Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I am not a Biblical scholar. All my posts and comments are opinions and thoughts formulated through my current understanding of the Bible. I strive to speak of things that can be validated through Biblical Scriptures, and when I'm merely speculating, I make sure to note it. My views can be flawed, and I thus welcome any constructive perspectives and criticisms!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Galileo the Astronomer, the Christian


eNews from Dr. Chuck Missler's Koinonia House:


Galileo The Astronomer, The Christian

from the August 16, 2011 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

"The notion that Galileo's trial was a conflict between science and religion should be dead. Anyone who works seriously on Galileo doesn't accept that interpretation anymore." - Historian Thomas Mayer.
Galileo's trial before the Roman Inquisition in 1632-33 has long been used as an example of a scientist persecuted by religious zealotry. Those who promote the idea that science and religion are at enmity like to bring up Galileo's unfortunate treatment at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. However, there is much more to the story than the neat and tidy picture of Galileo as a martyr for science and reason. Not only was Galileo himself a devout Catholic throughout his life, but his trial was far more about his insulting the Pope directly than it was about whether Earth actually moved around the Sun.

In 1632, the already famous astronomer Galileo Galilei published his Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems, a wildly popular book that launched Galileo into the hands of the Inquisition. To better understand that trial and the controversy surrounding it, however, a bit of background is appropriate.

Ptolemy and Copernicus: About the year AD 150, the brilliant astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy published his famous work Almagest. Using Aristotle's physics (not the Bible), Ptolemy argued for a geocentric model of the universe. Ptolemy's Earth was immoveable, and the Sun and stars revolved around it. He had some mathematical barriers in the way, but he made use of complicated epicycles to make his geocentric model work.

Ptolemy's geocentric model reigned supreme in astronomy circles until the 16th century. In 1543, Copernicus published a thick, mathematical book called On The Revolutions Of The Heavenly Spheres, which made the case that the Earth and stars, in fact, revolved around a stationary Sun. He still depended on epicycles like Ptolemy, just a fewer number of them. Copernicus was not a pop science writer. His book was written for astronomers and not the general public, and so it didn't make many waves at the time.

According to surviving class notes, the young Galileo taught Ptolemaic astronomy to his students at the University of Pisa and later at the University of Padua just as the other scientists of his time did. He didn't know any better until 1608, when he got his hands on an elementary telescope – an "optic tube" as he called it. Galileo did not actually invent the telescope, but he devised one and modified it, and he used it with determination.

The Telescope Discoveries: Galileo's instrument was a crude thing with a narrow field of view that only magnified celestial objects for him between 3x and 30x as he made improvements. Yet, in 1609, Galileo made eight important discoveries, many of which he published in his 1610 book Starry Messenger:
-Sun spots were part of the surface of the sun (contradicting Aristotle's idea that celestial bodies were perfect and changeless).
-The moon was not a smooth surface made of a celestial substance as Aristotle had taught but in fact had mountains and rough surfaces just like Earth.
-Venus had phases, just like the moon, which would make sense if it orbited the Sun (and not Earth).
-Saturn had "ears" - later discerned as its famous rings.
-Stars were more distant than planets.
-There were stars in the cosmos that were invisible to the naked eye.
-The Milky Way was made of stars.
-Jupiter had moons, and so Earth was not the sole center of the universe as the Aristotelians claimed.
These were fantastic discoveries. In his journal, Galileo wrote, "I render infinite thanks to God for being so kind as to make me alone the first observer of marvels kept hidden in obscurity for all previous centuries."

Galileo was not a particularly righteous and holy man. He had three children by a woman he never married, and while his ambition earned him a place with the most esteemed people of his day, his inflated ego eventually got him tangled up in court. At the same time, Galileo gave God constant credit for the greatness of His creative powers and glory. He marveled at God's power and the honor that had been given him in being able to see things which had, until then, hung beyond humanity's reach.

Galileo and the Scriptures:
Unlike Copernicus' Revolutions, Galileo's Starry Messenger sold widely and he quickly became famous. He was not hauled into Rome for his discoveries, but was in fact well received. He made a shrewd political move and named Jupiter's moons the "Medicean planets" after the Medici dukes of Tuscany. He was given the position as the duke's mathematician and philosopher, which freed him up to stop teaching and devote himself to researching and writing.

