrifice for the man’s recovery. While the high priest was making the offering of atonement, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus dressed in the same clothing, and they stood and said, “Be very grateful to Onias the high priest, since for his sake the Lord has granted you your life. And see that you, who have been scourged by heaven, report to all men the majestic power of God.” Having said this they vanished.” (2 Maccabees 3:24-34)

AMEN! The power of God!

 

[Psalm45_9]

Continuing solely by his grace!

YAQUBOS:

1. Was it accepted by the People of God?
   Why this question? Because:

“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:13 )

The People of God means the REAL People of God, and not simply a faction of those who call themselves People of God!!!

Amen! Gnostics are not the real people of God!

- The scrolls of Moses were immediately placed in the ark of the covenant ( Deuteronomy 31:24-26 )

• The same for Joshua ( Joshua 24:26 )
• The same for Samuel ( 1 Samuel 10:25 )
• Daniel studies the Book of Jeremiah within FIFTY years after it was written! This shows that Jeremiah’s Book was accepted by the People of God as Scripture! ( Daniel 9:2 )

And St. James studied the book of Enoch and the Assumption of Moses.

• Peter calls Paul’s writings as Scripture ( 2 Peter 3:16 )

But two of St. Paul’s letters are not scripture, which writings were St. Peter talking about?

- Paul’s Letters were circulated among the churches ( Colossians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:27 )

So these are the five questions according to which the children of God declared as Word of God those Books that God revealed as Scripture!

Consider them with the filial fear of the Lord…

The Torah is central to Judaism; all sects of Judaism acknowledge it as scripture. The Sadducees considered the Torah to be the only scripture.

YAQUBOS:

Here is the challenge: bring any writing or words that can meet this DIVINE CANON, and we will declare it as Word of God!!! But if you have in your hands books that YOU consider as Word of God, although they do NOT meet the DIVINE CANON, so you are in disobedience to God.

I have!

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!

YAQUBOS:

Now let’s compare some human writings that many HUMANS consider as divine to the previous questions of the DIVINE CANON!

OK.

YAQUBOS:

I will take the example of the human writings written between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D. These books are called by some as Deuterocanonical and by others as Apocrypha. These books were never accepted by the Jews as Scripture

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible 1963 ) “Even in the second century of the Christian era the Jewish rabbis were not fully agreed on the Canonicity of certan books (e.g. Cant, Eccl; cfr. Also 4, Esd 14,44ff).”

(The Encyclopedia of Judaism, vol 15 page 117)" says that the limit of the third part (Writings) was not finalized until mid of second century. In addition, the Hebrew Canon was also not accepted by Ethiopian Jews who accept Septuagint to this day "

(Dictionary of Biblical Literacy 1986. p.321)“Precisely when Jewish leadership officially adopted the traditional 39 books of the so-called “Hebrew Canon” is not known; nor is there agreement as to exactly what criteria were used in determining the Canon.”

The Ethiopian Jews still consider them to be scripture.

Wait a minute!

YAQUBOS:

There is a big misunderstanding among many Christians about the Canon of the Scripture

. They think some humans ( the Jews for the Old Testament, and the Church for the New Testament ) DECIDED what is Word of God and what is not. And this is totally wrong.

YAQUBOS:

and are not included in the Hebrew Bible! And the sad thing is that those who accept them, accept them as a part of that Old Testament!!! They want to accept them, although the People of God in the Old Testament do NOT accept them!!!

Wait a minute!

YAQUBOS:

And many Jews deny that Jesus is the Christ! Must we believe that also? ( I say this SUPPOSING that what you say about the Jews is true )

Why do you insist on human authorities?

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=266404#post266404

YAQUBOS:

Those churches that have accepted these writings as Bible ( yet, they didn’t accept them OFFICIALLY ), they accepted them in the fourth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, it means long after they were written! And they didn’t have the right to declare them as Word of God, because they are part of the Old Testament!

They are part of the Old Testament of the Alexandrian Canon. “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) They have the authority.

