"The Scriptures" - Christian - http://maxpages.com/jesuscomes/The

	YAHWEH'S NAME FOUND ON ARTIFACT DATED 600 BCE! Dr. Gabriel Barkay points to the tomb where he discovered the tiny biblical artifacts that date from well before the Dead Sea Scrolls. SOLVING A RIDDLE WRITTEN IN SILVER By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD New York Times Published: September 28, 2004 ....An archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to be the earliest biblical passage ever found in ancient artifacts. ["May Yahweh bless you and keep you; may Yahweh cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace."] Two tiny strips of silver, each wound tightly like a miniature scroll and bearing the inscribed words, were uncovered in a tomb outside Jerusalem and initially dated from the late seventh or early sixth century B.C. - some 400 years before the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. But doubts persisted. The silver was cracked and corroded, and many words and not a few whole lines in the faintly scratched inscriptions were unreadable. Some critics contended that the artifacts were from the third or second century B.C., and thus of less importance in establishing the antiquity of religious concepts and language that became part of the Hebrew Bible. So researchers at the University of Southern California have now re-examined the inscriptions using new photographic and computer imaging techniques. The words still do not exactly leap off the silver. But the researchers said they could finally be "read fully and analyzed with far greater precision," and that they were indeed the earliest. In a scholarly report published this month, the research team concluded that the improved reading of the inscriptions confirmed their greater antiquity. The script, the team wrote, is indeed from the period just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar and the subsequent exile of Israelites in Babylonia. The researchers further reaffirmed that the scrolls "preserve the earliest known citations of texts also found in the Hebrew Bible and that they provide us with the earliest examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh." Some of the previously unreadable lines seemed to remove any doubt about the purpose of the silver scrolls: they were amulets. Unrolled, one amulet is nearly four inches long and an inch wide and the other an inch and a half long and about half an inch wide. The inscribed words, the researchers said, were "intended to provide a blessing that will be used to protect the wearer from some manner of evil forces." The report in The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research was written by Dr. Gabriel Barkay, the archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University in Israel who discovered the artifacts, and collaborators associated with Southern California's West Semitic Research Project. The project leader is Dr. Bruce Zuckerman, a professor of Semitic languages at U.S.C., who worked with Dr. Marilyn J. Lundberg, a Hebrew Bible specialist with the project, and Dr. Andrew G. Vaughn, a biblical historian at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. A companion article for next month's issue of the magazine Near Eastern Archaeology describes the new technology used in the research. The article is by the same authors, as well as Kenneth Zuckerman, Dr. Zuckerman's brother and a specialist in photographing ancient documents. Other scholars not affiliated with the research but familiar with it agreed with the group's conclusions. They said it was a relief to have the antiquity and authenticity of the artifacts confirmed, considering that other inscriptions from biblical times have suffered from their uncertain provenance. Scholars also noted that early Hebrew inscriptions were a rarity, and called the work on the amulets a significant contribution to an understanding of the history of religion in ancient Israel, particularly the time of the Judean Monarchy 2,600 years ago. "These photographs are far superior to what you can see looking at the inscriptions with the naked eye," said Dr. Wayne Pitard, professor of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern religions at the University of Illinois. Dr. Pitard said the evidence for the antiquity of the benediction was now compelling, although this did not necessarily mean that the Book of Numbers already existed at that time. Possibly it did, he added, but if not, at least some elements of the book were current before the Babylonian exile. A part of the sacred Torah of Judaism (the first five books of the Bible), Numbers includes a narrative of the Israelite wanderings from Mount Sinai to the east side of the Jordan River. Some scholars think the Torah was compiled in the time of the exile. A number of other scholars, the so-called minimalists, who are influential mainly in Europe, argue that the Bible was a relatively recent invention by those who took control of Judea in the late fourth century B.C. In this view, the early books of the Bible were largely fictional to give the new rulers a place in the country's history and thus a claim to the land. "The new research on the inscriptions suggests that that's not true," Dr. Pitard said. In fact, the research team noted in its journal report that the improved images showed the seventh-century lines of the benediction to be "actually closer to the biblical parallels than previously recognized." Dr. P. Kyle McCarter of Johns Hopkins University, a specialist in ancient Semitic scrip ts, said the research should "settle any controversy over these inscriptions." A close study, Dr. McCarter said, showed that the handwriting is an early style of Hebrew script and the letters are from an old Hebrew alphabet, which had all but ceased to be used after the destruction of Jerusalem. Later Hebrew writing usually adopted the Aramaic alphabet. There was an exception in the time of Roman rule, around the first centuries B.C. and A.D. The archaic Hebrew script and letters were revived and used widely in documents. But Dr. McCarter noted telling attributes of the strokes of the letters and the spelling on the amulets that, he said, ruled out the more recent date for the inscriptions. Words in the revived Hebrew writing would have included letters indicating vowel sounds. The benediction, the scholar said, was written in words spelled entirely with consonants, the authentic archaic way. The two