Expert: John Zalewski - 1/11/2011

Question
QUESTION: I used to wonder about God, so I studied the bible and wondered who wrote it..because some of the chapters were so confusing,eg:(For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. (Jeremiah 3:12)
Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever. (Jeremiah 17:4)
If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. (John 5:31)
Jesus answered: Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid. (John 8:14)
And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
the whole world is under control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
And Jesus said, For judgement I am come into this world. (John 9:39)
I came not to judge the world (John 12:47)
)" , I simply couldn't believe that God would sent down such a disorganized book(but my hunch is that the guy named peter wrote his heart out in the bible and filled it up with gibberish), but all I found was a bunch of unverified stories which confuses the readers. First I saw that there were over 9 versions of the bible, and each of them were different. It said that Jesus was God's son....but then I started thinking that if God is not a human, then how could he have kids. This guy was saying that look, jesus didn't have any father, so his dad must have been God himself! But when I told him that Adam and Eve didn't have any parents either. Does that make them god's children too? Well, all this was so confusing , that I started looking into some other religion to see what they had to say about God etc.Then Bible considers everyone to be sinners, and that God had to send his "son" to get rid of sins.This was strange that God would kill his innocent "son" in order to get rid of evil satan.! it sounded pretty cruel to me.Why would His "son" have to die for other peoples sins, or for satan, who makes people sin? Christianity also calls religious law a curse,and so that if someone follows religious laws ,they are in a curse.I have studied both testaments, here are some of the conflicting verses I found in The Old Testament:
1}(a)"And David took from him a thousand chariots and SEVEN HUNDRED horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen"..-II Samuel 8:4 (b)"And David took from him a thousand chariots and SEVEN THOUSAND horsemen,and twenty thousand footmen"..-I Chronicles 18:4..So the question is 700 or 7000? 2}(a)"And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,and he moved David against them to say,Go,number Israel and Judah".-II Samuel 24:1(b)"And SATAN stood up against Israel,and provoked David to number Israel."-I Chronicles 21:1.So, is the Lord of David then Satan?God forbid!3}(a) "Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had NO CHILD until the day of her death"-II Samuel 6:23.(b)"But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah,whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth:and THE FIVE SONS of Michal the daughter of Saul,whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzilai the Meholathite."-II Samuel 21:8,So, did Michal have children or not..?,there are a lot more contradictions in the old testament , showing that it could not have been holy.in the Psalm, The Muslim holy city of Makka is mentioned(original word for makka was Baca,as it's referred to in the Quran,Prophet David mentions in his Psalms 84:6:"Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well, the rain also filleth the pool."The well here is a well known well of Zamzam,still present now,close to the Ka'bah.
can you explain these verses to me?I'm confused..
thanks

ANSWER: Hello, Sara.

Your email is quite long, but I will try to respond to all of your questions, in the order that you asked them. Thanks: I appreciate questions like this because they help me to study the Bible more.

A) Confusion about the following verses:

For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. (Jeremiah 3:12)

Ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever. (Jeremiah 17:4)

This is really not difficult to explain. You have to remember, that, when reading the Bible, context is very important. Not only that, but any verse in the entire Bible which speaks of the same subject must be compared with the verse in question if a person is to understand the truth. We are to compare spiritual with spiritual (Scripture with Scripture; I Corinthians 2:13).

Jeremiah 3:12 is giving a conditional statement: If Israel returns (to God), then God will not cause His anger to fall on them, because He is merciful, and He will not keep (anger) forever.

The key word is 'if.' That is, if any member of national Israel returns to God, then they are saved, and God will not cause His anger to fall on any of His eternal people.

Now, read verses 22 and 23 in the same context: Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the LORD our God. Truly in vain is (salvation hoped for) from the hills, (and from) the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

This is all salvation language. So, back to verse 12, God IS merciful, but He is only merciful ultimately to those who become saved.

Jeremiah 17:4 is a completely different story. The chapter begins by writing about 'the sin of Judah,' and 'altars and groves' are mentioned in verse 2 (altars and groves being places where false gods were worshipped).

Jeremiah 17:1-4 is talking about national Israel whom God did not elect to salvation. These are still under the wrath of God, and therefore God's anger shall burn forever for these individuals.


B) Question about the following verses:

If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. (John 5:31)

Jesus answered: Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid. (John 8:14)

In John 5:31, Jesus is referring back to the Old Testament Law in Deuteronomy 17:6, which states that someone who is deserving of death can only be put to death at the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses, not just 1 witness.