YAQUBOS:

Augustine ( a Latin Church Father ) accepted them in the fourth or fifth century A.D., and he didn’t even accept them as canonical, but as having a secondary status to the rest of the Old Testament! By the way, Augustine is a human, and he can make mistakes!

Just like Arius interpreting the scriptures.

 

[Psalm45_9]

Continuing solely by his grace!

YAQUBOS:

Other Fathers of the Church were against the canonicity of those books, like:

• Jerome: this is the Hebrew scholar who made the official Latin Vulgate version of the Old Testament, and he DIDN’T add those human writings, because he didn’t believe they are Scripture! But the HUMAN authorities of his church ordered their adding to the version! And you know what it means to oppose those authorities…

Wrong!

Jerome

“What sin have I committed if I follow the judgment of the churches? But he who brings charges against me for relating [in my preface to the book of Daniel] the objections that the Hebrews are wont to raise against the story of Susannah [Dan. 13], the Song of the Three Children [Dan. 3:29–68, RSV-CE], and the story of Bel and the Dragon [Dan. 14], which are not found in the Hebrew volume, proves that he is just a foolish sycophant. I was not relating my own personal views, but rather the remarks that they are wont to make against us. If I did not reply to their views in my preface, in the interest of brevity, lest it seem that I was composing not a preface, but a book, I believe I added promptly the remark, for I said, ‘This is not the time to discuss such matters’” (Against Rufinius 11:33 [A.D. 401]).

http://www.catholic.com/library/Old_Testament_Canon.asp

- Athanasius: one of the most important Fathers of the Church. He is the most known Father in the matter of the Arian controversy! He didn’t accept those human writings as Divine!

Again, in order for a dogma to be declared, it must be approved by the majority. The majority approved of the Catholic Canon, as St. Jerome attests.

YAQUBOS:

When was the FIRST time when those books were officially added to the Bible of a certain Church ( and NOT the WholeHolyChurch of God! ) ?
It is in 1546 A.D.! It was added by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent! And this is suspect! Why? Because the Council of Trent came as a reaction to the Reformation of Martin Luther ( 1517 ). Martin Luther called for some biblical support for human wrong beliefs like salvation by works and prayer for the dead! And as the canonical Scripture doesn’t contain such vanities, so the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church was to add those human writings in support to their human teachings! And as they considered those writings as Scripture, they supposed that the Reformation must accept those human teachings, because their added books talk about them!
Oh, but if you know how those books talk about them!!! About prayer for the dead, 2 Maccabees 12:45-46 !!! This is an example of humans praying for PAGANS who used to worship idols, so that they may have good resurrection!!! Oh! Do you believe that we can pray for a pagan who died without believing in God, so that he may have eternal life??? Don’t you believe what the Bible says that TODAY is the Day of Salvation??? As for the salvation by works, we read it in Tobit 12:9 ( and many other passages of those wrong human writings )! They say you can have salvation by your money!!!

The Council of Rome was the first to declare them scripture, as did all the other councils from that point. The council of Trent bound the existing canon shut. Martin Luther also rejected the Epistle of James, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Book of Revelation

YAQUBOS:

None of those human writings claims to be inspired. Indeed, some of them even deny that they are inspired, because they are not written by a prophet of God!

“Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” ( 1 Maccabees 9:27 )

So these words were not written by a prophet…

Nor was Esther. 1 Maccabees was written by the Holy Spirit.

And remember! The first question of the DIVINE CANON was: “Was it written by a prophet of God?”…

St. John the Baptist didn’t write anything.

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

As we can see, the Holy Scripture gives us the clear “list” of the Holy Spirit. God has given us the clear definition of what is the Word of God.

And Psalm45:9, who was asking all the time for that “list” of the Spirit in the Scripture, is now trying to prove that the human writings can meet that DIVINE CANON!!!

So, once for all, we have proved that the Standard is not in humans ( Jews or the Church ), but in God’s Word.

