godly

GODLY

Godly entry from the Amtract Dictionary




Personal Comment – The concept of “godly” has to do with God. How God is, so is the godly. When we take on voluntarily the good and righteous character of God, then we become godly, and when we do God’s work in this way that God wants it done, then we are also associated with or become godly.

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God

GOD

Entry on God from Amtract dictionary

Personal comment – After studying every occurrence of the word “god” in the Bible (at least most of them) I concluded that the base most concept of “god” is somebody that dictates the life situation and decisions of another. Psalm 82 speaks of God (the only true God) judging amongst the “gods”. The chapter is very difficult to understand, but it is best understood as “god” being a judge or politician or king that makes or affects the lives of others.




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Owl

Owl.

The owl is mentioned several times in the Bible (Lev. 11:16-17; Ps. 102:6; Jer. 50:39; Mic. 1:8). The largest species native to Palestine is the great owl, sometimes called an eagle owl. Several varieties of smaller owls are also common. Among them are screech owls, whose calls and whistles bring an eerie feeling in the night.

Other varieties of owls mentioned by different translations of the Bible include the short-eared owl (Lev. 11:16), (NKJV, NEB); long-eared owl (Lev. 11:16), (NEB); horned owl (Lev. 11:16), (NIV); little owl (Lev. 11:17), (KJV, NIV, NASB); tawny owl (Lev. 11:17), (NEB); fisher owl (Lev. 11:17), (NKJV); desert owl (Lev. 11:18), (NIV); and white owl (Lev. 11:18), (NKJV, NIV, NASB).

The owl is no wiser than any other bird, but his facial features give him a thoughtful and solemn look. Owls have round faces with a circle of feathers around their heads, framing and highlighting their large eyes. These feathers also serve as a sound collector for the ears. An owl’s fluffy feathers make him appear larger than he actually is. They also enable him to fly silently, since the edges of the feathers pierce the air with little wind resistance.

Owls have good night vision, which enables them to stalk their prey at night. Unlike other birds, whose eyes are set on opposite sides of their head, the owl looks directly ahead. He navigates in the dark mostly by sound. Alerted by a noise, he plunges in toward his prey with his claws spread for the kill.

Owls serve a useful agricultural purpose, since they feed on rats, mice, and other rodents. But the Hebrew people considered the owl an unclean bird and often associated it with scenes of desolation. The scops owl may be the satyr of such verses as (Isaiah 13:21) and (34:14) (night creature, NKJV). It has a horned look and does a hop-like dance much like a goat.

Source: [Anon-Animals]

Ostrich

Ostrich.

Several Scripture passages that refer to owls in the KJV are rendered ostrich in the RSV. This strange bird was a common sight in the deserts of Israel and Sinai in Bible times. Earth’s largest living bird, the ostrich may stand about 2.5 meters (eight feet) tall. While it cannot fly, this unusual animal with its long steps, which can cover 15 feet per stride at top speed, can outrun a horse. Sometimes an ostrich will use its wings as a sail to achieve even greater speed. An adult ostrich fears only man and lions, and it may live as long as 70 years.

The popular belief that ostriches hide their heads in the sand is not true. However, when a young ostrich senses danger, it will crouch near the ground and stretch out its long neck to lessen the possibility of being seen.

This enormous bird has only a walnut-sized brain. But God has given it certain helpful instincts, along with its great physical stamina. Like a camel, the ostrich is fitted for desert life. It eats coarse food and can go for a long time without water. Its head, neck, and powerful legs have no feathers. This helps to keep the bird cool in the hot desert climate. Its huge eyes enable it to spot danger from a great distance, and its long eyelashes protect its eyes from dust and sand. The male ostrich has a cry that is similar to a lion’s roar.

Unlike most other birds, the ostrich does not build a nest to protect its young. The female ostrich deposits her eggs on the desert floor and covers them with sand. These eggs are generally left unattended during the day, since the desert sun serves as a natural incubator. Job compared these habits unfavorably with the more traditional nesting instincts of the stork (Job 39:13-18).

Source: [Anon-Animals]

The Ostrich.

The ostrich is sometimes called the “camel-bird,” because it is so very large, because it can go a long time without water, and because it lives in desert and sandy places, as the camel does. It is often taller than the tallest man you ever saw, and it neck alone is more than a yard in length.

