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Racism

2012-12-30T18:40:19Z

Kencaesi: /* See also */ added links to immigration and illegal immigration

'''Racism''' is [[prejudice]] and [[discrimination]] based on [[race]].
An example is a claim that of inferiority or superiority based on the color of one's skin. Another example was the [[Jim Crow]] laws. Racism means the hatred of another person because of the color of his or her skin; some used the term ''racism'' for perceived difference in origin.

The doctrine of [[substantive due process]] in United States constitutional law can be used to invalidate racist laws. Alternately, the [[Equal Protection|equal protection]] clause of the [[Fourteenth Amendment]] can be used to do the same. ''See e.g.'' [[Brown v. Board of Education]], 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
[[category:psychology]]

==Support for Racism==
Liberals attempt to divide the races into different social classes through the use of [[racial quotas]] and [[affirmative action]]. While most Americans look forward to a "post-racial America," where race is not a factor in a person's success, liberal interests demand that people's success depend on government intervention, and so attempt to artificially affect hiring and admissions decisions in order to keep certain people dependent on and grateful to the government for their livelihoods.

It is unknown why liberals feel the need to interfere in the lives and careers of hard-working African Americans, but it is likely due to a condescending attitude towards the African American community, which boasts some of the highest church attendance rates in the country and is therefore directly opposed to the liberal secularist agenda.

* {{Racist Democrats}}

Creativity, which is espoused by the [[Creativity Movement]], is an [[atheistic]] white racist movement.<ref name="Atheistic">{{cite web|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=HB1wyFPRGm4C&pg=PA23&dq=atheism+white+supremacy&hl=en&ei=Re-OTfbHHuuD0QHOycm1Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=atheistic&f=false|title =The new white nationalism in America: its challenge to integration|publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|quote=For instance, Ben Klassen, founder of the atheistic World Church of the Creator and the author of ''The White Man's Bible'', discusses Christianity extensively in his writings and denounces religion that has brought untold horror into the world and divided the white race.|accessdate = 2011–03–27}}</ref><ref name="Religion">{{cite web|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=RonIunZ521sC&pg=PA247&dq=atheism+white+supremacy&hl=en&ei=u_OOTaGaM6Xi0gHJztygCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|title =Contemporary voices of white nationalism in America|publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]|quote=World Church of the Creator, an organization that espouses an atheistic and white supremacist religious philosophy known as Creativity.|accessdate = 2011–03–27}}</ref><ref name="Atheism">{{cite web|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=rBgn3xB75ZcC&pg=PA493&dq=competing+atheistic+white+racist+movement&hl=en&ei=5uWOTeSkCamw0QH7m92bCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=competing%20atheistic%20white%20racist%20movement&f=false|title =The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations|publisher = [[Taylor & Francis]]|quote=A competing atheistic or panthestic white racist movement also appeared, which included the Church of the Creator/ Creativity (Gardell 2003: 129–134).|accessdate = 2011–03–27}}</ref>

==Opposition to Racism==
[[Laird Wilcox]] wrote:
*There is a [[humanist]] anti-racism that focuses on [[reconciliation]] and [[healing]], that works to bring people together, that functions openly and honestly without the use of [[dossier]]s, [[spies]], specious [[lawsuit]]s, [[disinformation]], and that recognizes the [[right]]s of individuals whether they agree with one another or not. This is the anti-racism of good neighbors, of people helping people, of community goodwill, and of the realization that we are all [[human being]]s. ... On the other hand there is a vindictive and corrupt anti-racism that focuses on paybacks and [[punishment]], that demonizes and degrades its critics, that attempts to carve out [[special rights]] for its constituency, that opposes free and open discussion of ideas, that attempts to silence, [[censor]] and stifle its opposition through intimidation and harassment, and encourages [[law enforcement]] scrutiny of opponents because of their alleged [[values]], opinions and beliefs.<ref>''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Laird Wilcox, Editorial Research Service, 1999, pg. 3. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref>

American writers and filmmakers have created many works to undermine racism. ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'' opposed slavery. ''[[Huckleberry Finn]]'' showed a black man as a moral equal to whites. "[[Song of the South]]" was Disney's first live action film starring a black man (the actor received a special Oscar for his performance.

==Prejudice against ethnic groups==
[[File:Roma camp Lille France 2010.jpg|thumb|300px|Roma children at an encampment in Lille. France has deported a large number of Gypsy migrants back to Bulgaria and Romania in recent years.]]

[[Nicolas Sarkozy]] was accused of "racism" for ordering closure of 300 gypsy camps and expulsion of Roma after riot. <ref> [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1298690/Sarkozy-accused-racism-ordering-closure-illegal-gypsy-camps-riot.html Sarkozy accused of racism for ordering closure of 300 illegal gypsy camps and expulsion of Roma after riot.] </ref> Sarkozy was behind the controversial measure to deport Roma gypsies, breaching European immigration laws. European Union officials accused Sarkozy of "fanning xenophobia " in his move to deport the Roma. <ref> [http://digitaljournal.com/article/320841 French President Nicolas Sarkozy, 'too many foreigners in France'.] </ref>

<blockquote>
"too many foreigners in France." Nicolas Sarkozy. <ref> [http://digitaljournal.com/article/320841 [[Ibidem]]] </ref>
</blockquote>

== See also ==
*[[Ku Klux Klan]]
*[[Nazism]]
*[[Reverse racism]]
*[[Evolutionary racism]]
*[[Racist remarks]]
*[[Immigration]] and [[Illegal Immigration]]

==External links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/racism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Racism], [[Accuracy In Media]]
*[http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/in-jaffa-israeli-racism-towards-arabs-is-routine-1.389050 In Jaffa, Israeli racism towards Arabs is routine.] Haaretz.com

==References==
<references/>

[[Category: Liberal Traits]]

Immigration

2012-12-30T18:35:10Z

Kencaesi: /* See also */ added link to Racism

'''Immigration''' is the entry of a person of a certain nationality to another nation. Most [[immigrants]] use immigration to escape from conditions of poverty, persecution, or overpopulation in their home countries, or to respond to better opportunity and reunite their families in the new country.

==US Immigration history==
===Colonial America===
There is a londstanding belief that the United States of America is a country of immigrants, often used as an argument in favor of [[illegal immigration]] by [[liberals]]. The truth, however, is that most of the migration to the U.S. in the colonial era came from Britain, with English, Scots and (Protestant) Irish. They moved inside the Empire and did not leave their native country for a foreign land, so they are not considered "immigrants" any more than a person who moves from Florida to Alaska today.

A large number of [[German American|German immigrants]] came to Pennsylvania and New York. To this day they are called "Pennsylvania Dutch" but they were Germans, and came for religious freedom and economic opportunity. Dutch did come and settle in New Amsterdam (now New York), which was part of the Dutch Empire so they were not "immigrants" either. [[Black history|Black slaves]] were involuntary immigrants to all the colonies, especially the tobacco plantations of Virginia and Maryland, and the rice plantations of South Carolina. The [[American Revolution]] cut off movement from 1775 to 1783. When it resumed about 80,000 American Loyalists left the U.S. to immigrate to Canada, or return to Britain. Migration was light before 1815, because of wars in Europe. The import or export of slaves was made illegal in 1809.

===Early Nation: 1776-1860===
Historians have shown that in the nineteenth-century, the U.S. was a place where immigrants could stake their claims for a new life. After arrival, German and Irish immigrants settled regionally by nativity within the U.S. The Irish accounted for 68% of all immigrants to the Northeast; Germans accounted for 47% of all immigrants to the Midwest; British immigrants accounted for 19% of immigrants to the Northeast and 20% of immigrants to the Midwest. After arrival, the British, German, and Irish achieved success in U.S. labor markets, and the British and German immigrants found opportunity in skilled occupations. Irish Catholic immigrants did not fare as well as the other two groups in terms of jobs and economic status, but still fared better than had they remained in Ireland. Moreover, all groups sharply improved their average skills in the U.S. after arrival. Wages were much higher in the U.S. than in Europe, and it was much easier to own a farm. However, Americans worked much harder than their European cousins and took fewer holidays.

Cohn (2009) asks, "Did immigration help or hurt native labor and did migration lead to long run economic growth?" Immigration increased the long-run rate of economic growth. During the nineteenth century, immigration extended the U.S. product market and allowed labor in manufacturing and agriculture to specialize. Larger pools of unskilled labor after 1845 put downward pressure on wages. However, over time, labor markets adjusted, migrants assimilated, and the economy moved forward.

===Gilded Age: 1860-1900===
[[File:Welcome1880.jpg|thumb|left|560px]]
During the Gilded Age, 1865-1900, approximately 10 million European immigrants came to the United States, most in search of religious freedom and greater prosperity. They filled up the rich farmlands of the Middle West, as German and Scandinavian immigrants were especially eager to own land. They avoided the poverty stricken South. The population surge in major U.S. cities as a result of immigration gave cities an even stronger impact on government, attracting power-hungry politicians and entrepreneurs. Pressuring voters or falsifying ballots was commonplace for politicians, who often sought power only to exploit their constituents. To accommodate the influx of people into the U.S., the federal government built [[Ellis Island]] in 1892 near the [[Statue of Liberty]]. After 1892, a short physical examination was given; those with contagious diseases were not admitted. Few immigrants went to the poverty-stricken South.

''During the mass emigration from [[Italy]] during the century between 1876 to 1976, the U.S. was the largest single recipient of Italian immigrants in the world... In 1850, less than 4,000 Italians were reportedly in the U.S. However in 1880, merely four years after the influx of Italian immigrants migrated, the population skyrocketed to 44,000, and by 1900, 484,027.'' <ref> [http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Italian.html The Italians] </ref>

=== Chinese immigrants ===

The construction of the [[Central Pacific Railroad]] in [[California]] and [[Nevada]] was handled largely by American engineers and Chinese laborers. In the 1870 census there were 58,000 Chinese men and 4,000 women in the entire country; these numbers grew to 100,000 men and 4,000 women in the 1880 census. <ref> [http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/twps0029.html Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the United States: 1850-1990]
</ref>
Labor unions such as the [[American Federation of Labor]] strongly opposed the presence of Chinese labor, by reason of both economic competition and race. Immigrants from China were not allowed to become citizens until 1950; however, their children born in the U.S. were full citizens.

Congress banned further Chinese immigration through the [[Chinese Exclusion Act]] in 1882; act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States, but some students and businessmen were allowed in.
Subsequent to the act, the Chinese population declined to only 37,000 in 1940. Many returned to China (a greater proportion than most other immigrant groups) yet most of them stayed in the United States. Chinese people were unwelcome in many areas, so they resettled in the "[[Chinatown]]" districts of large cities.

==US Immigration Reform==
Most Americans envisage and advocate for a coherent set of national interest principles for immigration policy and the enforcement our Constitutionally derived laws. Some so-called ''open border advocates'' try to cloak themselves in the mantle of "immigration reform," but they fail to address the concerns of the American populace and detriments to foreign countries that lose people. Due to lack of enforcement, illegal immigration occurs widely in the U.S., especially along the Mexican border.

To some people the value of American citizenship has increased greatly since the founding of the Republic. There are 12 million illegal citizens living here in USA and it would be very costly to deport all these people. It becomes more complicated as they marry and have children which are then legal US citizens. There is a discussion of allowing these 12 million people to follow certain steps to become citizens that can pay taxes and become more contributing members of society. Some people view this as granting amnesty to criminals but do not offer an actual solution to the immigration problem.

==See also==
* [[Chinese Exclusion Act]]
* [[German Americans]]
* [[Illegal immigration]]
* [[Latinos]]
* [[Refugee]]
* [[Swedish Americans]]
* [[Racism]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.crfforum.org/topics/?topicid=35&catid=8&view=document&id=73 History of Immigration From the 1850s to the Present]
*[http://www.crfforum.org/topics/?topicid=35&catid=8&view=document&id=75 Issues of Illegal Immigration]
*[http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html The Chinese]
*[http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Jewish.html The Jewish]

== References ==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
===Basic further reading===
* Archdeacon, Thomas J. ''Becoming American: An Ethnic History'' (1984), by leading conservative historian
* Barkan, Elliott Robert. ''And Still They Come: Immigrants and American Society, 1920 to the 1990s'' (1996), by leading historian
* Barkan, Elliott Robert, ed. ''A Nation of Peoples: A Sourcebook on America's Multicultural Heritage'' (1999), 600pp; essays by scholars on 27 groups
* Barone, Michael. ''The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again'' (2006), by a conservative expert [http://www.amazon.com/New-Americans-Melting-Work-Again/dp/1596980265/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242105562&sr=8-1 excerpts and text search]
* Bodnar, John. ''The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America'' (1985), liberal historian
* Daniels, Roger. ''Coming to America'' 2nd ed. (2005), liberal historian
* Dassanowsky, Robert, and Jeffrey Lehman, eds. ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America'' (2nd ed. 3 vol 2000), home school audience; covers 150 culture groups; 1974pp
* Gjerde, Jon, ed. ''Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History'' (1998) primary sources and excerpts from scholars.
* Glazier, Michael, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America'' (1999), articles by over 200 experts, covering both Catholics and Protestants.
* Levinson, David and Melvin Ember, eds. ''American Immigrant Cultures'' 2 vol (1997) covers all major and minor groups
* Meier, Matt S. and Gutierrez, Margo, eds. ''The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) (ISBN 0-313-31643-0)
* Magocsi, Paul Robert. ''Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples'' (1999), 1350 pp; major compilation
* Thernstrom, Stephan, ed. ''Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups'' (1980) (ISBN 0-674-37512-2), the standard reference, covering all major groups and most minor groups; Thernstrom is a leading conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Encyclopedia-American-Ethnic-Groups/dp/0674375122 excerpt and text search
* Wittke, carl. ''We Who Built America: The Saga of the Immigrant'' (1939), 552pp good older history cover major groups [http://www.questia.com/library/book/we-who-built-america-the-saga-of-the-immigrant-by-carl-wittke.jsp online edition]

===Recent migrations===
* Adler, Leonore Loeb , and Uwe P.Gielen, eds. ''Migration: Immigration and Emigration in International Perspective.'' 2003 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106964953&oplinknum=16# online edition]
* Borjas, George J. "Does Immigration Grease the Wheels of the Labor Market?" ''Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2001'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001037127 online edition]
* Castles, Stephen, and Mark J. Miller. ''The Age of Migration, Third Edition: International Population Movements in the Modern World'' (2003)
* Glazier, Ira A. and Luigi De Rosa. ''Migration across Time and Nations: Population Mobility in Historical Contexts'' 1986 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99436087 online edition]
* Hernández, Kelly Lytle. “The Crimes and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-Border Examination of Operation Wetback, 1943 to 1954,” ''Western Historical Quarterly'', 37 (Winter 2006), 421–44.
* Kemp, Paul. ''Goodbye Canada?'' (2003), from Canada to U.S.
* Khadria, Binod. ''The Migration of Knowledge Workers: Second-Generation Effects of India's Brain Drain,'' (2000)
* Massey, Douglas S. and J. Edward Taylor; ''International Migration: Prospects and Policies in a Global Market,'' (2003) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109858153 online edition]
* Mullan, Fitzhugh. "The Metrics of the Physician Brain Drain." ''New England Journal of Medicine,'' Volume 353:1810-1818 October 27, 2005 Number 17 [http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/17/1810 online version]
* Ozden, Caglar, and Maurice Schiff. ''International Migration, Remittances, and Brain Drain.'' (2005)
* Palmer, Ransford W. ''In Search of a Better Life: Perspectives on Migration from the Caribbean'' Praeger Publishers, 1990 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27964376 online edition]
* Skeldon, Ronald, and Wang Gungwu; ''Reluctant Exiles? Migration from Hong Kong and the New Overseas Chinese'' 1994 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=87319971 online edition]
* Smith, Michael Peter, and Adrian Favell. ''The Human Face of Global Mobility: International Highly Skilled Migration in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific,'' (2006)

===Historical studies: world===
* Baines, D. ''Migration in a Mature Economy: Emigration and Internal Migration in England and Wales 1861–1900,'' (1985),
* Clark, P. and D. Souden. ''Migration and Society in Early Modern England'' (1987),
* Eltis, David, ed. ''Coerced and Free Migration: Global Perspectives'' 2002 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102986282 online edition] 447pp
* Gungwu, Wang, ed. ''Global History and Migrations'' 1997 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99440360# online edition] 309pp
* Langton, J. and G. Hoppe. ''Flows of Labour in the Early Phase of Capitalist Development: The Time Geography of Longitudinal Migration Paths in Nineteenth Century Sweden'' (1992),
* Lawton, R. "Mobility and Nineteenth Century British Cities", ''The Geographical Journal'', 145, (1979) 206–24.
* Luconi, Stefano. “Italians’ Global Migration: A Diaspora?,” ''Studi Emigrazione/Migration Studies'' (Rome), 43 (March 2006), 467–82. In English.
* Siddle, David J. ed ''Migration, Mobility, and Modernization'' 2000 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102335100 online edition] scholarly articles on European history
*Tilly, Charles. "Migration in Modern European History", in ''Time, Space and Man: Essays on Micro-Demography'', Stockholm. (1979)
* Wrigley, G. A. (1967), ‘The Simple Model of London's Importance in Changing English Society and Economy 1650–1750’, past and Present, 37, 44–70.
====Historical Studies: North America====
* Archdeacon, Thomas J. ''Becoming American: An Ethnic History'' (1984)
* Bankston, Carl L. III and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo, eds. ''Immigration in U.S. History'' (2006)
* Bodnar, John. ''The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America'' (1985)
* Canada, ''Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration.'' (1885) primary documents for Canada (with reports on Chinatowns in U.S.) [http://books.google.com/books?id=w3gkAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA288&dq=inauthor:Immigration+inauthor:Commission&num=30#PPA7,M1 online edition]
* Cohn, Raymond L. ''Mass Migration under Sail: European Immigration to the Antebellum United States'' (2009) 254 pp.; emphasis on economic issues
* Daniels, Roger. ''Coming to America'' 2nd ed. (2005)
* Daniels, Roger. ''Guarding the Golden Door : American Immigration Policy and Immigrants since 1882'' (2005)
* Eltis, David; ''Coerced and Free Migration: Global Perspectives'' (2002) emphasis on migration to Americas before 1800
* Gjerde, Jon, ed. ''Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History'' (1998) primary sources and excerpts from scholars.
* Glazier, Michael, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America'' (1999), articles by over 200 experts, covering both Catholics and Protestants.
* Green, Alan G. and Gree David. "The Goals of Canada's Immigration Policy: A Historical Perspective" ''Canadian Journal of Urban Research,'' Vol. 13, 2004 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006533123 online version]
* Hoerder, Dirk and Horst Rössler, eds. ''Distant Magnets: Expectations and Realities in the Immigrant Experience, 1840-1930'' 1993 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=78762133 online edition] 312pp
* Hourwich, Isaac. ''Immigration and Labor: The Economic Aspects of European Immigration to the United States'' (1912) [http://books.google.com/books/pdf/Immigration_and_Labor.pdf?vid=OCLC00593905&id=PLQJAAAAIAAJ&output=pdf&sig=ieLK3Ab3sc9gGdFaxXxOKQle3B8 full text online], argues immigrants were beneficial to natives by pushing them upward
* Jenks, Jeremiah W. and W. Jett Lauck, ''The Immigrant Problem'' (1912; 6th ed. 1926) [http://books.google.com/books?id=XbCHyzEa_O8C&pg=PR3&dq=inauthor:Jenks+inauthor:Lauck&num=30 online edition of Jenkc and Lauck] based on 1911 Immigration Commission report, with additional data
* Kulikoff, Allan; ''From British Peasants to Colonial American Farmers'' (2000), details on colonial immigration
* LeMay, Michael, and Elliott Robert Barkan. ''U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History'' (1999) 340 pgs. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=6846180&oplinknum=2 online edition]
* Miller, Kerby M. ''Emigrants and Exiles'' (1985), influential scholarly interpretation of Irish immigration
* Motomura, Hiroshi. ''Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States'' (2006), legal history
* Thernstrom, Stephan, ed. ''Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups'' (1980) (ISBN 0-674-37512-2), the standard reference, covering all major groups and most minor groups
* U.S. Immigration Commission, ''Abstracts of Reports,'' 2 vols. (1911); the full 42-volume report is summarized (with additional information) in vol 1-2; see also Jencks and Lauck
** ''Reports of the Immigration Commission: Statements'' (1911) text of statements pro and con [http://books.google.com/books?id=DSISAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&dq=inauthor:Immigration+inauthor:Commission&num=30 online edition]
** ''Part 8: Leather Industry'' (1911) [http://books.google.com/books?id=ao0SAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=inauthor:Immigration+inauthor:Commission&num=30#PPP7,M1 online edition]
* Wittke, Carl. ''We Who Built America: The Saga of the Immigrant'' (1939), covers all major groups [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=10024497 online edition]
* Yans-McLaughlin, Virginia ed. ''Immigration Reconsidered: History, Sociology, and Politics'' (1990)

==Recent immigration to North America==
* Borjas, George J. ed. ''Issues in the Economics of Immigration'' (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report) (2000) 9 statistical essays by scholars;
* Borjas, George J. "Welfare Reform and Immigrant Participation in Welfare Programs" ''International Migration Review'' 2002 36(4): 1093-1123. ISSN 0197-9183; finds very steep decline of immigrant welfare participation in California.
* Briggs, Vernon M., Jr. ''Immigration Policy and the America Labor Force'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.
* Briggs, Vernon M., Jr. ''Mass Immigration and the National Interest'' (1992)
* Fawcett, James T., and Benjamin V. Carino. ''Pacific Bridges: The New Immigration from Asia and the Pacific Islands'' . New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1987.
* Foner, Nancy. ''In A New Land: A Comparative View Of Immigration'' (2005)
* Levinson, David and Melvin Ember, eds. ''American Immigrant Cultures'' 2 vol (1997) covers all major and minor groups
* Meier, Matt S. and Gutierrez, Margo, eds. ''The Mexican American Experience: An Encyclopedia'' (2003) (ISBN 0-313-31643-0)
* Portes, Alejandro, and Robert L. Bach. ''Latin Journey: Cuban and Mexican Immigrants in the United States.'' University of California Press, 1985.
* Portes, Alejandro, and Jozsef Borocz. "Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on Its Determinants and Modes of Incorporation." ''International Migration Review'' 23 (1989): 606-30.
* Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben Rumbaut. ''Immigrant America''. University of California Press, 1990.
* Reimers, David. ''Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America'' Columbia University Press, (1985).
* Smith, James P, and Barry Edmonston, eds. ''The Immigration Debate: Studies on the Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration'' (1998), [http://www.nap.edu online version]

===Current data===
* Arthur Haupt and Thomas T. Kane. ''Population Handbook,'' (Population Reference Bureau: 5th ed 2004) [http://www.prb.org/Reports/2004/PopulationHandbook5thedition.aspx online edition]

===Advanced theoretical models===
* Grigg, D. "E. G. Ravenstein and the Laws of Migration" ''Journal of Historical Geography,'' vol 3, (1977), 41–54.
* Lee, E. S. (1966), ‘A Theory of Migration’, Demography, 3, 47–54.
* Massey, Douglas S. "Theories of international migration: A review and appraisal." ''Population and Development Review,'' (1994). 19, 431-466. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0098-7921(199309)19:3%3C431:TOIMAR%3E2.0.CO;2-P in JSTOR]
* Ravenstein, E. G. "The Laws of Migration", ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society,'' vol 48 (1885) pp 167–227.
* Ravenstein, E. G. "The Laws of Migration", ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society,'' vol 52 (1889) pp 214–301. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0952-8385(188906)52%3A2%3C241%3ATLOM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B online at JSTOR]
* Stouffer, S. A. ‘Intervening Opportunities: a Theory Relating Mobility and Distance’, American Sociological Review, (1940) vol 5, 845–67.
* Wolpert, J. (1965), ‘Behavioural Aspects of the Decision to Migrate’, Papers of the Regional Science Association, 15, 159–73.
* Zelinsky, Wilbur. "The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition", ''Geographical Review'', 61, (1971) 219–49.

[[category:Immigration]]
[[category:United States History]]
[[category:Gilded Age]]

Counterexamples to an Old Earth

2010-03-09T16:56:47Z

Kencaesi: linked "sexual maturity" with puberty

It takes only one "counterexample" to disprove the theory of an [[Old Earth]]. As with any logical proposition, one contradiction disproves the proposed rule.

The growing list of counterexamples to the theory of an [[Old Earth]] includes:

* the [[moon]] is receding from the [[Earth]] at a rate suggesting it would have been too close a billion years ago
* [[spiral galaxies]] appear to be young, and only implausible proposals of the existence of [[dark matter]] can reconcile with belief in an [[old universe]]
* the massive [[Great Lakes]] are receding in volume too rapidly to have existed a long time
* freshwater lakes are known to be relatively young<ref>[[Ice Age]] theories were developed to try to explain this, but massive freshwater lakes exist even near the equator</ref>
* The [[Earth]]'s magnetism is changing at too fast a rate for the Earth to be old. The Earth's [[magnetic field]] is weakening in strength by 5% every 100 years<ref>[http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/tour/AAmag.html Earth's Magnetic Field and its Changes in Time], from [[NASA]]</ref>. [[Exponential decay]] at that rate is not compatible with an old Earth, since it would have required the Earth's magnetic field to be impossibly large at the times postulated by old-Earth theory.
* the existence of inland saltwater lakes, such as [[Mono Lake]] and the [[Great Salt Lake]], suggest a recent global [[flood]]
* the age of onset of [[puberty|sexual maturity]] is rapidly changing, suggesting that life is in a short-term rather than long-term equilibrium<ref>For evidence of a rapidly changing age for sexual maturity in fish, see http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/46/3/235</ref>
* the high observed rate of [[extinctions of species]] and harmful [[genetic mutation]]s suggest a relatively short period for the existence of life rather than a long one.
* the plentiful supply of high concentrations of underground well water, which would be expected based on familiar principles of [[entropy]] to dissipate over a long period of time.
* the age of onset of [[cancer]] is markedly decreasing,<ref>http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/109865519/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0</ref> suggesting rapid changes inconsistent with an alleged long existence to life
* the lack of erosion between rock layers<ref>http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WTZL8GG4H9K0</ref><ref>http://www.knowthebible.net/id115.html</ref>
* the planetary orbits in the solar system -- including Earth's -- are unstable and unsustainable over the very long time periods asserted by [[atheists]]<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/201582 Newsweek: "An embarrassing little secret of astronomy ...."].</ref>
* earthquakes alter the Earth's rotation every century; extrapolating by orders of magnitude in time would have resulted in the occurrence of much larger earthquakes that would have destabilized the rotation<ref>A similar analysis may be performed for the likelihood of devastating collisions with meteors as time is extrapolated by orders of magnitude.</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

== See also ==

* [[Counterexamples to Evolution]]
[[Category:geology]]

Jehovah's Witnesses

2009-07-21T16:32:09Z

Kencaesi: linked "NWT" mention with article

'''Jehovah's Witnesses''', are a religious organization that is headquartered in the [[United States]] and legally known as the ''Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.'' They use the ''[[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures]]'', their version of the [[Bible]], to draw conclusions that do not match mainstream [[Christian]] thought, including denying [[the Trinity]] and denying the divinity of [[Christ]].