And, dear Psalm45:9, the texts you are quoting from those human writings are not texts without context! They are part of those books that we have proved as NOT MAKING PART OF THE WORD OF GOD, because:

1. They are not written by a prophet, for prophets CEASED in Israel long BEFORE they were written. And this is proved by those human writings themselves! As I have written by His Grace.
2. They are not confirmed by an act of God. An act of God is demanded when there is someone claiming to be a prophet. While these human writings don’t claim to be written by a prophet of God, as we have proved.
3. They don’t tell the truth about God. They may have true parts: the Qur’an also has true parts. But they have other parts that are seriously contradicting the Word of God, as we saw in what I previously wrote by His Grace.
4. They don’t have the power of God, as those books themselves say.
   N.B.: some parts might seem powerful for those who don’t know what is the power of God, just like the Muslims are finding a very powerful thing in the Qur’an… But those books are clearly saying that they are written by human power.
5. Those human writings are part of the Old Testament. The people in the Old Testament didn’t accept those books as Word of God.

And by the way: These five questions are ALL DIVINE STANDARDS from THE SCRIPTURE. So don’t try to prove that some books meet ONE of those Standards. They have to meet them ALL.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[YAQUBOS]

Peace be with you!

As we can see, the Holy Scripture gives us the clear “list” of the Holy Spirit. God has given us the clear definition of what is the Word of God.

And Psalm45:9, who was asking all the time for that “list” of the Spirit in the Scripture, is now trying to prove that the human writings can meet that DIVINE CANON!!!

So, once for all, we have proved that the Standard is not in humans ( Jews or the Church ), but in God’s Word.

And, dear Psalm45:9, the texts you are quoting from those human writings are not texts without context! They are part of those books that we have proved as NOT MAKING PART OF THE WORD OF GOD, because:

1. They are not written by a prophet, for prophets CEASED in Israel long BEFORE they were written. And this is proved by those human writings themselves! As I have written by His Grace.
2. They are not confirmed by an act of God. An act of God is demanded when there is someone claiming to be a prophet. While these human writings don’t claim to be written by a prophet of God, as we have proved.
3. They don’t tell the truth about God. They may have true parts: the Qur’an also has true parts. But they have other parts that are seriously contradicting the Word of God, as we saw in what I previously wrote by His Grace.
4. They don’t have the power of God, as those books themselves say.
   N.B.: some parts might seem powerful for those who don’t know what is the power of God, just like the Muslims are finding a very powerful thing in the Qur’an… But those books are clearly saying that they are written by human power.
5. Those human writings are part of the Old Testament. The people in the Old Testament didn’t accept those books as Word of God.

And by the way: These five questions are ALL DIVINE STANDARDS from THE SCRIPTURE. So don’t try to prove that some books meet ONE of those Standards. They have to meet them ALL.

In Love,
Yaqubos†

 

[Psalm45_9]

Pax Vobis Cvm!

Sorry, that I did not get to finish; I had an appointment this morning.

YAQUBOS:

Let’s thank the Lord for all His gifts. We continue by His Grace.

AMEN!
YAQUOBS:

So we see that those wrong human teachings that Romans accept as Scripture

The Eastern Orthodox and the Ethiopian Jews also accept them as scripture.

YAQUBOS:

do not meet those five questions asked by the Holy Church of Christ. Let’s see each question:

1. Were they written by a prophet of God?
   No, they are not written by a prophet of God, as we read in those books themselves!

“Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.” ( 1 Maccabees 9:27 )

Of course, he is referring to the people whom God the Father spoke to. Divine Revelation did not cease until the death of the Last Apostle. It does not imply that God the Holy Spirit was not working in God’s chosen people.

YAQUBOS:

If the prophets ceased to appear in Israel long before these lines were written, then who wrote these lines??? Of course, NOT a prophet of God!

The Holy Spirit did!

YAQUBOS:

1. Was that prophet who wrote them confirmed by an act of God?
   As we saw in 1 Maccabees 9:27 ( one of those false human teachings ), prophets ceased in Israel since a long time! So those books say they are not written by a prophet! So why do we have to search for miracles confirming them??!! They clearly say they are NOT prophets! So we don’t need to test them if they are prophets or not.

The book was written by the Holy Spirit, see the above answer.