The Roman Catholic Church didn't have an official position on the orbiting habits of celestial bodies just yet. Galileo was warmly received in Rome after his book was published. The Jesuits welcomed him, and he had several friendly visits with the Pope.

As brilliant and driven as he was, Galileo made the error of developing a significant arrogance, and he had no difficulty humiliating those who disagreed with him. He had a great talent for satire, and he made quite a few enemies through his sardonic wit.

One morning at the palace during breakfast, the duke's mother, Princess Christina, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, upset everything. She made a comment that the Bible said the earth stood still and the Sun moved, rather than the other way around. Galileo wrote the Grand Duchess a letter, explaining that he believed the Bible, interpreted correctly, would match up with science. He went on to offer his position that the Bible said so little about the heavens and their movement, that clearly God wasn't concerned with teaching astronomy through His Word, and it was not a salvation issue:
"Since the Holy Ghost did not intend to teach us whether heaven moves or stands still, whether its shape is spherical or like a discus or extended in a plane, nor whether the earth is located at its center or off to one side, then so much the less was it intended to settle for us any other conclusion of the same kind. And the motion or rest of the earth and the sun is so closely linked with the things just named, that without a determination of the one, neither side can be taken in the other matters. Now if the Holy Spirit has purposely neglected to teach us propositions of this sort as irrelevant to the highest goal (that is, to our salvation), how can anyone affirm that it is obligatory to take sides on them, and that one belief is required by faith, while the other side is erroneous?...I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree: 'That the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes.'"
Galileo then declared he was able to offer an interpretation of Scripture in light of what his scientific discovery had showed him. He suggested, for instance, that when Joshua told the Sun to halt in the sky, that the Sun did indeed halt in its rotation, to which he believed the motion of the planets and moon were connected. When the Sun halted, so did the entire system, allowing the day to lengthen accordingly as the Scriptures said.

The First Trial: This letter got Galileo into trouble. The Church had said at the Council of Trent, in response to the Reformation, that common people were not permitted to interpret scripture; that was the job of the Church hierarchy. As Galileo's letter to Princess Chrstina became public, Galileo's enemies pounced. His years of satire had ruffled too many feathers. They wrote to the Inquisition and demanded that he be investigated. The Pope asked the theologians to decide exactly what the scriptures said about the matter. Was the Sun the center of the world and immoveable, and did the Earth spin on its axis and revolve around the Sun?

In 1616 the Roman Catholic Church declared Ptolemy to be correct. The Pope had Galileo instructed not to teach the heliocentric theory of Copernicus and sent him home. The index of prohibited books banned all books that treated Copernicusism.

For 16 years, Galileo cleared away from the debate. Then, in 1632, Galileo published his famous Dialog Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. A new Pope was in Rome, Pope Urban VIII, a personal friend of Galileo, and Galileo kept him up on the progress of his new book.

When it was published, however, the Pope was in for a shock. The book, which became a best seller, was written as a discussion between three characters discussing the heliocentric versus geocentric models of the universe, and the character who supported the Ptolemaic position was named Simplicio – the "simpleton". Those who supported the Ptolemaic side were described as "imbeciles" "dumb idiots" and "people who are too stupid to recognize their own limitations." At one point, the Pope's own words were spoken by Simplicio, which did not please the proud Pope. The book was banned, which only increased its popularity among the delighted masses.

The Second Trial 
Galileo had made a miscalculation. He was called before the Inquisition and asked whether he'd written the offending book and was asked whether in 1616 he had been given an injunction to not promote Copernicus. Galileo defended himself sloppily, saying that he presented both sides of the issue in his book, and he did not believe he had trespassed the terms of the 1616 precept. The trial focused on determining the exact wording of the 1616 injunction and whether Galileo had violated it.