== History ==
The group originated in the 1870s with a movement called the Bible Students, founded by [[Charles Taze Russell]]. Beginning in 1870, C.T. Russell organized a Bible class to study the scriptures from the ground up. The study process involved raising a question, discussing the topic and reviewing all known related scriptures that the participants could find on the point. The results were recorded whether or not they matched long-standing thelogical viewpoints.

Witnesses are well known worldwide for their door-to-door preaching which features use of the Bible and distribution of ''[[The Watchtower]]'' and ''[[Awake!]]'' magazine. They do not celebrate holidays that are not discussed in the Bible or that they feel serve to exalt individuals, human organizations or national groups, believing them to be an affront to God (see below). This includes birthdays.

* Jehovah's Witnesses do observe an annual celebration of the [[Last Supper]], or Lord's Evening Meal (1 Corinthians 11:20). This event, which they refer to as the Memorial of Christ's Death, falls on the night of Nisan 14 which corresponds with the ancient [[Passover]] celebration observed by [[Jews]].

Their position of political neutrality has led to their being well known for their refusal to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America (or other governments) and participation in military service. Jehovah's Witnesses base their position on their understanding of [[Book of Romans|Romans]] 13:1,5-7; [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 12:17; and [[Book of Acts|Acts]] 5:28, 29. Individual Witnesses are expected to be law abiding, tax paying citizens of the country in which they reside, but they do not vote.

* Witnesses were victims of the [[Holocaust]] under [[Nazi Germany]] because of their refusal to serve in the German military. Opposition to the Witnesses has been manifested in recent years in such diverse countries as South Korea, Greece, and various republics of the former Soviet Union including Russia, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe their faith is the restoration of the early [[Church]]. This belief is based on their attempts to align their organizational structure as closely as possible to their view of the Christian congregation of the first century. There is no clergy-laity distinction as all, male and female members, are considered to be ordained ministers at the time of [[baptism]] (note that Witnesses do not practice [[infant baptism]]).

== Jehovah's Witnesses and Holidays ==

Jehovah's Witnesses base their refraining from celebrating many popular religious holidays on II Corinthians 6:14, 17 which states: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? ... Therefore, 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord. 'And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.'" ([[King James Version]]) <ref>The Watchtower, December 15, 1974 (p. 740).</ref>

Although Jehovah's Witnesses, then known as International Bible Students, celebrated Christmas during the early 1900's, this practice stopped in 1926. <ref>Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom(p. 198)</ref> Since that time they have published information regarding the origins of other holidays such as Easter, New Year's, Halloween and others. Their sources have been varied, drawing upon ''The Encyclopædia Britannica'', ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', ''The World Book Encyclopedia'', ''The Encyclopedia Americana'', and similar publicly available resources.

Regarding their position on secular holidays, Jehovah's Witnesses reference Christ's words at [[Gospel of John|John]] 17:16, that his followers would be no part of the world. They also refrain from most celebrations that focus on individuals, such as birthdays, referencing scriptures such as Acts 10:25, 26; 12:21-23; [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 19:10.<ref>Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life (p. 214) </ref>

{{See also|Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs}}

== Controversy ==

Jehovah's Witnesses have had their share of controversy. Nathan H. Knorr (3rd president of the Watchtower Society) acknowledged that no human organization can be infallible, even Jehovah's Witnesses.

There has been ongoing controversy over the Witnesses' prohibition on blood transfusions, especially when they prohibit children from receiving life-saving transfusions, which has led many states and countries to override parents' authority in medical matters.

== Links ==
Jehovah's Witnesses operate two official websites:

*[http://www.watchtower.org Watchtower.org]
*[http://www.jw-media.org Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses]

==References==
<references/>

'''Additional references'''

* ''Faith on the March'' (by A.H. Macmillan, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1957)

[[category:Religion]]

*[http://exjehovahswitnessforum.yuku.com Ex-Jehovah's Witness Forum and Recovery Site]. A resource providing information on opposing views with regards the Jehovah's Witness Organization. Discussion and Recovery site for former Jehovah's Witnesses; those considering leaving; or simply interested individuals.

Bible

2009-07-21T16:23:09Z

Kencaesi: /* Bible Versions */ MAJOR edit: added intro to "translations, added "versions"

[[Image:800px-Crop Book of Isaiah 2006-06-06.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Holy Bible, opened to the Book of Isaiah.]]
{{Bible}}
The '''Bible''', or the '''Holy Scriptures''', is the collection of texts sacred to [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]], and consists of two parts: the thirty-nine books of the Jewish faith known as the '''Tanakh''', or the [[Old Testament]], to which additional books are recognized by [[Christians]]; and the twenty-seven books and letters of the [[New Testament]] of the Christian faith. Originally written in [[Hebrew]], Aramaic, and Greek, the Bible has been translated in more than two thousand languages; in terms of sales and distribution the Bible is the most-widely distributed, largest-selling book in history;<ref> The Bible continues to be the best-selling book ever. Americans alone buy 25 million Bibles a year, according to Publisher's Weekly. Bible sales are now reaching $609 million a year, with specialty Bibles available for myriad "niche" audiences, from motorcycle riders to campers, brides and archaeologists. "Immerse," a water-resistant Bible for troops overseas, is now available from publisher Bardin & Marsee. [http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070529-111815-7952r.htm Polls: Most believe Bible as God's word] - Jennifer Harper, ''The Washington Times'' - May 30, 2007] </ref>
the over-all influence and impact the Bible has had on literature, culture, and history is beyond calculation. Most [[Christians]], Protestant and Catholic, agree on the books of the [[New Testament]], but the Protestant Bible includes 66 books of the [[Old Testament]] while the Catholic Bible includes an extra 7 books, for a total of 73.<ref>The Catholic Bible includes these books that are not included in the Protestant Bible:
# The Wisdom of Solomon
# Tobit
# Sirach
# Judith
# 1st Maccabees
# 2nd Maccabees
# Baruch [http://www.catholicbible101.com/theholybible.htm]</ref> The Protestant Bible has 593,493 words in the Old Testament and 181,253 words in the New Testament.<ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/bible/about.html</ref>

==Name==
The word "Bible" had its origins in an ancient [[Phoenicia]]n seaport called [[Byblos]], which was so-named as a result of the trade and manufacture of writing material based on the [[papyrus]] or byblos reed, used extensively in antiquity for making [[scroll]]s and [[book]]s. The [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''biblos'' was based upon this, and it came to be the word for ''book'' (a small book was termed ''biblion''), and by the 2nd century A.D. Greek [[Christianity|Christians]] had called the Scriptures ''ta Biblia'' ('''τα βιβλία''' ''the books''), which was transferred to [[Latin]] by dropping the ''ta''; the word made its way to [[Old French]] where the plural was dropped in favor of the singular, hence becoming the [[English]] word ''Bible''. (Unger, pg 143; Moulton; Blass)

==Books of the Bible==
===The Old Testament===
{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="360" style="margin-left:5px" class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: tan no-repeat scroll top left;"|Old Testament layout
|-
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Jewish
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Christian
|-
|Genesis
|Genesis
|-
|Exodus
|Exodus
|-
|Leviticus
|Leviticus
|-
|Numbers
|Numbers
|-
|Deuteronomy
|Deuteronomy
|-
|Joshua
|Joshua
|-
|Samuel
|Judges
|-
|Kings
|Ruth
|-
|Isaiah
|1st Samuel
|-
|Jeremiah
|2nd Samuel
|-
|Ezekiel
|1st Kings
|-
|The Minor Prophets
|2nd Kings
|-
|Psalms
|1st Chronicles
|-
|Proverbs
|2nd Chronicles
|-
|Job
|Ezra
|-
|Song of Songs
|Nehemiah
|-
|Ruth
|Esther
|-
|Lamentations
|Job
|-
|Ecclesiastes
|Psalms
|-
|Ester
|Proverbs
|-
|Daniel
|Ecclesiastes
|-
|Ezra
|Song of Solomon
|-
|Chronicles
|Isaiah
|-
|
|Jeremiah
|-
|
|Lamentations
|-
|
|Ezekiel
|-
|
|Daniel
|-
|
|The Minor Prophets
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: tan no-repeat scroll top left;"|Dates of each Book
|-
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Old Testament
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|New Testament
|-
|Genesis, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Matthew, A.D. 60-65
|-
|Exodus, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Mark, A.D. 60-65
|-
|Leviticus, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Luke, A.D. 58-65
|-
|Numbers, 1440-1400 B.C.
|John, A.D. 95
|-
|Deuteronomy, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Acts, A.D. 58-65
|-
|Joshua, 1400-1360 B.C.
|Romans, A.D. 58
|-
|Judges, c. 1020 B.C.
|1st Corinthians, A.D. 57
|-
|Ruth, c. 1090 B.C.
|2nd Corinthians, A.D. 57
|-
|1st Samuel
|Galatians, A.D. 56
|-
|2nd Samuel
|Ephesians, A.D. 62-63
|-
|1st Kings, 609-600 B.C.
|Philippians, A.D. 58-60
|-
|2nd Kings, 609-600 B.C.
|Colosians, A.D. 61-63
|-
|1st Chronicles, c. 400 B.C.
|1st Thessalonians, A.D. 52
|-
|2nd Chronicles, c. 400 B.C.
|2nd Thessalonians, A.D. 53
|-
|Ezra, c. 400 B.C.
|1st Timothy, A.D. 62-65
|-
|Nehemiah, c. 400 B.C.
|2nd Timothy, A.D. 65-66
|-
|Esther, 464-425 B.C.
|Titus, A.D. 65
|-
|Job, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Philemon, A.D. 65
|-
|Psalms, 1004-965 B.C.
|Hebrews, A.D. 63-64
|-
|Proverbs, 965-925 B.C.
|James, A.D. 63-64
|-
|Eccleisiastes, 965-925 B.C.
|1st Peter, A.D. 64
|-
|Song of Solomon, 965-925 B.C.
|2nd Peter, A.D. 65
|-
|Isaiah, 785-697 B.C.
|1st John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Jeremiah, 587-538 B.C.
|2nd John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Lamentations, 587-538 B.C.
|3rd John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Ezekiel, 592-572 B.C.
|Jude, c. A.D. 70-75
|-
|Daniel, 539-520 B.C.
|Revelation, A.D. 96-98
|-
|Hosea, 753-731 B.C.
|
|-
|Joel, 835-796 B.C.
|
|-
|Amos, 787-747 B.C.
|
|-
|Obadiah, 848-841 B.C.
|
|-
|Jonah, 771-754 B.C.
|
|-
|Micah, 715-687 B.C.
|
|-
|Nahum, 661-612 B.C.
|
|-
|Habbakuk, 625-608 B.C.
|
|-
|Zephaniah, 621-608 B.C.
|
|-
|Haggai, 520 B.C.
|
|-
|Zechariah, 520 B.C.
|
|-
|Malachi, 455 B.C.
|
|}
The [[Old Testament]], also called the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, consists of thirty-nine books. The books themselves were originally written in [[Hebrew]], and later on in the [[Aramaic]] language of Palestine; the Greek language version written after the conquest of [[Alexander the Great]] is known as the [[Septuagint]]. [[Melito]], a bishop of [[Sardis]] in [[Lydia]] (in what is now [[Turkey]]), is said to have coined the phrase ''Old Testament'' about A.D. 170. The Old Testament is divided in three parts (hence, "Tanakh") within the Jewish community: the [[Torah]] ("Law"), or [[Pentateuch]], the five books of [[Moses]]; [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets"), and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings,” or [[Hagiographa]]). Here the arrangement of the books differs somewhat from the Old Testament as used by Christians, however the actual writing of each book remains the same. The Christian order of the the books of the Bible follow the Chronology of the events and the personages being related, while in the Jewish order, though there is a chronological framework, the order follows more the importance, influence, "weight of usage" within Judaism. Thus, for orthodox Judaism, The Torah of Moses (the 5 books of Moses) come first, and are the most authoritative of all Scripture. Under the Pharasaic theory that the Moses was given the Oral law explicating how the written law was to be applied, at the same time as he was given the written law contained in the Bible, and that oral law passed on through the generations, the Mishna and the Gemara composing the Talmud is equally authoritative with the Torah of Moses. Then the Prophets come next in authority. But the Prophets are broader than considered by the Christian ordering. The Prophets do include what Christians call the Former and the Latter, or the Major and the Minor prophets, but it also includes what Christinns consider History - such as the books of the Kings. The last in authority for every day life of the Jew in terms of "regulation", actually form a great influence in the Synagogue worship - the Writings, with a heavy emphasis on the Psalms.

====Torah====
The Five books of Moses, in their Hebrew and English names:
*Bereisheet ("in the beginning"), or [[Genesis]]
*Shemot (“names”), or [[Exodus]]
*Vayikra (“and God called”), or [[Leviticus]]
*Bemidbar (“in the Wilderness”), or [[Numbers]]
*Devarim (“words”), or [[Deuteronomy]]

The first eleven chapters of ''Genesis'' provide the account of the [[Creation]], the history of God's early relationship with humanity, and the [[Deluge]] of [[Noah]]. The remaining thirty-nine chapters detail the account of God's covenant with the early Hebrew nation, led by the patriarchs [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (or Israel), and one of Jacob's children, [[Joseph]]. It tells the beginnings of God's chosen people, of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remainder of the Torah, beginning with ''Exodus'', tells the story of the great Hebrew leader [[Moses]], and of the Hebrews through their sojourn and slavery in Egypt, their escape from bondage, and their wanderings in the desert until they finally enter the Promised Land.

====Nevi'im====
The [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") is the story of the rise toward, and ultimately reaching, the Hebrew monarchy; the sad period of anarchy and revolt leading to the division into the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel; and the prophets who judged the kings of both in God's name. It ends with the conquest of both kingdoms and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Minor Prophets are considered a single book in the Nevi'um; in Christianity they have been split into twelve separate books and named for their authors.
* [[Joshua (Biblical book)|Joshua]]
* [[Judges (Biblical book)|Judges]]
* [[I Samuel]]
* [[II Samuel]]
* [[I Kings]]
* [[II Kings]]
* [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]]
* [[Jeremiah (Biblical book)|Jeremiah]]
* [[Ezekiel (Biblical book)|Ezekiel]]
* [[The Minor Prophets]]
**[[Hosea (Biblical book)|Hosea]]
** [[Joel (Biblical book)|Joel]]
** [[Amos (Biblical book)|Amos]]
** [[Obadiah (Biblical book)|Obadiah]]
** [[Jonah (Biblical book)|Jonah]]
** [[Micah (Biblical book)|Micah]]
** [[Nahum (Biblical book)|Nahum]]
** [[Habakkuk (Biblical book)|Habakkuk]]
** [[Zephaniah (Biblical book)|Zephaniah]]
** [[Haggai (Biblical book)|Haggai]]
** [[Zechariah (Biblical book)|Zechariah]]
** [[Malachi (Biblical book)|Malachi]]

====Ketuvim====
The [[Ketuvim]], or "Writings," contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the writings of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the exile in [[Babylon]].
* [[Psalms]]
* [[Proverbs]]
* [[Book of Job]]
* [[Song of Songs]], also called [[Song of Solomon]] in the Christian Bible.
* [[Book of Ruth]]
* [[Lamentations]]
* [[Ecclesiastes]]
* [[Esther]]
* [[Daniel (Biblical book)|Daniel]]
* [[Ezra]], divided into the two books of Ezra and [[Nehemiah]] in the Christian Bible.
* [[Books of Chronicles]]

[[David]] has been named as the author of the ''Psalms''; [[Solomon]] is believed to have written ''Song of Songs'' in his youth, the ''Proverbs'' in his prime, and ''Ecclesiastes'' during his old age. The prophet [[Jeremiah]] is thought to have written the aptly-named ''Lamentations'' at the beginning of the exile in Babylon. The ''Book of Ruth'' is the only biblical book that centers entirely on a non-Jew, a [[Moabite]] who married a Jew and became an ancestor of both David and [[Jesus Christ]]. ''Esther'' is unique as it is the only book in the Bible not to mention God. [[Moses]] is considered to be the author of ''Job''.

===Old Testament Apocrypha===
The [[Apocrypha]] was written during the four hundred years between the last book of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ. The term itself comes from the Greek word ''apokruphos'' ("hidden" or "concealed"), and although they have an actual history and literary value, the fourteen books which make up the Apocrypha have been rejected as canonical by both the Jewish faith and most denominations of the Christian church due to historical, geographical, or literal inaccuracies; the teaching of doctrines which contradict inspired Scripture; and a lack of elements and structure which give genuine Scripture its unique characteristic (Unger, pg. 70). The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, among others, include the Apocrypha in their versions of the Bible, considering them to be canonical.

The Apocryphal books had been used in both Israel and Egypt and are part of the Old Testament in the Greek language used by Jews all over the Greek speaking world - particularly Alexandria, Egypt. This version is called the Septuaginta. The Septuaginta fell into disuse among Jews for two reasons - 1. Greek speaking Christians were using the Septuaginta in their efforts to bring Jews to faith in Jesus Christ 2. A number of the Apocryphal books were also apocalyptic, that is, focusing on the last days, the KIngdom of God in battle against the kingdoms of this world and the downfall of this world's empires. This was considered dangerous and liable to provoke Rome against the Jews. Alternative Greek translations to the Septuaginta, which was considered "loose", were adopted by the Rabbis. These were the translations of three proselytes to Judaism, Theodosious, Aquillas, and Symmachus. The Jewish Rabbinic "Council" of Jamnia (Yavneh on the Mediterraenian coast of Israel) in 90 A.D., under the leadership of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, effectively excluded the Apocraphal books (along with the Septuaginta) from the Jewish Canon by requiring, for a book to be considered canonical, that it have been written in Hebrew (and Aramaic). Actually, a number of the apocryphal books, or portions thereof, had been written originally in Hebrew, most notably, the Book of Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) found in Hebrew at Qumran with the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but this was unknown to Yohanan Ben Zakkai and the Council of Jamnia in the first century. Under the impetus of Renaissance learning, Protestant scholars, now able to translate the Bible directly from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, instead of having to go through the Latin Vulgate, went directly to the Hebrew text. But this was the Hebrew text (eventually to be called the "Massoretic text") of the canon of books that had been authorized by the Council of Jamnia. In this way, most Protestant churches came to not include the Apocryphal books in their Canon of Scripture.

The following are the books which are most frequently referred to by the title ''Apocrypha'':
*[[1 Esdras]]
*[[2 Esdras]]
*[[1 Maccabees]]
*[[2 Maccabees]]
*[[Book of Tobit]]
*[[Book of Judith]]
*[[Book of Wisdom]]
*[[Ecclesiasticus]], also known as Sirach
*[[Book of Baruch]]
:*[[Epistle of Jeremiah]] is sometimes listed as separate book or the last chapter of Baruch
*[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
*Greek language additions to the [[Book of Esther]]

Additions to the book of Daniel
*[[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]
*[[Story of Susanna]]
*[[Bel and the Dragon]]

Between 90-95 A.D. the Jewish [[Council of Jamnia]] revised the canon of the Old Testament, ensuring that the books involved conformed to the Torah, were written in the Hebrew language, written in Palestine, and written before 400 B.C. As a result, the Apocrypha was removed from the canon. <ref>http://agards-bible-timeline.com/q2_bible_english.html</ref>

===The New Testament===
The [[New Testament]] is a collection of twenty-seven books and letters, written by the early Christian community, and written primarily in [[Greek]]. The emphasis of the New Testament is the life, teachings, and gift of salvation from the central figure of the whole work, Jesus of Nazareth. These books are grouped into the following:

====[[Gospels|The Gospels]]====
The ''Gospels'' contain the history of Jesus. The ''Acts of the Apostles'' are a continuance of the Gospels, documenting the history of the early church, beginning immediately following Jesus' death and resurrection. Of the authors, only Matthew and John had met Jesus; they were among His disciples during His earthly ministry. Mark was a companion of Peter, and his gospel was the first to be written down, about A.D. 50. Luke is considered the author of both his gospel and the ''Acts''.
*[[Gospel of Matthew]]
*[[Gospel of Mark]]
*[[Gospel of Luke]]
*[[Gospel of John]]
*[[Acts of the Apostles]]

====[[Pauline Epistles]]====
These are letters written to various early Christian communities by the [[Apostle Paul]].
*[[Epistle to the Romans]]
*[[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
*[[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
*[[Epistle to the Galatians]]
*[[Epistle to the Philippians]]
*[[Epistle to Philemon]]
*[[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
*[[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
*[[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
*[[Epistle to the Colossians]]
*[[First Epistle to Timothy]]
*[[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
*[[Epistle to Titus]]
*[[Epistle to the Hebrews]]

Paul has been attributed by many as the author of ''Epistle to the Hebrews'', but several others, such as [[Barnabas]], [[Silas]], [[Stephen]], [[Apollos]] and [[Priscilla]] are also claimed to be the author. The controversy, however, does not affect the genuiness of the epistle. (Unger, pg. 748)

====[[General Epistles]]====
*[[Epistle of James]]
*[[First Epistle of Peter]]
*[[Second Epistle of Peter]]
*[[First Epistle of John]]
*[[Second Epistle of John]]
*[[Third Epistle of John]]
*[[Epistle of Jude]]

====Revelation====
The [[Book of Revelation]] is the last work in the New Testament as well as the whole Bible, written close to A.D. 100 by the [[Apostle John]] during his exile on the Greek island of [[Patmos]]. Revelation is concerned with the condition of the [[Seven Churches of Asia]] before going deeply into a description of the [[Last Days]] prior to the beginning of the [[Millennial Age]].

Most [[Fundamentalism|Fundamentalists]] hold to "[[Dispensationalism]]", a theory of the meaning of Revelations and other prophecies that was developed in the 19th century and is summarized in the ''Scofield Reference Bible'' (1909, 1917).

==Non-uniformity of language and style of original Scriptures==
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament, in the original languages of Hebrew (and Aramaic) and Greek, exhibit a non uniformity of style and language. This is in sharp contrast to most modern translations which treat the Scriptures throughout as if it was one book instead the many books they are. Modern translations can be erudite, dignified, folksy and common, clear and geared for the "common man", or replete with language resonant with literary associations for the "accomplished" reader. But they are that way througout. The Biblical originals, on the other hand, for example in the Hebrew, have imbedded within narrative of one period, as the narrative of the deeds of the prophets Debora, a similar poetic recounting in a much more ancient and even archaic Hebrew, probably emanating from a chant from the time of Deborah herself. The same with the narrative and poetic portions concerning Moses. There are even different Hebrew languages from the same period but different authors, having come from different origins and cultural levels.

For the New Testament, an example of non-uniformity can be found in the stark differences of languages in the Gospel of Luke, written by Luke the physician. The early accounts, those concerning the birth of Jesus and early life, are written in a stilted and often crude Greek while the rest of the Gospel is written in fine Greek befitting of the background and ability of a learned physician. But when the stilted and crude Greek is retranslated, word for word and phrase for phrase, into the Hebrew current in the first century in most parts of Israel, it becomes excellent Hebrew - Mishnaic Hebrew. This is because of the intent and fastidiousness of Luke, who derived his material, as he says, from people that had been "on the scene" , and his success in transmitting it faithfully as he had received it. Both the Old and New Testaments, for various reasons, exhibit little or no concern to "level through" or override the content of what they are saying by stylistic considerations.

===Inspiration===
Although the Old Testament is written by many [[homo sapiens|human]] authors, New Testament authors claim that these men were writing under the inspiration of God.

The apostle [[Paul]] wrote that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).
Similarly the apostle [[Saint Peter|Peter]] wrote, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

'''Formation of New Testament and Jewish technical transmission:''' In the first century and prior, the ear was more important than the eye, as far as retaining in memory. Jews would receive orally, that is, from hearing, the laws that they believed originated with Moses and then passed them on to others, down through the generations.It was important to link the present rabbis by names who taught it with the rabbis by name who had passed it on to them, on back as far as possible to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This was the startling difference of Jesus. By saying "You have heard it said, but I say unto you..." , He was by-passing Moses and the others after and getting His teaching direct from the Father.

This Jewish way of receiving (QBL) and handing on (MSR) is summed up in the lead saying of the "Ethics of the Fathers" tractate of the [[Mishna]], "Moses received Torah from God at Sinai. He transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, the prophets to the members of the Great Assembly [Sanhedrin] (1:1)." The teaching thus transmitted was memorized word for word by groups of disciples (Talmidim) together, thereby minimizing, by the common knowledge and plublic repetitions, all innovations and errors, though there might well have been "stylizing" for ease of retention and recall. receiving and handing on (transmission), receiving and handing on.

This methodology, with its technical Hebrew terminology appears in the New Testament with the same technical meaning and purpose, for how the earliest Christian teaching was carried on prior to the formation of the New Testament and during the time of its formation. This ensured the validity of the teaching and its authenticity going back, not to Moses, but to the time of Jesus Himself. "For I handed over (Gk. pare'doka, Heb. MSR) to you at the first what I also received (Gk. pare'labon, Heb. QBL) that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures..." l Cor. 15:3. Paul knew all of the "deposit of faith" three ways, in the usual "collaborative" way of God - from Scriptures (the Old Testament), from experience (seeing the living Christ on the road to Damascas), and from authenticated oral tradition/transmission involving "receiving" and "handing on".