YAQUBOS:

1. Does it tell the truth about God?
   As we saw in Tobit 12:9, and 2 Maccabees 12:45-46, these books not only do not give us the truth of God, but they also give us many imaginary things… Just read “Bel and the Dragon” and you will see…

Where does the Old Testament mention the Chair of Moses, that Jesus commands his disciples to follow?
YAQBUOS:

1. Does it have the power of God?
   No! It even says that it is not sure that it has a strong human power… Just read the following conclusion of the human author of 2 Maccabees:

“So I too will here end my story.
If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do.”

2 Maccabees 15:39-40 does not in any way regard the truth of the narration. What it regards is the style and manner the book was written in. There is no denial of inspiration whatsoever, it is merely a statement by the author that he is not as polished with the information as Jason of Cyrene was. Read this: “Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.” (2 Corinthians 11:6) St. Paul makes a similar comment about himself.

 

[Psalm45_9]

Continuing solely by his grace!

YAQUBOS:

1. Was it accepted by the People of God?
   No! And we saw this in the previous paragraphs. Although some of the Fathers and some of the churches accepted them ( and we saw why and how… ), but many others didn’t!

And as those writings are supposed to belong to the era of the Old Testament, we must see if the Jews accepted them as Scripture… And we see that they didn’t!

(Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 6, p. 1147)"There are approximately 350 quotations in the New Testament of the Old Testament. Of these 350 quotations 300 come from the Greek Septuagint. It was the Old Testament Bible of the first century Christians. Jesus quoted from it. The Septuagint included the Deutero Canonical books which Protestants call the “Apocrypha.” The Jews in Ethiopia to this day still follow the same identical canon which is found in the Catholic Old Testament which includes these seven Deutero Canonical books "(cf. Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 6, p. 1147).

The Alexandrian Jews accepted them and the Ethiopian Jews still do today.

(Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible 1963 ) “Even in the second century of the Christian era the Jewish rabbis were not fully agreed on the Canonicity of certan books (e.g. Cant, Eccl; cfr. Also 4, Esd 14,44ff).”

(The Encyclopedia of Judaism, vol 15 page 117)" says that the limit of the third part (Writings) was not finalized until mid of second century. In addition, the Hebrew Canon was also not accepted by Ethiopian Jews who accept Septuagint to this day "

(Dictionary of Biblical Literacy 1986. p.321)“Precisely when Jewish leadership officially adopted the traditional 39 books of the so-called “Hebrew Canon” is not known; nor is there agreement as to exactly what criteria were used in determining the Canon.”

Also:

YAQUBOS:

There is a big misunderstanding among many Christians about the Canon of the Scripture. They think some humans (the Jews for the Old Testament, and the Church for the New Testament ) DECIDED what is Word of God and what is not. And this is totally wrong.

YAQUBOS:

And many Jews deny that Jesus is the Christ! Must we believe that also? ( I say this SUPPOSING that what you say about the Jews is true )

Why do you insist on human authorities?

AMEN!

YAQUBOS:

And our Lord Jesus Christ didn’t even say a word to them about this!

And our Lord Jesus Christ never quoted: The Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Judges, 1 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Lamentations and Nahum.

YAQUBOS:

So according to which canon do you receive those human writings as divine? Do you accept them just because your church teaches you that? Or maybe Rome is God ( God forbid!! ) and has the right to create a new canon!

Rome is not God, but God laid his authority with the Church. Rome never created a new canon, it bound the true one.

YAQUBOS:

Listen to this very well: if we don’t deny all what is against the Will of God in our background, we will soon deny Christ practically…

This I wrote by His grace, and my only purpose is to tell everyone about that powerful Word of God that changes lives! I want His Glory, and JUST His Glory! Let all humans shut their mouths! “Listen and give heed, do not be haughty, For the LORD has spoken.” ( Jeremiah 13:15 ).

“Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

“He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 11:16)

“See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop.” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 8, AD 110)

[Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch]

YAQUBOS:

The CHALLENGE: bring any writings or words that meet the DIVINE CANON, and we will declare them as Word of God!!!

I have!