In the end, Galileo claimed that his satire had actually been written to defend Ptolemy. He declared that he did not hold the opinion of Copernicus. The court did not buy it, and Galileo was sentenced to life in prison. Galileo could have been tortured and imprisoned and burned at the stake, and he was quite aware of these possibilities. Instead, the Pope intervened – having made his point – and 69-year-old Galileo was kept under house arrest (including the houses of wealthy friends).

At his trial, Galileo insisted, "My only error was in my ambition in trying to appear smarter than everybody else."

Interpretation and Church Power:
Galileo's trials were therefore not the pitting of religion against science, but about the Roman Catholic Church's desire to exert its power, about whether a common man was permitted to interpret the Bible outside of the official Church or insult those in authority. Galileo never rejected the Bible, but in fact repeatedly affirmed its true purpose and the intention of the Holy Spirit as true and good.

Galileo remained throughout his life dedicated to the God who created the Heavens and the Earth.

"When I consider what marvellous things men have understood," Galileo wrote, "what he has inquired into and contrived, I know only too clearly that the human mind is a work of God, and one of the most excellent." (Poupard, Cardinal Paul. Galileo Galilei,1983, p. 101.) 
Related Links:
  •   First Chapter - Galileo's Daughter 
  •   Sloppy Records Cast Galileo's Trial in New Light - Live Science 
  •   Galileo's Trial - Rocky Kolb - University of Chicago 
  •   Best Response to Professor Pompous Gets Free Copy of "The Nature of Nature" - Uncommon Descent 
  •   Dialog Concerning the Two Chief World Systems - Galileo Galilei 
  •   Letter to Madame Christina of Lorraine,Grand Duchess of Tuscany... - CCSU.edu 
  •   The First Telescopes - Tools Of Cosmology

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Attack of Planet X and the Death Star


The Attack of Planet X and The Death Star

from the August 09, 2011 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

The Mayan Calendar is coming to its end, Planet X is on its way, and the Death Star is knocking killer comets toward us.  For doomsdayers, 2012 spells the end of the world in one way or another. That's not really the bad news, though. The bad news is that the world probably will not end in 2012, and the financially strapped inhabitants of Earth will have to pay all their bills after all.

Planet X:
Planet X, the long-sought-after 10th planet of our solar system, is rumored to be swinging by Earth just in time for all the other 2012 end-of-the-world predictions. Planet X, aka Nibiru, has been the subject of much discussion for decades. During the past few years interest has been renewed as Nibiru's return is expected to cause vast devastation to the earth, flipping its poles and killing billions of people. Fortunately - or unfortunately - for Earth dwellers, however, Nibiru has yet to show even a glimmer of his face.
"Planet X" is the name for the fantasy planet beyond the recognized members of our solar system. Pluto also bore the name "Planet X" for a time, until this 9th planet was discovered and the search for further planets continued. The "Planet X" came from Percival Lowell who built a private observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, and devoted considerable effort to his searches before he died in 1916. Clyde Tombaugh began his searches in 1929, and found Pluto in February 18, 1930. He searched for 13 more years and examined more than 30,000 square degrees of the sky. He found one new globular cluster, five new open star clusters, one new supercluster of 1800 galaxies, and several new small galaxy clusters, one new comet, about 775 new asteroids - but no new planet except Pluto.
In his book The 12th Planet (1978), Zecharia Sitchin popularized the idea that the ancient Sumerians knew of another planet far beyond Pluto. The Akkadian seal appears to show the sun and 11 planets (if the moon is counted as a planet). While unknown to today's astronomers, Sitchin argues that the Sumerians were familiar with the planet and its 3600 year elliptical orbit. Using questionable allusions in the Sumerian and biblical texts, Sitchin argues that that inhabitants of Nibiru - the Anunnaki - were responsible for genetically engineering the humans of today by crossing their DNA with the DNA of primitive humans.
Certain groups have taken these ideas and run with them.  They predicted that Nibiru would show up in May 2003, which (unless Nibiru is invisible and massless) it did not.  They are now offering a December 2012 date for Nibiru's return, a convenient co-incident with the end of the Mayan "long count" calendar. There are even detailed descriptions of Nibiru and its inhabitants. Some believers say they have received telepathic messages from these aliens living on Nibiru, who claim their planet is a star-ship. Whether these ideas are based on communications from aliens, deceptive spiritual beings, or too much late-night Star Trek, believers are convinced that Nibiru is approaching quickly.
However, the evidence is not on the side of the Planet X crowd. Even with the exceedingly fast rate of approach one would expect of the severe elliptical orbit Nibiru is supposed to have, no fantasy planet will pass by the earth in December 2012. If it were on its way, the planet would be one of the brightest objects in the night sky by now. Astronomers would have been following its approach for the past decade. Yet, Planet X is still not visible with the strongest telescopes, and no reputable astronomer has verified its existence.