,

==Authority of Bible in religious communities==
The role of the Bible in the life of differing communities varies widely by both the inner tenents of the community and the outer influences bearing on the community.
===Judaism===
Orthodox Judaism through the centuries, while it was only marginally affected bygrowing secularization and modern learning, held to a "differing level of level of authority" understanding of the authority of the Hebrew Bible. This did not imply a different level of inspiration, but rather that importance to the regulation of life was prime for the Torah of Moses, the 5 books of the Law. But the Pharasaic teaching also posited an Oral Law given to Moses by God that was passed on throught the centuries through Joshua, the prophets, pairs of Rabbis, until this day. The Oral law is found in the Talmud (Mishna and the Gemara together) The oral law became the decisive interpreter, teacher and regulator of the Written Law and determined the course of Jewish Orthodox life. The second section of the Old Testament, the Prophets, is known to the Jewish Community primarily through the synagogue readings of the prophets. the Haftorah, that are assigned to conclude the weekly reading of the Law. The Psalms, the most formative of all the Writings, besides being common throughout the synagogue services, are used in various devotional prayer contexts. Orthodox Judaism has little been affected by modern Higher Criticism of the Bible. Reformed Judaism, originally developed in Germany, and Conservative Judaism, to a lesser extent, has been greatly affected.

===Mainline Protestants===
Mainline Protestantism, represented in the major churches and their seminaries, has greatly been affected by "modernism" based on advanced scholarly research, especially from Germany in the 19th century. The "Higher Criticism" ignored God's participation in the production of Scripture. Prime among these theories is the Documentary theory of Penteteuch origins (Wellhausen- Graff) that posit that Moses wrote little or nothing, Instead the Bible originated in four sources coming from various periods. These are sources are termed J (for the use of "Jehovah" for the name of God), E (for the use of "Elohim"), P (priestly), and D (Deutoronomic). The spirit of the New Testament is far more important than the text of either Testament for modern Protestant theology.

'''Orthodox Jewish ctritique of Documentary theory:''' Jewish Orthodox scholars have pointed to flaws of the Documentary hypothesis. For instance, Orthodox Jewish Scholar Cassuto has pointed out that rather than the names for God varying according to author and period, they vary according to emphasis from the same period, that of Moses - "Jehovah" being used for the God in his dealing with His covenental people Israel, and "Elohim" being use when His dealing with mankind are emphasis. Likewise the two terms usually translated "making a covenant", lkhrot brit (to "cut" a covenant) and lehaqim brit (to "raise" a covenenat) are not from two sources but mean different things - to initiate a covenant and to fulfill a covenant.

===Evangelical Protestants===
Evangelical Protestantism belives strongly in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the whole Bible and has been the most receptive of Biblical Authority. Believing in full inspiration of the all Scripture does not mean to evangelicalism equal importance of all Scriptures for the healthy growth of the Christian community. This is because Evangelicalism, following Scripture's own understanding, believes in progressive revelation throughout Biblical time, culminating in Jesus Christ, and no further (thus obviating the role of Tradition). Thus Evangelicalism, does not hold to the application of Mosaic Legislation, and other biblical elements that Orthodox Judaism holds to. This applies to faith and to morals. The Mosaic regulation on executing a rebellious child does not present a problem to evangelical thought as, according to Paul and Hebrews, the Law has been rendered obsolete by the New Covenant. The Destruction of the Temple and the place for sacrifice of all kinds, present no problem for evangelicalism, as they did for Judasim, as Christ's sacrifice on the cross has now "fulfilled" the proscriptions of the Law and the ceremonials attached. Thus there is a sort of Levels of Authority understanding for evangelicalism similar (but for different reasons) to the levels of authority of Judaism.

Evangelical Churches vigorously promote the reading of Scripture through Sunday sermons and Bible study programs. Emphasis is placed on "each one understanding". Coupled with American individualism, and lack of tradional vehicles of authority, this sometimes leads to spinterring and each man's interpretation "is as good as any other". Nevertheless, the "Fiundamentals" defined in 1910 are strongly retained by the Evangelical Churches - the divinity of Christ, His death for sins and Resurrection from the dead, His second coming.

===Eastern Orthodox===
The Orthodox Churches througout the world, whether of Greek, Russian, Rumanian, the various middle eastern varieties, emphasis the synod (Council) of Bishops, basis on the example of the "Council" of Jerusalem in the book of Acts, as the God authorized agent of interpretation and application of the Scriptures. Understanding that Jesus' words, " He (the Holy Spirit) wil lead you into all truth", Orthodoxy believes that the synod of bishops, none of whom are individually infallible, are given guidance from the Holy Spirit so that the Scriptures are rightly applied to the Christian Community enabling the Church to never stray from Christ. That is, the Church is given "indefectability". A minority Orthodox Church thought holds to "infallibility" in synodal decision rather than or instead of "indefectability". Scripture in the Orthodox churches are butressed by creedal formulations, the decisions of belief of past synods, and are less susceptible to the modern Higher Criticism. The Resurrection of Christ, virgin birth, return of Christ from Heaven to Earth, are all part and parcel of these churches. Individual interpretation of Scripture and manner of life are limited then by the teaching authority (the magisterium) granted to the Epsicopate - the Synod of bishops.

===Roman Catholic===
The Roman Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Churches have a strong sense of the Authority given to the Bishops by Christ to teach, interpret, defend the Faith and therefore to exercise the responsibility to interprete Scripture to the Faithful. But since Vatican ll, there has been an increased effort to bring Scripture knowledge to the laity and now there has been an increase of Scripture reading and study programs throughout most sections of the Church. This as been abetted by the Catholic Charismatic movement which has had the effect of promoting individual appropriation of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit and with that, the devotional and intellectual use of Holy Scriptures. However, the role of "Majesterium", that is the Teaching Authority, strongly sets limits to individual interpretation. The Roman Catholic church understands that though the Majesterium is given to all the bishops, the definitive exercise is limited to one bishop - the bishop ov Rome, the Pope. Further, it is believed that the Pope, when declaring dogma (teaching) ex-Cathedra (from the chair) speaks infaillibly (on matters of faith and morals). The first time the Pope has promulgated dogma ex-cathedra was to promulgate the doctrine itself of Papal Infallibility. The Pope , through the Vatican prelates and all the bishops can regulate much of Catholic community life, and some of the regualtion based on the interpretation of Scripture or the application of interporetation of Scripture. An example of this is the prohibition of abortion. The Church has accepted most of the modern Higher Critical methodology of Scripture, including the Documentary theory of origins first developed within German Protestantism. But the effects of this on the tenents of the Christian Faith are much mitigated due to the creedal affirmations of the Church developed centuries ago and Papal authority. This the Roman Catholic Church does not waver on the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the second comming.

==Evangelical Understanding of the History of the Bible==
Rejecting the "Higher Criticism" accepted by the mainline Protestant denominations, Evangelicals and many Catholics hold to a more traditional history of the Bible. This section summarizes their views.

[[Image:Gospel of Luke in Arab.gif|thumb|This tenth-century Egyptian codex was donated to Pope Eugenius IV by the Coptic delegates at the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Translated from a Coptic original, it is one of the earliest Arabic versions of any part of the New Testament, none of which can be dated before the late eighth or ninth centuries.]]

The oldest books of the Bible are certainly the five books of the Torah and ''Job''. In ''1st Kings'' 6:1, Solomon is stated to have begun building the Temple "''in the 480th year after the children of Israel were come up out of the land of Egypt''". It had been established by scholars and historians that Solomon had begun building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, or 961 B.C., making the [[date of the Exodus]] under Moses to have been 1441 B.C. During the following forty years Moses wrote the Torah and ''Job'', completing them before his death at [[Mt. Nebo]] about 1400 B.C. According to Biblical scholar and historian Robert D. Wilson the Torah as it stands dates from the time of Moses, the five books constitute one continuous work, and was written by a single individual, Moses himself (Wilson, pg 11).

The remaining books of the Old Testament were written at various times since the death of Moses, with ''Malachi'', the last Old Testament book, being written about 455 B.C. During this period each of the books was written and re-written on parchment or papyrus, with the editors taking great care in their work; a single Biblical book hand-written today can take weeks to complete. The older scrolls were disposed of by burial or systematic destruction when worn from normal usage; as a result, the oldest surviving examples of Biblical manuscripts are those which have been carefully preserved either by direct actions of people (such as monasteries), or by removal from forces of decay. Currently, the oldest surviving manuscripts are those found within the caves of Qumran in 1948 and known as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], dating between 250 B.C. to A.D. 70; the complete ''Isaiah'' scroll of this collection dates to 150 B.C.

Around 200 B.C. the [[Septuagint]], a Greek-language version of the Old Testament, was completed. This was due to the Hellenization of large areas of the Middle East after the conquest of Alexander the Great, making Greek the de-facto language for everyday communications and business. The Septuagint marks the first time in history that the Bible was translated into a foreign language.

===Early New Testament history===
In 1st Timothy 5:8, Paul quoted as scripture ''"the laborer is worthy of his hire."'' This line is found nowhere else in the Bible except Matthew 10:10 and Luke 5:7. In 2nd Peter 3:15-16, Peter classes Paul's letters with "other scriptures". Both lines are indicative of the writing down and general use of the New Testament prior to A.D. 60 (Halley, pg. 741-742). Spurious "gospels" which are known to have appeared by A.D. 100, make references to the New Testament. [[Clement of Rome]], writing in his own letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95, refers to ''Matthew'', ''Luke'', ''Corinthians'', ''Hebrews'', ''1st Timothy'', and ''1st Peter'' (Halley, pg. 743).

The oldest surviving New Testament fragment of which there is a reliable date is the [[John Rylands Fragment]] (P52) of the ''Gospel of John'', dating from 117-138 A.D., just decades from when the Gospel was first written. <ref>[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]</ref> The time span between the writing of the New Testament and the oldest surviving fragments are well under two hundred years. By comparison, Greek classics such as [[Herodotus]], [[Plato]], [[Euripides]], and [[Homer]] have a time span well over a thousand years each between the date of the oldest known fragment of writing and the time period they were first written.

==Translations==
===The Peshitta===
The second translated version of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament (after the Greek Septuaginta) was the Aramaic language Peshitta. In 36 A.D., both the Queen of Adiabene (the last existing Province of the hated and feared by the Jews Assyrian Empire), known in Greek as Queen Helena (not the mother of Constantine) and known to the Jews as Queen ShlomZion ("Peace of Zion"), and her son King Ezad were converted to Judaism. Queen Helena's conversion, as wiell as others of the Kingdom, furthered the already developing translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in her Kingdom's language -Aramaic. That developing translation came to be known as the Peshitta - meaning simple or common speech, in much the same way as the Hebrew Bible would be translated into Latin by Jerome, with extensive help from a Rabbi,and the resultant translation would be called the Vulgate - meaning simple or common speech. The Peshitta, retaining elements of the then Jewish "[[Targum]]ic" (interpretive) and other Jewish understandings of the Hebrew Bible (see[[Midrash]]), is primarily based on the Pre-Masoretic Hebrew Scriptures - though certain books, such as the Prophet Isaiah,are translations primarily from the Septuagint The development of the Old Testament Peshitta translation is held by some to have taken place alternatively in Adiabene's nearby neighbor Edessa.

As Thomas and his followers went to India, others (possibly Adai (Thaddeus), the Galilean from Caesarea Phillipi among them) arrived in [[Adiabene]], and having gone probaly to the synagogues first, as did the Apostle Paul), they found already, if not a populous, then an elite governmental element, conversant with the Biblical message in Aramaic. From these people, hearing the preaching of the messengers from Israel ,came believers in Jesus Christ, and soon after, came the translation of the Greek New Testament Scriptures into Aramaic, and so the Peshitta was added to by inclusion of the New Testament in Aramaic. Unlike the Greek canon of the New Testament Scriptures, the Peshitta originally did not include the following books: the Second Epistle of Peter, the Second Epistle of John, the Third Epistle of John, the Epistle of Jude and the Book of Revelation. But these books translated into the Syriac (as Christian Aramaic is known) are part of the Peshitta now and used by the Aramaic based churches, primarily in India and the Middle East - the Syrian Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East (Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East), the Indian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

Adiabene and its surroundings then became the sending center for a mission to the East that would eventually, taking advantage of the newly rediscovered monsoon winds blowing for months across the Arabian sea, making it possible for ships to no longer hug the coasts, and taking advantage of the "Silk Road" all the way from Antioch in Syria to China, take the message of Jesus Christ to India (bringing about the Aramaic (Syriac) language churches of Kerala) and even to China itself. And so, the Peshitta, written in the Middle East, become the Scriptures, for a while, of the Far East Churches of Jesus Christ, particularly in India.

===The Vulgate===
[[Jerome]], a Latin scholar deeply interested in the study of the Scriptures, completed the second edition of the Bible in the Latin language. The ''[[Vulgate]]'' was meant to replace the inaccuracies of the earlier ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', the standard Bible of the early Catholic Church. Jerome had moved to [[Jerusalem]] in 382, and set to work on what eventually became a fresh translation of the Bible from the Greek of the ''Septuagint'' to translating the New Testament into Latin; from 390-405 he decided to re-translate his Old Testament directly from the Hebrew then in use by the Jewish community. The ''Vulgate'' had a marked influence in church history, and remained the standard Latin Bible in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries; such was the length of time in use that it was finally replaced by the ''[[Nova Vulgata]]'' in 1979.
==Printing==
[[Image:Gutenburg1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Printers copy of a page from a Gutenberg Bible, printed in Germany about 1469.]]
[[Johannes Gutenberg]] of [[Mainz]], [[Germany]] invented the first mechanical printing press in 1448. His machine consisted of a large press which when cranked down, pressed a sheet of paper upon a platform in which were set thousands of inked metal letter typefaces (called "movable type"), set in place to read for a particular page. The first book in history printed by this method was the [[Gutenberg Bible]], in the ''Vulgate'' Latin version, of which 180 were printed, and approximately 50 survive today in varying conditions around the world.

The Gutenberg Bible marked another first: printed Bibles could be mass produced to get into the hands of many people at a low cost. They first had to be translated out of Latin into a common language, and [[Martin Luther]] made the great German translation, 1522-1534. The Protestant Reformers emphasized that laymen should study the Bible, and printing made it possible to go beyond the interpretationsd shown in stained glass windows to the actual text.

==English language versions of the Bible==

===Wycliff's Bible===
The first translation of the Bible into English was made under the supervision of the English cleric [[John Wyclif]] in the 1380's, with the assistance of Nicholas Hereford and John Purvey. Wyclif held that the Bible should be placed directly in the hands of the people, but was this was opposed by the English Church hierarchy of his day; indeed, one of Wyclif's opponents, Henry Knighton, compared giving the Bible to the people in English to "casting pearls before swine". Archbishop Arundel of Canterbury promulgated a ban on all English Bibles in 1407, and possession of one was considered evidence of [[heresy]].

Wyclif's was a scholarly translation, based on the [[Latin]], [[Greek]], and [[Hebrew]] texts, but was found to be unweildy due to its adherence to Latin grammar (in which, for instance, verbs tend to be at the end of sentences). A second Wycliffite translation was prepared late in this period, which avoided this problem, but due to the fact that it could only be distributed in manuscript form, it was an expensive volume. Outside of the nobility and gentry, it was more common to see only a single [[The Gospels|Gospel]], or a copy of the Psalms, than an entire Bible, which cost more than the average working person could earn in a year.

Over the next century, its form of English gradually became antiquated, leading English Protestants such as [[William Tyndale]] to feel that an entirely new translation was needed.

===Tyndale===
During the middle of the 16th century there was a renewed sense of the need to get the Bible directly into the hands of the common man; prior to that the Bible was restricted to readings in the Church alone. The Reformers were a group of people who were shocked at the differences between what the Roman Catholic Church was practicing as opposed to what the Bible stated can or cannot be done (this was one of the causes of the [[Reformation]]). At great cost to themselves, the Reformers began the work of translating the Bible in the various languages of Europe; the printing press would ensure the newly-translated Bibles would be mass-produced.

[[William Tyndale]] was committed to getting the Bible in the hands of his English countrymen. Expressing open defiance of the Pope, Tyndale declared that if God would spare his life he would make it possible for even an ordinary farmer to know more about the Scriptures than the Pope. <ref>http://www.tbaptist.com/aab/tyndale.htm</ref> Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was completed by 1525. By April, 1526, 6,000 copies were printed and delivered to England. Official opposition led to the destruction of most of them. Nevertheless, the printing press rendered it impossible to completely suppress such a book, and new copies were printed and smuggled into [[England]] Tyndale was arrested and charged with heresy for his efforts on May 21, 1536, and was executed the following year. His efforts at translating the Bible led to the Matthews and Bishop's Bibles, then finally to the [[King James Version]], where ninety percent of the text closely follows Tyndale's translation.

===Authorised or King James Version===
[[Image:E-sword.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The internet has increased the availability of the Bible world-wide. Shown here is a screenshot to [[E-Sword]], a freely-downloadable Bible study program. [http://www.e-sword.net] (Rick Meyers, 2007)]]
In 1601 King [[James I]] selected forty-seven of the ablest scholars in [[England]] to undertake the creation of a standard Bible in English, based upon careful translations of the [[Masoretic Text]] used by the Jewish community, and the best Greek translations (especially the ''[[Textus Receptus]]'') then available. The scholars were divided into six committees in [[Oxford]], [[Westminster]], and [[Cambridge]], with each scholar had dedicating himself to doing a portion of the Bible, often consulting each other to check the flow and harmony of the work in progress. The result was the 1611 Authorised Version, known in [[United States of America|America]] as the [[King James Bible|King James Version]].

The effects of the Authorised Version were profound. Using less than 2,500 different words in its vocabulary, this Bible was written in a poetic style matched by few. The work influenced the writings of [[Shakespeare]]. [[John Milton]] has numerous images taken from this Bible in his ''[[Paradise Lost]]''. The direct style of writing caused it to be easily available to the common man. Poets and writers, such as [[Herman Melville]], [[Walt Whitman]], [[Emily Dickinson]] and many others were deeply inspired by it. It altered the course of English history, with England growing to a world power since the book's publication; when asked by a visiting dignitary what made England great, [[Queen Victoria]] pulled out her copy of the Bible and declared "This is the secret of England's greatness." [http://www.mindspring.com/~je_cobb/presidentindex.html]

=== Other versions ===

Today, the Bible is available in many versions across the English-speaking world, and has been translated into languages spoken by the vast majority of people on Earth, and even portions into a recently-created language from the fictional world of [[Star Trek]], [[Klingon]]. <ref>[http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Bible%20Translation%20Project Klingon Bible Translation Project]</ref> The past two decades saw the emergence of [[Internet]] use; the creation of the Bible as a software program was inevitable, and several, such as [[E-Sword]] and Theophilos, are available at no cost with a wealth of Bible-study material as well.

==Bible Scientific Foreknowledge==
[[Bible scientific foreknowledge]] holds that the Bible shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed. Many Christian scientists and apologists such as the Christian scientists and apologists at [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Answers in Genesis]], and [[CreationWiki]] assert that the [http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible contains knowledge that shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed].<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible Scientific Foreknowledge]</ref><ref>http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1718/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp</ref>

==Humor in the Bible==

{{main|Humor in the Bible}}

The Bible, especially the Old Testament, contains irony, puns, sarcasm, etc. It may be noted that the sense of what is humorous varies from people to people and from nation to nation, as well as varying from age to age. What caused a chuckle, smile, or laughter in the biblical "genre" was more connected with ''satisfaction'' at the vindication of righteousness among men. Thus to our day and age, and the commonality of people, for believers and non believers, the meaning of the spewing up of Jonah on the shores (even the great fish could not stomach him!) might be viewed as God working out His original will in history, Jonah flight from responsiblity being aborted, for the "days and ages" of the Bible, there was the added satisfaction derived from the understanding that God was not mocked by the rebellion of Jonah. Likewise that the "many cattle" also found repentence and acceptance by God, would not have brought the smile of glee, mingled with doubt, but the smile of satisfaction that God's wide heart found its exultant victory over the measly, narrow perspective of the renagade prophet. There was no shame to stifle the Biblical chuckle at the "hows" of the vindication of God's justice. Yet, what we consider humorous also appears:

For example:

:After noticing that his father-in-law Laban was not treating him as in the past, Jacob decided to flee with his family. Rachel, one of Jacob’s wives, stole her father Laban’s teraphim (statues used for idolatry and/or divination). Laban pursued them and intercepted them in the Gilead mountains (Genesis 31:30): "Why have you stolen my gods?" Laban said to Jacob. The Midrash comments that it cannot be much of a god if it can be stolen (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 74:8). Jonsson (1985, 44-45) suggests that there is humor (albeit "rough" humor) in the fact that, not only was Laban deceived, but his idols were actually underneath his daughter Rachel’s posterior while she claimed that the "manner of women" was upon her. This idol did not get much respect. [http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/economic/friedman/bibhumor.htm]

==Bible Translations==
The Bible has been translated many times and in many ways so anyone, from the youngest child to the learned scholar, can read the entire scpripture in their language and reading level.

*[[American Standard Version]]
*[[Amplified Bible]]
*[[Douey-Rheims]]
*[[English Standard Version]]
*[[Good News Version]]
*[[King James Version]]
*[[Latin Vulgate]]
*[[Living Bible]]
*[[New American Standard Version]]
*[[New English Bible]]
*[[New International Version]]
*[[New King James Version]]
*[[Revised Standard Version]]
*[[Revised Version]]
*[[Septuagint]]

==Bible versions==
Apart from bibles that include the [[Apocrypha]], The [[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures]] is a distinct version that was produced to justify many of the unique doctrines of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]].

== See also ==
*[[Bible exegesis]]
*[[Bible prophecy]]
*[[Biblical accuracy]]
*[[Famous Bible paintings]]
*[[Midrash]]
*[[Targum]]
*[[Aramaic Church]]
*[[Judaism]]
*[[Essay: The Way of Salvation]]

==External links==
===Bible societies ===
*[http://www.americanbible.org/ American Bible Society]
*[http://www.biblesociety.org/ United Bible Society]
*[http://www.ibs.org/ The International Bible Society (New York/Colorado Springs)]
*[http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer World Bible Translation Center]
*[http://www.wycliffe.org/home.htm Wycliffe Bible Translators]
*[http://www.labibliaweb.com/ La Biblia] In Spanish.

===Online, internet, and downloadable Bibles===
====Hebrew====
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm Hebrew-English Bible] ([[Jewish Publication Society of America|JPS]] 1917 translation; includes Hebrew audio)
* [http://tanakhml2.alacartejava.net/cocoon/tanakhml/d13.php2xml?sfr=1&prq=1&pnt=tru&acc=tru&dia=tru&enc=heb XML Hebrew-English (KJV) Bible]
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/Hebrew_OT/ Old Testament in Hebrew]

====Latin====
* [http://www.LatinVulgate.com/ Latin Vulgate] — Latin Vulgate with parallel Douay-Rheims and King James English translations
* [http://www.sacredbible.org/ SacredBible.org] — Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/Vulgate/ Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405 A.D.)]

====English====
* [http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html AudioBible] — Audio version of the King James Version.
* [http://www.blueletterbible.org/ Blue Letter Bible] — On-line interactive reference library continuously updated from the teachings and commentaries of selected pastors and teachers who hold to the conservative, historical Christian faith.
* [http://www.e-sword.net E-sword] — Downloadable Bible for Windows.
* [http://www.onlinebible.net/ The Online Bible North America] — Downloadable Bible for Windows.
* [http://www.theophilos.sk/ Theophilos Bible program]
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/ASB/ American Standard Version].
* [http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/ English Standard Version] from Good News/Crossway (the publisher).
* [http://www.verselink.org/ King James Version with dictionary].
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/KJV/ King James Version].
* [http://www.newlivingtranslation.com New Living Translation]
* [http://bible.oremus.org/ New Revised Standard Version].
* [http://www.europepourchrist.org/biblesite/WEB/ World English Bible].
* [http://www.dynamicbible.com/ King James Version built using AJAX technologies], with Strongs and Greek Morphological Codes by Robinson.
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/index.htm#index The Hypertext Bible] with side-by-side translations in English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at the [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]]
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/ Bible Gateway at GospelCom.net] text search in any one of many translations in numerous languages.
* [http://www.biblereadthrough.com/ Bible Read-Through] — read through the Bible in a year aid.
* [http://www.TheFreeBible.com/ TheFreeBible.com] Bible software downloads
* [http://www.scripture4all.org/ Interlinear (word-by-word) translation of the Christian Bible] Hebrew and Koine Greek
* http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/aramaic_nt_resources.htm - Aramaic New Testament resources
* [http://www.spcm.org/en/versions.php Over 40 versions of the Bible]
* [http://www.armenianchurchlibrary.com/Bibletranslationsandstudies.html Eastern and Western Armenian Bible]
* [http://www.bible9.com/ Online Bible (King James Version & Old Testament)]
* [http://www.spcm.org/LSG_FR/ Bible — Louis Segond de 1910]
* [http://www.latinvulgate.com/christverse.aspx Complete Sayings of Christ]
* [http://bible.crosswalk.com/ParallelBible/ Crosswalk.com Parallel Bible]
* [http://www.blueletterbible.org/search.html#verse Blue Letter Bible]
* [http://recoveryversion.org/ Recovery Version Bible]

====Spanish====

* [http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer?pagename=downloads_spanish Spanish Bible] PDT version
* [http://www.labibliaweb.com/cid/1 Versiones de la Biblia] In Spanish.

====Turkish====
* [http://www.incil.info Turkish Bible] (Turkish Old and New Testament)

====Finnish====
* [http://www.raamattu-kirja.com Finnish Bible] (Finnish Old and New Testament)
* [http://vastaus.net Raamattu] (Study Finnish Bible)

====Japanese====
*[http://www.ibsstl.org/bibles/japanese/index.php On-line version hosted by the International Bible Society]
*[http://www.bible.or.jp/e/index.html Japan Bible Society]

====Others====
* [http://agards-bible-timeline.com/q2_bible_english.html Bible Timeline]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Torah_880.htm?OVRAW=Torah&OVKEY=torah&OVMTC=standard My Jewish Learning.com]
* [http://search.americanbible.org/ American Bible Society] to search NASB, KJV, CEV, ASV and others.
* [http://etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html University of Virginia Library] KJV word proximity search.
* [http://www.1enormousidea.com/Default.aspx?tabid=42 Many translations in English, verse by verse]
* [http://www.bible-marathi.com Nava Karar] NT Translation from Greek to Marathi
* [http://www.bible-researcher.com/links12.html Gender-neutral Bible translations].
* [http://www.evangelicalbible.com/why.htm Word-for-Word vs.Thought-for-Thought translation] Outlines the difference between formal and dynamic equivalent translation philosopy.
* [http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Bible%20Translation%20Project Klingon Bible].

