Bible History

I have been finding it very interesting to look into early Christianity. I just recently found as I was searching it up that Catholics have a different bible than Protestants. Orthodox Christians have a different bible as well.
As I searched more I found that the earliest of christian manuscripts were not universal in what what considered "canon." Canon literally means "measuring stick" but the word canon is used to describe divinely inspired scripture. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church:
The Old Testament-

• The pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
• The history (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) Also included in history: Prayer of Manassah, 1 Esdras, Additions to Esther, Tobit, Judith, 1 2 & 3 Maccabees. 4 Ezra and 4 Maccabees are included by the Georgian Orthodox Church
• The Wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) Also included in wisdom: Psalm 151, Sirach &Wisdom
• The Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel) Also included in the major prophets: Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah &Additions to Daniel
• The Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

The New Testament-

• The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
• Acts
• Paul's Letters (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon)
• General Letters (Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 2 & 3 John, Jude)
• Revelation

The Catholic Church:

• Almost the same as orthodox except it excludes several books : Prayer of Mannassah, 1 & 2 Esdras, 3 & 4 Maccabees and Psalm 151

The Protestant Church:

• The protestant church excludes all the extras that the catholic and orthodox add in. The basis of that is that the Jews do not use the Apocrypha in their bible. 

I have always identified with protestant churches and therefore never considered the bibles of the other churches. I disagreed with beliefs of catholic and orthodox churches. I was unware their bible was different from mine. It makes me realize that we tend to believe most what we were first taught. But let's say you were first taught hinduism. That doesnt make it right. I want to look more into this. 

Romans 9:22-23 Continued

Verse 23 in Greek:
Kai: and, even, also, namely
Hina: in order that, so that, for the purpose that
Gnorise: make known, declare, know, come to know, realize
Ton: the
Plouton: riches, wealth, abundance
Tes: the
Doxes: honor, renown, glory, splendor, what evokes good opinion
Autou: self
Epi: on, to, against, on the basis of, upon
Skeue: a vessel, goods
Eleous: pity, mercy, compassion
Ha: who, which, what, that
Proetoimasen: prepare beforehand, made ready in advance, to make ready before
Eis: in, into, among, till, for
Doxan: honor, renown, glory, splendor, what evokes good opinion

Also, for the purpose that he would make known the abundance of honor of himself, upon the vessels of compassion, who were made ready in advance in honor.

Dictionary:
purpose: the reason which something exists
vessels: a person who receives something
compassion: deep sympathy for someone stricken by misfortune

Also, for the purpose that he would make the abundance of his honor known, upon the people he felt deep sympathy for, who were made ready in advance in honor.

~~

 I don't know really how to analyze this. It says that he wanted them to know the abundance (how much) good opinion (honor) he had. I think this might mean God has a lot of good opinions towards the vessels of mercy. a vessel is just someone that receives something and mercy or compassion means to have a deep sympathy for someone struggling. So God thinks honorably toward those people. Those people he had made ready in advance and in honor.

The greek words used for "prepared" in both verses are different. The ones deserving wrath it says he fit together or made it what it ought to be. The ones deserving honor it says he made ready in advance.

I mean God is God the creator of everything, so he can pick specific people and get them ready for honor. and he can "mend" or tweak those deserving wrath.

He could make us all puppets if he wanted. He's God. But the bible says he is a God of love. So would a loving God create people on the earth and control their every move and and tweak them to how ever he wants them to be? Would God really want to tweak someone till they were destroyed? I am still so lost on this subject.

~~

Romans 9:22-23

What if God, wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for glory. Romans 9:22-23 NKJV

These verses are very troubling to my soul. I am struggling with these right now and it is shaking my faith. Does God give us free will or are we predestined to whatever he chooses? Do we really make our own choice to follow God? Or is this a wicked scheme by god to just create the ultimate "movie" and watch it play out how he designed it? I don't want to believe the latter is true. Because that ruins everything, it ruins my whole life.

So I'm going to analyze it word by word.

Verse 22 in the Greek:

Ei: If

De: But, on the other hand, and

Thelon:will, wish, desire

Ho:the

Theos:God

Endeixasthai:show forth

Ten:the

Orgen:anger, wrath, passion

Kai:and, even, also

Gnorisai:make known, declare, know

To:the

Dynaton:powerful, able, possible

Autou:self

Enenken:carry, bear, bring, lead

En:in, on, among

Polle:much, many, often

Makrothymia:patience, forbearance

Skeue:a vessel to contain liquid, utensil, tackle, goods

Orges:anger, wrath, passion, steadfastly opposing something or someone

Katertismena:fit together, prepare, adjusted exactly down, mend, complete thoroughly, making him what he ought to be

Eis:in, into, among, till, for

Apoleian:destruction, ruin, loss, completely severed, cut off
 

What if, on the other hand, it was the desire of God to show forth his anger, and make known the power of himself, carrying on much patience, the vessels that he steadfastly opposed, making them what they ought to be till completely cut off.

Ok now to make complicated words easier:

vessel: a person who is a receiver of something

steadfast: firm

oppose: to act against, to stand in the way of

severed: to separate, to break off

What if it was God's desire to show his anger and make his power known, so he was very patient toward the people that he firmly was against, making them what they ought to be till completely cut off and destroyed.

~~
 I don't know. Thats what I came up with after analyzing it. Maybe the evil was already in their hearts which is why he was against them. Maybe God is saying here that because their hearts are already evil that they deserve and should be cut off and sent to hell. That he wants these evil people to know his anger and power. Maybe he didnt create them to be evil. Maybe they were just evil and chose to be evil and God just "adjusted" them. It was already in their heart so maybe he wasn't messing with free will? If you have insight please comment and leave your thoughts.
~~



He who runs from God..

I love this quote, and my boyfriend turned it into a beautiful picture! He has much better artistic skills than me ;)

1 Peter 1:9

Receiving the end of your faith-- the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:9 NKJV

The Greek:

Komizomenoi: bring, receive, carry

To: the

Telos: an end, purpose, tax

Tes: the

Pisteos: faith, belief, trust

Hymon: you

Soterian: deliverance, salvation

Psychon: the soul, life

Receiving the purpose of your faith, the deliverance of your soul.

Dictionary:

Purpose: the reason something exists

Faith: confidence or trust

Deliverance: salvation

Salvation: saved from the penalty of sin

Soul: your feelings, thoughts, and actions

Receiving the reason for your trust in God, your soul being saved from sin.

~~There is a reason we trust in God. We will receive a reward for trusting in him. Our very souls will be saved from the penalty of sin. Being saved from sin is an unusual thought for some. To some sin is something they strive to avoid but are allured by it. Actually we all are. It's our fallen nature. But, the reality is that sin is ugly. And God wants to save you from that ugliness. Being saved from sin so that sin no longer entices you or controls you is one of the greatest gifts God can give. When we trust him, and we know that he loves us; he gives us his very best. A life of meaning and purpose in this life and totally free from sin in the next. ~~