Ultimately, the fantasy of Planet X flies far stronger than the science, and the planet should be considered with as much concern as any other science fiction story.

The Death Star:
It is also boringly unlikely that Nemesis, The Death Star, lurks past the edge of our solar system. In 1984, paleontologists suggested that exinctions in the fossil record occurred about every 27 million years.   It was proposed that a brown dwarf companion to our sun flew out there, periodically splashing through the Oort Cloud and knocking comets our way - giant, dinosaur-killing comets - causing devastation in cycles. 

Experts shook their heads, "No."    A study published in the Royal Astronomical Society Letters last year concluded that even if Nemesis existed, the brown dwarf wouldn't offer us a convenient, predictable, comet-bumping orbit.  Apparently, we do not have to worry about death by meteor-ing next year.  The 27-million-year cycle of destruction claimed by the geologists is just an illusion.

"There is a tendency for people to find patterns in nature that do not exist," said Coryn Bailer-Jones, a researcher at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. "Unfortunately, in certain situations traditional statistics plays to that particular weakness."

Star Parties:Some folks are taking the end of the world scenarios as an opportunity for fun.  On Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, the Big Sky Astronomical Society in Alberta, Canada plans to host an End of the World Star Party from 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. at the Big Sky Observatory.

"Bring your Y2K survival gear and come join us, as the Ancient Mayan Calendar comes to an end, " said James Durbano, president of the Big Sky Observatory Society. "We will be observing the waxing gibbous moon, Jupiter and its four large moons and the Orion Nebula. We will also be keeping an eye out for Planet X, Nibiru, comets and asteroids, since all of these objects may collide with the earth on that evening, according to doomsday theorists."

Durbano added wryly, "In addition, we will be looking for UFOs full of aliens who plan to abduct us, enslave us, and then annihilate our planet."

In other words, whether or not Nibiru or Nemesis have it out for us, we should get out under the stars and enjoy the vast, beautiful universe around us.
"Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" - Job 22:12  

"He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite."
 - Psalm 147:4-5     
 
Related Links:
  •   2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End? - NASA
  •   Planet X, 1841-1992 - University of Arizona
  •   Believing the Unbelievable - Koinonia House
  •   Search For Planet X - X Facts
  •   Nemesis No More? Comet-Hurling 'Death Star' Most Likely a Myth - Space.com
  •   Death Start Debunked - MSNBC
  •   Perseid Viewing Scheduled At Big Sky Observatory - The Prairie Post

Luke 6

Notes from a commentary on Luke by Dr. Chuck Missler


Jesus outlines 4 key points to happiness:
1. Faith in God
2. Honesty with ourselves
3. Love toward others
4. Obedience toward God


Jesus outlines 5 things that were proof of sowing and reaping:
1. Mercy will lead to mercy
2. Judgment will lead to judgment
3. Condemnation will lead to condemnation
4. Pardon will lead to pardon
5. Giving will lead to giving


How should one judge when one does judge?
1. Humbly
2. Prayerfully
3. Biblically
4. Lovingly
5. Mercifully


How should one offer that judgment?
1. Exemplary
2. Privately
3. Gently
4. Constructively

The Redeemer in Job


The Redeemer In Job

from the August 09, 2011 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

"Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!" -Job 19:23-24
Why do the righteous suffer? The Book of Job wrestles with this question, and yet, Job is never given the precise answer. He's not told. Instead, God makes it seriously clear that He knows what is going on even if Job does not. The ultimate lesson for Job is not really why the righteous suffer. The message is that God is God.