silver scrolls were found in 1979 deep inside a burial cave in a hillside known as Ketef Hinnom, west of the Old City of Jerusalem. Dr. Barkay, documenting the context of the discovery, noted that the artifacts were at the back of the tomb embedded in pottery and other material from the seventh or sixth centuries B.C. Such caves were reused for burials over many centuries. Near this tomb's entrance were artifacts from the fourth century, but nothing so recent remains in the undisturbed recesses. It took Dr. Barkay another seven years before he felt sure enough of what he had to announce details of the discovery. Even then, for all their microscopic examination of the inscriptions at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, scholars remained frustrated by the many unreadable words and lines. About a decade ago, Dr. Barkay enlisted the help of Dr. Zuckerman, whose team had earned a reputation for achieving the near-impossible in photographing illegible ancient documents. Working with scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Zuckerman's group used advanced infrared imagining systems enhanced by electronic cameras and computer image-processing technology to draw out previously invisible writing on a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The researchers also pioneered electronic techniques for reproducing missing pieces of letters on documents. By examining similar letters elsewhere in the text, they were able to recognize half of a letter and reconstruct the rest of it in a scribe's own peculiar style. "We learned a lot from work on the Dead Sea Scrolls," Dr. Zuckerman said. "But at first a processing job like this would send your computers into cardiac arrest. We had to wait for computer technology to catch up with our needs." As the researchers said in their magazine article, the only reasonably clear aspect of the inscriptions was the Priestly Benediction. Other lines preceding or following the prayer "could barely be seen." To get higher-definition photographs of the inscriptions, Ken Zuckerman applied an old photographer's technique called "light painting," brought up to date by the use of fiber-optic technology. He used a hand-held light in an otherwise dark room to illuminate a spot on the artifact during a time exposure. In addition, he photographed the artifact at different angles, which made the scratched letters shine in stark relief. The next step was to convert the pictures to digital form, making possible computer processing that brought out "the subtleties of the surface almost at the micron level." This analysis was particularly successful in joining a partial letter stroke on one side of a crack with the rest of the stroke on the other side. It also enabled the researchers to restore fragments of letters to full legibility by matching them with clear letters from elsewhere in the text. In this way, the researchers filled in more of the letters and words of the benediction itself and for the first time deciphered meaningful words and phrases in the lines preceding the benediction. Scholars were particularly intrigued by a statement on the smaller artifact. It reads: "May h[e]/sh[e] be blessed by YHWH, the warrior/helper, and the rebuker of Evil." Referring to God, Yahweh, as the "rebuker of Evil" is similar to language used in the Bible and in various Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars said. The phraseology is also found in later incantations and amulets associated with Israel, evidence that these artifacts were also amulets, researchers concluded. "In the ancient world, amulets were taken quite seriously," Dr. Zuckerman said. "There's evil out there, demons, and you need protection. Having this around your neck, you are involving God's presence and protection against harm." Dr. Esther Eshel, a professor of the Bible at Bar-Ilan and an authority on Hebrew inscriptions, said this was the earliest example of amulets from Israel. But she noted that the language of the benediction was similar to a blessing ("May he bless you and keep you") found on a jar from the eighth century B.C. If the new findings are correct, the people who wore these amulets may have died before they had to face the limitations of their efficacy. They might then have asked in uncomprehending despair, "Where was Yahweh when the Babylonians swooped down on Jerusalem?" Other scholars, including those previously skeptical, will soon be analyzing the improved images. In a departure from usual practices, the researchers not only published their findings in a standard print version in a journal but also as an accompanying "digital article," a CD version of the article and the images to allow scholars to examine and manipulate the data themselves. The research group said, "As far as we are aware, this is the first article to be done in this fashion, but it certainly will not be the last." BACK TO OUR HOME PAGEAn Interview with Lee Strobel The Resurrection of Jesus: An Interview with Lee Strobel The author of 'The Case for Easter' says believing in Jesus' literal, physical resurrection is crucial for Christians. Interview by Laura Sheahen Lee Strobel was the legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981, when he became an evangelical Christian. He went on to write 11 books, including the best-selling "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith." He spoke with Beliefnet recently about why it's crucial that Christians believe Jesus physically rose from the dead. You've been praised for making a "Case for Christ" based on our modern legal system--offering evidence and so forth. Yet some criticize attempts to investigate the resurrection--traditionally considered a matter of faith--in a more journalistic or legal way. What is your response to such critics? I think it's very healthy to use journalistic and legal techniques to investigate the evidence for and against Christianity and other faith systems. My definition of faith is a step of trust we take in the same direction the evidence is pointing. It's important that our trust is based on a rational understanding of what the evidence is in support of what we believe. Christianity is a very historical religion-it makes specific claims that are open to testing. Your definition of faith is interesting. If there's no evidence for a particular widely-held Christian belief, is that a problem? Well, there are certain tenets of Christianity that have less historical support