===Commentaries and analysis===
* [http://www.ldolphin.org/icc-am.html Biblical chronology] by Alan Montgomery, B.Sc.(Hon)
* [http://www.dinur.org/resources/resourceCategoryDisplay.aspx?categoryID=411&rsid=478 Biblical History], The Jewish History Resource Center — Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=63255 Judaica Press Translation] — online Jewish translation of the Tanakh.
* [http://www.angdatingdaan.org/biblicaltopics/bib_bible_1.htm Reading and Understanding the Bible].
* [http://en.bibleinfo.com/ Source for Bible Answers].
* [http://www.amazingfacts.org/school/af_logon.asp Amazing Facts Bible Studies].
* [http://www.iishj.org/images/Bible.pdf Learning Bible Today] — a historical approach the Bible.
* [http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/gill/ John Gill's Exposition of the Bible] — verse by verse commentary.
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html/ Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible] — unabridged.
*[http://www.verselink.org/ Topical References]
*[http://www.verselink.org/ Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedia]

===Wikis===
* [http://bible.tmtm.com BibleWiki]
* [http://wikible.org Wikible]

==Bibliography==
* Achtemeier, Paul J., ed. ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'' (1985), 1190pp; mainstream scholarship
* Ackroyd, P.R., ed. ''The Cambridge History of the Bible: From the Beginnings to Jerome; the West from the Fathers to the Reformation; the West from the Reformation to the Present Day'' (3 vol 1978), standard summary of scholarship; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Beginnings-Jerome/dp/0521099730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1]; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Fathers-Reformation/dp/0521290171/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search vol 2]; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Reformation-Present/dp/0521290163/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 3]
* Coggins, R.J. ''Introducing the Old Testament'' (Oxford University Press: 1990), 172pp. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22765464 online edition]
* Morgan, Robert, and John Barton. ''Biblical Interpretation'' (Oxford University Press: 1988), 342 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=74356941 online edition]
* Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob, ed. ''The New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible'' ('''NIDB''') (5 vol 2009), the latest mainstream scholarship
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Dictionary'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL (1966; new edition 2006); Evangelical
**Unger, Merril F. ''The New Unger's Bible Dictionary'', (2006); 1416pp; Evangelical
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Handbook'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL (1967); Evangelical.
*Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'', Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI (1965); Evangelical
* Sandys-Wunsch, John. ''What Have They Done to the Bible: A History of Modern Biblical Interpretation'' 2005) Scholarly history of transations and interpretations to 1900; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0814650287 excerpt and text search]
* Williamspn, Peter. ''Catholic principles for interpreting scripture: a study of the Pontifical Biblical Commission's The interpretation of the Bible in the Church'' (2001); Catholic; [http://books.google.com/books?id=kooFtFGQsfsC&dq=intitle:bible+intitle:interpretation&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=2000&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpts and text search]
*Wilson, Robert D. ''A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament'', Sunday School Times, Inc, Philadelphia, PA (1926).

===Language===
*Blass, Frederich, and others. ''A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and other early Christian literature,'' translated by Robert W. Funk; University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL (1961); German edition ''Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch'' Friedrich Rehkopf, editor, 14th edition. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976.
*Moulton, James H., and others. ''A Grammar of New Testament Greek'' (two volumes), edited by Wilbert Francis Howard, T&T Clark Publishers, Harrisburg, PA (1985); originally published 1920, Edinburgh, Scotland.
*Bauer, Walter. ''Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Scriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Litteratur''. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, editors; 6th edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany (1988). Heading βιβλίον, columns 281-82.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Bible| ]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Book of Worship]]

Trinity Broadcasting Network

2009-06-17T17:39:59Z

Kencaesi: deleted unlinked programming, added basic mention of its four additional TBN subnetworks

{{RefAppeal}}
'''Trinity Broadcasting Network''' is a the largest Christian television network. Currently headquartered in [[Costa Mesa, California]], TBN was founded in 1973 by [[Jim Bakker|James Bakker]] and [[Tammy Faye Bakker]] with [[Paul Crouch]] and [[Jan Crouch]]. TB is carried in over 70 countries.

TBN features 24-hours of evangelical christian programming in addition to four speciality networks: [[The Church Channel]], [[JCTV]], [[Enlace]], and [[Smile of a child]].

==External Links==
*[http://www.tbn.org/index.php/3/18.html TBN website]

[[Category:Christian Literature, Art, and Media]]
[[Category:Conservative Media]]

Jehovah's Witnesses

2009-05-28T23:44:21Z

Kencaesi: added detail to "Bible" mention,

'''Jehovah's Witnesses''', are a religious organization that is headquartered in the [[United States]] and legally known as the ''Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.'' They use the ''[[New world translation]] of the Holy Scriptures'', their version of the [[Bible]], to draw conclusions that do not match mainstream [[Christian]] thought, including denying [[the Trinity]] and denying the divinity of [[Christ]].

The group originated in the 1870s with a movement called the Bible Students, founded by [[Charles Taze Russell]]. Beginning in 1870, C.T. Russell organized a Bible class to study the scriptures from the ground up. The study process involved raising a question, discussing the topic and reviewing all known related scriptures that the participants could find on the point. The results were recorded whether or not they matched long-standing thelogical viewpoints.

Witnesses are well known worldwide for their door-to-door preaching which features use of the Bible and distribution of ''[[The Watchtower]]'' and ''[[Awake!]]'' magazine. They do not celebrate holidays that are not discussed in the Bible or that they feel serve to exalt individuals, human organizations or national groups, believing them to be an affront to God (see below). This includes birthdays.

* Jehovah's Witnesses do observe an annual celebration of the [[Last Supper]], or Lord's Evening Meal (1 Corinthians 11:20). This event, which they refer to as the Memorial of Christ's Death, falls on the night of Nisan 14 which corresponds with the ancient [[Passover]] celebration observed by [[Jews]].

Their position of political neutrality has led to their being well known for their refusal to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America (or other governments) and participation in military service. Jehovah's Witnesses base their position on their understanding of [[Book of Romans|Romans]] 13:1,5-7; [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 12:17; and [[Book of Acts|Acts]] 5:28, 29. Individual Witnesses are expected to be law abiding, tax paying citizens of the country in which they reside, but they do not vote.

* Witnesses were victims of the [[Holocaust]] under [[Nazi Germany]] because of their refusal to serve in the German military. Opposition to the Witnesses has been manifested in recent years in such diverse countries as South Korea, Greece, and various republics of the former Soviet Union including Russia, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe their faith is the restoration of the early [[Church]]. This belief is based on their attempts to align their organizational structure as closely as possible to their view of the Christian congregation of the first century. There is no clergy-laity distinction as all, male and female members, are considered to be ordained ministers at the time of [[baptism]] (note that Witnesses do not practice [[infant baptism]]).

'''Jehovah's Witnesses and Holidays'''

Jehovah's Witnesses base their refraining from celebrating many popular religious holidays on II Corinthians 6:14, 17 which states: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? ... Therefore, 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord. 'And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.'" ([[King James Version]]) <ref>The Watchtower, December 15, 1974 (p. 740).</ref>

Although Jehovah's Witnesses, then known as International Bible Students, celebrated Christmas during the early 1900's, this practice stopped in 1926. <ref>Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom(p. 198)</ref> Since that time they have published information regarding the origins of other holidays such as Easter, New Year's, Halloween and others. Their sources have been varied, drawing upon ''The Encyclopædia Britannica'', ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', ''The World Book Encyclopedia'', ''The Encyclopedia Americana'', and similar publicly available resources.

Regarding their position on secular holidays, Jehovah's Witnesses reference Christ's words at [[Gospel of John|John]] 17:16, that his followers would be no part of the world. They also refrain from most celebrations that focus on individuals, such as birthdays, referencing scriptures such as Acts 10:25, 26; 12:21-23; [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 19:10.<ref>Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life (p. 214) </ref>

{{See also|Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs}}

'''Controversy'''

Jehovah's Witnesses have had their share of controversy. Nathan H. Knorr (3rd president of the Watchtower Society) acknowledged that no human organization can be infallible, even Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses operate two official websites:

*[http://www.watchtower.org Watchtower.org]
*[http://www.jw-media.org Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses]

==References==
<references/>

'''Additional references'''

* ''Faith on the March'' (by A.H. Macmillan, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1957)

[[category:Religion]]

*[http://exjehovahswitnessforum.yuku.com Ex-Jehovah's Witness Forum and Recovery Site]. A resource providing information on opposing views with regards the Jehovah's Witness Organization. Discussion and Recovery site for former Jehovah's Witnesses; those considering leaving; or simply interested individuals.

Pilgrim's Progress

2009-05-28T23:34:07Z

Kencaesi: /* +External links= */ corrected markup

[[File:Pilgrim1678b.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Title Page of the 1678 First Edition]]
'''''Pilgrim's Progress''''' was published on February 18, 1678, by the English [[Puritan]] writer [[John Bunyan]] (1628-1688). This book is a Christian allegory, divided into two parts. The first is about a pilgrim, called Christian, and his journey to the celestial city. The second is about how the other members of his family followed after him on pilgrimage.<ref>John Bunyan, ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' The Christian Library edition, 1984. </ref>

Virtually every colonial home in New England had a copy of ''Pilgrim's Progress'', and it was a best-seller worldwide.

Here is a sample from the book:

:Christian ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross ... So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back.

== Part One Synopsis ==

The narrator recounts the dream he has about a man called Christian. He has become desperate after reading from a book that the city where he lives will be destroyed. He is advised by a man named Evangelist to travel toward a light in the distance until he reaches a wicket-gate and continue from there to the Celestial City on top of Mount Zion. He convinces his neighbor Pliable to come with him but his other neighbor Obstinate refuses to follow him. Soon Christian and Pliable encounter a deep slough called Despond. Pliable decides to return to the City of Destruction but Christian continues his journey. He is rescued from the Slough of Despond by a man named Help.

Next he encounters Mr. Wordly Wiseman from the town of Carnal Policy. He advises Christian to go to seek Mr. Legality from the village of Morality on the top of Mount Sinai in order to be relieved of his burden. Christian is stopped by Evangelist who urges him to turn back from the path that avoids the cross and search the strait gate instead, which leads to salvation. Christian finally reaches the wicket-gate which is opened by a man named Good-will. He warns Christian that the castle near the gate is ruled by [[Beelzebub]] who attempts to shoot anyone who goes through the gate and Christian quickly goes through it. Good-will advises him to continue his journey until he reaches the place of deliverance and is relieved of his burden. Good-will guides him into the house of the Interpreter who shows him various allegorical visions with moral lessons.

Then Christian encounters a wall named Salvation which he follows until he finds a cross and a sepulchre under it. At the sight of the cross he is relieved of his burden which falls into the sepulchre and meets three shining ones who remove his clothes, give him new ones, press a mark on his forehead and give him a roll with a seal on it which he must give at the Celestial Gate. He soon meets two men called Formalist and Hypocrisy who have gone around the wall rather than through the gate. They travel together until they reach the Hill Difficulty. While Christian climbs the hill, the two men follow two paths that go round it called Danger and [[Destruction]] and eventually meet their death.

[[File:Pilgrim-map2.jpg|thumb|left|300px|A fold-out map, from a 1778 edition, detailing Christian's journey.]]
While climbing the hill Christian falls asleep and loses his roll but manages to find it after returning to search for it. He is warned about lions guarding a nearby palace named Beautiful by two men called Mistrust and Timorous but when encountering the lions the porter of the palace's lodge named Watchful tells him that the lions should not be feared as they are chained and are merely a trial of faith. The porter welcomes him to the palace which he reveals was built as a place of rest for pilgrims by the lord of the hill, the son of the Ancient of days. In the palace he meets four women called Discretion, Piety, Charity and Prudence. When morning has arrived the women accompany him down the hill and Christian arrives to the Valley of Humiliation.

Christian soon meets a monster named [[Apollyon]] who claims to be his king and refuses to allow him passage. With the weapons and armor he had received from the four women, Christian is able to defeat Apollyon after a long battle and continues his journey. Soon he arrives to another valley named the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is a completely dark desert with and a ditch on one side and on the other a quagmire, both of which he is in danger of falling in and he can hear frightening sounds around him. He finally reaches the end of the valley where he encounters a pile of bones. Formerly two giants named [[Pagan]] and [[Pope]] had killed many of the people passing through but Pagan had died long ago and Pope had become so stiff he could no longer do anything outside his cave.

Then Christian meets Faithful who had left the City of Destruction soon after him and he tells Christian about his journey. First he met a woman named Wanton who attempted to tempt him but was able to escape him. Next he met a man named [[Adam]] the First from the town of [[Deceit]] who wanted him to marry his three daughters but soon escaped him as well. He next met [[Moses]] on the Hill Difficulty who wanted to punish him for his former sins without mercy but was saved by man with holes in his hands, whom he recognized as his Lord. In the Valley of Humiliation he met a man called Discontent and another called Shame who attempted to make him abandon his journey but he disregarded them. Soon they are met by a man named Talkative. Faithful is impressed by his manner of speech but Christian warns him that Talkative only talks of religion and has none in his heart. Faithful challenges him on this and Talkative leaves angrily. They are met again by Evangelist who warns them about a nearby town where they may suffer for their faith but assures them that if they face death they will be rewarded.

Christian and Faithful soon arrive at a town called [[Vanity]]. In the middle of the town is a fair called Vanity Fair because all sorts of vanity are sold there. The two are soon arrested by the people for their strange clothing and speech and their refusal to buy anything and are shut in an iron cage. Faithful is taken to trial for causing a disturbance before the judge named Lord Hategood. Three witnesses named [[Envy]], [[Superstition]] and Pickthank testify against him and the jury finds him to be guilty. He is burned at the stake but after his death he is driven in a nearby chariot to the Celestial City.

Meanwhile Christian escapes from Vanity and is accompanied by one of its inhabitants named Hopeful. They arrive at a river called the 'river of God' and the 'river of the water of life' with many fruit trees on its banks and meadows on either side. The way following the river is rough so Christian decides to in stead follow a meadow called By-Path on one side of the path. They are met by a man named Vain-confidence going to the Celestial City. Soon it becomes dark and Vain-confidence accidentally falls into a deep pit and dies. It begins to rain and the two decide to rest under a shelter. They fall asleep and in the morning are captured by Giant Despair, the lord of Doubting Castle and thrown into his dungeon. Advised by his wife Diffidence, Despair tries to convince the Pilgrims to commit suicide but they refuse. After many days Christian remembers he has a key called Promise with which he manages to unlock the dungeon door and the castle gate. Before continuing their journey, the two erect a pillar warning future pilgrims of Giant Despair.

They reach the Delectable Mountains on Immanuel's Land and are met by four shepherds who guide them through the mountains. The two receive a note of the way and are warned to beware the flatterer and sleeping on the Enchanted Ground. Soon they meet a young man named Ignorance from the country of Conceit who also seeks the Celestial City but has not walked through the wicket-gate. They meet a black man wearing white clothes who convinces them to follow a road that is going farther away from the Celestial City. They fall into a net but are freed by a Shining One who reproaches them for not following the shepherds' directions but instead the flatterer they were warned about.

They meet a man named Atheist who laughs at them for searching the Celestial City as there is no such a place. Hopeful answers that they have already seen the city from the Delectable Mountains and concludes that 'he is blinded by the god of this world'. The pilgrims manage to walk over the Enchanted Ground without falling asleep and arrive at the pleasant country of Beulah on the borders of Heaven where the sun shines at day and at night. They arrive at a gate to the Celestial City but before it is a river with no bridge. As they attempt to cross the river, Christian is about sink but Hopeful helps him to the other side where they are met by Shining Ones. After climbing the hill they reach the golden gate which is opened. They are given new clothing as well as a crown and a harp and are welcomed by the people of the city. Ignorance is helped across the river by a ferryman named Vain-hope in his boat. He knocks at the gate attempting to get in but the Shining Ones bind him and carry him to hell.

==Commentary==
The radicals of John Bunyan's day felt that new revelations were imminent and Bunyan's attraction to this idea can be detected in ''Pilgrim's Progress,'' though he remained essentially a conservative.<ref> Dayton Haskin, "The Pilgrim's Progress In The Context Of Bunyan's Dialogue with the Radicals." ''Harvard Theological Review'' 1984 77(1): 73-94. </ref>
==Further reading==
* Greaves, Richard L. "Bunyan, John (bap. 1628, d. 1688)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' 2004 online
* Greaves, Richard L. ''John Bunyan'' (1969)
* Laurence, A., W. R. Owens, and S. Sim, eds. ''John Bunyan and his England, 1628–88'' (1990), essays by scholars
* Swaim, K. M. ''Pilgrim's progress, puritan progress: discourses and contexts'' (1993) ·
==External links==
* [http://www.questia.com/library/literature/john-bunyan.jsp online books and articles on Bunyan]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Puritans]]

Bible

2009-05-25T17:33:43Z

Kencaesi: /* Old Testament Apocrypha */ modified listing of "Apocrypha" and added detail

[[Image:800px-Crop Book of Isaiah 2006-06-06.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Holy Bible, opened to the Book of Isaiah.]]
{{Bible}}
The '''Bible''', or the '''Holy Scriptures''', is the collection of texts sacred to [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]], and consists of two parts: the thirty-nine books of the Jewish faith known as the '''Tanakh''', or the [[Old Testament]], to which additional books are recognized by [[Christians]]; and the twenty-seven books and letters of the [[New Testament]] of the Christian faith. Originally written in [[Hebrew]], Aramaic, and Greek, the Bible has been translated in more than two thousand languages; in terms of sales and distribution the Bible is the most-widely distributed, largest-selling book in history;<ref> The Bible continues to be the best-selling book ever. Americans alone buy 25 million Bibles a year, according to Publisher's Weekly. Bible sales are now reaching $609 million a year, with specialty Bibles available for myriad "niche" audiences, from motorcycle riders to campers, brides and archaeologists. "Immerse," a water-resistant Bible for troops overseas, is now available from publisher Bardin & Marsee. [http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070529-111815-7952r.htm Polls: Most believe Bible as God's word] - Jennifer Harper, ''The Washington Times'' - May 30, 2007] </ref>
the over-all influence and impact the Bible has had on literature, culture, and history is beyond calculation. Most [[Christians]], Protestant and Catholic, agree on the books of the [[New Testament]], but the Protestant Bible includes 66 books of the [[Old Testament]] while the Catholic Bible includes an extra 7 books, for a total of 73.<ref>The Catholic Bible includes these books that are not included in the Protestant Bible:
# The Wisdom of Solomon
# Tobit
# Sirach
# Judith
# 1st Maccabees
# 2nd Maccabees
# Baruch [http://www.catholicbible101.com/theholybible.htm]</ref> The Protestant Bible has 593,493 words in the Old Testament and 181,253 words in the New Testament.<ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/bible/about.html</ref>

==Name==
The word "Bible" had its origins in an ancient [[Phoenicia]]n seaport called [[Byblos]], which was so-named as a result of the trade and manufacture of writing material based on the [[papyrus]] or byblos reed, used extensively in antiquity for making [[scroll]]s and [[book]]s. The [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''biblos'' was based upon this, and it came to be the word for ''book'' (a small book was termed ''biblion''), and by the 2nd century A.D. Greek [[Christianity|Christians]] had called the Scriptures ''ta Biblia'' ('''τα βιβλία''' ''the books''), which was transferred to [[Latin]] by dropping the ''ta''; the word made its way to [[Old French]] where the plural was dropped in favor of the singular, hence becoming the [[English]] word ''Bible''. (Unger, pg 143; Moulton; Blass)

==Books of the Bible==
===The Old Testament===
{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="360" style="margin-left:5px" class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: tan no-repeat scroll top left;"|Old Testament layout
|-
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Jewish
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Christian
|-
|Genesis
|Genesis
|-
|Exodus
|Exodus
|-
|Leviticus
|Leviticus
|-
|Numbers
|Numbers
|-
|Deuteronomy
|Deuteronomy
|-
|Joshua
|Joshua
|-
|Samuel
|Judges
|-
|Kings
|Ruth
|-
|Isaiah
|1st Samuel
|-
|Jeremiah
|2nd Samuel
|-
|Ezekiel
|1st Kings
|-
|The Minor Prophets
|2nd Kings
|-
|Psalms
|1st Chronicles
|-
|Proverbs
|2nd Chronicles
|-
|Job
|Ezra
|-
|Song of Songs
|Nehemiah
|-
|Ruth
|Esther
|-
|Lamentations
|Job
|-
|Ecclesiastes
|Psalms
|-
|Ester
|Proverbs
|-
|Daniel
|Ecclesiastes
|-
|Ezra
|Song of Solomon
|-
|Chronicles
|Isaiah
|-
|
|Jeremiah
|-
|
|Lamentations
|-
|
|Ezekiel
|-
|
|Daniel
|-
|
|The Minor Prophets
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: tan no-repeat scroll top left;"|Dates of each Book
|-
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|Old Testament
!align ="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;"|New Testament
|-
|Genesis, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Matthew, A.D. 60-65
|-
|Exodus, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Mark, A.D. 60-65
|-
|Leviticus, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Luke, A.D. 58-65
|-
|Numbers, 1440-1400 B.C.
|John, A.D. 95
|-
|Deuteronomy, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Acts, A.D. 58-65
|-
|Joshua, 1400-1360 B.C.
|Romans, A.D. 58
|-
|Judges, c. 1020 B.C.
|1st Corinthians, A.D. 57
|-
|Ruth, c. 1090 B.C.
|2nd Corinthians, A.D. 57
|-
|1st Samuel
|Galatians, A.D. 56
|-
|2nd Samuel
|Ephesians, A.D. 62-63
|-
|1st Kings, 609-600 B.C.
|Philippians, A.D. 58-60
|-
|2nd Kings, 609-600 B.C.
|Colosians, A.D. 61-63
|-
|1st Chronicles, c. 400 B.C.
|1st Thessalonians, A.D. 52
|-
|2nd Chronicles, c. 400 B.C.
|2nd Thessalonians, A.D. 53
|-
|Ezra, c. 400 B.C.
|1st Timothy, A.D. 62-65
|-
|Nehemiah, c. 400 B.C.
|2nd Timothy, A.D. 65-66
|-
|Esther, 464-425 B.C.
|Titus, A.D. 65
|-
|Job, 1440-1400 B.C.
|Philemon, A.D. 65
|-
|Psalms, 1004-965 B.C.
|Hebrews, A.D. 63-64
|-
|Proverbs, 965-925 B.C.
|James, A.D. 63-64
|-
|Eccleisiastes, 965-925 B.C.
|1st Peter, A.D. 64
|-
|Song of Solomon, 965-925 B.C.
|2nd Peter, A.D. 65
|-
|Isaiah, 785-697 B.C.
|1st John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Jeremiah, 587-538 B.C.
|2nd John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Lamentations, 587-538 B.C.
|3rd John, A.D. 90-100
|-
|Ezekiel, 592-572 B.C.
|Jude, c. A.D. 70-75
|-
|Daniel, 539-520 B.C.
|Revelation, A.D. 96-98
|-
|Hosea, 753-731 B.C.
|
|-
|Joel, 835-796 B.C.
|
|-
|Amos, 787-747 B.C.
|
|-
|Obadiah, 848-841 B.C.
|
|-
|Jonah, 771-754 B.C.
|
|-
|Micah, 715-687 B.C.
|
|-
|Nahum, 661-612 B.C.
|
|-
|Habbakuk, 625-608 B.C.
|
|-
|Zephaniah, 621-608 B.C.
|
|-
|Haggai, 520 B.C.
|
|-
|Zechariah, 520 B.C.
|
|-
|Malachi, 455 B.C.
|
|}
The [[Old Testament]], also called the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, consists of thirty-nine books. The books themselves were originally written in [[Hebrew]], and later on in the [[Aramaic]] language of Palestine; the Greek language version written after the conquest of [[Alexander the Great]] is known as the [[Septuagint]]. [[Melito]], a bishop of [[Sardis]] in [[Lydia]] (in what is now [[Turkey]]), is said to have coined the phrase ''Old Testament'' about A.D. 170. The Old Testament is divided in three parts (hence, "Tanakh") within the Jewish community: the [[Torah]] ("Law"), or [[Pentateuch]], the five books of [[Moses]]; [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets"), and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings,” or [[Hagiographa]]). Here the arrangement of the books differs somewhat from the Old Testament as used by Christians, however the actual writing of each book remains the same. The Christian order of the the books of the Bible follow the Chronology of the events and the personages being related, while in the Jewish order, though there is a chronological framework, the order follows more the importance, influence, "weight of usage" within Judaism. Thus, for orthodox Judaism, The Torah of Moses (the 5 books of Moses) come first, and are the most authoritative of all Scripture. Under the Pharasaic theory that the Moses was given the Oral law explicating how the written law was to be applied, at the same time as he was given the written law contained in the Bible, and that oral law passed on through the generations, the Mishna and the Gemara composing the Talmud is equally authoritative with the Torah of Moses. Then the Prophets come next in authority. But the Prophets are broader than considered by the Christian ordering. The Prophets do include what Christians call the Former and the Latter, or the Major and the Minor prophets, but it also includes what Christinns consider History - such as the books of the Kings. The last in authority for every day life of the Jew in terms of "regulation", actually form a great influence in the Synagogue worship - the Writings, with a heavy emphasis on the Psalms.

====Torah====
The Five books of Moses, in their Hebrew and English names:
*Bereisheet ("in the beginning"), or [[Genesis]]
*Shemot (“names”), or [[Exodus]]
*Vayikra (“and God called”), or [[Leviticus]]
*Bemidbar (“in the Wilderness”), or [[Numbers]]
*Devarim (“words”), or [[Deuteronomy]]

The first eleven chapters of ''Genesis'' provide the account of the [[Creation]], the history of God's early relationship with humanity, and the [[Deluge]] of [[Noah]]. The remaining thirty-nine chapters detail the account of God's covenant with the early Hebrew nation, led by the patriarchs [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (or Israel), and one of Jacob's children, [[Joseph]]. It tells the beginnings of God's chosen people, of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remainder of the Torah, beginning with ''Exodus'', tells the story of the great Hebrew leader [[Moses]], and of the Hebrews through their sojourn and slavery in Egypt, their escape from bondage, and their wanderings in the desert until they finally enter the Promised Land.