He's basically saying that if, He is all by Himself, then His testimony is not valid (the Jews did not believe that Jesus was God Himself). Because the Jews did not believe that Jesus was God, then it stands to reason that Jesus was suggesting, that if He were a single entity, and not God, then His testimony about Himself would not be true.

That's why He speaks about the witness of John the Baptist in verse 32.

However, when we get to John 8:14, Jesus establishes that He and God are one, or at the least, have a very special relationship.

John 8:18: I am One that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.

Jesus' record of Himself is true, because He not only has His witness of Himself, but also the Father's witness (verse 16).

C) Confusion about the verses:

And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)

The whole world is under control of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)

Matthew 28:18 refers to the time after Christ's Resurrection, when He was showing Himself to His disciples and others for 40 days after His crucifiction. When Jesus was killed and raised, Satan was defeated. Satan was thrown out of Heaven and cast to the earth, with the rest of the fallen angels (Revelation 12:9-10).

Also, when Christ died, He bought the whole world. This doesn't mean He saved everybody, because He only paid for the sins of the elect (Matthew 1:21). However, He did buy the whole world, so He could do with the people whatsoever He wished.

Matthew 13:44 explains this, that Christ (the man) sells all that He has (His life), and buys the field (the world). Christ spoke in parables, but this is the way to understand this passage. Verse 38 teaches that the field is the world.

Also, in Ephesians 1, it speaks about Christ's power over Heaven and Earth, in verse 20-22: Which He (God) wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church.

In other words, Christ was given full glory in Heaven, after He was raised from the dead. So this conclusion fits perfectly with Matthew 28:18.

I don't have the same translation for I John 5:19 that you do, and it's not even basically the same.

I John 5:19: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

This does not contradict Matthew 28:18. Christ, as God, did have total rulership over Heaven and Earth, but this doesn't mean that there won't be wicked people on the Earth. I John 5:19 teaches that the whole world (the word 'whole' must be understood as the entirety of the unsaved) lies in wickedness, which is precisely what the Bible teaches elsewhere (Romans 3:10-18, for example).

D) Confusion about the verses:

And Jesus said, For judgement I am come into this world. (John 9:39)
I came not to judge the world (John 12:47)

The words 'judgement' and 'judge' are not being used in the same ways for these passages. In John 9:39, the entire verse reads, And Jesus said, For judgement I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

The 'judgement' in John 9 is referring to either salvation, or spiritual blinding of people. Jesus came into the world, that they which see not (are spiritually blind), may see (they may become saved, and have spiritual sight given to them by God), and they which see (those who believe they understand the truth about the world and God, etc., using their own philosophy, intelligence, etc.), may be made blind (spiritually blind to the Gospel).

We see this in the Gospels. Jesus healed many, and for some of them He also gave them salvation. They were given spiritual sight by God, and so they followed Him (this was typified by the healing of diseases, healing of blindness, leprosy, deafness, etc.).

However, on the flip side, many people walked from Jesus, and wanted no more to be His disciple (John 6:66). These people were spiritually blinded by God, because God had no intention of saving them.

Now, when we get to John 12:47, 'judge' takes on a different meaning. This can be seen by reading the next verse, verse 48.

Verse 48: He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My Words, hath One that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Christ did not come to earth to judge people, in the sense of judging them, as the unsaved will be judged on the last day. He came to the world to save the world, not to stand in judgement of unsaved people. Many times He could have destroyed people by sending down fire from Heaven, or a multitude of other ways, simply because a great number of people were in rebellion against God. But He didn't do this. That's not why He came.

He did come to 'bring judgement,' in the sense of either bringing salvation, or blinding people, so that they would be further and further away from the truth of the Gospel.

E) More points: the Bible is disorganized, 9 versions of the Bible

The Bible is very difficult to understand, but most people who critique the Bible (writing long lists of contradictions) do not take the time to compare Scripture with Scripture, or to look at context. I hope that I have showed that the verses you have a problem with are not, in fact, contradictory. Also, people do not understand that Christ spoke in parables, and that the entire Bible is meant to be understood spiritually (I Corinthians 2:13).

There are many versions of the Bible because publishers have sought to make money creating an easier-to-read version. The oldest Bible, the King James, was first published in 1611, and it was translated from very ancient Greek and Hebrew texts.