than others. But I think the central core of Christianity is well supported by historical data. If we can have confidence in the central thrust of the Christian message--the life, the teachings, the miracles, the death and the resurrection of Jesus--that provides us with a core of belief that we can build our faith on. I was thinking of heaven and the afterlife. It's true that some people report near-death experiences and speak of heaven-like encounters, but here's not a huge mound of evidence about it. We have an authority who did die and come back, and that was Jesus. He has certain teachings about heaven and the afterlife. So if it is true that Jesus claimed to be the son of God, and I believe there’s good historical evidence that he did, and if it is true that he authenticated that claim by returning from the dead, and again, I think there’s good evidence that he did, then I think he’s qualified as an expert in the area of the afterlife. He’s an expert witness on heaven. Exactly! Even though we may not have a lot of direct evidence for it, we do have someone who has the credentials to give us insights we can rely upon. What do you think is the best evidence for the resurrection? I believe that the evidence of history does point in the direction of the truth of the resurrection. Number one is the empty tomb of Jesus--everybody agreed in the ancient world that the tomb of Jesus was empty. The question is, how did it get empty? The Christians claimed that Jesus returned from the dead. The counterclaim was presented that the disciples stole the body, even though they lacked motive and an opportunity. I don’t think that’s credible. Could their motive have been that they wanted people to think he had been raised? I don’t think that they would be willing to suffer deprivation and death to support a claim that they knew was false. I don’t think they had the motive or the opportunity to steal the body. Nor do I think they would make the false claim that Jesus returned from the dead because it meant that they would suffer and die for that claim. I don’t think people are generally willing to knowingly and willingly die for a lie. Also, you have the added feature of the empty tomb being discovered by women. Women in first-century Jewish culture were not given credibility in a court of law; their testimony was not considered reliable. So why [do the gospel writers] say that women discovered the tomb empty, even though it hurts their case in the view of their audience? I believe it’s because they were trying to accurately record what actually took place. He encountered 515 individuals--including people whose lives were changed 180 degrees, from being opposed to Jesus to being supporters of Jesus, because of their encounter with the resurrected Christ. Not only the gospels and not only the Book of Acts, not only Paul’s references, but even preceding that, the apostle Paul preserves for us a creed that was recited by the earliest Christians that contains the fundamentals of Christianity-that Jesus died, why? For our sin. That he was buried, that he was resurrected on the third day. This creed has been dated back by scholars from a wide range of theological beliefs to as early as 2-3 years after the life of Jesus. Here is a creed that emerges so quickly that it couldn’t have been the product of legendary development. [It's] not the product of people over long periods of time attributing things to Jesus that didn’t really happen. Finally, you have the changed lives of the disciples. You’ve got people who were willing to die for their conviction that Jesus returned from the dead. The Resurrection of Jesus: An Interview with Lee Strobel Page 1 2 3 Isn't there a chance that the disciples were willing to die solely because they believed in Jesus’ message of love or self-sacrifice, not in a physical resurrection per se? I think they did believe in that message, but they believed more. There are a lot of people who have preached love through the centuries. They believed in Jesus because he returned from the dead and thus authenticated his claim to being the son of God. That’s at the core of the preaching of the early church in the Book of Acts. What are your thoughts on more liberal Christians who say you can be Christian without believing in a literal resurrection? I would say that the apostle Paul is probably closer to the scene then they are. He’s the one who said, "if the resurrection is not true, then we’re to be pitied." I think belief in the resurrection is warranted by the evidence. I don’t know on what basis a person might reject it or water it down and say, "I’m going to believe in Christianity, but I’m going to be skeptical about the resurrection." Many people have a hard time believing in things that seem physically impossible--that seem against the laws of physics or biology. It’s really a worldview issue. If a person believes that all there is in the universe is material stuff, then the idea that Jesus returned from the dead is absurd. If a person’s worldview allows for the fact that God created the universe--and I think the findings of modern cosmology and physics point strongly in that direction--then for God to raise his son from the dead is child’s play. I would say if the evidence of history points toward a supernatural event like the resurrection, we ought to be willing to consider that possibility. What is your response to people who say the resurrection should be understood metaphorically, as symbolizing the possibility of rebirth? I think what the historical record establishes is that the earliest church believed that Jesus physically returned from the dead. That’s a core belief of the Christian faith. You can’t get away from the centrality of the resurrection to his message. What does the resurrection mean to you personally? It gives me hope that as Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so I will someday be too. It gives me confidence in the teachings of Jesus, that I can apply them to my life, that they’ll make a difference in my life. They’re not just the teachings of a bright and loving individual; they’re the teachings of the son of God himself. It means to me that Jesus deserves my worship and my allegiance. It also means that I want to spend my life helping other people see the evidence for the resurrection, that they too may experience what I’ve experienced, which is a 180-degree life change from my days as an atheist, to my days as a Christian.