The marvelous treasure we have in Job, however, is not just the cry of the human heart and God's response; the treasure is that the God of Job is the very same God we find out throughout the rest of the Bible. Major Christian doctrines can be found in Job even though the evidence points to its being the oldest book of the Bible, written during the time when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob walked the earth.

The Dating of Job:The poetry and writing skill found in the Book of Job is some of the very greatest in all ancient literature. What's more, Job not only predates the Exile, but the story clearly predates the Exodus as well. The descriptions of the life and times of Job are consistent with the time of the Patriarchs, generations before Moses had his meeting at the Burning Bush.  For instance:
- God is only referred to as Yahweh in the prologue and the epilogue, but not in the main body (except for one exception in verse 12:9).  Talmudic Tradition gives Moses the authorship of Job, and it may be he produced much of the final form of the book.  However, the body of the book, and the very story of Job, fit the world before the Exodus.  The book itself does not describe its author, but Job or Elihu are likely.

Instead of calling God by the name given to Moses in the body of the story, Job's God is constantly referred to as the "Almighty." The term "Almighty" is used 31 times in Job, more than in the rest of the Bible put together. Genesis and Revelation use "the Almighty" with the next greatest frequency, with six and eight uses each, respectively.

When the LORD is later speaking to Moses in Exodus, he says, "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty ["El Shaddai"], but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them," (Exodus 6:3).

- In Job, there is no mention of the tabernacle, the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system. Instead, Job acts as the family's priest, sacrificing to God on behalf of his children (Job 1:5).

- After his ordeal, Job lived another 140 years, which matches the longevity of men about the time of the patriarchs (Job 42:16; Gen 11).

-The existence of moving bands of Sabaeans and Chaldeans (1:15, 17) is consistent with the early second millennium B.C.

-  A qesitah is mentioned in Job 42:11.  A qesitah was a piece of money mentioned elsewhere as late as Joshua 24:32, but as early as Genesis 33:19.

- Eliphaz The Temanite may have been the very Eliphaz, son of Esau, mentioned in Genesis 36:10-11.  Eliphaz's son was named Teman, and the name Teman became synonymous with Edom.

The Ideas In Job:
While the Book of Job is very old, we find planted in it the basic seeds of important Hebrew and New Testament doctrines:

-God is not portrayed as a local god, or a god with limited powers. The God of Job is the Almighty. He is the God that hangs the earth upon nothing (26:7). He is the God in the height of heaven (22:12), and He walks its circuit (22:13). He is in charge of the stars (Job 38:31-33). He is the God over the weather (38:22-30) and over the sea (38:8-11) and over the foundations of the earth (38:4-6): 
"Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?" (Job 38:3-5).
God declares that He has power over the largest and fiercest of creatures, behemoth (40:15-24) and leviathan (41:1-34).

-Job apparently had knowledge of the Creation, for he says he was formed out of clay (33:6) and the breath of the Almighty gave him life (33:4).

-He recognizes that dead men live no more, and yet, Job has hope for a future resurrection of the body. He first hints at it in chapter 14:
"O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come," (14:13-14).
Later, he makes it much more clear:
"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," (19:26).
-Job even hints that there will be a Redeemer!
"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth," (19:25).
We too can declare this, with even better (perhaps) understanding, for our Redeemer was dead but is now alive, and we wait expectantly for his return to earth (Zec 14:3,4).

Job also mentions a ransom that, along with repentance, keeps men from the pit (33:24-28):
"Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living,"(33:29-30).
The concepts were there, before the Exodus. By the time we get to King David, his Psalm 22 describes Jesus' hanging on the cross from a first person perspective, and well over 700 years in advance, Isaiah 53 proclaims the Messiah's sacrifice for sins.

Perhaps the greatest, most important line in Job is found in chapter 40. This line underscores one of the most vital concepts in the whole Bible. It is the reason that Jesus had to come. It is the reason there had to be a Redeemer, a Sacrifice, a Ransom:

The LORD continually questions Job regarding his knowledge and his power...
"...Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him," (40:10-11).
And God says that if Job can do these things, "Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee," (Job 40:14).
Wow.