Bibles such as the NIV, RSV, etc., I do not believe translate from the old Greek and Hebrew texts. I believe that they translate from the Latin Vulgate, which the Roman Catholic Church published. So, you can see why the NIV and other Bibles do not match up with the King James. They are a translation of a translation; the Hebrew and Greek into Latin; the Latin into English. The King James skips the Latin altogether.

It can be shown that some of the verses in the NIV (and probably the other Bibles), are not translated as faithfully as they should be (for example, Galatians 2:16 in the NIV is translated
'faith in Christ,' when it should be translated 'faith of Christ'). The King James translates this verse correctly, and includes supposedly 'missing' text (i.e., the end of Mark 16, which was found in the original Greek) and so in my humble opinion the King James is certainly the best Bible for a serious Bible student to use.

F) Jesus as God's Son

Jesus is not God's Son in the sense that I am my father's son. Jesus was not born out of God's womb. Jesus is the Son of God because He was raised from the dead. He is the only begotten Son of God.

Colossians 1:18: And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.

John 3:16 also echoes the fact that Christ is the only begotten Son of God. Christ is the only One Who literally endured Hell for sins.

G) Adam and Eve as 'sons' of God

The Bible never refers to Adam or Eve as sons of God, but they were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). In that sense, they were 'sons' of God, but again, this doesn't mean that they were literally born from God. They were created as adults, placed in the Garden of Eden, and given Commandments about how to live before God.

When we study the Bible, we find that 'sons of God' refers to people who are saved (I John 3:2), so Adam and Eve were 'sons' of God conditionally. They would only remain under God's grace if they continued to obey God, which, of course, they did not (Genesis 3:6).

H) Jesus dying for sin

Jesus did not have to die for sin! That is the wonderful message of the Bible, that God, out of His infinite mercy, chose to die for sinners. Christ willfully died for undeserving sinners, but He died only for the elect; a limited number, not every human being who would ever live (Ephesians 1).

Christ had to die in place of these sinners because finite man cannot possibly pay the penalty by himself. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), and that 'death' is eternal damnation (Mark 3:29). A man who tries to pay this penalty would never get to the end of it; Christ as God, on the other hand, could pay the penalty of eternal damnation, because He is infinitely powerful.

God, as a righteous God, could not simply 'wave away' our guilt; the guilt for our sins had to be paid by someone, and the only Someone Who could do it was Christ.

Christ did not pay for Satan's sins, or the sins of any fallen angel. The Bible does not teach this.

I) Following the Law a curse

The Bible does teach that if we try to become saved by keeping the Law, then we are still under the wrath of God.

Galatians 5:4: Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law; ye are fallen from grace.

Other verses agree with Galatians 5:4. The reason for this is because no person can possibly obey the Law perfectly enough to warrant salvation. If someone could conceivably live sinlessly, then I suppose they could become saved by keeping the Law. But that's an impossibility, of course, as we are even conceived and born in sin (Psalm 51:5; 58:3).

We are saved by grace, NOT by works. Ephesians 2:8-10 spells this out nicely. We must come to the conclusion in our lives that God has done 100% of the work required to save us. Nothing that we say, do, or think, or that another person does on our behalf, can save us. Only God can make a person born again, and the evidence for someone becoming born again is that they have an intense desire to do the will of God, to keep His Commandments (Psalm 119).

If we are working in any way whatsoever for our salvation, such as those who believe they became saved by confessing Christ, or by repenting, or accepting Christ, or by speaking in tongues (not for today, by the way), then this is evidence that we are not saved. We are still trusting in our works, to some degree, to get us saved.

The Bible even teaches that our personal faith is a work (I Thessalonians 1:3; II Thessalonians 1:11). We can't become saved by believing in Christ, or believing in God or the Bible. Those are all works. The faith that saves a person is the faith of Christ (Galatians 2:16; Revelation 19:11).

We can't do works to become saved, because we are dead in sin. We're not dead physically, but we are dead in sins (Ephesians 2:5). We can't do spiritually pleasing work in that condition. We have to wait on God for salvation, and after God saves us and gives us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:25-27), then we can call upon His name, believe on Him, confess His name, repent, etc. After salvation, a person is under grace, and he will no longer try to become saved by his actions.

I hope this helps. I will try and answer your other questions later. I want to at least get this part of my answer to you.