Jesus said "I come and my reward is with me!" What is this speech of rewards???The Judgement of reward's(believer's bema judgement crowns)

	"THE CROWNS" In preperation of this article I must say that many Christians believe in what we call the two judgements 1st, the "Great White Throne Judgement" this judgement is spoken of in the later parts of the book of Revelations,2nd Is the Bema Judgement in which Christ will give unto those who love him rewards many of which we probably will never know until we meet him,but these are some we do know of from scripture have a look it's a promise to you! If you walk with him and faint not according to Christ Jesus! 1. The Incorruptible Crown, given to those who master the old nature (1 Corinthians 9: 25-27). 2 The Crown of Rejoicing, given to soul winners (Proverbs 11:30, Daniel 12:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). 3 The Crown of Life, given to those who successfully endure temptation (James 1:2-3, Revelation 2:10). 4 The Crown of Righteousness for those who especially love the doctrine of the rapture (2 Timothy 4:8). 5 The Crown of Glory, given to faithful preachers and teachers (Acts 20:26-28, 2 Timothy 4:1-2, 1 Peter 5: 2-4). When Christ calls Christians to himself (read John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10; Rev. 4:1-3), the next event on God’s calendar will be to judge believers for what we have done in this earthly life. We want to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good, faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your salvation, which is fitting.” these particular crowns come after the rapture of the church and are given to those believers who have met these criterea according to God.

A beginning look at who Jesus was and what the scriptures and others say...

	Is Jesus God? The Historical Dispute Is Jesus God? The answer to this question is the only real dispute surrounding the historical Jesus. No legitimate scholar today denies that Jesus is a historic figure that walked on this earth about 2,000 years ago, that he did remarkable wonders and acts of charity, and that He died a horrible death on a Roman cross just outside Jerusalem. The emotionally-charged dispute focuses specifically on whether Jesus was God incarnate who rose from the dead three days after His Crucifixion. Is Jesus God? The Only Alternatives Is Jesus God? Many people have dealt with this "spiritual" dispute by intellectually accepting Jesus as a great man, great teacher, or great prophet. However, Jesus and His inspired followers didn't mince words when they declared Him to be God (John 10:30-38, Matthew 16:13-17, Mark 14:61-64, John 14:6, Hebrews 1:8, Colossians 1:16, John 12:40-41 [quoting Isaiah 6:1-10]). Therefore, any type of intellectual compromise calling Jesus a "good man" is logically inconsistent. Why? Because there are really only three legitimate alternatives for the identity of Jesus Christ. He is either a liar, a lunatic or our Lord and God. Since Jesus claimed to be God, His claims are either true or false. If false, He must have been a liar, deliberately misleading the multitudes. Or, He was a lunatic, sincerely believing Himself to be God, when in reality He was just a man. However, if Jesus was a "good man," as most people now agree, how then could He be both good and crazy, or good and a liar? There is only one logically consistent alternative - He must have been telling the truth. In addition to the logical inconsistency, the remarkable historical, archaeological and manuscript evidence shows that Jesus was neither a liar nor a lunatic. Again, the only position left is that His claim is true. Jesus is Lord and God. The only real argument that remains, is that Jesus was just a legend or myth. There is little likelihood that Jesus' claims are legend. There just wasn't enough time for any legendary development of the story to replace what really happened. For instance, we now know that the Gospels were written 30 to 50 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. More dramatically, we now date some of the early Christian creeds, proclaiming the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, to 3 to 10 years after His crucifixion. This includes Paul's letters to the Corinthians, Romans and Galatians. Finally, if Jesus' claim of deity was a myth, the early Jewish opponents of Christianity would surely have presented the fact that these claims never happened. Unlike modern skeptics, the Jewish rabbis never denied that Jesus made the claim that He was God. Instead, they called Him a liar, and tried Him for blasphemy. Is Jesus God? The Only Answer Is Jesus God? Once you have asked all your questions, weighed all the evidence, and tested all the arguments, you will ultimately be confronted with this question. In Mathew 16:15, Jesus put it this way, 'But who do you say that I am?' One of His disciples, Simon Peter, replied: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' What is your reply?Who is Jesus? Why It’s Important to Know! Who is Jesus, and why is it important for us to know? We live in an age of religious pluralism and moral relativism. The popular spiritual philosophy, especially after the events of September 11th, is that all religious belief systems, as long as heart-felt, are equal. Pick one and follow it sincerely, and you’ll get to Heaven. That’s what the world believes, but Jesus teaches otherwise. Therefore, we need to examine who Jesus is by looking at some of the questions people frequently ask about Him. The answers are found in the Bible, the historical evidence people have trusted for over 2000 years. Who is Jesus? He Was 100% Man According to John 1:14, Jesus became flesh and made His dwelling among us. Why is His humanity so important? In Hebrews 4:15, Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are. As such, Jesus can sympathize with our weakness as humans. What can we learn from the way Jesus handled temptation? According to 1 John 3:5, Jesus came to earth in human form so that He could die a physical death and take away our sins. How would we all be affected, if we had no potential for escape from our sins? Jesus is the key to membership in God’s family. When He stooped to our level by becoming a man, He made it possible for us to relate to Him and for God to relate to us through Him. Who is Jesus? He Was 100% God Who is Jesus, and how was it possible that Christ’s human body held the whole deity and glory of God? According to John 1:1-3, Jesus existed from the beginning. From the beginning, Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Here, the Bible establishes the inseparable nature of Jesus and the God of the Universe. The following verses provide further evidence that Jesus is 100% God: Highlights of Christ's Time on Earth & the verses: · Miracles: Luke 7:22 · Eyewitnesses to His perfect life: Matthew 16:13-17 · Fulfillment of Prophecy: Matthew 13:14, Luke 24:44 · Jesus' own identification/claim: John 10:30-38, Matthew 16:13- 17, Mark 14:61-64 · Claims of Christ's followers: Hebrews 1:8, Colossians 1:16, John 12:40 (quoting Isaiah 6:1-10) · Resurrection: Luke 24:39, Mark 8:31, Acts 17:32 Jesus is the key to membership in God’s family. When He established His deity by rising from the grave, He made it possible for us to have forgiveness from sin and a renewed relationship with God. Who is Jesus? He is the Way to Heaven Who is Jesus, and why is He the only path to salvation? In John 14:6, Jesus declares: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Why is it important to know that NO other religious leaders throughout history have ever made these claims? According to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” How does this contrast with other world religions which are based on “works” versus faith in Jesus and the resurrection? If we can’t build a relationship with God by doing good deeds or repeating rituals, what must we do? Acts 4:12 is clear, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran (Judaism and Christianity)