Obviously, Job cannot. He hasn't entered into the springs of the sea (38:16). He doesn't know where light dwells (38:19). And he can't save himself. Neither can we.

Of all the concepts throughout all religions across the world, this one makes the Bible unique. The Bible is the only book that teaches that man cannot save himself. While the world's religions are filled with people trying to earn their salvation, the Bible is the one that teaches that mankind needs a Savior - from the time God covers Adam and Eve with skins in Genesis 3:21 to the very end, when the people from all languages and nations are redeemed and washed in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 5:9, 7:14).

Did Job suffer? Yes, he did. But, he looked forward to the day that he would see God his Redeemer in the flesh. And in that day, Job will get to participate when God Himself wipes away all the tears from our eyes forever (Rev 7:17).
Related Links:
  •   An Introduction to the Book of Job - Bible.org
  •   The Book Of Job - Jewish Encyclopedia
  •   Job's Family - Koinonia House

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Luke 1-4

Notes from Dr. Chuck Missler's commentary on the Book of Luke

Zechariah's Song illustrates 4 basic ideas:
1. Exaltation and the reason why God should be praised: Luke 1:68
2. The deliverance of Israel through their Messiah: Luke 1:69-75
3. Messiah is Israel's horn of salvation: Luke 1:69 (horn = power)
4. Mentioning of the covenant sworn between God and Abraham: Genesis 22 shows Abraham offering his son. Jesus died on the Cross at the same site, aka where God also offered His Son.

Book of Ruth: Contains lots of gems and parallels between Jesus, Israel, and the Gentiles

- Explains how Bethelhem became the city of David
- Naomi is a type of Israel, who was away from her land. Through Boaz, Naomi was returned to her land
- Ruth was gentile who became the gentile wife of the kinsman redeemer
- Through Ruth, Naomi met the kinsman redeemer, Boaz, whose mother was Rahab the Harlot
- Boaz played the role of the kinsman redeemer for both Naomi and Ruth
- Ruth learned the ways of the kinsman redeemer through Naomi

Genealogy of Jesus:
- In Jeremiah 22:30, we see that God placed a blood curse on the royal line of David. So, how could Jesus come from the royal blood line, if it was cursed? Through virgin birth! Jesus therefore comes through the legal line of David, through Joseph, but not through the blood line, and hence His virgin birth through Mary!
- The Hebrew of these names have meaning. Using the Hebrew meaning of these names, starting with Adam, we get a message: "Man is appointed mortal sorrow. Blessed God should come down teaching that God's death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest." That is, a summary of the Christian Gospel tucked away in the genealogy in the Torah!
- Luke follows the genealogy through David's second son (different from Matthew's perspective), which ultimately leads to Heli. Heli has only one daughter, Mary. It was a Jewish custom back then for a son-less father to adopt his son-in-law as his own son for inheritance, which here, Heli adopted Joseph as his son through Joseph's marriage to Heli's only daughter, Mary.

Luke 4 Background Reading:
Isaiah 14:12-17
The origin of Satan and his ambition: worship
Ephesians 6:10-18
The Armor of God

Brief Comparison between the 4 Books of Gospel:
1. Matthew
- Focuses on Jesus as the messiah, Jesus as a Jew, and Jesus as the coming King, the royal line of Judah
- Genealogy was written from the point of legality
- Focuses on what Jesus said
- Ends with Jesus' resurrection
2. Mark:
- Focuses in Jesus as a suffering servant
- Focuses on what Jesus did
- Ends with Jesus' ascension
3. Luke:
- Focuses on Jesus as the son of man, emphasizing Jesus' humanity and prayers
- Genealogy is written from the view of the blood line
- Focuses on how Jesus felt
- Ends with the promise of the Spirit
- Its "sequel" is the Book of Acts, which is a straightforward, investigative narrative
4. John:
- Focuses on Jesus as the son of God
- Focuses on who Jesus actually was
- Ends with promise of Jesus' return
- Its "sequel" is the Book of Revelation

All human governance has been built on 1 of 3 false foundations:

1. The bread basis, relying only on the physical
2. The false religion basis, emphasizing a spectacular experience
3. The compromise basis