====Nevi'im====
The [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") is the story of the rise toward, and ultimately reaching, the Hebrew monarchy; the sad period of anarchy and revolt leading to the division into the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel; and the prophets who judged the kings of both in God's name. It ends with the conquest of both kingdoms and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Minor Prophets are considered a single book in the Nevi'um; in Christianity they have been split into twelve separate books and named for their authors.
* [[Joshua (Biblical book)|Joshua]]
* [[Judges (Biblical book)|Judges]]
* [[I Samuel]]
* [[II Samuel]]
* [[I Kings]]
* [[II Kings]]
* [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]]
* [[Jeremiah (Biblical book)|Jeremiah]]
* [[Ezekiel (Biblical book)|Ezekiel]]
* [[The Minor Prophets]]
**[[Hosea (Biblical book)|Hosea]]
** [[Joel (Biblical book)|Joel]]
** [[Amos (Biblical book)|Amos]]
** [[Obadiah (Biblical book)|Obadiah]]
** [[Jonah (Biblical book)|Jonah]]
** [[Micah (Biblical book)|Micah]]
** [[Nahum (Biblical book)|Nahum]]
** [[Habakkuk (Biblical book)|Habakkuk]]
** [[Zephaniah (Biblical book)|Zephaniah]]
** [[Haggai (Biblical book)|Haggai]]
** [[Zechariah (Biblical book)|Zechariah]]
** [[Malachi (Biblical book)|Malachi]]

====Ketuvim====
The [[Ketuvim]], or "Writings," contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the writings of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the exile in [[Babylon]].
* [[Psalms]]
* [[Proverbs]]
* [[Book of Job]]
* [[Song of Songs]], also called [[Song of Solomon]] in the Christian Bible.
* [[Book of Ruth]]
* [[Lamentations]]
* [[Ecclesiastes]]
* [[Esther]]
* [[Daniel (Biblical book)|Daniel]]
* [[Ezra]], divided into the two books of Ezra and [[Nehemiah]] in the Christian Bible.
* [[Books of Chronicles]]

[[David]] has been named as the author of the ''Psalms''; [[Solomon]] is believed to have written ''Song of Songs'' in his youth, the ''Proverbs'' in his prime, and ''Ecclesiastes'' during his old age. The prophet [[Jeremiah]] is thought to have written the aptly-named ''Lamentations'' at the beginning of the exile in Babylon. The ''Book of Ruth'' is the only biblical book that centers entirely on a non-Jew, a [[Moabite]] who married a Jew and became an ancestor of both David and [[Jesus Christ]]. ''Esther'' is unique as it is the only book in the Bible not to mention God. [[Moses]] is considered to be the author of ''Job''.

===Old Testament Apocrypha===
The [[Apocrypha]] was written during the four hundred years between the last book of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ. The term itself comes from the Greek word ''apokruphos'' ("hidden" or "concealed"), and although they have an actual history and literary value, the fourteen books which make up the Apocrypha have been rejected as canonical by both the Jewish faith and most denominations of the Christian church due to historical, geographical, or literal inaccuracies; the teaching of doctrines which contradict inspired Scripture; and a lack of elements and structure which give genuine Scripture its unique characteristic (Unger, pg. 70). The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, among others, include the Apocrypha in their versions of the Bible, considering them to be canonical.

The Apocryphal books had been used in both Israel and Egypt and are part of the Old Testament in the Greek language used by Jews all over the Greek speaking world - particularly Alexandria, Egypt. This version is called the Septuaginta. The Septuaginta fell into disuse among Jews for two reasons - 1. Greek speaking Christians were using the Septuaginta in their efforts to bring Jews to faith in Jesus Christ 2. A number of the Apocryphal books were also apocalyptic, that is, focusing on the last days, the KIngdom of God in battle against the kingdoms of this world and the downfall of this world's empires. This was considered dangerous and liable to provoke Rome against the Jews. Alternative Greek translations to the Septuaginta, which was considered "loose", were adopted by the Rabbis. These were the translations of three proselytes to Judaism, Theodosious, Aquillas, and Symmachus. The Jewish Rabbinic "Council" of Jamnia (Yavneh on the Mediterraenian coast of Israel) in 90 A.D., under the leadership of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, effectively excluded the Apocraphal books (along with the Septuaginta) from the Jewish Canon by requiring, for a book to be considered canonical, that it have been written in Hebrew (and Aramaic). Actually, a number of the apocryphal books, or portions thereof, had been written originally in Hebrew, most notably, the Book of Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) found in Hebrew at Qumran with the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but this was unknown to Yohanan Ben Zakkai and the Council of Jamnia in the first century. Under the impetus of Renaissance learning, Protestant scholars, now able to translate the Bible directly from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, instead of having to go through the Latin Vulgate, went directly to the Hebrew text. But this was the Hebrew text (eventually to be called the "Massoretic text") of the canon of books that had been authorized by the Council of Jamnia. In this way, most Protestant churches came to not include the Apocryphal books in their Canon of Scripture.

The following are the books which are most frequently referred to by the title ''Apocrypha'':
*[[1 Esdras]]
*[[2 Esdras]]
*[[1 Maccabees]]
*[[2 Maccabees]]
*[[Book of Tobit]]
*[[Book of Judith]]
*[[Book of Wisdom]]
*[[Ecclesiasticus]], also known as Sirach
*[[Book of Baruch]]
:*[[Epistle of Jeremiah]] is sometimes listed as separate book or the last chapter of Baruch
*[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
*Greek language additions to the [[Book of Esther]]

Additions to the book of Daniel
*[[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]
*[[Story of Susanna]]
*[[Bel and the Dragon]]

Between 90-95 A.D. the Jewish [[Council of Jamnia]] revised the canon of the Old Testament, ensuring that the books involved conformed to the Torah, were written in the Hebrew language, written in Palestine, and written before 400 B.C. As a result, the Apocrypha was removed from the canon. <ref>http://agards-bible-timeline.com/q2_bible_english.html</ref>

===The New Testament===
The [[New Testament]] is a collection of twenty-seven books and letters, written by the early Christian community, and written primarily in [[Greek]]. The emphasis of the New Testament is the life, teachings, and gift of salvation from the central figure of the whole work, Jesus of Nazareth. These books are grouped into the following:

====[[Gospels|The Gospels]]====
The ''Gospels'' contain the history of Jesus. The ''Acts of the Apostles'' are a continuance of the Gospels, documenting the history of the early church, beginning immediately following Jesus' death and resurrection. Of the authors, only Matthew and John had met Jesus; they were among His disciples during His earthly ministry. Mark was a companion of Peter, and his gospel was the first to be written down, about A.D. 50. Luke is considered the author of both his gospel and the ''Acts''.
*[[Gospel of Matthew]]
*[[Gospel of Mark]]
*[[Gospel of Luke]]
*[[Gospel of John]]
*[[Acts of the Apostles]]

====[[Pauline Epistles]]====
These are letters written to various early Christian communities by the [[Apostle Paul]].
*[[Epistle to the Romans]]
*[[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
*[[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
*[[Epistle to the Galatians]]
*[[Epistle to the Philippians]]
*[[Epistle to Philemon]]
*[[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
*[[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
*[[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
*[[Epistle to the Colossians]]
*[[First Epistle to Timothy]]
*[[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
*[[Epistle to Titus]]
*[[Epistle to the Hebrews]]

Paul has been attributed by many as the author of ''Epistle to the Hebrews'', but several others, such as [[Barnabas]], [[Silas]], [[Stephen]], [[Apollos]] and [[Priscilla]] are also claimed to be the author. The controversy, however, does not affect the genuiness of the epistle. (Unger, pg. 748)

====[[General Epistles]]====
*[[Epistle of James]]
*[[First Epistle of Peter]]
*[[Second Epistle of Peter]]
*[[First Epistle of John]]
*[[Second Epistle of John]]
*[[Third Epistle of John]]
*[[Epistle of Jude]]

====Revelation====
The [[Book of Revelation]] is the last work in the New Testament as well as the whole Bible, written close to A.D. 100 by the [[Apostle John]] during his exile on the Greek island of [[Patmos]]. Revelation is concerned with the condition of the [[Seven Churches of Asia]] before going deeply into a description of the [[Last Days]] prior to the beginning of the [[Millennial Age]].

Most [[Fundamentalism|Fundamentalists]] hold to "[[Dispensationalism]]", a theory of the meaning of Revelations and other prophecies that was developed in the 19th century and is summarized in the ''Scofield Reference Bible'' (1909, 1917).

===Inspiration===
Although the Old Testament is written by many [[homo sapiens|human]] authors, New Testament authors claim that these men were writing under the inspiration of God.

The apostle [[Paul]] wrote that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).
Similarly the apostle [[Saint Peter|Peter]] wrote, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:20-21).

'''Formation of New Testament and Jewish technical transmission:''' In the first century and prior, the ear was more important than the eye, as far as retaining in memory. Jews would receive orally, that is, from hearing, the laws that they believed originated with Moses and then passed them on to others, down through the generations.It was important to link the present rabbis by names who taught it with the rabbis by name who had passed it on to them, on back as far as possible to Moses on Mt. Sinai. This was the startling difference of Jesus. By saying "You have heard it said, but I say unto you..." , He was by-passing Moses and the others after and getting His teaching direct from the Father.

This Jewish way of receiving (QBL) and handing on (MSR) is summed up in the lead saying of the "Ethics of the Fathers" tractate of the [[Mishna]], "Moses received Torah from God at Sinai. He transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, the prophets to the members of the Great Assembly [Sanhedrin] (1:1)." The teaching thus transmitted was memorized word for word by groups of disciples (Talmidim) together, thereby minimizing, by the common knowledge and plublic repetitions, all innovations and errors, though there might well have been "stylizing" for ease of retention and recall. receiving and handing on (transmission), receiving and handing on.

This methodology, with its technical Hebrew terminology appears in the New Testament with the same technical meaning and purpose, for how the earliest Christian teaching was carried on prior to the formation of the New Testament and during the time of its formation. This ensured the validity of the teaching and its authenticity going back, not to Moses, but to the time of Jesus Himself. "For I handed over (Gk. pare'doka, Heb. MSR) to you at the first what I also received (Gk. pare'labon, Heb. QBL) that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures..." l Cor. 15:3. Paul knew all of the "deposit of faith" three ways, in the usual "collaborative" way of God - from Scriptures (the Old Testament), from experience (seeing the living Christ on the road to Damascas), and from authenticated oral tradition/transmission involving "receiving" and "handing on".

,

==Authority of Bible in religious communities==
The role of the Bible in the life of differing communities varies widely by both the inner tenents of the community and the outer influences bearing on the community.
===Judaism===
Orthodox Judaism through the centuries, while it was only marginally affected bygrowing secularization and modern learning, held to a "differing level of level of authority" understanding of the authority of the Hebrew Bible. This did not imply a different level of inspiration, but rather that importance to the regulation of life was prime for the Torah of Moses, the 5 books of the Law. But the Pharasaic teaching also posited an Oral Law given to Moses by God that was passed on throught the centuries through Joshua, the prophets, pairs of Rabbis, until this day. The Oral law is found in the Talmud (Mishna and the Gemara together) The oral law became the decisive interpreter, teacher and regulator of the Written Law and determined the course of Jewish Orthodox life. The second section of the Old Testament, the Prophets, is known to the Jewish Community primarily through the synagogue readings of the prophets. the Haftorah, that are assigned to conclude the weekly reading of the Law. The Psalms, the most formative of all the Writings, besides being common throughout the synagogue services, are used in various devotional prayer contexts. Orthodox Judaism has little been affected by modern Higher Criticism of the Bible. Reformed Judaism, originally developed in Germany, and Conservative Judaism, to a lesser extent, has been greatly affected.

===Mainline Protestants===
Mainline Protestantism, represented in the major churches and their seminaries, has greatly been affected by "modernism" based on advanced scholarly research, especially from Germany in the 19th century. The "Higher Criticism" ignored God's participation in the production of Scripture. Prime among these theories is the Documentary theory of Penteteuch origins (Wellhausen- Graff) that posit that Moses wrote little or nothing, Instead the Bible originated in four sources coming from various periods. These are sources are termed J (for the use of "Jehovah" for the name of God), E (for the use of "Elohim"), P (priestly), and D (Deutoronomic). The spirit of the New Testament is far more important than the text of either Testament for modern Protestant theology.

'''Orthodox Jewish ctritique of Documentary theory:''' Jewish Orthodox scholars have pointed to flaws of the Documentary hypothesis. For instance, Orthodox Jewish Scholar Cassuto has pointed out that rather than the names for God varying according to author and period, they vary according to emphasis from the same period, that of Moses - "Jehovah" being used for the God in his dealing with His covenental people Israel, and "Elohim" being use when His dealing with mankind are emphasis. Likewise the two terms usually translated "making a covenant", lkhrot brit (to "cut" a covenant) and lehaqim brit (to "raise" a covenenat) are not from two sources but mean different things - to initiate a covenant and to fulfill a covenant.

===Evangelical Protestants===
Evangelical Protestantism belives strongly in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the whole Bible and has been the most receptive of Biblical Authority. Believing in full inspiration of the all Scripture does not mean to evangelicalism equal importance of all Scriptures for the healthy growth of the Christian community. This is because Evangelicalsim, following Scripture's own understanding, believes in progressive revelation throughout Biblical time, culminating in Jesus Christ, and no further (thus obviating the role of Tradition). This Evangelicalsim, does not hold to the application of Mosaic Legislation, and other biblical elements that Orthodox Judaism holds to. This applies to faith and to morals. The Mosaic regualtion on executing a rebellious child does not present a problem to evangelical thought as according to Paul and Hebrews, the Law has been rendered obsolete by the New Covenant. The Destruction of the Temple and the place for sacrifice of all kinds, present no problem for evangelicalism, as they did for Judasim, as Christ's sacrifice on the cross has now "fulfilled" the proscriptions of the Law and the ceremonials attached. Thus there is a sort of Levels of Authority understanding for evangelicalism similar (but for different reasons) to the levels of authority of Judaism.

Evangelical Churches vigorously promotge the reading of Scripture through Sunday sermons and Bible study programs. Emphasis is placed on "each one understanding". Coupled with American individualism, and lack of tradional vehicles of authority, this sometimes leads to spinterring and each man's interpretation "is as good as any other". Nevertheless, the "Fiundamentals" defined in 1910 are strongly retained by the Evangelical Churches - the divinity of Christ, His death for sins and Resurrection from the Dead, His second coming.

===Eastern Orthodox===
The Orthodox Churches througout the world, whether of Greek, Russian, Rumanian, the various middle eastern varieties, emphasis the synod (Council) of Bishops, basis on the example of the "Council" of Jerusalem in the book of Acts, as the God authorized agent of interpretation and application of the Scriptures. Understanding that Jesus' words, " He (the Holy Spirit) wil lead you into all truth", Orthodoxy believes that the synod of bishops, none of whom are individually infallible, are given guidance from the Holy Spirit so that the Scriptures are rightly applied to the Christian Community enabling the Church to never stray from Christ. That is, the Church is given "indefectability". A minority Orthodox Church thought holds to "infallibility" in synodal decision rather than or instead of "indefectability". Scripture in the Orthodox churches are butressed by creedal formulations, the decisions of belief of past synods, and are less susceptible to the modern Higher Criticism. The Resurrection of Christ, virgin birth, return of Christ from Heaven to Earth, are all part and parcel of these churches. Individual interpretation of Scripture and manner of life are limited then by the teaching authority (the magisterium) granted to the Epsicopate - the Synod of bishops.

===Roman Catholic===
The Roman Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Churches have a strong sense of the Authority given to the Bishops by Christ to teach, interpret, defend the Faith and therefore to exercise the responsibility to interprete Scripture to the Faithful. But since Vatican ll, there has been an increased effort to bring Scripture knowledge to the laity and now there has been an increase of Scripture reading and study programs throughout most sections of the Church. This as been abetted by the Catholic Charismatic movement which has had the effect of promoting individual appropriation of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit and with that, the devotional and intellectual use of Holy Scriptures. However, the role of "Majesterium", that is the Teaching Authority, strongly sets limits to individual interpretation. The Roman Catholic church understands that though the Majesterium is given to all the bishops, the definitive exercise is limited to one bishop - the bishop ov Rome, the Pope. Further, it is believed that the Pope, when declaring dogma (teaching) ex-Cathedra (from the chair) speaks infaillibly (on matters of faith and morals). The first time the Pope has promulgated dogma ex-cathedra was to promulgate the doctrine itself of Papal Infallibility. The Pope , through the Vatican prelates and all the bishops can regulate much of Catholic community life, and some of the regualtion based on the interpretation of Scripture or the application of interporetation of Scripture. An example of this is the prohibition of abortion. The Church has accepted most of the modern Higher Critical methodology of Scripture, including the Documentary theory of origins first developed within German Protestantism. But the effects of this on the tenents of the Christian Faith due to the creedal affirmations of the Church developed centuries ago and Papal authority. This the Roman Catholic Church does not waver on the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the second comming.

==Evangelical Understanding of the History of the Bible==
Rejecting the "Higher Criticism" accepted by the mainline Protestant denominations, Evangelicals and many Catholics hold to a more traditional history of the Bible. This section summarizes their views.

[[Image:Gospel of Luke in Arab.gif|thumb|This tenth-century Egyptian codex was donated to Pope Eugenius IV by the Coptic delegates at the Council of Ferrara-Florence. Translated from a Coptic original, it is one of the earliest Arabic versions of any part of the New Testament, none of which can be dated before the late eighth or ninth centuries.]]

The oldest books of the Bible are certainly the five books of the Torah and ''Job''. In ''1st Kings'' 6:1, Solomon is stated to have begun building the Temple "''in the 480th year after the children of Israel were come up out of the land of Egypt''". It had been established by scholars and historians that Solomon had begun building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, or 961 B.C., making the [[date of the Exodus]] under Moses to have been 1441 B.C. During the following forty years Moses wrote the Torah and ''Job'', completing them before his death at [[Mt. Nebo]] about 1400 B.C. According to Biblical scholar and historian Robert D. Wilson the Torah as it stands dates from the time of Moses, the five books constitute one continuous work, and was written by a single individual, Moses himself (Wilson, pg 11).

The remaining books of the Old Testament were written at various times since the death of Moses, with ''Malachi'', the last Old Testament book, being written about 455 B.C. During this period each of the books was written and re-written on parchment or papyrus, with the editors taking great care in their work; a single Biblical book hand-written today can take weeks to complete. The older scrolls were disposed of by burial or systematic destruction when worn from normal usage; as a result, the oldest surviving examples of Biblical manuscripts are those which have been carefully preserved either by direct actions of people (such as monasteries), or by removal from forces of decay. Currently, the oldest surviving manuscripts are those found within the caves of Qumran in 1948 and known as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], dating between 250 B.C. to A.D. 70; the complete ''Isaiah'' scroll of this collection dates to 150 B.C.

Around 200 B.C. the [[Septuagint]], a Greek-language version of the Old Testament, was completed. This was due to the Hellenization of large areas of the Middle East after the conquest of Alexander the Great, making Greek the de-facto language for everyday communications and business. The Septuagint marks the first time in history that the Bible was translated into a foreign language.

===Early New Testament history===
In 1st Timothy 5:8, Paul quoted as scripture ''"the laborer is worthy of his hire."'' This line is found nowhere else in the Bible except Matthew 10:10 and Luke 5:7. In 2nd Peter 3:15-16, Peter classes Paul's letters with "other scriptures". Both lines are indicative of the writing down and general use of the New Testament prior to A.D. 60 (Halley, pg. 741-742). Spurious "gospels" which are known to have appeared by A.D. 100, make references to the New Testament. [[Clement of Rome]], writing in his own letter to the Corinthians in A.D. 95, refers to ''Matthew'', ''Luke'', ''Corinthians'', ''Hebrews'', ''1st Timothy'', and ''1st Peter'' (Halley, pg. 743).

The oldest surviving New Testament fragment of which there is a reliable date is the [[John Rylands Fragment]] (P52) of the ''Gospel of John'', dating from 117-138 A.D., just decades from when the Gospel was first written. <ref>[http://www.biblefacts.org/history/oldtext.html N.T. Ancient Manuscripts]</ref> The time span between the writing of the New Testament and the oldest surviving fragments are well under two hundred years. By comparison, Greek classics such as [[Herodotus]], [[Plato]], [[Euripides]], and [[Homer]] have a time span well over a thousand years each between the date of the oldest known fragment of writing and the time period they were first written.

==Translations==
===The Peshitta===
The second translated version of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament (after the Greek Septuaginta) was the Aramaic language Peshitta. In 36 A.D., both the Queen of Adiabene (the last existing Province of the hated and feared by the Jews Assyrian Empire), known in Greek as Queen Helena (not the mother of Constantine) and known to the Jews as Queen ShlomZion ("Peace of Zion"), and her son King Ezad were converted to Judaism. Queen Helena's conversion, as wiell as others of the Kingdom, furthered the already developing translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in her Kingdom's language -Aramaic. That developing translation came to be known as the Peshitta - meaning simple or common speech, in much the same way as the Hebrew Bible would be translated into Latin by Jerome, with extensive help from a Rabbi,and the resultant translation would be called the Vulgate - meaning simple or common speech. The Peshitta, retaining elements of the then Jewish "[[Targum]]ic" (interpretive) and other Jewish understandings of the Hebrew Bible (see[[Midrash]]), is primarily based on the Pre-Masoretic Hebrew Scriptures - though certain books, such as the Prophet Isaiah,are translations primarily from the Septuagint The development of the Old Testament Peshitta translation is held by some to have taken place alternatively in Adiabene's nearby neighbor Edessa.

As Thomas and his followers went to India, others (possibly Adai (Thaddeus), the Galilean from Caesarea Phillipi among them) arrived in [[Adiabene]], and having gone probaly to the synagogues first, as did the Apostle Paul), they found already, if not a populous, then an elite governmental element, conversant with the Biblical message in Aramaic. From these people, hearing the preaching of the messengers from Israel ,came believers in Jesus Christ, and soon after, came the translation of the Greek New Testament Scriptures into Aramaic, and so the Peshitta was added to by inclusion of the New Testament in Aramaic. Unlike the Greek canon of the New Testament Scriptures, the Peshitta originally did not include the following books: the Second Epistle of Peter, the Second Epistle of John, the Third Epistle of John, the Epistle of Jude and the Book of Revelation. But these books translated into the Syriac (as Christian Aramaic is known) are part of the Peshitta now and used by the Aramaic based churches, primarily in India and the Middle East - the Syrian Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East (Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East), the Indian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

Adiabene and its surroundings then became the sending center for a mission to the East that would eventually, taking advantage of the newly rediscovered monsoon winds blowing for months across the Arabian sea, making it possible for ships to no longer hug the coasts, and taking advantage of the "Silk Road" all the way from Antioch in Syria to China, take the message of Jesus Christ to India (bringing about the Aramaic (Syriac) language churches of Kerala) and even to China itself. And so, the Peshitta, written in the Middle East, become the Scriptures, for a while, of the Far East Churches of Jesus Christ, particularly in India.

===The Vulgate===
[[Jerome]], a Latin scholar deeply interested in the study of the Scriptures, completed the second edition of the Bible in the Latin language. The ''[[Vulgate]]'' was meant to replace the inaccuracies of the earlier ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', the standard Bible of the early Catholic Church. Jerome had moved to [[Jerusalem]] in 382, and set to work on what eventually became a fresh translation of the Bible from the Greek of the ''Septuagint'' to translating the New Testament into Latin; from 390-405 he decided to re-translate his Old Testament directly from the Hebrew then in use by the Jewish community. The ''Vulgate'' had a marked influence in church history, and remained the standard Latin Bible in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries; such was the length of time in use that it was finally replaced by the ''[[Nova Vulgata]]'' in 1979.
==Printing==
[[Image:Gutenburg1.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Printers copy of a page from a Gutenberg Bible, printed in Germany about 1469.]]
[[Johannes Gutenberg]] of [[Mainz]], [[Germany]] invented the first mechanical printing press in 1448. His machine consisted of a large press which when cranked down, pressed a sheet of paper upon a platform in which were set thousands of inked metal letter typefaces (called "movable type"), set in place to read for a particular page. The first book in history printed by this method was the [[Gutenberg Bible]], in the ''Vulgate'' Latin version, of which 180 were printed, and approximately 50 survive today in varying conditions around the world.

The Gutenberg Bible marked another first: printed Bibles could be mass produced to get into the hands of many people at a low cost. They first had to be translated out of Latin into a common language, and [[Martin Luther]] made the great German translation, 1522-1534. The Protestant Reformers emphasized that laymen should study the Bible, and printing made it possible to go beyond the interpretationsd shown in stained glass windows to the actual text.

==English language versions of the Bible==

===Wycliff's Bible===
The first translation of the Bible into English was made under the supervision of the English cleric [[John Wyclif]] in the 1380's, with the assistance of Nicholas Hereford and John Purvey. Wyclif held that the Bible should be placed directly in the hands of the people, but was this was opposed by the English Church hierarchy of his day; indeed, one of Wyclif's opponents, Henry Knighton, compared giving the Bible to the people in English to "casting pearls before swine". Archbishop Arundel of Canterbury promulgated a ban on all English Bibles in 1407, and possession of one was considered evidence of [[heresy]].

Wyclif's was a scholarly translation, based on the [[Latin]], [[Greek]], and [[Hebrew]] texts, but was found to be unweildy due to its adherence to Latin grammar (in which, for instance, verbs tend to be at the end of sentences). A second Wycliffite translation was prepared late in this period, which avoided this problem, but due to the fact that it could only be distributed in manuscript form, it was an expensive volume. Outside of the nobility and gentry, it was more common to see only a single [[The Gospels|Gospel]], or a copy of the Psalms, than an entire Bible, which cost more than the average working person could earn in a year.

Over the next century, its form of English gradually became antiquated, leading English Protestants such as [[William Tyndale]] to feel that an entirely new translation was needed.

===Tyndale===
During the middle of the 16th century there was a renewed sense of the need to get the Bible directly into the hands of the common man; prior to that the Bible was restricted to readings in the Church alone. The Reformers were a group of people who were shocked at the differences between what the Roman Catholic Church was practicing as opposed to what the Bible stated can or cannot be done (this was one of the causes of the [[Reformation]]). At great cost to themselves, the Reformers began the work of translating the Bible in the various languages of Europe; the printing press would ensure the newly-translated Bibles would be mass-produced.

[[William Tyndale]] was committed to getting the Bible in the hands of his English countrymen. Expressing open defiance of the Pope, Tyndale declared that if God would spare his life he would make it possible for even an ordinary farmer to know more about the Scriptures than the Pope. <ref>http://www.tbaptist.com/aab/tyndale.htm</ref> Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was completed by 1525. By April, 1526, 6,000 copies were printed and delivered to England. Official opposition led to the destruction of most of them. Nevertheless, the printing press rendered it impossible to completely suppress such a book, and new copies were printed and smuggled into [[England]] Tyndale was arrested and charged with heresy for his efforts on May 21, 1536, and was executed the following year. His efforts at translating the Bible led to the Matthews and Bishop's Bibles, then finally to the [[King James Version]], where ninety percent of the text closely follows Tyndale's translation.