	The Dead Sea Scrolls(Qumran,Jordan)(Video Below!) Today - 2,000 Years Later About two thousand years elapsed between the time the scrolls were deposited in the caves of the barren hills surrounding the Dead Sea and their discovery in 1947. The fact that they survived for twenty centuries, that they were found accidentally by Bedouin shepherds, that they are the largest and oldest body of manuscripts relating to the Bible and to the time of Jesus of Nazareth make them a truly remarkable archaeological find. Since their discovery, the Dead Sea Scrolls have been the subject of great scholarly and public interest. For scholars they represent an invaluable source for exploring the nature of post- biblical times and probing the sources of two of the world's great religions. For the public, they are artifacts of great significance, mystery, and drama. Interest in the scrolls has, if anything, intensified in recent years. Media coverage has given prominence to scholarly debates over the meaning of the scrolls, the Qumran ruin, as well as particular scroll fragments, raising questions destined to increase attention and heighten the Dead Sea Scrolls mystery. Did the scrolls come from the library of the Second Temple or other libraries and were they hidden to prevent their destruction by the Romans? Was the Qumran site a winter villa for a wealthy Jerusalem family or was it a Roman fortress? Was it a monastery not for Essenes but for a Sadducean sect? Does this mean we need to revise our view of Jewish religious beliefs during the last centuries of the Second Temple? Do the Dead Sea Scrolls provide clues to hidden treasures? Does the "War Rule Scroll" (object no. 12) refer to a pierced or piercing messiah? Since the late 1980s, no controversy has been more heated than that surrounding access to the scrolls and the movement to accelerate their publication. The push by scholars to gain what the "Biblical Archaeology Review" characterized as "intellectual freedom and the right to scholarly access" has had significant results. In 1988, the administration for scroll research, the Israel Antiquities Authority, began to expand the number of scroll assignments. By 1992, they included more than fifty scholars. In 1991, a computer-generated version as well as a two-volume edition of the scroll photographs were published by the Biblical Archaeology Society. Late in the same year, the Huntington Library of California made available to all scholars the photographic security copies of the scrolls on deposit in its vault. Closing the circle, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced that it too would be issuing an authorized microfiche edition, complete with detailed indices. Judaism and Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls include a range of contemporary documents that serve as a window on a turbulent and critical period in the history of Judaism. In addition to the three groups identified by Josephus (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes), Judaism was further divided into numerous religious sects and political parties. With the destruction of the Temple and the commonwealth in 70 C.E., all that came to an end. Only the Judaism of the Pharisees--Rabbinic Judaism--survived. Reflected in Qumran literature is a Judaism in transition: moving from the religion of Israel as described in the Bible to the Judaism of the rabbis as expounded in the Mishnah (a third-century compilation of Jewish laws and customs which forms the basis of modern Jewish practice). The Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to the events described in the New Testament, have added to our understanding of the Jewish background of Christianity. Scholars have pointed to similarities between beliefs and practices outlined in the Qumran literature and those of early Christians. These parallels include comparable rituals of baptism, communal meals, and property. Most interesting is the parallel organizational structures: the sectarians divided themselves into twelve tribes led by twelve chiefs, similar to the structure of the early Church, with twelve apostles who, according to Jesus, would to sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Many scholars believe that both the literature of Qumran and the early Christian teachings stem from a common stream within Judaism and do not reflect a direct link between the Qumran community and the early Christians. more info.. http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/intro.html