Each of the wings is a yard long when the feathers are spread out; but although the wings are so large, the bird cannot fly at all. One reason of this is, because it is so very heavy, and another is that its wings are not of the right sort for flying. They are made of what we call ostrich-plumes, and if you have ever noticed these beautiful feathers, you will remember that they are very different from others that you have seen. If you take a quill from the wing of a goose, you will find that the parts of the feather lie close together, so that you cannot very easily separate them; but in an ostrich plume they are all loose and open, and would not support the bird at all in flying. The feathers are generally either white or black. There are none under the wings, or on the sides of the body, and only a few small ones on the lower part of the neck. The upper part of the neck, as well as the head, is covered with hair.

Its feet are curious, and different from those of most birds. They are somewhat like the foot of the camel, having a soft pad or cushion underneath, and only two toes. The largest toe is about seven inches long, and has a broad claw at the end; the other is about four inches long, and has no claw.

Although this bird cannot fly, it can run faster than the swiftest horse. If it would keep on in a straight line no animal could overtake it; but it is sometimes so foolish as to run around in a circle, and then, after a long chase, it may perhaps be caught. A traveller speaking of the ostrich, says, “She sets off at a hard gallop; but she afterwards spreads her wings as if to catch the wind, and goes so rapidly that she seems not to touch the ground.” This explains what is meant by the verse, “When she lifteth up herself on high she scorneth the horse and his rider.”

The ostrich has but little to eat in the desert places where it lives: only some coarse grass, or rough, thorny plants, with a kind of snail which is sometimes found upon them; and perhaps it sometimes eats lizards and serpents.

The voice of the ostrich is very mournful, especially when heard at night in a lonely desert. It is said to be like the crying of a hoarse child. It is on this account that the prophet Micah says, “I will make a mourning like the ostrich.”

In the 39th chapter of Job we read, “Gavest thou wings and feathers unto the ostrich ? which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones as though they were not hers.” See how well this agrees with the accounts given by travellers. They say that the ostrich is frightened by the least noise, and runs away from her nest, leaving the eggs or young ones without any protection; and very often she does not return for a long time, perhaps not until the young birds have died of hunger. The eggs are cream-colored, and large enough to hold about a quart of water. The shell is very hard, and as smooth as ivory. It is often made into a drinking-cup, with a rim of gold or silver.

[Cook, Scripture Alphabet of Animals]

Ebionites

Ebionites

After the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, some broke away, refusing to accept the resolution of the Council. They
claimed Jesus as Messiah, but taught the following: (Eusebius’ Church History 6:17 and Ireneaus’ Against All
Heresies, 1:26, 3:11, & 5:1)

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Manicheans – Mani

Manicheans – Mani

The Manichean’s were the followers Mani. In about 252AD, Mani, a Persian, mixed Christianity with Gnosticism and
other Persian elements. He stated his teaching came from Christ and the Persian Magi.

Mani taught there are two gods; one evil and one good.2 Jesus was not a real man [did not have flesh].1 Jesus came
to reconcile man to Satan, the dark god4 but Jesus did not undergo punishment on the cross.6 Satan is the god of
Moses and the prophets.7 Man does not has free will,8 some are born with their nature totally depraved,9 while
others are born nearly perfect.9 He taught reincarnation based on Karma.5 Mani said he was the Comforter
(Paraclete) and also the “that which is perfect” of 1 Corinthians 13: 3. Mani taught Vegetarianism,10 Marriage, and
begetting children are sins,10 and that there was a purgatory for purifying souls.5 After being purged of sins in the
sun, the souls fly to the moon [Purgatory].5 The soul of man is from light and his body from darkness.2

St. Augustine was a Manichean for eight years before becoming a Christian. After becoming a Christian, he
taught free will (see: City of God). It was not until 417 AD, while debating with Pelegius, that he began teaching
what today’s Calvinists describe as the doctrine of “total depravity” and the “bondage of the will.”
It seems that in reaction to Pelegian doctrine that “man could be sinless from birth,” Augustine went too far the
other way.

Archelaus, AD 33 –

The Judges concluded against Mani that man has free will; so if Mani can sin, his spirit can’t be an
emanation from God. The angels, and Satan (dark, evil god) are not of God’s essence.