===Authorised or King James Version===
[[Image:E-sword.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The internet has increased the availability of the Bible world-wide. Shown here is a screenshot to [[E-Sword]], a freely-downloadable Bible study program. [http://www.e-sword.net] (Rick Meyers, 2007)]]
In 1601 King [[James I]] selected forty-seven of the ablest scholars in [[England]] to undertake the creation of a standard Bible in English, based upon careful translations of the [[Masoretic Text]] used by the Jewish community, and the best Greek translations (especially the ''[[Textus Receptus]]'') then available. The scholars were divided into six committees in [[Oxford]], [[Westminster]], and [[Cambridge]], with each scholar had dedicating himself to doing a portion of the Bible, often consulting each other to check the flow and harmony of the work in progress. The result was the 1611 Authorised Version, known in [[United States of America|America]] as the [[King James Bible|King James Version]].

The effects of the Authorised Version were profound. Using less than 2,500 different words in its vocabulary, this Bible was written in a poetic style matched by few. The work influenced the writings of [[Shakespeare]]. [[John Milton]] has numerous images taken from this Bible in his ''[[Paradise Lost]]''. The direct style of writing caused it to be easily available to the common man. Poets and writers, such as [[Herman Melville]], [[Walt Whitman]], [[Emily Dickinson]] and many others were deeply inspired by it. It altered the course of English history, with England growing to a world power since the book's publication; when asked by a visiting dignitary what made England great, [[Queen Victoria]] pulled out her copy of the Bible and declared "This is the secret of England's greatness." [http://www.mindspring.com/~je_cobb/presidentindex.html]

=== Other versions ===

Today, the Bible is available in many versions across the English-speaking world, and has been translated into languages spoken by the vast majority of people on Earth, and even portions into a recently-created language from the fictional world of [[Star Trek]], [[Klingon]]. <ref>[http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Bible%20Translation%20Project Klingon Bible Translation Project]</ref> The past two decades saw the emergence of [[Internet]] use; the creation of the Bible as a software program was inevitable, and several, such as [[E-Sword]] and Theophilos, are available at no cost with a wealth of Bible-study material as well.

==Bible Scientific Foreknowledge==
[[Bible scientific foreknowledge]] holds that the Bible shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed. Many Christian scientists and apologists such as the Christian scientists and apologists at [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Answers in Genesis]], and [[CreationWiki]] assert that the [http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible contains knowledge that shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed].<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible Scientific Foreknowledge]</ref><ref>http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1718/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp</ref>

==Humor in the Bible==

{{main|Humor in the Bible}}

The Bible, especially the Old Testament, contains irony, puns, sarcasm, etc. It may be noted that the sense of what is humorous varies from people to people and from nation to nation, as well as varying from age to age. What caused a chuckle, smile, or laughter in the biblical "genre" was more connected with ''satisfaction'' at the vindication of righteousness among men. Thus to our day and age, and the commonality of people, for believers and non believers, the meaning of the spewing up of Jonah on the shores (even the great fish could not stomach him!) might be viewed as God working out His original will in history, Jonah flight from responsiblity being aborted, for the "days and ages" of the Bible, there was the added satisfaction derived from the understanding that God was not mocked by the rebellion of Jonah. Likewise that the "many cattle" also found repentence and acceptance by God, would not have brought the smile of glee, mingled with doubt, but the smile of satisfaction that God's wide heart found its exultant victory over the measly, narrow perspective of the renagade prophet. There was no shame to stifle the Biblical chuckle at the "hows" of the vindication of God's justice. Yet, what we consider humorous also appears:

For example:

:After noticing that his father-in-law Laban was not treating him as in the past, Jacob decided to flee with his family. Rachel, one of Jacob’s wives, stole her father Laban’s teraphim (statues used for idolatry and/or divination). Laban pursued them and intercepted them in the Gilead mountains (Genesis 31:30): "Why have you stolen my gods?" Laban said to Jacob. The Midrash comments that it cannot be much of a god if it can be stolen (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 74:8). Jonsson (1985, 44-45) suggests that there is humor (albeit "rough" humor) in the fact that, not only was Laban deceived, but his idols were actually underneath his daughter Rachel’s posterior while she claimed that the "manner of women" was upon her. This idol did not get much respect. [http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/economic/friedman/bibhumor.htm]

==Bible Versions==
*[[King James Version]]
*[[American Standard Version]]
*[[Revised Version]]
*[[English Standard Version]]
*[[New American Standard Version]]
*[[New King James Version]]
*[[Douey-Rheims]]
*[[Good News Version]]
*[[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures]]
*[[Septuagint]]
*[[Latin Vulgate]]
*[[Revised Standard Version]]
*[[Amplified Bible]]
*[[New English Bible]]
*[[New International Version]]
*[[Living Bible]]

== See also ==
*[[Bible exegesis]]
*[[Bible prophecy]]
*[[Biblical accuracy]]
*[[Famous Bible paintings]]
*[[Midrash]]
*[[Targum]]
*[[Aramaic Church]]

==External links==
===Bible societies ===
*[http://www.americanbible.org/ American Bible Society]
*[http://www.biblesociety.org/ United Bible Society]
*[http://www.ibs.org/ The International Bible Society (New York/Colorado Springs)]
*[http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer World Bible Translation Center]
*[http://www.wycliffe.org/home.htm Wycliffe Bible Translators]
*[http://www.labibliaweb.com/ La Biblia] In Spanish.

===Online, internet, and downloadable Bibles===
====Hebrew====
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm Hebrew-English Bible] ([[Jewish Publication Society of America|JPS]] 1917 translation; includes Hebrew audio)
* [http://tanakhml2.alacartejava.net/cocoon/tanakhml/d13.php2xml?sfr=1&prq=1&pnt=tru&acc=tru&dia=tru&enc=heb XML Hebrew-English (KJV) Bible]
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/Hebrew_OT/ Old Testament in Hebrew]

====Latin====
* [http://www.LatinVulgate.com/ Latin Vulgate] — Latin Vulgate with parallel Douay-Rheims and King James English translations
* [http://www.sacredbible.org/ SacredBible.org] — Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/Vulgate/ Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405 A.D.)]

====English====
* [http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html AudioBible] — Audio version of the King James Version.
* [http://www.blueletterbible.org/ Blue Letter Bible] — On-line interactive reference library continuously updated from the teachings and commentaries of selected pastors and teachers who hold to the conservative, historical Christian faith.
* [http://www.e-sword.net E-sword] — Downloadable Bible for Windows.
* [http://www.onlinebible.net/ The Online Bible North America] — Downloadable Bible for Windows.
* [http://www.theophilos.sk/ Theophilos Bible program]
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/ASB/ American Standard Version].
* [http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/ English Standard Version] from Good News/Crossway (the publisher).
* [http://www.verselink.org/ King James Version with dictionary].
* [http://www.spcm.org/english/KJV/ King James Version].
* [http://www.newlivingtranslation.com New Living Translation]
* [http://bible.oremus.org/ New Revised Standard Version].
* [http://www.europepourchrist.org/biblesite/WEB/ World English Bible].
* [http://www.dynamicbible.com/ King James Version built using AJAX technologies], with Strongs and Greek Morphological Codes by Robinson.
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/index.htm#index The Hypertext Bible] with side-by-side translations in English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at the [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]]
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/ Bible Gateway at GospelCom.net] text search in any one of many translations in numerous languages.
* [http://www.biblereadthrough.com/ Bible Read-Through] — read through the Bible in a year aid.
* [http://www.TheFreeBible.com/ TheFreeBible.com] Bible software downloads
* [http://www.scripture4all.org/ Interlinear (word-by-word) translation of the Christian Bible] Hebrew and Koine Greek
* http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/aramaic_nt_resources.htm - Aramaic New Testament resources
* [http://www.spcm.org/en/versions.php Over 40 versions of the Bible]
* [http://www.armenianchurchlibrary.com/Bibletranslationsandstudies.html Eastern and Western Armenian Bible]
* [http://www.bible9.com/ Online Bible (King James Version & Old Testament)]
* [http://www.spcm.org/LSG_FR/ Bible — Louis Segond de 1910]
* [http://www.latinvulgate.com/christverse.aspx Complete Sayings of Christ]
* [http://bible.crosswalk.com/ParallelBible/ Crosswalk.com Parallel Bible]
* [http://www.blueletterbible.org/search.html#verse Blue Letter Bible]
* [http://recoveryversion.org/ Recovery Version Bible]

====Spanish====

* [http://www.wbtc.com/site/PageServer?pagename=downloads_spanish Spanish Bible] PDT version
* [http://www.labibliaweb.com/cid/1 Versiones de la Biblia] In Spanish.

====Turkish====
* [http://www.incil.info Turkish Bible] (Turkish Old and New Testament)

====Finnish====
* [http://www.raamattu-kirja.com Finnish Bible] (Finnish Old and New Testament)
* [http://vastaus.net Raamattu] (Study Finnish Bible)

====Japanese====
*[http://www.ibsstl.org/bibles/japanese/index.php On-line version hosted by the International Bible Society]
*[http://www.bible.or.jp/e/index.html Japan Bible Society]

====Others====
* [http://agards-bible-timeline.com/q2_bible_english.html Bible Timeline]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Torah_880.htm?OVRAW=Torah&OVKEY=torah&OVMTC=standard My Jewish Learning.com]
* [http://search.americanbible.org/ American Bible Society] to search NASB, KJV, CEV, ASV and others.
* [http://etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html University of Virginia Library] KJV word proximity search.
* [http://www.1enormousidea.com/Default.aspx?tabid=42 Many translations in English, verse by verse]
* [http://www.bible-marathi.com Nava Karar] NT Translation from Greek to Marathi
* [http://www.bible-researcher.com/links12.html Gender-neutral Bible translations].
* [http://www.evangelicalbible.com/why.htm Word-for-Word vs.Thought-for-Thought translation] Outlines the difference between formal and dynamic equivalent translation philosopy.
* [http://www.kli.org/wiki/index.php?Klingon%20Bible%20Translation%20Project Klingon Bible].

===Commentaries and analysis===
* [http://www.ldolphin.org/icc-am.html Biblical chronology] by Alan Montgomery, B.Sc.(Hon)
* [http://www.dinur.org/resources/resourceCategoryDisplay.aspx?categoryID=411&rsid=478 Biblical History], The Jewish History Resource Center — Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=63255 Judaica Press Translation] — online Jewish translation of the Tanakh.
* [http://www.angdatingdaan.org/biblicaltopics/bib_bible_1.htm Reading and Understanding the Bible].
* [http://en.bibleinfo.com/ Source for Bible Answers].
* [http://www.amazingfacts.org/school/af_logon.asp Amazing Facts Bible Studies].
* [http://www.iishj.org/images/Bible.pdf Learning Bible Today] — a historical approach the Bible.
* [http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/gill/ John Gill's Exposition of the Bible] — verse by verse commentary.
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc.i.html/ Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible] — unabridged.
*[http://www.verselink.org/ Topical References]
*[http://www.verselink.org/ Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedia]

===Wikis===
* [http://bible.tmtm.com BibleWiki]
* [http://wikible.org Wikible]

==Bibliography==
* Achtemeier, Paul J., ed. ''Harper's Bible Dictionary'' (1985), 1190pp; mainstream scholarship
* Ackroyd, P.R., ed. ''The Cambridge History of the Bible: From the Beginnings to Jerome; the West from the Fathers to the Reformation; the West from the Reformation to the Present Day'' (3 vol 1978), standard summary of scholarship; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Beginnings-Jerome/dp/0521099730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1]; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Fathers-Reformation/dp/0521290171/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search vol 2]; [http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Bible-Reformation-Present/dp/0521290163/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243248143&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search vol 3]
* Coggins, R.J. ''Introducing the Old Testament'' (Oxford University Press: 1990), 172pp. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22765464 online edition]
* Morgan, Robert, and John Barton. ''Biblical Interpretation'' (Oxford University Press: 1988), 342 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=74356941 online edition]
* Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob, ed. ''The New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible'' ('''NIDB''') (5 vol 2009), the latest mainstream scholarship
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Dictionary'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL (1966; new edition 2006); Evangelical
**Unger, Merril F. ''The New Unger's Bible Dictionary'', (2006); 1416pp; Evangelical
*Unger, Merril F. ''Unger's Bible Handbook'', Moody Press, Chicago, IL (1967); Evangelical.
*Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'', Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI (1965); Evangelical
* Sandys-Wunsch, John. ''What Have They Done to the Bible: A History of Modern Biblical Interpretation'' 2005) Scholarly history of transations and interpretations to 1900; [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0814650287 excerpt and text search]
* Williamspn, Peter. ''Catholic principles for interpreting scripture: a study of the Pontifical Biblical Commission's The interpretation of the Bible in the Church'' (2001); Catholic; [http://books.google.com/books?id=kooFtFGQsfsC&dq=intitle:bible+intitle:interpretation&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=2000&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpts and text search]
*Wilson, Robert D. ''A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament'', Sunday School Times, Inc, Philadelphia, PA (1926).

===Language===
*Blass, Frederich, and others. ''A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and other early Christian literature,'' translated by Robert W. Funk; University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL (1961); German edition ''Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch'' Friedrich Rehkopf, editor, 14th edition. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976.
*Moulton, James H., and others. ''A Grammar of New Testament Greek'' (two volumes), edited by Wilbert Francis Howard, T&T Clark Publishers, Harrisburg, PA (1985); originally published 1920, Edinburgh, Scotland.
*Bauer, Walter. ''Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Scriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Litteratur''. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, editors; 6th edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany (1988). Heading βιβλίον, columns 281-82.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Bible| ]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Book of Worship]]

Trinity

2009-05-25T17:18:48Z

Kencaesi: /* Misconceptions of the Trinity */ added content how jehovah witnesses view the trinity.

''The following article is about the term Trinity as used in [[Christianity]]. For other uses please see: [[Trinity - other uses of the term]]''
{{Christianity}}

The [[Christianity|Christian]] '''Trinity''' consists of [[God the Father]], [[Jesus Christ|God the Son]], and God the [[Holy Spirit]], as established by the [[Nicene Creed]]. It is the three parts that make up the one God, all co-equal, and all forming one God. Although it is never made explicit in the [[Bible]], the concept of the Trinity is embraced by the [[Roman Catholic Church]], the [[Orthodox Church]], and nearly all [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations.

==Denials==
The [[Arian]]s of the 4th century denied the Trinity. They were condemned as heretics and they died out, but Arian ideas appeared in Europe after 1500. [[Isaac Newton]] was secretly an Arian. By the mid-18th century [[Unitarianism]] had emerged in England, and it spread to the U.S. by 1800. It dominated schools like Harvard College by 1820.

In the 20th century [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] do not believe in the Trinity, and see it as contradicting the commandment to have no god but the one God.<ref>Watchtower, July 2008</ref>

Some [[liberal Christianity|liberal Christians]] also, wishing to impose a [[naturalism|naturalistic]] reading on Scripture, deny the Trinity in part by denying that I John 5:7-8 (KJV) (the so-called "Johannine Comma") is properly part of the Bible. However, some argue that the Johannine Comma is indeed properly part of Scripture.<ref>[http://www.studytoanswer.net/bibleversions/1john5n7.html Defense of the Johannine Comma]</ref><ref>[http://www.chick.com/ask/articles/1john57.asp Is is true that 1 John 5:7 ... ?]</ref> Nevertheless, many Bibles, such as the [[NIV]], omit the Johannine Comma (I John 5:7-8 (NIV)), and other evangelicals believe that the Comma should not be there and that the Trinity is apparent from other passages anyway.<ref>Holding, James Patrick, [http://www.tektonics.org/af/comma.html Comma Toss]</ref>

==Misconceptions of the Trinity==
[[Islam]] has taught that the Trinity is Father, Son, and Mother (the [[Virgin Mary]]); however, this is not Biblical, but is taught in the Koran.

Jehovah Witnesses disparage the Trinity by depicting it as a three-headed creature and claim the doctrine as a corrupt addition by [[Satan]] to christianity.

==See also==
*[[Arianism]]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Image:Murillo Two Trinities.jpg]]

{{trinity}}

[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Theology]]

Politics

2009-04-05T19:15:15Z

Kencaesi: correctly defined politics as a form of science

'''Politics''' is the science of government and leadership. It entails seeking favorable portrayal by the [[media]] in public, and seeking support by individuals privately. Success or failure can be affected by the skill at governing an administrative entity, such as a city or nation, as well as the methods and beliefs involved in that management.

In a [[democracy]], people who share broad political goals often gather into [[parties]] to mobilize fundraising and create a unified manifesto, called a party [[platform]]. In a multi-party state, such as the United States, politics can be adversarial but in a productive way via debating for example.

In a single-party state, such as [[communist China]] or [[Nazi Germany]], politics amounts to a process of rubber-stamping the decisions of a small ruling group.

==External Links==
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/politics/ What Liberals Say - Category: Politics], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Political Terms]]

Unintended consequences

2009-04-03T16:26:35Z

Kencaesi: added basic defintion; correct link to correct question

'''Unintended consequences''' are unforeseen and/or unplanned negative results of an intent or plan.

==The Great Depression==
*The Federal Reserve system had been established to prevent what actually happened. It was set up to avoid a situation in which you would have to close down banks, in which you would have a banking crisis. And yet, under the Federal Reserve system, you had the worst banking crisis in the history of the United States. There's no other example I can think of, of a government measure which produced so clearly the opposite of the results that were intended. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#5]

Talk:Bible

2009-02-12T22:46:54Z

Kencaesi: /* Sources */ elaborated regarding references in the Bible

{{Wikiproject Religion}}
{{protect|MountainDew}}

[[Talk:Bible/Archive 1|Archive 1]]
[[Talk:Bible/Archive 2|Archive 2]]

==What the serpent said==
In Genesis 3:1, the serpent questions what God said concerning the tree of life. "Com'on, Eve...did God really say you can't eat from that tree?" One can transliterate this verse any way they want, but the meaning remains the same: Satan did not attack God personally, but he attacked His word, questioning what He said, and trying to make Eve question it too, which she ultimately did.

Unfortunately, the situation today regarding the Bible is pretty much the same, and it caused some heated debates here. This article is about the description and history of the Bible, nothing more. Textual criticism belongs in a separate article. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 19:00, 13 April 2007 (EDT)

==''La'' or ''Ta''==
Look, Karajou. Let's be reasonable about this. The fact is that ''la'' is not a definite article in Greek. Not in Ancient Greek, not in Koine Greek and not in Modern Greek. If you do a Google search of [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22definite+article%22+Greek "definite article" Greek], you'll get dozens of pages that all show the exact same declension. Or go and look it up in a dictionary or grammar. ''Biblia'' is neuter plural, thus the correct article is ''ta'' - ton biblion, ta biblia.

This is not a question of doctrine or scripture or exegesis or anything. It is a simple question of what the definite article is in Greek. [[User:AKjeldsen|AKjeldsen]] 16:55, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

:I agree with you as to the definite article in Greek, and I do agree with you on being reasonable. If the term ''ta biblia'' was used in the 2nd century AD to describe the books of the Bible as a whole, I most certainly will change the article to reflect that. I am going to hit the books tomorrow at MTSU, and I will go through many works by experts in ancient languages (the term has to be 2nd century Greek, not 20th century Greek); the results of which and where they came from will be posted. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 22:28, 15 April 2007 (EDT)
::That sounds like a lot of work for one entirely uncontroversial detail. Just look it up in in '''A Greek grammar of the New Testament and other early Christian literature''' by Friedrich Blass ''et.al.'', or '''A Grammar of New Testament Greek''' by James Hope Moulton ''et.al.'' [[User:AKjeldsen|AKjeldsen]] 11:36, 16 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Well, since you researched it, I'm going to post the info immediately. All I need now is the page numbers of the books where they are located (as per MLA), plus publisher and date published for the reference section. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 12:30, 16 April 2007 (EDT)

::::Very well, if you insist. They're in my office, and it's after hours here. I'll get them for you sometime tomorrow or the day after that. [[User:AKjeldsen|AKjeldsen]] 12:42, 16 April 2007 (EDT)

Still waiting on the page numbers. I found the publishers, and I used the American published version of the Blass work as the source. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 22:24, 17 April 2007 (EDT)

:Here we go:

<blockquote>Moulton, James Hope. '''A Grammar of New Testament Greek'''. Wilbert Francis Howard, ed. Vol 2. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1920. P. 117.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Blass, Friedrich and A. Debrunner. '''Grammatik des Neutestamentlichen Griechisch.''' Friedrich Rehkopf, ed. 14th edition. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976. §249-276.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Bauer, Walter. '''Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Scriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Litteratur'''. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, eds. 6th edition. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1988. Heading βιβλίον, columns 281-82.</blockquote>

:Moulton has an excellent table of the inflections of the definite article. If more information is needed, Blass contains more than anyone would ever want to know about articles in Κοινὴ. And in case there is still doubt, Bauer shows quite clearly that the correct article for βιβλίον is το, hence τα βιβλία. [[User:AKjeldsen|AKjeldsen]] 15:06, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

::Much appreciated; in fact, the German titles have been included as well in the reference section. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 16:05, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

==Article Name==
This name of this article should be The Holy Bible. [[User:Epicon|Epicon]] 02:46, 21 May 2007 (EDT)

== New American Standard Bible ==

Who created the NASB? The Catholic Church[http://www.bible-researcher.com/nab.html] or the Lockman foundation?[[User_talk:Ymmotrojam#New_American_Standard_Version|Discussion on this matter]]. [[User:Hannibal ad portas|Hannibal ad portas]] 13:34, 23 May 2007 (EDT)
:[http://www.scionofzion.com/nasvx.htm This] also makes for interesting perusal [[User:Fox|Fox]] 13:40, 23 May 2007 (EDT)
Thanks, I didn't realise there were 2 New American Bibles (''Standard'' and Catholic). [[User:Hannibal ad portas|Hannibal ad portas]] 21:56, 23 May 2007 (EDT)

==Request SysOp==
Would it be possible, and agreable, to add another translation/version to the list currently held on the page? The version I would like to propose adding is the [[Complete Jewish Bible]], which is the version used by the majority of [[Messianic Judaism|Messianic Jews]]. Some brief blurbs can be seen [http://www.onlinebible.org/html/eng/bible-info/complete-jewish-bible.html here] and [http://www.messianicjewish.net/jntp/complete-jewish-bible.html here]. [[User:Fox|Fox]] 10:32, 28 May 2007 (EDT)

== Concordia Self Study Bible ==

Please add [[Concordia Self Study Bible]] to version. [[User:FunnyBoy|FunnyBoy]] 23:50, 31 August 2007 (EDT)

== Changes Needed ==
The article appears to be locked, so here's some changes that need to be made:
* Intro paragraph: Assumes every Bible adheres to the Palestinian canon; some do not. Some sects have three parts to their Bible: The OT, the Apocrypha, and the NT. Some have an OT, an NT, and an Appendix. Some have a larger OT than others.
* The Old Testament: Again, assumes Palestinian canon. The Tanakh is not the same thing as the Old Testament; it coincides with the OT of some sects, but it is a subset of the OT of other sets.
* Tyndale: Says that Tyndale's translation led "finally to the KJV." Since there have been many revisions/new translations using the KJV as a base, one might say that the Tyndale stream has not yet reached its end. Where it will finally lead, no one knows. Recent Bibles claiming a Tyndale genealogy include the NRSV and the ESV.
* KJV: The "Textus Receptus" was not a translation (except for a few portions of Rev backtranslated from Latin), and it is arguable whether a Textus Receptus even existed at that time.
* KJV: The possessive form of it should be its.
* KJV: Shakespeare did not use the KJV throughout most of his life, and it is doubtful that he used it very much near the end. He would've used the Geneva or Bishop's Bibles.
* KJV: Milton probably used the Geneva, not the KJV.
* KJV: Ref number 5 is a broken link. Suggest removing it until a source for the quote can be found.
--[[User:All Fish Welcome|All Fish Welcome]] 09:59, 18 September 2007 (EDT)

:Regarding your first two points, I think as it stands the current article is specifically about the [[Christian Bible]]. We Jews, of course also use the term ''the Bible'' to refer to our own scriptures (needless to say, exclusive of the NT).