Scientific evidence supporting authenticity of New Testament

	"ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE NEW TESTAMENT!" External Evidence Of A Prophesied, Dying Messiah To Come: "The 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scroll text known as 4Q521 (that is, fragment 521 from Qumran Cave Four), discovered in A.D. 1946 but hidden from the world's scientists and historians until... 1991, suggests that the Hebrew scribe who composed it was intensely Messianic." 117 Concerning the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pellegrino continues: "A five-line fragment referred to a Hebrew prophet-perhaps James or Jesus, but not necessarily so-who shared an ancestry with King David and was put to death. The decay rates of certain radioactive elements in the scrolls themselves told us that they had been written over a three-hundred-year period beginning near 250 B.C. and ending about the time Rome crushed the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66-68. This meant that during or even prior to the time of Jesus, writers belonging to an apparently Jewish sect believed in a Messiah who would suffer and be (or had already suffered and been) put to death."118 Pellegrino, an avowed agnostic, skeptic and scientist concludes: "When I first arrived in the Holy Land, Christianity was to me just another branching lineage, almost like a new species, carrying with it the Old Testament 'backbone' of its ancestral stock, much like the mitochondria and fossil oceans that run in our veins. But now my fascination deepened as I scanned copies of the newly released scroll fragments and came away with the unmistakable feeling that these were the traditions and history of a real people. I wondered what new astonishments the mutineers [those who divulged information contained within the Dead Sea Scrolls without official permission to do so] were about to uncover, as my eyes ran down columns of the first direct Hebrew-to-English translations [of the scrolls] and found snippets of sentences that were at once familiar yet somehow strange: 'And they will put to death the prince of the congregation... and with piercings a priest shall give order.... He will release the captives, raise up the do[wntrodden].... Then he will raise up the dead, and to the poor [he will] announce glad tidings.'"119 (cf. Isaiah 53, 61 and Matthew 28-for we truly worship a prophesied, pierced Servant Who was not only raised from the dead, but also raised the dead as well, released the captives, and catered to the poor-just as the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls record. This was also Pellegrino's confession-but only in-part, unfortunately). Evidence Of The Pool Of Bethesda: Turn-of-the-century excavations and the "Copper Scroll" from Quamran have identified the two pools in the northeast sector of Jerusalem as the Pool(s) of Bethesda. On the Copper Scrolls these pools are referred to in Hebrew as the "Beth-esh-dathain" or "the place of the two outpourings."120 Evidence Of 1st-Century Milestones: "The excavations at Capernaum also unearthed a significant number of first-century milestones." These milestones required two women to operate them-just as Jesus stated (cf. Luke 17:2).121 Evidence Of Galilean Boats: In January of 1986, Moshe and Yuval Lufan unearthed a first-century fishing vessel from the shores of Galilee. The boat was apparently used for fishing and ferrying people across the Sea of Galilee. It was some 27 feet in length-large enough to carry 13 people in it-just as the New Testament biblical narrative declares throughout the Gospels.122 Evidence Of Herod's Temple: No one can dispute that Herod's Temple did not exist during Jesus' lifetime. The western wailing wall, the mount itself, artifacts, and Josephus' writings all testify as to its first-century presence.123 Evidence That Nazareth Existed At The Time Of Jesus' Birth: Some skeptics have held that the town of Nazareth did not exist at the time of Jesus' birth. The reason for this is that it was never mentioned in Joshua's or Josephus's list of Israeli towns or cities, nor was it ever once mentioned in the Talmud. However, in 1962 excavations showed that Nazareth had long been in existence prior to, and through, the Roman occupation.124 Evidence Of Pontius Pilate's Existence: Until 1961, Pontius Pilate seemed historically unverifiable, that is until two Italian archaeologists dug up a two-by-three foot placard in Caesarea. The inscription on the placard read: "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberium to the Cesareans."125 Evidence That Jesus Existed And Was The Messiah: See Misconceptions "Jesus Was Not A Historical Figure," and "Jesus Was Not The Christ" or "Christ Jesus" under Prepared Studies (at this web site--rchristopherministries.com). Evidence Of Capernaum's Multi-Level Homes And Perhaps Peter's Mother-In-Law's House: Excavators have unearthed a 4th century Christian church erected over a multi-level house in Capernaum. This house, as local tradition goes, is