May God bless you,
John

Isaiah 55:3: Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi! I'm really grateful for your enlightening reply.
While I did study the Koran(which a friend gave me), and both The Testaments(I am naturally interested in all kinds of Holy Scriptures, so I read the Isaiah myself too),I also received all these emails from the friend, so since I couldn't figure out the exact meaning of these holy verses, I really hoped you could clarify the meanings for me.I , myself is thinking seriously about this religion Islam. How can there be so many coincidence? It was puzzling, but I'm just trying to keep my mind open. I also asked our local priest what he said about these, but then he told me to not to question anything, which was hurtful .Why can't I know about something I'm going to believe? I also found this interesting video .It really explains the trinity well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3anSlKeZO8 . And after watching all the series of this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHiAGHFnzMU, I was surprised.
So,is there scientific proofs or verses in the Bible. I'll be really interested to know more about those.I mean if Quran was man-made, it couldn't have contained all those scientific details..And could Muhammad actually have written those stuffs on his own?. I heard that he wasn't literate. He just memorized  the verses and his scribes wrote them down: I was thinking I would show you this, a friend gave me these a few weeks ago, I'll paste it here. I thought it matched with the Koran:Revelation to Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]

Revelation to Muhammad: The 1st revelation of Allah through the angel Gabriel to Muhammad was the word (Iqra) "read" in Surah 96:1-5: As he was unlettered he replied "I cannot read". This 1st revelation was prophesized in Isaiah 29:12 "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned saying, Read this, I pray thee, and he saith ,I am not learned.”These revelation came in installments, and inserted in certain order in the Quran as ordained by Allah, was also mentions in Isaiah 28:10-11 "For precept must be upon precept , precept upon precept,line upon line, line upon line, here a little ,there a little, for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to his people."Another tongue means another language, not Hebrew or Aramaic , but Arabic. Muslims all over the world are using one language, which is Arabic,in calling their God, in their prayers, pilgrimage and in their greetings to each other.Also this unity of language had been prophesied in Zephaniah 3:9:“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.”the truth has come in Arabic.--
How come The other Holy books foretold Muhammad's coming?
Please help me out with these.  Because the science part in this video hit me the most http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcD6v0WuTA , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BdbtDwcudA&feature=related .You can see if it matches with science if you watch all the 16 series. Several of my friends who turned atheist, are now interested in Islam(and they keep asking if Bible is scientific), and I also was thinking Islam is a sensible religion. Could you please give me some scientific theory from the Bible.i’ll be extremely grateful.
Thanks again,
Sara

ANSWER: Hello, Sara.

I just wrote an extremely long answer, stupidly decided to spell-check, then everything froze up and I lost the entire page.

So, I will sum up what I wrote, and if you need further clarification, please write back.

A) I think the Bible is more trustworthy than the Koran, considering the latter was written about 600 years after the Bible.

Besides, if the Bible is the Word of God, then it is completely trustworthy.


B) The Trinity is something that cannot be explained, and so I shy away from people who claim to be able to understand it. The Bible says that God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, yet there is one God (John 10:30). So, there is lots of confusion, but this should be expected, since we cannot possibly know such things about God.

C) There are verses which some have claimed show scientific foreknowledge in the Bible. For example, Job 26:7, which states that the earth hangs upon nothing. Nobody at that time believed that the celestial bodies were hung upon nothing.

I can't speak about the so-called scientific foreknowledge in the Koran, because I'm not an expert in it. But it is possible that God allowed such information in the Koran to test people, to see where their true faith would lie.

D) Isaiah 29:12 is referring to the fact that blinded people cannot understand the truths of the Bible. The Bible, therefore, is sealed to them. This verse is not speaking about Muhammad at all.

E) Isaiah 28:10-11 is speaking, first of all, how God teaches His people. He teaches us a little at a time from the Bible. The stammering lips and another tongue refer to judgement. In the historical context, Judah was destroyed in 587 B.C. by Babylon. The tongue in which the Babylonians spoke was a tongue that the Jews did not understand (Isaiah 33:19).

F) Zephaniah 3:9 is speaking about a pure language which will be given to God's elect in Heaven, after the destruction of the present universe. Verse 8 speaks of God's wrath at the end of the world, and verse 9 refers to those who will be calling upon God's name, and serving God with one consent.