:It's a matter of terminology. Christians say ''the Bible'' meaning OT + NT. Jews say ''the Bible'' and mean a different, but mostly overlapping set of "books". The Judeo-Christian heritage is based heavily on the first five books of the Bible. Christian study materials for young children (see [[Sunday School]]) draw heavily on Old Testament stories: Creation, Garden of Eden, Noah and the flood, Moses in the bulrushes & leading the people of God to freedom, etc. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 10:10, 18 September 2007 (EDT)

:Ignoring the role of the Reformation in redefining the canon is rather misleading; a niave reader would assume that the Vulgate was correctly defined by the opening paragraph as having those books and no others. [[User:Canuck|Canuck]] 22:10, 30 July 2008 (EDT)

== Best-selling book? ==

This comment, in the first paragraph of the article, really trivializes the Bible. The Bible is not a consumer good, OK? Please remove that comment. [[User:Andy|Andy]] 09:49, 17 November 2007 (EST)
:No. [[User:Karajou|Karajou]] 10:20, 17 November 2007 (EST)

== Please remove categories ==

Please remove categories ''religion'' and ''Book of Worship'', as they are supercategories of ''bible''. Also, if you could change the format to <nowiki>[[Category:Bible|*]]</nowiki> so that bible appears at the top of the list of that category. Thanks. [[User:TheEvilSpartan|TheEvilSpartan]] 12:54, 8 January 2008 (EST)

== Suggestions ==
As per TerryH's ideas regarding film adaptations (See my talk page for that.), I feel we should list the film adaptations of the Bible. Also, another English Bible, and the one I use: [www.skepticsannotatedbible.com The Skeptic's Annotated Bible]. Surely, it can't hurt to list that as well, can it? [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 00:07, 31 January 2008 (EST)
:I think we should stick to listing versions with credibility. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 21:50, 1 March 2008 (EST)
::With what respect is due, Philip J. Rayment, I believe that the King James Version of the Holy Bible is, in fact, a version with credibility. [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 15:01, 4 March 2008 (EST)
::: Oh come on! You know full well I was talking about the Skeptic's Annotated Bible, not the AV itself. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 21:10, 4 March 2008 (EST)
:::: Original version of this made no sense. In any case, Philip, do you have an issue with annotations? [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 21:58, 4 March 2008 (EST)
::::: With ''those'' annotations, yes. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 00:42, 5 March 2008 (EST)
::::::What is your issue? Are they factually incorrect, or do you simply disagree with the opinion presented? [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 00:50, 5 March 2008 (EST)
::::::: More like logically fallacious. Here's an analysis of a few from Genesis 1[http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/gen/1.html]:
:::::::* "''(1:1-2:3) The Genesis 1 account conflicts with the order of events that are known to science.''": This is really a case saying "My view is right, your's is different, so yours is wrong". That's the fallacy of begging the question. The same applies to the next two points for the same verses, so I'll skip them.
:::::::* "''(1:3-5, 14-19) ... God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day''": So? Is this trying to claim that God cannot make light by any other means? Given that even us humans can, this is a ludicrous claim.
:::::::* "''And how could there be "the evening and the morning" on the first day if there was no sun to mark them?''": Quite easily. To mark the days you need a rotating Earth and a source of light. The account already mentions that there was a source of light, so what's the problem?
:::::::* "''God spends one-sixth of his entire creative effort (the second day) working on a solid firmament. This strange structure, which God calls heaven, is intended to separate the higher waters from the lower waters.''": The Bible says nothing about a "solid firmament". This is an invention, probably due to a misunderstanding of what the Hebrew for "firmament" means. It has nothing to do with "firmness".
:::::::* "''(1:11-13) ... Plants are made on the third day before there was a sun to drive their photosynthetic processes ''": So? There's two answers to this. First, there was already ''light'', and that's what the plants need, not the sun specifically. Second, they had to survive 24 hours without the sun! Wow! How long do the Skeptics think a plant can survive without light?
::::::: That's enough to give you an idea. I skipped a few, mainly because the explanations would have been a bit longer. But essentially, they've said ''nothing'' accurate in those first few. The annotations have no credibility.
::::::: [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 05:01, 5 March 2008 (EST)
::::::::I might take you seriously if you cited a single fallacy among those, Philip. But, in the interest of fairness, I'll go through and criticise your answers.
:::::::: 1: Yes. It goes against the way things are shown to have happened. How is that fallicious?
:::::::: 2: For one, humans can't, our glorious creations can. For two, yes, that's exactly what it is claiming.
:::::::: 3: No, it says that there was light, not a source of light-- Unless of course you count Yahweh.
:::::::: 4: Then pray tell, what does firmament mean?
:::::::: 5: Not very long. You see, Philip, plants use sunlight in combination with the chloroform in their leaves or needles to create a type of sugar which they use for food. Without this, they'll die rather quickly.
:::::::: Now then, can you please cite something that is actually a logical fallacy, complete with a mention of what logical fallacy it is? [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 21:54, 5 March 2008 (EST)
::::::::: 1. The Bible says it happened one way. Evolutionists say it happened another way. You have two competing accounts, and you are judging the veracity of one account (the biblical one) by comparing it to the other account (the evolutionary one). That is, as I said, the fallacy of begging the question.
::::::::: 2. Humans ''can''. Yes, they have to use tools or "their creations" to do so, but they can. And even if we couldn't, it doesn't follow that God couldn't.
::::::::: 3. If there is light, there must be a source of light, even if that is God Himself.
::::::::: 4. You don't know? How about doing a bit of proper research, instead of just reading Skeptic rubbish?
::::::::: 5. How long is "not very long"? Less than 24 hours?
::::::::: I did name a logical fallacy, in the first one. Most of the rest would fall under Red Herrings, or Excluded Middles.
::::::::: [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 03:23, 6 March 2008 (EST)
:::::::::: 1. One is science, supported by years upon years of research, and the other is religion, supported by a book written by bronze agers.
:::::::::: 2. Of course, right. Deus ex machina. Arguing against the powers of your deity is futile.
:::::::::: 3. Indeed, unless of course we are to interpret the verse as your God creating the concept of light.
:::::::::: 4. Tsk, tsk. It is not my job to define your terms.
:::::::::: 5. Yes, Phil. Less than 24 hours.
:::::::::: ... How do any of them fall under excluded middles? :/ Red herring, maybe, but so much of the Bible is.
:::::::::: Finally, RE: Skeptic "rubbish." Yeah, darn dissenters have never done anything good. Earth's flat, just so you know. [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 15:09, 6 March 2008 (EST)
(unindent)1. When two people disagree, the only way to get agreement is to argue from common ground. Arguing that the other's view is wrong because it doesn't fit with your own view is the fallacy of begging the question. I have pointed out above that the first point listed is a case of begging the question, because it is arguing that the Bible is wrong because it doesn't fit with the evolutionary view. Yet your answer, that one (evolution) is science supported by much research, and the other (creation) is based a book written by primitive people, is not an argument from common ground, but from ''claims'' of evolutionists. That is, the claims that evolution is science and is supported by much research ''are not facts, but evolutionary arguments''! The same applies to your claim about the Bible. So your attempted rebuttal of my claim that the argument is fallacious because it begs the question also ''begs the question''!

2. Your reply is to try and mock because you have no argument. As you have no argument, you've effectively conceded that the Skeptic argument is invalid.

3. Even if it ''could'' be interpreted that way, it doesn't rule out that it ''can'' be read another way, so the argument fails. Proposing another possible way of understanding something does not mean that the first way is wrong, yet the skeptic argument ''requires'' the first way to be wrong.

4. If you are going to make the claim (which you are implicitly doing by endorsing the Skeptic claim), then yes, it is ''your'' job to justify the claim. We are not talking about ''my terms'', but about the correct meaning of a Hebrew word. You (implicitly) claim it to be one thing, so the onus is on you to substantiate that claim, not on me to refute it.

5. I will remind you that I gave ''two'' answers to this one. That is, two ''independent'' answers. So answering one still leaves the other to be answered before the claim is substantiated. But as for your attempt to refute ''one'' of the answers, [http://www.teachersdomain.org/resources/tdc02/sci/life/stru/methusweb/index.html this site] indicates that "most plants [can't] live for more than ''a few days'' without at least some light" (my emphasis).

I wouldn't try and use the flat Earth argument if I were you. It doesn't show evolutionists in a particularly flattering light, given that they effectively ''invented'' the story to discredit creationists! (Read the [[Flat Earth]] article for more.)

[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 21:13, 6 March 2008 (EST)

:1. So let me get this straight. One cannot possibly argue that the genesis account is wrong because it has no basis in science?
:2. The powers of a deity are unfalsifiable, therefore it is useless to argue against them.
:3. Oh. So it is your view that god literally created light-- Everywhere, of course, not in a specific location?
:4. Philly, philly. The crud I go through for you. "the vault of heaven; sky" is the definition I got for firmament. Which makes your original response entirely nonsensical.
:5. Most plants also would've had stored energy beforehand. A plant that had never been exposed to sunlight would not.
:Final: Let me get this straight. Evolutionists went back in time, prodded a bronze ager, and said "Psst... Did you know the Earth is flat?" [[User:Barikada|Barikada]] 21:29, 6 March 2008 (EST)

:: 1. (Your question has an ambiguity, but I ''think'' I know which way you mean it.) No, that's not what I said, but yes, your statement is correct, because you are trying to use ''science'' outside its domain, i.e. determining unobservable, untestable past events.
:: 2. In a sense, that's true. That is, Skeptics keep complaining that the creation account is unfalsifiable, yet here we have the Skeptics trying to falsify it! But it's not totally true, because in this case there are arguments that could, ''in principle'', be made, such as arguing that the text does not allow for the explanation I gave. However, the text ''doesn't'' disallow the explanation, and you have no grounds for excluding it. You can't defend an argument by complaining that you have no way of defending it!
:: 3. Huh? It is biblical teaching (and therefore my view) that God created light. It is deducible from biblical teaching (and therefore my view) that the light came from a ''particular direction'' (which is not the same thins as "in a specific location").
:: 4. Okay, seeing as you've actually gone to the trouble of looking it up, I'll apologise for being misleading. Perhaps the idea of it being solid wasn't "invented" as such, as I think the idea of it being solid did arise inadvertently due to a misunderstanding or something like that. However, I was still correct in claiming that it doesn't mean "solid". Your definition "the vault of heaven" would most likely be a euphemism for "sky", the second part of your definition. In other words, it's still not something solid. Furthermore, anybody who's done a modicum of research on the subject should know that, and it's been pointed out before, so it doesn't excuse the Skeptics for using this at all. The best translation of the word is probably "expanse" ({{Bible ref|Genesis|1:2}}. See [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1650 here] for a detailed study of the issue.
:: 5. First, how do you know that God didn't create them with stored energy? That is presuming something that supports your case rather than seeing if there really is a problem. Second, it still ignores that I gave two independent answers, and you are only attempting to address one of them.
:: Did you read [[Flat Earth]]? Your answer indicates that you didn't, but then it wouldn't be the first time you've distorted something beyond recognition.
:: [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 08:32, 7 March 2008 (EST)

== Correction and authorship ==

I believe it is the council of Jamnia not Jemnia.

Also, a reference to what Paul says of scripture 2tim3:16-17 "all scripture is given by god..." and Peter 2Peter1:20-21 "holy men of god spoke as they were moved by the holy ghost" would amplify what the NT says itself about authorship. --[[User:Dale77|Dale77]] 14:33, 1 March 2008 (EST)
:I've fixed the spelling. Your suggestion sounds good. Could you propose some actual wording and say where you think it should go, then I (or someone else) can simply pop it in? [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 21:38, 1 March 2008 (EST)

{{QuoteBox|2.1.4 Inspiration Although the old testament is written by many human authors, new testament authors claim that these men were writing under the inspiration of God. The apostle Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness". Similarly the apostle Peter states in 2 Peter 1:20-21 "knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."}}
{{unsigned|Dale77}}
:Done. I didn't know what Bible version you were quoting from, and the links default to the NIV, so I changed the quotes to that version. Thanks for the great suggestion. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 17:53, 2 March 2008 (EST)

== Violence ==
I'm thinking about adding Some Verses about violence in the bible like the Qu'ran page has.Does anyone disagree? {{unsigned|Gobber}}

:And why would you do that when this article does not cover themes? If you feel violence is a part of a story that should be addressed, then do so in the individual books or stories. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 21:29, 3 June 2008 (EDT)

== Authorship of Job ==

The article says that Moses wrote Job. I can't say that I've every heard that, and even if I have, I can't say that it's something that is universally agreed. What's the evidence for Mosaic authorship? [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 06:03, 2 October 2008 (EDT)
:I am not aware of any direct link. I'm assuming the theory would be based on the idea that both are about equally old, although the Bible itself makes no statement or inference in this area. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 11:49, 3 October 2008 (EDT)
==Looking for some advise, not sure where to ask==
I am trying to learn more about the early Church(es), and the process of Canonization of the bible, but the only sources I'm finding seem to be very "academic" in that "the bible was written by man" way, rather than the presumption that the bible is indeed holy. What I'm looking for is a good history on how and why the various books of the bible were included in the canon, (Nicene Council), but from a true Christian point of view. Can anyone recommend any books or authors who deal with this area?--[[User:JeanJacques|JeanJacques]] 16:07, 3 November 2008 (EST)
: See [http://www.tektonics.org/lp/otcanon.html here] for the Old Testament and [http://www.tektonics.org/lp/ntcanon.html here] for the New Testament. That second one also recommends [http://www.christian-thinktank.com/canonout.html this]. [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 20:17, 3 November 2008 (EST)

== Sources ==

Would some one be able to provide links to the bible's sources? -Brargrar 7:49 11 February, 2009.
: ?
:* The Bible was written before there were hyperlinked documents.
:* Much if not all of the Bible was written by eyewitnesses, not by people using pre-existing documents.
: [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 21:48, 10 February 2009 (EST)
::I not think that is completely true. Off the top my head, 2 Mc 2:23 clearly states that book itself is an abridgement of a lost five-volume work. The author of Jude in verses 14 and 15 cite a prophecy that is in the apocryphal ''Book of Enoch'' (The same Enoch from Gn 5:21-24).

::There are other references if you can call them that; throughout Bible authors either quote or refer to reader to lost books like ''Book of Jasher'' in Jos 10:13 and 2 Sm 1:18; ''Book of Wars of the Lord'' in Nm 21:14. The ''Book of Jubilees'' is quoted in Rom 2:29, 9:24, 4:13. ''Sirach/Ecclesiasticus'' is quoted Jas 1:19, Lk 1:52, and Mk 4:5, 16-17. There are countless others and study bibles will do a better job than me pointing out references.--[[User:Kencaesi|Kencaesi]] 17:46, 12 February 2009 (EST)

Apocrypha

2009-01-16T20:13:56Z

Kencaesi: corrected "jeremy" to KJV designation "jeremiah"

The '''Apocrypha''' refers to books of the Bible that are not considered part of the Biblical Canon - precisely which books varies between denominations.

The Protestant canon was formulated by [[Martin Luther]], the Catholic by the [[Council of Trent]]. The [[Catholic Church]] includes the Apocrypha as part of the [[Old Testament]] and accepts those books as scripture. For some time the [[King James Bible]] contained apocryphal books in a separate section. The [[Episcopal Church]] includes the books of the Apocrypha in the cycle of scripture readings in its services, but holds that the apocryphal books are useful for study and edification, but not for doctrine. Most Protestant churches do not use the Apocrypha as scripture at all.

Books apocryphal to the Protestant canon include:
*[[1 Esdras]]
*[[2 Esdras]]
*[[Book of Baruch]]
**[[Epistle of Jeremiah]] is sometimes included with the Book of Baruch
*[[Book of Tobit]]
*[[Book of Judith]]
*[[Book of Wisdom]]
*[[Ecclesiasticus]], also known as Sirach
*[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
*[[First Book of the Maccabees|1 Maccabees]]
*[[Second Book of the Maccabees|2 Maccabees]]
*Additions to the Book of Esther
*Additions to the Book of Daniel
**[[Story of Susanna]]
**[[Bel and the Dragon]]
**[[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]

Western [[art]] and [[theology]] continued to make reference to Apocryphal subjects long after they were deemed apocryphal. For example:
* the story of [[Judith]] and [[Holophernes]] was a popular subject for painters
* [[Handel]] wrote an opera, [[Judas Maccabeus]] based on the books of [[Maccabees]]
* the four cardinal [[virtue]]s are taken from a verse in the book of Wisdom
* the [[archangel]] [[Raphael]] is known from the book of Tobit.

There are also a number of apocryphal books which are not included in the Catholic Bible either. These include, for example, the [[Book of Enoch]] and the [[Book of Jubilees]] from the Old Testament period, and the [[Didache]] and the [[Gospel of Thomas]] from the New Testament period. These books were of disputed status in the early Church as to whether they were scriptural or not, and were rejected by the Council of Trent. The Early Church fathers were concerned only with books relevant to the Christian faith, books which concerned salvation and growing in the Lord.

[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Apocrypha]]

Communism

2009-01-15T16:14:26Z

Kencaesi:

[[Image:Captive-nations-01b----07-19-06.jpg|thumbnail|180px|right|A monument to the Captive Nations stands at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.]]
'''Communism''' is an [[atheistic]] [[political]] system which eliminates the right to own [[private property]].
It is based on [[Karl Marx]]'s proposed establishment of a "classless society", but its philosophical basis is so deeply flawed that no Communist country has ever achieved its stated goal of creating a classless society (often called "small-c communism"); each has been dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''.

In the belief that "people cannot change", governments under the banner of communism have caused the death of somewhere between 40 million to 260 million human lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term democide (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref>

Today, communism continues to rule over one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref>
__TOC__
 

==Theory==

[[Image:HammerAndSickle.png|thumb|left|180px|The [[hammer and sickle]], the international symbol of communism, stand for the uprising of the peasants (the sickle) and the workers (the hammer). In certain countries, it is considered to be offensive in the same manner as the [[swastika]] is.]]
Communism is based upon [[Marxism]], a philosophy which uses [[materialism]] to explain all physical and social phenomena. The theory of [[evolution]] influenced the thinking of the Communists, including Marx, [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin]], and [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> Marx wrote, "[[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s book is very important and serves me as a basis in natural science for the class struggle in history." Marx offered to dedicate the second German edition of his polemic "Das Kapital" to [[Charles Darwin]], but Darwin declined the "honour." <ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> <ref>Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought, Bob Jessop, ISBN 0415193265 (pg 476)</ref>

Economically, communism advocates a [[socialist]] economy in which the public owns the "[[means of production]]". In countries where communism has been imposed, the government has taken ownership of farms, factories, stores and so on in the name of the people; see "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]". This drives all [[free market|market-based]] economic activity underground and leads to inefficiencies and shortages. In both the Soviet Union and Red China, the number of people who starved to death when the government confiscated their farm products (animals and grain) is estimated in the tens of millions of souls.

Members of the ruling party (see [[Nomenklatura]]) have special stores in which ordinary people are barred, stores which are immune to the shortages which the lower class must endure (see [[queuing]]).

Various communist doctrines have evolved or been adapted to the time and place they have been implemented. Marxism, developed by [[Karl Marx]], and its modifications under [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin| Vladimir Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Mao Zedong]], advocates the overthrow of the existing order by a revolution of the proletariat, the social group which does not control the means of production. The goal of Marxism is supposedly to create a classless society which would result in no longer the need for any [[government]].

The most famous government to label itself "communist" is the former [[USSR]] or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the Communist Party controlled its government from 1922 to 1991. This government was officially [[atheist]] and attempted to suppress all religion. Like many authoritarian regimes, it tried to cultivate reverence for the state as a psychological substitute for religion. Left-wing critics of the USSR charged that it was communist in name only, and had betrayed the revolution which founded it. George Orwell expressed this viewpoint eloquently in his 1945 fable ''[[Animal Farm]]''.

Marxist theory is intended to appeal to its adherents with the phrase, "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", which essentially states point blank a worker does not get paid according to his abilities, and there is no [[incentive]] within the economic theory. Another quote by Marx was, "The theory of the Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property," or as some have phrased it, legalized theft.

== Communism and militant atheism ==

[[Karl Marx]] established atheism as a key part of communism. he coined the saying "Religion is the Opiate of the masses." He believed it was part of the "superstructure," a false culture built to maintain the status quo. Thus he denigrated Christianity as a fictional religion. Instead, Marx was an avowed atheist, as he wrote, "Communism begins from the outset with [[atheism]]; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."

[[Vladimir Lenin]] similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on in practice and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."

The [[atheism]] in communist regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/March_2000_4.html</ref><ref>http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/frroman1.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref><ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref><ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

Marxists justification for its persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church was based upon the claim that the Church was a "willing tool of Tsarism."<ref>http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406-6.htm</ref>

The clergy openly stated its support for the counter-revolution (White Revolution). Lenin proclaimed that a communist regime must show itself to be merciless toward the question of religion. There was no place for the church in Lenin's regime. This led to anti-religious decrees and propaganda. All church property was expropriated by the new Soviet government. <ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-42047/Union-of-Soviet-Socialist-Republics#277888.hook</ref>

During the late 1930's and later 1940's the restrictions on church activity were loosened as Stalin needed all the support he could get for the war. This doctrine of co-operation between the church and state continued through out the existence of the Soviet republics and the other Warszawa pact nations. Though never going as far as a leader of the Soviet Union asking [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_barrow/2007/03/hiding_behind_god.html god to bless the country] the clause in the Soviet Unions constitution addressing the separation of church and state was rendered useless.

== Communism and Atrocities and Repression ==

Modern communist regimes have engaged in mass killings on a scale of millions of individuals.<ref>http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/comfaq.htm#part3</ref> A work entitled ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]'' published by the [[Harvard]] Press focuses on the crimes, terror, and repression of modern communist regimes over a 70 year period.<ref>http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/COUBLA.html</ref> This book is fairly controversial partly due to the various estimates regarding the millions of people who died under communist regimes.<ref>http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html</ref><ref>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm</ref><ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365</ref><ref>http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526</ref>

Similarly, a influential book which concerns itself with Russian communist torture, repression and atrocities is [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'' which won Solzhenitsyn a [[Noble Prize]].<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/solz-gulag.html</ref> In 1983, Alexander Solzhenitsyn in which he gave his explanation of the cause of why millions of people died under Russian communism:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
"Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.
</blockquote>

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
Since then I have spend well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened."<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref>
</blockquote>

In communist [[North Korea]], abuse and killing in prison camps is occurring today.<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5596</ref><ref>http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/nkdefec3.htm</ref> In addition, the North Korean government practices brutal repression and atrocities against North Korean Christians.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref>

In 1999, the publication [[Christian Century]] reported that "China has persecuted religious believers by means of "harassment, prolonged detention, and incarceration in prison or `reform-through-labor' camps and police closure of places of worship."<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref> In 2003, owners of Bibles in China were sent to prison camps and 125 Chinese churches were closed.<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref> China continues to practice religious oppression today.<ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

==Communists cite scripture==

Some Communist ideology has made its way into the Church as a [[Social Gospel]], interpreting the Gospel as less redemptive of sin and more of a public works campaign and activism. The often cite Jesus feeding the masses and warnings to the wealthy who believed self-seeking is all this world has to offer. Communists often cite the Acts of the Apostles, as early Christians practicing some form of sharing for the common good:

:And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2:44-45, KJV)

:Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

:And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

:And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

:Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.(Acts 4:34-7, KJV)

But as Arnold Toynbee has pointed out, this Marxist view denies the most crucial points,

:The passage in the Acts represents the philanthropy of the primitive Christian Society as flowing from a God-given grace which was the fruit of a belief in the divinity of Jesus. In other words, the charity which is here depicted as moving the primitive Christians to go—in their mutual concern for one another's welfare—to the extreme length of sharing all their worldly goods is not a mere love of Man for Man (which is the limited literal meaning of the word ‘philanthropy’), but is a spiritual relation to which God is a party as well as His human creatures. In fact, this Christian Socialism is a practical application, on the economic surface of life, of the fundamental religious truth that the brotherhood of Man is a consequence of the fatherhood of God - a truth which is driven home with special force by a religion which teaches that God is not only the father and creator of Man, but also his savior who has been incarnate in human shape and has suffered, and triumphed over, Death.<ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585, ''Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity''.</ref>

==Demise of Communism==

Between 1989 and 1991, many communist governments fell. The [[Berlin Wall]] in [[Germany]], which had become a symbol for the division between the West and communist states, was torn down largely in response to Ronald Reagan in 1989, and there was also a large revolution against Romanian dictator [[Nicolaie Ceausescu]]. In 1991, the USSR broke up into several countries - each which reformed to capitalism. Some of these remained under autocratic governments, but some have embraced [[democracy]].

Although Communism's influence has decreased dramatically in Europe, it still has a strong presence in Asia, where the most famous country governed by a communist one-party system is [[China]], but others (such as [[North Korea]], [[Laos]], and [[Vietnam]]) remain. There is considerable debate as to the extent to which these governments actually implement communist policies.

China has not democratized (note especially the crushing of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]), but its economic policies have been called "red capitalism" by some commentators, as there is a growing sector that behaves in a less-regulated, free market style. China's economy manufactures a wide variety of products that are sold to non-communist countries, and there is quite obvious tolerance of economic inequality, with some provinces struggling with poverty while others prosper. As a result, some consider China no longer communist, but rather an "atheistic autocracy" with a dictatorial ruling party.

One of the only remaining modern communist countries, [[Cuba]], is still kept under economic sanctions by the USA.

President Ronald Reagan speaking to the British House of Commons at the Palace of Westminster said,
{{Cquote|What I am describing now is a plan and hope for the long term -- the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.<ref>President Ronald Reagan [http://www.iri.org/history_ReaganSpeech.asp Speech to the British Parliament], June 8, 1982. Retrieved from International Republican Institute 05/24/07. </ref>}}

==Apologists of communism==

Apologists for communism like to say that the atrocities of communism were not really because of communism.
They say that Communist ideals were internally contradicted, so no government ever met the official definition of "communist".
Many states have, however, proclaimed themselves as communist.

==Notable communists==

Notable communists include:
*[[Fidel Castro]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Che Guevara]]
*[[Lazar Kaganovich]]
*[[Vladimir Lenin]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Joseph Stalin]]
*[[Yakov Sverdlov]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Genrikh Yagoda]]
*[[Yakov Yurovsky]]

==See also==
*[[Communist Party of the United States of America]]
*[[Cold War]]
*[[Capitalism]]
*[[Iron Curtain]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]]
*[[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] for the connection of the shootdown by the Soviets of KAL 007, with 269 people aboard, on Sept. 1, 1983 with the heightened U.S./Soviet confrontations of 1983-4.

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.memorialsighet.ro/en/colectie.asp?id=3 Memorial to the Victims of Communism and the Resistance]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/communism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Communism], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Forms of Government]]

Talk:Essay:Barbie

2009-01-11T21:11:30Z

Kencaesi: Questioned the modification of essays.

Got to this page from the main page. It's entirely unencyclopedic. Considering that last time I tried to make a page less biased, I was banned from editing for "injecting liberal bias" (somehow injecting it by removing a sentence trying to link animal rights activists to abortionists), I won't do anything about this article, but the writing style is entirely inappropriate. If you look in the Encyclopedia Britannica you won't find that the writers have included rhetorical questions. [[User:JohnR28|JohnR28]] 20:29, 9 January 2009 (EST)

:And why do you think we moved it to Essay space? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 20:31, 9 January 2009 (EST)
::Can editors work on these essays to get them to up to "Article" standards?--[[User:Kencaesi|Kencaesi]] 16:11, 11 January 2009 (EST)

Apocrypha

2009-01-07T20:33:31Z

Kencaesi: refined list to denote addtions from distinct books.

The '''Apocrypha''' refers to books of the Bible that are not considered part of the Biblical Canon - precisely which books varies between denominations.

The Protestant canon was formulated by [[Martin Luther]], the Catholic by the [[Council of Trent]]. The [[Catholic Church]] includes the Apocrypha as part of the [[Old Testament]] and accepts those books as scripture. For some time the [[King James Bible]] contained apocryphal books in a separate section. The [[Episcopal Church]] includes the books of the Apocrypha in the cycle of scripture readings in its services, but holds that the apocryphal books are useful for study and edification, but not for doctrine. Most Protestant churches do not use the Apocrypha as scripture at all.

Books apocryphal to the Protestant canon include:
*[[1 Esdras]]
*[[2 Esdras]]
*[[Book of Tobit]]
*[[Book of Judith]]
*[[Book of Wisdom]]
*[[Ecclesiasticus]], also known as Sirach
*[[Prayer of Manasseh]]
*[[First Book of the Maccabees|1 Maccabees]]
*[[Second Book of the Maccabees|2 Maccabees]]
*[[Book of Baruch]]
**[[Epistle of Jeremy]] is sometimes included with the Book of Baruch
*Additions to the Book of Esther
*Additions to the Book of Daniel
**[[Story of Susanna]]
**[[Bel and the Dragon]]
**[[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]

Western [[art]] and [[theology]] continued to make reference to Apocryphal subjects long after they were deemed apocryphal. For example:
* the story of [[Judith]] and [[Holophernes]] was a popular subject for painters
* [[Handel]] wrote an opera, [[Judas Maccabeus]] based on the books of [[Maccabees]]
* the four cardinal [[virtue]]s are taken from a verse in the book of Wisdom
* the [[archangel]] [[Raphael]] is known from the book of Tobit.