perhaps Peter's mother-in-law's house-the same house Jesus healed the paralytic in, and probably domiciled at on occasion. This large, multi-level dwelling probably substituted as a meeting place for Christians. Archaeological digs have uncovered 134 fragments from the walls of this "house" inscribed with Peter's name or invocations to Jesus Christ. Early Byzantine custom was to erect churches over locations identified as holy places (loca sancta).126 Evidence For The Empty Tomb: Not only has the tomb of Jesus been identified by some (see The Garden Tomb or The Holy Sepulcher), but a first-century Roman edict has been uncovered (in 1878) which lends support to the biblical view that Roman soldiers may have been paid to say that Jesus' body had been removed by His disciples (cf. Matt. 28:11-15). The excavated inscription, thought to be ordered by Claudius sometime around AD 44, demands the death of those found guilty of grave robbing or displacing corpses.127 Evidence That Luke Was The Credible Author And Historian Of Acts And The Gospel Of Luke: Sir William Ramsey, perhaps the best archaeologist of all time, reversed his opinion of Luke as a 2nd century historian and redactor when in fact Luke's historical and topographical account was the only account that matched the archaeology of 1st century Israel. Ramsey concludes "Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy... this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians." Luke's writings regarding Jesus' birth, the taking of censuses by the Romans, Quirinius as Governor, the location of Lystra and Derbe, Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene, the riot of Ephesus, the exclusion of Gentiles within the Temple, Philippi as part of Macedonia, Philippian rulers as praetors, Gallio as proconsul, Publius as the "first man" of Malta, and the use of the term politarchs-have all been vindicated and archaeologically confirmed as part of 1st-century Israel's landscape.128 Evidence Of Paul's Accuracy Regarding Scripture: "Paul makes mention of the city treasurer, Erastus (Romans 16:23). During the excavation of Corinth in 1929, a pavement was found inscribed: ERASTUS PRO:AED:S:P:STRAVIT ("Erastus, curator of public buildings laid this pavement at his own expense").129 Extraneous Evidence Corroborates Luke's (Acts's) Account of Paul in Corinth at Time of Gallio (Acts 18:12-17): Wycliffe confirms the biblical report that Gallio was the Roman proconsul at the time of Paul's journey to Corinth (AD 51 or 52). This account is easily verified-Gallio was Seneca's (the Roman philosopher's) brother and more than the Roman and Jewish records attest to these facts. 130 Evidence Of The Apostle James (Jesus' Half-Brother) And King Herod Agrippa I's Mysterious Death At Proclaiming Himself God: "Like the Temple priests, James (according to accounts given in Scripture, and by the second-century church historian Hegesippus) wore priestly robes and was allowed to enter the innermost and holiest of the temple's chambers.... To him, Christianity was simply the fulfillment of Judaism, and that was why he continued to pray daily in the Temple and to defend the laws of Moses, even as King Herod Agrippa I (who had been instrumental in the condemnation of Jesus as a heretic) wrapped himself in a silver robe, declared that the Temple priests would worship him as Messiah, and promptly died of a mysterious disease....By A.D. 66 James, the reformer, had gained favor even with the Pharisees, leaders of the synagogues who were becoming prototypes for the coming age of Judaism." 131 Evidence That Yeshua Ha Mashiach Was God, And That The A.D. 70 Destruction Of Jerusalem Was Messianic, Not Political: Speaking of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Pellegrino adds: "This literature is tremendously messianic. At the beginning we thought we were seeing documents having to do with two messiahs. But with the recent freeing of the scrolls we are also seeing descriptions of a single, God-like Judeo-Christian Messiah. 'And if you read your Josephus, the Roman historian of this period who wrote the Jewish War-'[The Jews'] chief inducement to go to war was an oracle found in their sacred writings, announcing that at that time a man from their country would become Monarch of the whole world'-you will see that Josephus believed that what most moved the Jewish people to revolt against Rome was the prophecy that a world ruler would come out of Palestine. This tells us that the revolution against Rome, which we often think of as a political revolution, was not so political but religious and messianic. The people were moved by a messianic prophecy."132 A full copy of the Book of Isaiah was discovered at Qumran. Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered in Qumran Cave 1 near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (A.D. 980), they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The 5 percent of variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variatio

Library of Congress (Dead Sea Scrolls)

