[Vision2020] The Bible for Princess Sushitushi and others

[Ralph Nielsen]

Just a few items on the Bible for both princesses and common folk.

1. Angels. The Princess says: That comports with the view that Satan  
is God's servant, albeit one whose heart is rebellious and unwilling.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, p.48, says: They remain  
completely obedient to the divine will. Even Satan, the adversary, is  
none other than the Lord's official prosecutor and is subservient to  
his authority. The concept of rebellious angels belongs to post- 
biblical Jewish literature.

2. The Book of Daniel is not considered to be prophecy in the Hebrew  
Bible. It is classified with The Writings (Kethuvim), not The  
Prophets (Nevi'im). "The Book of Daniel, probably written in its  
final version in 164 BCE, is probably the latest composition of the  
Hebrew Bible." (The Jewish Study Bible, p. 1640).

3. The Princess writes: Well, I don't know what else to say to Nick  
on hermeneutics except that no Christian is ever going to ask  
forgiveness for following the example of Matthew. It should be noted  
that not only do the gospel writers do this sort of thing, they quote  
Jesus as doing the exact same thing too.

Amazing! The unknown authors of the gospels lifted items out of the  
Hebrew scriptures (usually via a Greek translation thereof, the  
Septuagint), took them out of context and twisted them to make it  
appear that they were "prophecies" of Jesus. They didn't "quote"  
Jesus as doing the same; they wrote down, forty and more years later,  
what they imagined Jesus had said. Jesus was not accompanied by a  
stenographer or a reporter with a tape recorder. The gospel writers  
were copying out of the Jewish Bible as they made up their stories.

4. Rather than go into further discussions and drive away my readers,  
let me recommend a little paperback book published by a well-known  
Presbyterian press: What They Don't Tell You; A  Survivor's Guide to  
Biblical Studies, by Michael Joseph Brown. (Louisville KY:  
Westminster John Knox Press, c2000, ISBN 0-664-22220-X).