Well, I have nearly finished reading the New Testament (well, most of it)! It truly has been an interesting experience and well worth going into work about 2-3 hours early to read and take notes upon it.
As usual, I have some phrases of questionable meaning and there is a need for further analysis so I will not post them until I can go back and look at them again a little deeper.
Here we go.
1) Colossians
a) 2,8: avoid purely human traditions
2) 1 Thessalonians
a) 2,13: People received God’s message as the word of God, not of men.
i) Where is this word/message? Surely not in the Bible, because the Bible didn’t exist!
b) 4,1: They learned the ways from Paul, Silvanius and Timothy, but these guys had no Bible!
c) 5,8: Faith, hope and love as armor to protect the vital parts of the Body of Christ.
d) 5,21: Test everything, retain what is good.
i) One of my favorite Bible verses, right up there with Luke 11,21.
3) 2 Thessalonians
a) 2,15: hold firm to the traditions passed on
b) 3,6: Avoid the ones who do not follow the traditions passed on.
4) 1 Timothy
a)
i) It is interesting to see that according to the Bible, bishops and other such people CAN be married.
ii) To clarify for those still in the theologically murky waters, the Catholic church has made celibacy a matter of discipline and not doctrine.
iii) If the Church were to randomly take out the requirement of celibacy tomorrow, there would be no change in how the Church functioned nor would it change dogma, as it is not a dogmatic constitution and therefore not infallible.
iv) See 1 Corinthians 7,32 and look at 7-28-08 Bible Study to see the definitions of the 3 papal documents.
b) 6,3-10: Stand wary against quarrelsome teachers of doctrines, as they are not to be followed.
i) Watch for schisms in the Body.
c) 6,20: Hold fast to your traditions.
5) 2 Timothy
a) 1,3: Parallels saintly intercession
b) 1,13: Follow what you have HEARD
i) Oral tradition
c) 2,2: Much care is taken in this statement to tell Timothy that it is important that trustworthy men be entrusted with Christ’s message.
d) 2,23-26: Take no part in senseless quarrels and gently correct those that contradict Christ’s teachings so that they might repent and come to know the truth.
e) 3,16: Aaaaah yes, the famous go-to Protestant Bible verse that is one of a very few used and twisted as a way to support sola scriptura
f) 4,8: Just noticed the emphasis on “not just for me but for all”.
i) The Bible continually speaks about others outside of self, etc.
ii) This, to me, speaks of a Body of Christ, being in union with one another and not being off in ones own little dream world.
6) Titus
a) 1,9: Reflects 2 Timothy 4,3?
b) 1,10-16: Looks at false teachings, particularly Judeo-Christians that are tearing the community apart.
c) 3,10: Dealing with heretics.
7) Philemon
a) Nothing struck me as unusual or cool here…
8) Hebrews
a) 2,1: We must remember what we have HEARD
b) 5,1-10: Appointment of priests, etc.
c) 5,11-14: More milk and solid food reference in terms of spiritual progression in faith. See 1 Cor 2,6.
d) 6,1-3: Sets up a progression in faith from the Jewish to the Christian theology.
e) 6,5: “When they have tasted the Word of God”
i) Is this in reference to the word coming in the flesh and ultimately the Eucharist?
ii) See John 1,14
f) 7,11: If the priests were perfect already, what need would there be to appoint a different one in place of the current ones? See Psalm 110,4
g) 7,12: Change of priests is a change of law.
h) 7,14: Jesus from a tribe that never officiated at the altar.
i) 7,15-17: Through his immortal existence and not through the line of familial priesthood is how Jesus reigns.
i) See Moving to 1 John 4...7-21-08 to look at the OT vs. NT succession of the priesthood.
j) 7,19: The old law did nothing and a new hope has brought us closer to God.
i) No way to the Father except through the Son? Perhaps a reference to John 14,6?
k) 7,20-25: God is everlasting and therefore has an eternal and unchangeable priesthood.
l) 7,26-28: Jesus was (is?) the answer to the question for all.
m) 8,13: Old Jewish law destroyed.
n) 9,11: Jesus became the sacrificial lamb.