There are also a number of apocryphal books which are not included in the Catholic Bible either. These include, for example, the [[Book of Enoch]] and the [[Book of Jubilees]] from the Old Testament period, and the [[Didache]] and the [[Gospel of Thomas]] from the New Testament period. These books were of disputed status in the early Church as to whether they were scriptural or not, and were rejected by the Council of Trent. The Early Church fathers were concerned only with books relevant to the Christian faith, books which concerned salvation and growing in the Lord.

[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Apocrypha]]

Bible prophecy

2009-01-03T18:28:44Z

Kencaesi: /* The arrival of Jesus */

'''Biblical prophecy''' is doctrine of foreknowledge and predictions in the Bible. Seventeen of the books of the Old Testament are the writings of prophets, from [[Isaiah]] to [[Malachi]], who are considered the Men of [[God]]. Women of God are also mentioned in the Bible such as [[Deborah]]. These prophets spoke to the children of Israel, usually concerning rewards and punishment dependent on following the [[Bible|word of God]].

==Scientific Foreknowledge==
[[Bible scientific foreknowledge]] are scientific principles that exist in the Bible.

==The arrival of Jesus==
The life, death, and resurrection of [[Jesus]] are predicted by prophets throughout the Old Testament in such passages as:

*Isaiah 7:14 - Predicting his virgin birth.
*Micah 5:2 - Born in Bethlehem.
*Deuteronomy 18:15 - would be a Prophet.
*Isaiah 53:3 - Rejected by his own.
*Zechariah 12:10 – Pierced through hands, feet, and side.
*Psalm 16:10-11; 49:15 - Resurrected from the dead.
*Psalm 68:18 – Ascension to the right hand of God

==End time prophecy==
The [[Book of Revelation]], in addition to various passages in New Testament, warn of prerequisites and calamity that will culminate in the [[Second Coming]]. Much biblical scholarship is devoted to determining the exact meanings of such prophecies, allusive and cloaked in metaphors, to correlate past events and predict future world events, particularly apocalyptic happenings.

[[Category:Bible]]

Bible prophecy

2008-12-31T20:18:12Z

Kencaesi: MAJOR REVISION: added sections "Jesus", "End Time", "Foreknowledge"; Removed claim of Elijah being the greatest.

'''Biblical prophecy''' is doctrine of foreknowledge and predictions in the Bible. Seventeen of the books of the Old Testament are the writings of prophets, from [[Isaiah]] to [[Malachi]], who are considered the Men of [[God]]. Women of God are also mentioned in the Bible such as [[Deborah]]. These prophets spoke to the children of Israel, usually concerning rewards and punishment dependent on following the [[Bible|word of God]].

==Scientific Foreknowledge==
[[Bible scientific foreknowledge]] are scientific principles that exist in the Bible.

==The arrival of Jesus==
The life, death, and resurrection of [[Jesus]] are predicted by prophets throughout the Old Testament in such passages as:

*Isaiah 7:14 - Predicting his virgin birth.
*Micah 5:2 - Born in Bethlehem.
*Deuteronomy 18:15 - would be a Prophet.
*Isaiah 53:3 - Rejected by his own.
*Zechariah 12:10 – Pierced through hands, feet, and side.
*Psalm 16:10-11; 49:15 - Resurrected from the dead.
*Psalm 68:18 – Ascention to the right hand of God

==End time prophecy==
The [[Book of Revelation]], in addition to various passages in New Testament, warn of prerequisites and calamity that will culminate in the [[Second Coming]]. Much biblical scholarship is devoted to determining the exact meanings of such prophecies, allusive and cloaked in metaphors, to correlate past events and predict future world events, particularly apocalyptic happenings.

[[Category:Bible]]

Socialism

2008-12-29T18:39:00Z

Kencaesi: new introduction distinctly defining the subject.

[[Image:Backrdv12n2.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The caption reads, "Long live the great undefeatable flag of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin!" This is Leninism]]

'''Socialism''' is a theory by which the means of production and distribution are controlled by society rather than individuals.
==Leninism==
First there is Marxian Socialism or '''Leninism''' as revised by Lenin and practiced in the Soviet Union by [[Stalin]] (and his successors) and in China by [[Mao Zedong]] (but not by his successors), as well as Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam. The first version is totalitarian, with no democracy and all decision made by the leaders of the Communist party. Virtually all property (apart from clothes and some personal possessions) is controlled by the Party, as are all jobs and all economic activity. Conservatives have been very hostile. China after Mao's death remained politically totalitarian under the Communist party, but allows a vibrant capitalism and free enterprise system.

Socialism in Communist countries such as the old [[Soviet Union]], [[China]] in the 1949-1980 period, [[Cuba]], [[North Korea]] and [[Vietnam]] had government ownership practically everything. That led to severe inefficiency and widespread shortages of basic goods and services. These Communist countries used an "[[Iron Curtain]]" to keep their citizens from emigrating and an elaborate, brutal secret police to ensure there was no freedom of ideas or action.

===Democratic socialism===
The second form (sometimes called "Revisionism") prevailed in Western Europe down to the 1970s, and is typified by the British Labour Party. It was democratic and closely linked to labor unions that had real power. The goal was for the government to own ("nationalize") major industries such as coal mining, railways, steel making, shipbuilding, airlines, and banking. Small businesses remained private. The Socialists were well organized and after 1918 they bitterly fought the breakaway faction that became the [[Communist]] movement. In recent years major Socialist parties (in Europa and Canada) have largely dropped the long-standing demands for state ownership of the means of production and have mostly accepted capitalism. However they remain tied to labor unions and favor liberal policies regarding high taxes and public spending. Conservatives have been negative toward the economics of the second form of socialism, but they have praised its vigorous anti-Communism. Conservatives complain socialists use government power to redistribute wealth.

In countries such as [[Sweden]], a form of democratic socialism has been much more successful, leading to high social equity and a burgeoning economy, as well as general content. Although this acts as a drag on the economy, in democratic countries of the industrialized west, some socialist ideas have been put into practice with varying degrees of success.

==Communal socialism==
The third form of Socialism has nothing to do with Marx or government ownership, and emphasizes the importance of the community over the individual. Sometimes that has led to totalitarianism, as in "National Socialism" practiced by the German Nazis.<ref>"National Socialism" in German means something like "national society", with "national" meaning Aryan-and-not-Jewish; it called for an overwhelmingly powerful government alongside capitalism. </ref> Usually it means small communities sharing most of their possessions. The most famous examples are the religious [[Shakers]] of the 19th century (a conservative group), and the new-left communes that briefly existed in the 1960s and 70s.

==Controversy==
The ideology of '''Socialism''' is subject to a variety of interpretations. From a conservative perspective, Marxist socialism is an economic system whereby the means of production are seized and monopolized by the government sometimes without compensation to the builders of the [[capital]], and where investments, production, distribution, income, prices, and economic justice are administered by a government [[nomenklatura]] that regulate the transfer of money, goods (including capital goods), and services primarily through taxation and regularized and institutionalized aggressive coercion. However, the majority of socialists would reject this description. Democratic socialists advocate a system of governance based on the principles of [[solidarity]], [[equality]] and [[liberty]], viewing these principles as interconnected, with increased socio-economic equality associated with increased practical freedom to fulfill human potential. In many countries, such as Britain, socialist movements have been built on Christian, democratic and co-operative bases, embracing the notion that individuals should 'treat others as they would wish to be treated', and arguing that all individuals have a moral responsibility for the welfare of other members of their society. Socialism seeks to prioritize human welfare over other goals, such as profit and wealth accumulation by elites; it views increased redistribution of wealth as vital to securing greater freedom and happiness for the bulk of the people, and deplores the devastating effects of gross inequality on society in terms of increased crime, mental illness, unhappiness and lack of life chances.

==Key elements==

As a political ideology based on the expropriation of wealth, socialism stresses the privileges of the nomenklatura over the rights of workers and earners. Many of the most notoriously oppressive dictatorships have been socialist, such as the [[Soviet Union]] and China under Mao Zedong. Private wealth was seized and the owners executed.
===Welfare state===
As an economic theory, democratic socialism calls for equalization of incomes, through taxation of private wealth coupled with welfare state spending. The [[nationalization]] of major industries is primarily a device to allow the unionized workers to control their own wages and working conditions, cutting out the capitalistic owners.

State [[pension]]s and unemployment insurance were not brought in by Socialists--they were first introduced by arch-conservative Chancellor [[Bismark]] in Germany in the 1870s. In Britain they were introduced about 1910 by [[Winston Churchill]] and [[David Lloyd=George]] of the [[Liberal Party]], and in the U.S. were part of the [[New Deal]] in the 1930s. Welfare state ideas such as [[universal health care]], and state control of key industries have been common throughout the developed world in the modern era. However, the United States has always rejected socialism as an ideological position, with a few exceptions such as the [[TVA]].

===Religion===
Some forms of socialism have often been [[atheistic]] in character, and many leading socialists (most prominently Karl Marx) have been critical of the role of religion - and conservative religion in particular - which they criticize for lending support to an unjust social order. Other Socialists have been Christians, and there has been considerable interplay between Christian and Socialist ideas. [[Christian socialists]] have asserted that early Christian communities, in particular, displayed certain traits, such as the holding of possessions in common,<ref>Acts 2:44: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."</ref> the rejection of conventional sexual mores and gender roles,{{fact}} the provision for communal education, etc., that could be considered similar to socialism. See, for instance, Arnold Toynbee, the British historian, has responded to this,
:"the Marxian excerpt from a Christian Socialism is an experiment which is doomed to failure because it has denied itself the aid of the spiritual power which alone is capable of making Socialism a success. ….'Christianity', they say, 'is the opiate of the People'; and, in the [[Soviet Union]]… Christianity or of any other theistic religion have been debarred… from admission to membership of the All-Union Communist Party. In fact, Communism has been definitely and militantly anti-Christian. Thus the campaign against Christianity which is to-day an integral part of the propaganda of [[Marxian Socialism]] is a challenge to the living generation of Christians …we latter-day Christians may still turn a Marxian attack upon Christianity to good account … a re-awakening of the Christian social conscience has been the one great positive practical achievement of Karl Marx" <ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585-586, Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity.</ref>

Communist persecution notwithstanding, the earliest Christians were decidedly living in a manner consistent with the aims of socialism. Acts 4:32-5:11 not only describes community redistribution of property, but describes punishment of a husband and wife for failing to completely share the proceeds from selling their land.

[[Marx, Karl|Karl Marx]] considered socialism to be a transitory stage between capitalism and communism. In his view, socialism is summed up by the expression: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." A major criticism of socialism is that it infringes individual rights in favor of the populace. In a very real sense, politics in the western world throughout the 20th century was shaped by the conflict between socialist and capitalist governmental policies.

Although socialist parties are common in Europe, the leading examples all currently embrace some free enterprise, individual property rights and certain other aspects of capitalism although leading European Socialists are very critical of America. In many European countries socialism has been changing to [[Social democracy]].

== Britain, the Labour Party and socialism ==

At its inception, the [[Labour Party]] borrowed socialist ideas by committing itself to a program of nationalization under 'Clause 4' of their Constitution, but was always fundamentally committed to the British State and the [[Westminster model]] of parliamentary government. Clause 4 was formally dropped after the election of [[Tony Blair]] as Party leader, signaling the creation of 'New' Labour.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm</ref> The British governments of 1945-1950 and 1950-1951 under [[Clement Attlee]] implemented the nationalization of several industries and utilities, including coal, steel, water, railways and electricity. Former owners of nationalized industries were compensated. The best known example is the [[nationalization of health care]] to create the [[National Health Service]] (NHS). This made - literally overnight - health care "free" at the point of delivery for everybody in Britain.

Since the election to government of the Labour Party in 1997, many "[[progressive]]" measures have been introduced, such as the Minimum Wage, Child Tax Credits, union recognition legislation, increased maternity and paternity leave, the Child Trust Fund, refurbishment of [[council housing]], free bus travel for the elderly, increased paid leave for all workers, free nursery-school places, and large cuts in unemployment.<ref>[http://www.towerhamlets.labour.co.uk/a1c1ce9b-1488-7bb4-a528-14436f084ba3]</ref> In addition, over a million children and a million pensioners have been [[lifted out of poverty]];{{fact}} however, many in the [[Labour Movement]] are extremely critical of [[New Labour]]'s tentative approach to reducing [[inequality]], and are frustrated that the government has not been more willing to make the case to the public for the [[redistribution of wealth]].

== Criticism of socialism ==
Socialism is often criticized by conservatives such as [[Bill O'Reilly]]. In his book ''''Culture Warrior'''' O'Reilly starts the book out by painting a bleak picture of what America would look like with a socialistic government. He states problems such as lawlessness, lack of morals and ethics and an overbearing politically correct "feel good" government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XPY4AAAACAAJ&dq=Culture+Warrior |title=Google books |accessdate=2008-02-22}}</ref>

==Past Socialist Countries==
===Chile===
Marxist socialist leader [[Salvador Allende]] was popularly elected in Chile in 1970 under the Popular Unity Party. Allende's economic policy, known as the Vuskovic Plan, sought to achieve transition to socialism by democratic means. Strongly influenced by [[John Maynard Keynes]], the Vuskovic Plan involved nationalization of large foreign enterprises, land redistribution to farmers, and redistribution of income.

In the first year of Allende's, the economic policy showed decidedly positive results, including a 12% industrial growth an 8.6% increase in GDP, as well as major declines in inflation (down from 34.9% to 22.1%) and unemployment (down to 3.8%). However, these gains were only temporary due to American intervention. American copper interests in Chile, which controlled 80% of Chile's copper production, reacted violently to Allende's nationalization. The United States set about placing an economic stranglehold on Chile designed to, in a famous quote by Richard Nixon, "make the (Chilean) economy scream". Classified documents have also revealed the extent of the United States' involvement in the 1973 coup d'etat that overthrew Allende, installing and supporting dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] in power. Pinochet is known to have detained and tortured thousands of domestic dissidents by its secret police.<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/nsaebb8i.htm</ref>

==Other Socialist Countries (Current )==
===[[Cuba]]===
Communist leader [[Fidel Castro]] violently overthrew the Cuban government in the 1950's and has declared Cuba to be Communist since then. Today, Cuba faces copious economic problems and the people lack their Fundamental Rights. ([[Raul Castro]] now runs the country, having taken it over from his ailing brother Fidel.)

===North Korea===

North Korea's form of communism is in the form of "Juche" - a doctrine established by Kim Il Sung and carried on by current leader Kim Jong Il. The country has little to no electrical power at night outside the capital, which can be verified by looking at nighttime satellite photos. <ref>http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=87488</ref>

==Different Strands of Socialism==
*[[Communism]]
*[[Social democracy]]
*[[Welfare state]]

==Bibliography==
* Jude P. Dougherty, "Socialist Man: A Psychological Profile," ''Modern Age'' Volume 46, Number 1-2; Winter/Spring 2004 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/46_1-2/dougherty.pdf online edition], a conservative critique
* Malia, Martin. ''Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia'' (1995) [http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Tragedy-History-Socialism-Russia/dp/0684823136/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761853&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Muravchik, Joshua. ''Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism'' (2003) by conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Earth-Rise-Fall-Socialism/dp/1893554783/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Novak, Michael. ''Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry '' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Socialism-Theological-Michael-Novak/dp/0844721549/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-19 excerpt and text search], bu leading conservative scholar

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mises.org/etexts/hayekintellectuals.pdf The Intellectuals and Socialism], By F.A. Hayek, ''The University of Chicago Law Review'', (Spring 1949), pp. 417-420, 421-423, 425-433.
*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109587/socialism Socialism] Encyclopædia Britannica.
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/socialism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Socialism], [[Accuracy In Media]]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_countries]

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Socialism]]

Abstinence

2008-12-29T18:31:49Z

Kencaesi: /* Benefits of Abstinence */ linked "pure" with "purity"

[[Image:Beads MFA Boston.jpg|right|thumb|128px|Abstinence beads.]]
The word '''abstinence''' means refraining from indulging in an appetite.

In the 1800s and 1900s, the word "abstinence," used without other explanation, almost always meant abstinence from [[drinking|alcohol]]. The "abstinence movement," for example, led to the establishment of [[prohibition]]. ''[[Teetotaler]]'' meant someone who advocated "total abstinence," rather than just moderation.

Starting in about the 1990s, "abstinence" has been more commonly used in the context of abstinence from sexual intercourse, particularly in the United States in the context of [[sex education]] for adolescents. Thus, for example, we read in a 2002 [[White House]] policy statement:
:..."the goal of Federal policy should be to emphasize abstinence as the only certain way to avoid both unintended pregnancies and STDs."<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/welfare-book-06.html WORKING TOWARD INDEPENDENCE] Encourage Abstinence and Prevent Teen Pregnancy, White House News and Policies, February 2002</ref>

Studies of the effectiveness of [[abstinence education]] programs have yielded differing conclusions. A 2004 study by the [[conservative]] [[Heritage Foundation]] found that [[virginity pledge]]s significantly reduce premarital sex without putting backsliders at risk.<ref> Teens Who Make Virginity Pledges Have Substantially Improved Life Outcomes
by Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Jennifer A. Marshall
Center for Data Analysis Report #04-07 [http://www.heritage.org/Research/Abstinence/cda04-07.cfm] </ref> A study funded by the Administration of [[liberal]] President [[Bill Clinton]] through Mathematica Policy Research found that "the programs had no effect on the sexual abstinence of youth."<ref>[http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/abstinencereport.asp Impacts of Four Abstinence Education Programs]</ref> But this study reached this [[liberal]] conclusion by omitting abstinence education during the pivotal high school years and by only following 4 elementary and middle school programs out of 700 total schools that had received funding.<ref>http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07D09</ref>

[[Liberals]] oppose abstinence policies and [[Planned Parenthood]], a powerful liberal organization, profits from teenage sexual activity. Yet the facts are undisputed: abstinent teens never get infected with STDs or become pregnant from having sex.

===Benefits of Abstinence===
* Clear conscience with [[God]] through the absence of [[sin]].

* Peace of mind in your life and future relationships, and marriage.

* More self-respect and more respect for each others and respected by other people.

* Always remember, in a healthy relationship, respect precedes love, and premarital sex only throws away your self respect and your partner's.

* You enter marriage with a more positive outlook and without carrying emotional baggage.

* Personal freedom for both of you and your (future) marriage partner.

* Significantly better chance in having more satisfying and more stable marriage.

* Longer lasting relationship. Premarital sex breaks up more dating couples than any other factor.

* No comparing or being compared sexually in marriage. It also means "being free to enjoy maximum sex, maximum leisure, maximum satisfaction, and maximum liberty, in the way God intended" that is in the covenant of marriage.

* No worries about pregnancy and STDs.

* Less worries about bad reputation.

* It's a fact<ref>http://www.ejhs.org/volume10/AZFchap1.htm</ref> that persons and couples who have premarital sex are more likely to have [[adulterous]] affairs as well.

* Premarital sex often fools a person into marrying someone who really isn't right for them.

* You don't have to put yourself under someone else's mercy not to reject you. It's still a fact, that the more "experienced" guys and girls are generally less desirable and less respected as dating or marriage partners.

* Realize there is a 98 percent chance you will never marry the person you date in high school, so it is always better to keep yourself [[Purity|pure]] for the right person, that is your future wife or husband. <ref>[http://www.premaritalsex.info/ Sexual Purity]</ref>

==See Also==
*[[Previous Breaking News/Abstinence|Articles about '''Abstinence''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Sexual purity]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.teen-aid.org/ Abstinence is saying yes to the rest of your life]
*[http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25922 HHS study reveals flaws in sex education]
*[http://www.worldwidegroovecorp.com/abstinence/benefits.html Benefits of abstinence]
*[http://www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc/doc/HC_061306_TitleXvs.AbstinenceFunding.doc Title X vs. Abstinence Funding], Republican Study Committee, April 2006
*[http://www.parentsfortruth.org/ Parents for Truth] is a national campaign of concerned parents who are committed to protecting their children’s health and future through abstinence education.
*[http://www.abstinenceassociation.org/ National Abstinence Education Association] The NAEA exists to serve, support and represent individuals and organizations in the practice of abstinence education.

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

[[category:education]]
[[Category:Contraception]]

User talk:Kencaesi

2008-12-21T21:55:03Z

Kencaesi: Yielded to drop the matter, commented on need to correct Pinochet designation

Whatever one's personal views of General Pinochet's government, vulgar abuse is not encyclopaedic. 'Catagory' is spelt 'category', by the way. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 16:15, 21 December 2008 (EST)
:I have just noted the revert of my edit and I have to inquire how is it vulgar to declare General Pinochet a dictator? He meets all the criteria of one as per [[list of dictators]] and his inclusion in the catagory of dictators is justifable note it in his article.--[[User:Kencaesi|Kencaesi]] 16:30, 21 December 2008 (EST)
::Pinochet was a friend of democracy against Communist oppression. Do not, please, be difficult about this. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 16:42, 21 December 2008 (EST)
:::Very well, I will drop the matter but I hope that more experienced editors will correct his inclusion in the category and list of dictators. It is very confusing to have this man placed in the same list and category of dictators like [[Fidel Castro]] and not labeled as such.--[[User:Kencaesi|Kencaesi]] 16:55, 21 December 2008 (EST)

User:Kencaesi

2008-12-21T21:47:47Z

Kencaesi:

'''Kencaesi''' is user and sporatic editor of Conservapedia.

User:Kencaesi

2008-12-21T21:46:23Z

Kencaesi: Added basic filler

''Kencaesi'' is user and sporatic editor of Conservapedia.

User talk:Kencaesi

2008-12-21T21:30:08Z

Kencaesi: posted reply

Augusto Pinochet

2008-12-21T21:09:53Z

Kencaesi: renamed "politician" to "dictator" as per catagory listing

[[Image:342px-Pinochet de Civil.jpg|right|thumb|Augusto Pinochet]]
General '''Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte''' (1915–2006) was a [[Chile]]an [[soldier]] and [[dictator]] who served as Chile's head of state from 1973 to 1990. He came to power as a member of a council of military leaders after the overthrow of the government of President [[Salvador Allende]] on September 11, 1973. Allende, a [[radical]] [[Marxist]], had gained power after barely winning only a 36% plurality of the popular vote in 1970, but he violated the Chilean [[constitution]]{{fact}} and was condemned for his illegal conduct by the Chilean legislature and by civil society organizations.

General Pinochet headed a military government for 16 years (1974-1990) as he fought and defeated [[communist]] opponents in Chile. [[Leftists]] have hated Pinochet ever since for defeating them. Pinochet was at one time a military subordinate of [[Salvador Allende]]. After the [[coup]], Pinochet saw support from [[America]].

General Pinochet instituted free market reforms in Chile in the 1970s that resulted in lower [[inflation]] and an economic boom from 1976 to 1979. He held a [[plebiscite]] on his rule and 75% of the people affirmed their support for him. However, the plebiscite is regarded by some as fraudulent. [[Leftists]] complain that during his time in power over 3,000 people were killed or vanished,<ref>BBC profile http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6167237.stm</ref> but that total includes treasonous Marxist terrorists and people who died in private disputes unrelated to politics. In addition, over a quarter million Chileans were arrested. Universities were purged of terrorist sympathizers, Marxist books were burned, and rival political parties banned. Thousands of members of the Socialist Party of Chile and the Communist Party of Chile fled the country out of fear of the [[secret police]], which routinely tortured citizens.<ref>Augusto Pinochet Biography http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/pinochet.html</ref>

A new constitution was adopted in Chile in 1981, which authorized General Pinochet to serve as president for another eight-year term, to be followed by a plebiscite on his presidency.

Pinochet moved Chile into a market economy, privatizing many inefficient government businesses, and opening the country to foreign investment. The stability that his government gave encouraged foreign investors to come to Chile. He also started one of the first [[private pension accounts]] pension systems in the world, which has been highly successful.

As promised, President Pinochet held another plebiscite in October 1988 on the issue of whether he should continue as president. He was defeated by a vote of 55-43%, and subsequent free elections were won by the [[Christian]] Democrat Patricio Aylwin, who was installed as president on March 11, 1990.

General Pinochet was a graduate of the [[School of the Americas]] at Ft. Benning, [[Georgia]].

In 1998, the [[leftists]] who long hated Pinochet for defeating them arranged for his arrest while he was in [[London]] receiving medical treatment. The [[leftists]] arranged for an unprecedented arrest warrant to be issued in [[Spain]] for alleged [[human rights]] violations that occurred in Chile during while Pinochet was president. It was outrageous that an activist court in Spain would assert jurisdiction over Pinochet in London for allegations arising long ago in Chile. The stunt failed, and Pinochet was subsequently returned to Chile in part based on his ill health. The [[leftists]] continued after him, and had him indicted and charged with [[kidnapping]] 19 supporters of Salvador Allende during the 1973 coup in which Pinochet took power. The Chilean [[Supreme Court]] suspended the prosecution in July 2002, again due to Pinochet's continuing poor health.[1]

Pinochet died of a heart attack on December 10, 2006.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/world/americas/10cnd-pinochet-timeline.html?ex=1174449600&en=7b24f9d3e63ff60a&ei=5070 NYTimes</ref>

== References ==
<references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinochet, Augusto}}

[[Category:Dictators]]

Bible prophecy

2008-12-21T21:06:38Z

Kencaesi: shuffled content: merged one paragraph to introduction

'''Biblical prophecy''' is a general term for the [[prophet]]ic statements of the Men of [[God]] in the [[Bible]]. Seventeen of the books of the [[Old Testament]] are the writings of prophets, from [[Isaiah]] to [[Malachi]]. Other important biblical prophets are [[Elijah]] (considered the greatest of all) and his successor [[Elisha]]. There were also women of God like [[Deborah]]. These prophets spoke to the children of [[Israel]], usually concerning some [[sin]]ful or false way they had fallen into.

Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the [[New Testament]], through the deeds of [[Jesus]]. However, it is unclear whether others have yet been fulfilled, especially since the language is often very [[metaphor]]ical and [[allusive]]. Much biblical scholarship is devoted to determining the exact meanings of such prophecies, and even trying to use them to predict future world events, particularly apocalyptic happenings.

[[Category:Bible]]