	THE WORLD OF THE SCROLLS Testimonia 4QTestimonia (or Messianic Anthology, 4Q175 [4QTest]) Testimonia was found in Cave Four near the site of Khirbet Qumran near the shores of the Dead Sea in the early 1950's. It is a short document, complete except for a piece missing in the lower right corner. The name "Testimonia" comes from an early type of Christian writing, which it resembles in literary style. The Christian Testimonia was a collection of verses from the Bible about the messiah, strung together to prove some kind of point. Verses used like this are usually called "proof-texts." The Testimonia from Qumran is not a Christian document, but does resemble the early Christian Testimonia because of its use of a number of verses dealing with a theme. The Qumran text includes five biblical quotations connected by interpretation. The first two quotations refer to the raising up of a prophet like Moses. The third quotation refers to a royal Messiah, the fourth to a priestly Messiah. The quotation from Joshua is connected to the coming of a time of great disaster, brought on by those dedicated to evil. The manuscript is usually dated to the middle of the first century B.C.E. Photograph by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic Research, in collaboration with the Princeton Theological Seminary. Courtesy Department of Antiquities, Jordan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1947, young Bedouin shepherds, searching for a stray goat in the Judean Desert, entered a long-untouched cave and found jars filled with ancient scrolls. That initial discovery by the Bedouins yielded seven scrolls and began a search that lasted nearly a decade and eventually produced thousands of scroll fragments from eleven caves. During those same years, archaeologists searching for a habitation close to the caves that might help identify the people who deposited the scrolls, excavated the Qumran ruin, a complex of structures located on a barren terrace between the cliffs where the caves are found and the Dead Sea. Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the third century B.C.E. to 68 C.E. They were indeed ancient! Coming from the late Second Temple Period, a time when Jesus of Nazareth lived, they are older than any other surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures by almost one thousand years. Since their discovery nearly half a century ago, the scrolls and the identity of the nearby settlement have been the object of great scholarly and public interest, as well as heated debate and controversy. Why were the scrolls hidden in the caves? Who placed them there? Who lived in Qumran? Were its inhabitants responsible for the scrolls and their presence in the caves? Of what significance are the scrolls to Judaism and Christianity? This exhibition presents twelve Dead Sea Scroll fragments and archaeological artifacts courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority as well as supplementary materials from the Library of Congress. It is designed to retell the story of the scrolls' discovery; explore their archaeological and historical context; introduce the scrolls themselves; explore the various theories concerning the nature of the Qumran community; and examine some of the challenges facing modern researchers as they struggle to reconstruct the scrolls from the tens of thousands of fragments that remain.

Like Scripture,Archealogical Links ?? Try these!

"THE LINKS"

What are the oldest fragments and texts we have for the Holy Bible,LINK

http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html

Library of Congress,(a look at the scrolls) Link

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/toc.html

Basically this site is a vast look at all sorts of religious text although some of it is a neat read!

Into His Own, Link

http://virtualreligion.net/iho/

Did she find KING DAVIDS TEMPLE biblical archaeology society..report

http://www.bib-arch.org/Mazar.pdf

Many Biblical truths can be searched at this website called "Apologetics"

,http://www.4truth.net/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=hiKXLbPNLrF&b=784445&ct=932181

Historians who authored books at the time of Christ,other writings about early Christians can be found here,

http://www.rationalchristianity.net/jesus_extrabib.html ,great site!

Would you like a great site with many studies in Scripture an Prophecy "The Moorings Institute",

http://www.themoorings.org/prophecy/proph.html

Then perhaps is one of my favorite subjects but I have done very little study in this area it is "THE SHROUD OF TURIN" website

http://www.shroud.com/ very interesting site!

How about a look at some interesting information on the "Gospel of Peter" Simon Peter was thought to have written some of the earliest writings of the New Testament and these were describing some of his conversations with Jesus

http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-10/anf10-02.htm

Bible maps is gonna be a neat place to have a look see here is the link!

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/keyway07.htm

Next we have The Qumran Library Link if your interested in what we found in the caves such as scrolls look here!

http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/Library/library.html

Below this link will take you to BYU.EDU. on the net for a comprehensive look at all the discoveries related in the caves of Qumran!

http://byubroadcasting.org/deadsea/book/chapter2/sec1.html

A must have for all who seek the scriptures E-SWORD down loadable electronic Bible
with Strong's Concordance and super search features!

http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html

What was really found at Qumran?(Dead Sea Scrolls)each find documented in this great
5 page article by noted Bible Scholar and Archaeologist!

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_n22_v119/ai_13251982

"The Tertullian Project"(some of the earliest Christian writings)

http://www.tertullian.org/

Early writings on "New Testament" Canon by PolyCarp
http://www.ntcanon.org/Polycarp.shtml

Evangelists and Apologists featuring "Justin Martyr" early Church Father!