This 'pure language' of Zephaniah 3:9, or the 'tongue' from Isaiah 28:11, is not talking about the Arabic language. The 'pure language' of Zephaniah 3:9 is speaking about a language of joy and love in God, and Isaiah 28's 'another tongue' refers to God's bringing judgement upon the nation of Judah (and, to a larger extent, any unsaved person).

I hope this helps.

May God bless you,
John

Isaiah 55:8: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, one of my friends emailed me this about the Quran. Since I was interested to find a religion that had science in it, I found this amazing. So did all my atheist friends.So, I was wondering if you could also give me something that would also be science in the Testaments?Here is the email:I will paste it here--Celestial Organization
    The information the Quran provides on this subject mainly deals with the solar system. References are however made to phenomena that go beyond the solar system itself: they have been discovered in recent times.
    There are two very important verses on the orbits of the sun and moon:
 Chapter 21, Verse 33: “God is the One Who created the night, the day, the sun and the moon. Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion”
Chapter 36, Verse 40: “The sun must not catch up the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. Each one is travelling in an orbit with its own motion.”
Here an essential fact is clearly stated: the existence of the Sun’s and Moon’s orbits, plus a reference is made to the travelling of these bodies in space with their own motion
At the time of the Quranic Revelation,1400 years ago, it was thought that the Sun moved while the Earth stood still. This was the system of geocentrism that had held sway since the time of Ptolemy, Second century B.C. and was to continue to do so until Copernicus in the Sixteenth century A.D. But the Quran cleared out the concept.
A new concept therefore existed in the Quran that was not to be explained until centuries later.
The word “falaq”-orbit , caused concern to older translators of the Quran who were unable to imagine the circular course of the Moon and the Sun. Sir Boubekeur in his translation of the Quran cites the diversity of interpretations given to it. “A sort of axle, like a mill that turns around; a celestial sphere, orbit….” This shows just how incapable men were of understanding this concept of the Sun and the  Moons orbit.
THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
The expansion of the Universe is the most imposing discovery of modern science. Today it is a firmly established concept.
It was first suggested by the general theory of relativity and is backed up by physics in the examination of the galactic spectrum; the regular movement towards the red section of their spectrum may be explained by the distancing of one galaxy from another. Thus the size of the Universe is constantly increasing and this increase will become bigger the further away the galaxies are from us. The speeds at which these celestial bodies are moving may, in the course of this perpetual expansion, go from fractions of the speed of light to speeds faster than this.
The following verse of the Quran (chapter 51,verse 47) where God is speaking, may be compared with modern ideas and science: “We have built it with power(Universe). Verily. We are expanding it.”
 It refers to the expansion of the Universe in totally unambiguous terms.
It just showed how incapable men were of understanding these astronomical concepts that Muhammad used to bring from God. In view of the level of knowledge in Muhammad's day, it is inconceivable that many of the statement in the Quran which are connected with science could have been the work of a man. It is, moreover, perfectly legitimate, not only to regard the Quran as the expression of a Revelation, but also to award it a very special place, on account of the guarantee of authenticity it provides and the presence in it of scientific statements which , when studied today, appear as a challenge to explanation in human terms.
Thank you! I am eagerly waiting to hear from you again.
Sara

Answer
Hello again, Sara.

I certainly am aware of the so-called 'scientific foreknowledge' that proponents of the Koran claim the book has.

However, because I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, based on its internal consistency (despite being penned by many people over a span of approximately 1500-1600 years), prophecies, and the spiritual statements with which I can relate, I have no option but to conclude that the Koran is not the Word of God.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is God in many places, and it teaches other things that Muslims do not believe.

I cannot explain this 'scientific foreknowledge' (if that's what it truly is) in the Koran; however, I do know that not everybody agrees that such statements are truly evidence that the Koran (or Bible) are of divine origin. For example, William Lane Craig, who is a Christian philosopher, does not believe the statements in either the Koran or the Bible can be used as evidence of scientific foreknowledge.

Here is a website which states that the scientific foreknowledge in the Koran is not anything special: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18240169/Does-the-Quran-Have-Any-Scientific-Miracles-P

Supposedly, there's a part 1, but I couldn't find it.

Here is a list of 'scientific foreknowledge' that some Christians use as proof that the Bible is from God: http://www.creationists.org/scientific-foreknowledge-in-the-bible.html

Hope this helps.

May God bless you,
John

I Kings 20:7: Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.