Augustine recorded that Mani taught when the sun and moon have liberated all the light they are able, there
will be a fire kindled on the earth which will burn for 1,468 years, after which, there will be no light left. The King
of Darkness and his hosts will thereupon withdraw into the pit prepared for them. Mani taught, unlike the
world, man was the created by demons. The aim of demons is to imprison in man, through the propagation of
the race, as much as possible of the light, and so to hinder the separating process by the sun and the moon.
Manicheans teach salvation comes from rigorous asceticism, and by the practice of certain ceremonial
observances. Manicheans deny the saving efficacy of baptism but believe Salvation consists simply in the
liberation of the light from the darkness. In the case of the Elect this takes place immediately after death; in the
case of adherents who have not practiced the prescribed forms of asceticism, it takes place only after
considerable torment [purgatory]. In the case of the ordinary sensual man, there is no deliverance.

From biblefacts.org

Marcion

Marcion

In the middle of the second century AD, Marcion left the church and started the Gnostic Marcionites. Marcion was a
native of Sinope on the Black Sea. He first studied with the Stoics, then became a Christian. According to Epiphanius,
as he began to apostatize, he seduced a young girl, and was excommunicated. Marcion then traveled to Rome in
hopes of being readmitted to the church. Later he joined Cerdon and another Gnostic, preaching in Rome, hoping to
create a schism in the church. Marcion’s most famous disciples were Apelles, Lucanus, Basilus, Potitus, and Blastus.
This same Blastus later caused a schism in Rome. Marcionites continued until the sixth century, principally in Egypt,
Israel, and Syria.

Marcion rejected the Old Testament and used cut up versions of Luke and some of Paul’s epistles, for Scripture. He
used the Gospel of Luke but eliminated the first four chapters and removed all references to Jesus’ divinity or any
connection with the God of the Old Testament. His canon of Scripture also contained Romans, 1st & 2nd
Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians, Philemon, and Laodiceans. All of
these were tailored to fit Marcion’s teachings. In Paul’s Epistles, he removed all references to God creating the
world, and to Jesus being God’s Son, and any predictions of Jesus’ birth. He taught the God of the Old Testament
and His prophets were evil and would be destroyed because that god was the author of sin. He also taught there are
two equal and opposite gods, one good and one evil. He taught the Law and the Gospel were so strongly different, it
proves there were two different gods. Marcion insisted there is no resurrection and removed all references in his
gospel showing Christ was the creator and the God of the Old Testament was Jesus’ father. He also removed the
genealogy of Jesus. He said Jesus was a phantom having no physical body. Marcion forbade marriage and said it was
evil. Married people could not be baptized unless they got a divorce and practiced celibacy. The Marcionites were
strongly addicted to astrology.

Other Doctrines of the Marcionites were that Jesus came to overthrow the dominion of the evil creator. Followers
needed to be baptized in order to remove sins recently committed, and women were allowed to baptize other
women. Followers must be single, widowed, or divorced before they could be baptized. They denied Christ came in
the flesh and claimed there was no salvation or resurrection of the flesh, only of the spirit. Some Marcionites
believed in the transmigration of souls. We know this teaching as reincarnation. Some Marcionites sought
martyrdom in order to escape this evil world. It was well known that Marcion tried to publish a Gospel he wrote
himself in the name of Paul.

Church teachings contrasted:

Tertullian, AD 200
Against Marcion 4.8 – Jesus was not a phantom, but had a real body.
Against Marcion 4.37 – Christ saves both body and soul. Only heretics say the body is not saved
[resurrected].
Against Marcion 5.11 – Heretics try to say the epistle to the Ephesians is the epistle to the Laodeceans.

References:

1. Irenaeus Against Heresies 1.27 6. Against Marcion 1.24
2. Against Heresies 4.29 7. Against Marcion 2.17
3. Tertullian Against Marcion 1.2 8. Against Marcion 3.8, 4.8
4. Against Marcion 1.18 9. Against Marcion 1.29
5. Against Marcion 1.19-20
Nicolaitans

taken from Biblefacts.org

Encratites

Encratites

Tatian started off being orthodox. He wrote a harmony of the gospels called the Diatessaron. Later, he became very
violent and apostatized from the church. After he apostatized, he founded the Gnostic sect of the Encratites. The
name in Greek means “self-perfected ones.” It the 12th century the name of Encratites was applied to the Bogomils.
Tatian then started removing passages from the Diatessaron that referred to Jesus’ divinity and other non-Gnostic
thoughts. Copies of both the original Diatessaron and the perverted Diatessaron still exist. (The eastern church used
the Diatessaron for years before going back to the four Gospels.)

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