i) Being eternal, he only needed to sacrifice self once and for all.
o) 9,15-28: This has something to do with the Eucharistic offering, I just know it.
p) 10,19-20: reflects on John 14,6
q) 11:1- Definition of faith
r) 11,40: Without us, God’s plan cannot be made perfect.
i) By the same token, it is only by God’s grace that we are saved.
ii) Kind of a theological catch 22, eh?
s) 12,1-13: We are like sons to God and should follow him in a manner not unline how we follow our earthly fathers.
t) 12,14-17: Against apostasy
u) 13,1-5: Some good rules for life
i) Let mutual love continue
ii) Neglect not hospitality
iii) Be mindful of prisoners
iv) Let marriage be honored and the bed undefiled
v) Be not a lover of money and be content with what you have
v) 13,8: Nothing about Christ has changed
i) What is known is known.
ii) Ecclesiastes 1:9 reference, perhaps?
w) 13,10: Jews cannot come to the Catholic altar.
x) 13,11-14: Just as Jesus died separated from his own people, so must the Christian community remain apart from the Jewish doctrines.
9) James
a) 1,5-8: Ask for wisdom, but do not doubt in your asking.
b) 1,19: Listen well and be slow to speak and be in anger
c) 1,22: ACT on the word, for if all you do is listen then it is worthless.
d) 1,23-24: He who listens but doesn’t act is worthless.
e) 1,26: Must control tongue
f) 2,14-17: Faith w/o practice and works is lifeless
g) 2,20: without works, faith is idle.
h) 3,2: Controlling the tongue is important
i) 3,5: Though small, the tongue makes great pretensions
j) 3,9-12: one cannot praise God and curse men at the same time
k) 4,1: Divisions in the Church sparked by worldly desires.
i) Divisions in the Church=Divisions in the Body of Christ
l) 4,8: So this is where everyone gets the term ‘BACKSLIDER”
i) Geez, I hate that term
m) 4,11-12: What is this judging? Does this reference Matthew 7 in any way?
n) 4,13-17: So how are we to plan our lives?
o) 5,12: Do not swear oaths. Let your yes and no mean just that.
p) 5,14: This is where Catholics get the sacrament of Anointing the Sick
q) 5,15-16: Anointing heals sins. Confession of sins to one another heals as well.
r) 5,20: Bringing a sinner back into the fold will cancel a great many sins.
10) 1 Peter
a) 1,2: “…according to the foreknowledge of God”
i) Possible reference to Romans 8:29-30?
b) 2,12: “By your good works…”
c) 2,16: Even freedom has its limits.
d) 3,7: Rules for treating women
e) 3,9: Do not engage in retribution. Rather, give a blessing.
f) 3,10-12: Proverb on being charitable.
g) 3,13-17: What to do in confronting a person of libel against you.
h) 3,18: See John 14:6 and all associated passages.
i) 3,21-22: purpose of baptism.
i) BAPTISM NOT A MEANINGLESS EXTERNAL SYMBOL!
j) 4,8: Love covers a great many sins.
k) 5,9: “…throughout the world.”
i) Reference to a UNIVERSAL faith with all in communion with one another?
11) 2 Peter
a) 1,1: Notice the “faith like ours” part.
b) 3,8: Time to God is almost meaningless.
c) 3,17 “…lose your security.” Our salvation is not guaranteed and we must work it out in “fear and trembling”
i) See Philippians 2:12
12) 1 John
b) More on 1 John 3... 6-30-08
d) Moving to 1 John 4...7-21-08
f) 8-4-08- The Morality of Discernment
13) 2 John
14) 3 John
15) Jude
a) 1,20-21: Trinitarian doctrine established. Faith, Hope and Charity re-iterated
b) 1,25: Looks like some of the prayers in mass
c) Jude is going to need a small re-read J
16) Revelation
a) Revelation will be looked at deeper at a later time. It is quite a complex book and filled with a bunch of figurative language that I am having trouble with. Once I read up on it a little bit I can attack it with a little more gusto.
So there you have it folks! Time to move on to the Old Testament!
-N8
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