Thursday, December 14, 2017

NOT Mythology

Liberal theologians, archeologists, and religious historians refer to the belief in any god  as mythology: "a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) which of course is supported by perceived outward historical events. Then, all gods are mere mythology. Right? Nope - that's entirely wrong!

Mythological gods are only imaginary. Brahma, Buddha, Vesta, Hercules, Confucius, Mohammad, and all the others either:  (1) don't claim to be God, or (2) are imaginary gods. Of course, Greek mythology consists of all imaginary gods as are the Egyptian and Assyrian gods from which most mythological gods descend. Mythologists can trace Roman gods back through Greco gods to Mesopotamian gods, mostly all idolatrous representations of celestial bodies or the earth's physical attributes. They are not God's of any sort, but are non-living material made to represent the imagination.

Many gods are claimed to have created the material world but all of them could not have. The liberal answer to such things is that Brahma and JHVH are one and the same god. They are not! "God" is not a name; it is a description of any supernatural supreme being powerful enough to be worshiped. Judeo-Christians capitalize "god" to distinguish between the One True God and all the others who we believe are not truly gods, thus between Truth and mythology in our way of thinking.

Different gods have different powers and characteristics. Hence, all gods are not the same god. Nearly all pagan gods have different powers. Hence those are not the same "god" as JHVH. However, what makes them mythological, as are any pagan god, is that they are of the imagination and are not verifiable. What sets Judeo-Christianity apart from mythology is that JHVH is verifiable and real. He is not of the imagination. No other "god" claims that status!

Scripture makes a huge claim for the manifestation of God:
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Timothy is referring to Jesus the Messiah. The difference was made clear: other gods are myths - Jesus is the One True God who became flesh. God made Himself! His Holy Spirit hovered on Mary and God reproduced himself through the virgin? Why? To show Himself to mankind, and to save his creatures. When God showed himself He was fully moved from mythology to reality very quickly! Of course, if one studies John 1, Christianity claims that God always manifested Himself, so He was always more than myth. How so? He walked in the Garden and spoke with Adam and Eve, he warned them not to eat of the forbidden tree, he spoke to all the patriarchs, he wrestled with Jacob, he told Abraham about how He would die and asked him kill his own son; he was in the fiery furnace with Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego where he was seen even by unbelievers, etc.
All the Israelites saw JHVH as a cloud by day and a light by night (Exodus 13:21). Belief in God is faith but God is NOT a myth!  People always saw God, not face-to-face but real. He was never imaginary even on the first day.
JHVH is also the God of history, that word originating from the Proto-Indo-European "weid" meaning "to see" (www.etymonline.com). Seeing is proof! 
Scripture is not entirely the words of man. God inspired them what to write (2 Timothy 3:16). "God's word is truth" (John 17:17). Hence, righteous men inspired by God wrote truth.
God's truth has a time and setting. It's time is from the beginning to the end - Genesis to Revelation. As such, the history of the world from scripture is the truth. Much of it is unseen and supernatural. Most of what is written is mankind's association with God and His people. Scripture is the only complete history of mankind and the world.  Sages wrote what they saw, heard, and felt for all the ages to know. Their stories are history. Since their stories are contiguous, history is as well!
Secular historians are proved wrong quite often. For centuries historians denied that even King David ever existed! In 1994 the Tel Dan Stele (pronounced like "steel") was found. It was a stone with ancient inscriptions which mentions kings of "Israel" from "the house of David". That old stone verified the existence of David, and should have made historians ashamed for not accepting scripture as history and subsequently truth.  The same happened with King Sargon. Historians believed that Sargon was imaginary in scripture. In turns out that in the 1890s the Nippur Inscription tablet was found, verifying King Sargon "the Great". Not only did he exist but was the greatest Akkadian king ever. History can be wrong but the Bible never is because it is the story written in ancient times about what was happening in the world.
If historians would merely accept the Bible as truth, they could save much time. If they merely accepted the Bible as truth, they could live forever! Why so? If ancient writers wrote the truth about the seen, it follows that as truthful people, they wrote the truth about the unseen!

Not only is Scripture history but is science as well. If scientists could accept it as history, they would also accept it as science. The Bible is the history of God and the world for a reason: JHVH created the world. What would be the purpose of history if it's Superintendent was not presented to the world?

There are many examples in scripture which spoke of scientific things before scientists ever thought of them! For example, scientists thought the earth was flat until Columbus proved them wrong. Where did he get that innovative notion? Isaiah 40:22 which spells it out. 
Solomon spoke of the hydrological cycle in Ecclesiastes and also the air currents. Mankind learned about them in the 19th Century after Christ. If they had only believed, they would have known much sooner!
Skeptics require proof. The fancy word for that is "agnostic". Well, surprise! The Bible is history, science, and speaks of the unseen. At least consider it as truth because it cannot be disproved! 
Prophecy validates Scripture. Psychics are reported to be wrong most of the time. In other words even in generalizing, it's no more than a guess. On the other hand, biblical prophets have been right all the time! The best prediction was by Isaiah who foretold and described God in the flesh in detail, and even His birth and death. He didn't generalize but foretold specifics down to the small detail that his clothing would be divided.
Narrow-minded historians have made a case: that Jesus read the scriptures and reproduced the details prophesied. It is possible for one to control himself but not to control all the others around him! Pontius Pilate wasn't there on the balcony waiting for Jesus to give him his lines. Jesus knew in advance what Pilate would say and do because he foretold his own death! It's the silly ones who suggest that Jesus controlled others to allow him to be the fulfillment of prophecy!
By the way, this type of thinking is liberal thought. They design the world as they think it should be, not how it is. They can't seem to face reality, and truth to them is of their own making. Those who deny the authenticity and authority of scripture are religious liberals, and of course that mindset carries over into worldly ideologies. Liberals are wolves in sheep's clothing because they are too "liberal" in what truth is. 
Never let another person refer to Christianity as mythology. That is deception, and from their father - the devil.  One day they will bow before God and admit their error as they beg for mercy:
Phillipians 2:10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth...
Ironically, that bowing of the knee was done in derision and still is:
Matthew 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a  reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Liberals; prepare to bow the knee, not in mockery but to the one who died in your place!








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