[ No Subject ]Friday, May 1, 2009 5:13 PM
From: "Carlos Burman"
To:
Hello good morning Mr onoda,
Thankyou once again for your reply a couple of days ago.
I hope your week has been well.
Well first of all...you mentioned that you seem to know a scripture that says that not even one witness should be found guilty.
Perhaps you are looking for the Mosaic law at exodus 20:16 or one of the final verses in the bible at revelation 22:18,19..I cant be too sure which scripture you actually meant specifically.
However,In the law,those who did testify were either punished or put to death...Jehovah would never allow a false witness or witnesses to testify falsely for centuries without anything being done about it. So we can both rest assured that that rule you mentioned does apply to the Gospels,however,there is just NO need to mention it,since the Gospels dont contradict eachother even slightly.
Those seeming contradictions that you mentioned which are found in the Gospels such as the one about "who carried Jesus toture stake" are quite easy to understand.
In Johns account at John 19:17 we read:" Bearing the torture stake for himself,he went out".
But Matthew 27:32 Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26 say that ' as they were going out,Simon of Cyrene was impressed into service to bear the torture stake'.
To begin with ,Jesus, as John mentioned, did carry his own torture stake. But later as Matthew ,Mark and Luke testify,Simon of Cyrene was impressed into service to carry it for him for the rest of the way to the place of execution at Golgotha(skull place).
As you yourself mentioned differences in people bring different angles and different peices of information that the other/s didnt mention..
Being impressed into something means to be almost pushed into to doing something,encouraged to do it......thus, as they were walking, Simon came along.However, he wasnt there at the start of their walk to Golgotha when Jesus himself carried the burden of his own stake.So its a very clear passage to mull over.
With regards to the date of Jesus death,the bible once again gives clear and good evidence as it,even down to the very day.
For today though,i will spare you this information..if you would really like to know more ,just let me know.
I understand very well that bible writers as well as any other writer differs in what they write.
For example...If 2 of us(you and I) both went to watch a game of baseball,and we had to write a report on it afterwards...of course, we would both very likely have different parts of the game that we personally enjoyed...we might have been at different vantage points of the stadium and a different angle to watch from..you might have had an experience that i didnt have..YET, at the end of the game..when we both write about the match..whenever we base things on fact,we will agree...when you write down other experiences of which i didnt see or hear..it will supplement my account of the game and only add to the authenticity.
Thus the Gospels,while different dont contradict eachother at all..as i mentioned in my last email..Matthews account alone is 42% UNIQUE and Lukes 59%.
You mentioned that the writers of Jesus life started to write about him about 30 years after Jesus death...
Well actually ,did you know that 30 years after Jesus death..Matthew ,Mark and Lukes Gospels were already in full circulation.
Matthew completed his account about 41CE, only 8 years after Jesus death,while Marks was completed about 25 years later and Lukes 28 years later.
It was only Johns that wasnt completed until 98CE.
I want to now try to answer your main question at the end of your last email about shadrach,meshach and abednego.
If its at all possible with you,while i write and explain...anything you write or explain back regards to this ,it would be most helpful to me and more acknowledgable if its based on either the Bible or from secular,historical,medical,scientific or archeological etc..FACT and NOT on personal opinion.
If, as one of Jehovahs witnesses i was to tell people in my personal ministry what "I" think is right...no one is likely to believe me or listen to me.
Just as in a court of law, no one would believe you or take you seriously if as a lawyer you gave evidence merely based on opinion with no hard facts or authority to back you up. The case just would not stand.
Yet,when i give evidence based on solid fact and Biblical evidence,i feel that you seem not to take it seriously..i feel almost you want to hear only MY answer and what I have to say without you really taking it into account.It seems you just want to hear what i have to say as regards the answers to your questions. Remember that the majority that i say is not from me..its from the Bible..
Thus, now going on to your question.
Admittedly, this account seems quite unbelievable to say the least.
But, just notice what one book wrote about this account.
"...Under Babylonian law Daniel's 3 companions were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to obey the king's command.
Decades later,Daniel was thrown into a pit of lions for refusing to obey a persian law that violated his conscience.
Some have tried to dismiss the fiery furnace account as legend,but archaeologists have found an actual letter from ancient Babylon that specifically mentions this form of punishment. To the Medes and the Persians,however ,fire was sacred. So they turned to other vicious forms of punishment.Hence, the pit of lions comes as no surprise."
Outstandingly, this excerpt shows us that even small details written in the Bible with regard to the use of fire as a means of punishment was normal...it would come as no great shock for an angry and proud king in whom the law of his nation was subject to him, would heat up the furnace 7 times hotter than at the start of its being heated.
Of course,i personally can not show you a photo of the angel that saved the 3 young men and i cannot tell ths angel to contact you to confirm this event..
However,when you read through the account and you view other archaeological and historical culture from the book of Daniel (as i have done for many years)..it makes much sense and since everything is so in harmony,you can see how truthful the Bible as a whole is.
Thus,that is why the greatest witness of anyone trusts in Daniel..At Matthew 24:15 Jesus Christ says:
"Therefore ,when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation ,as spoken of through Daniel the prophet,standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment)."
Yes,even Jesus christ centuries later viewed Daniels writing as true and he called him a "PROPHET" ,used his writings in order to teach his disciples.
Thus, since Jesus, as one of the greatest of authorities in the universe acknowledged Daniel and his writings,so should we.
Carlos
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Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:27:20 -0700
From:
Subject: Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego
To:
Hello good evening Br Carlos.
17 years ago it was hard for me to adjust to new life in Ireland. I hope you are well in new environment. Although I started a new life here..anyway,
>In the Hebrew scriptures(or the Tevrat)we are told that when an important matter must be established,there should be more than one witness.
Deuteronomy 19:15 says "...At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses the matter should stand good"
I'm not sure it was here though, I recall Bible says one mustn't be guilty from only one witness. I have never noticed this can apply to Gospels.
>You might say though:"Suppose these 4 witnesses contradict eachother?"
I read carefully four gospels at age 15 and I found no contradictions among these.
Today I found minor 'contradictions' as in who carried the torture stake, or the date Jesus was executed, etc.
Remember difference is natural if a different author describes someone's life independently, so it's natural there's a difference between first three synoptic gospels and the fourth one.
I don't believe we normally say them contradictions.
Rather what I found strange was that the first three gospels are very similar, almost the same and I recall I just wondered why similar books had to be written and still this question remains to be my enigma.
I learned from what I read that Mark was written first then Matthew and Luke were written based on Mark with reference to another lost document. John was written from completely different point of view.
All books started being written after at least 30 years passed from the death of Jesus.
I suppose three synoptic gospels were written and used independently in different congregations among early Christians. Three similar gospels were taken as canonical Bible intending for followers to believe God gave similar accounts of Jesus in three different evangelists, which itself is a work done by God.
Probably early editors of Bible knew what Deuteronomy 19:15 says and applied in most effective way.
My next question is were really Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego saved from furnace?
Thank you very much for taking your time.
Best wishes,
mer
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