By the way: Bart Ehrman is an outstanding scholar the same way a microwaved cherry tomato-and-cheese stick on a piece of bread is a slice of authentic Italian pizza.
Great analysis! I enjoyed the breakdown of these two great texts, amplifying some of the underlying motives of the Protestant Reformation (at least the players behind the scenes, not necessarily the followers who saw corruption within the Catholic Church).
Regarding the Gnostic elements within the translation, again kudos. I'd like to add one small element for consideration - namely, when considering Gnostic underpinnings, these could be traced to Ancient Babylon secret societies and the earliest forms of Jewish Mysticism, Merkavah (or Chariot) mysticism.
Therefore, the evolution of 'spiritual thought' from ancient Babylon to Kabbalah can be seen as part of a deliberate and long-planned infiltration of secret societies into mainstream religion, a process that has unfolded over centuries in a piecemeal fashion.
Starting with the Babylonian Exile (586-538 BCE), Jewish thinkers encountered Babylonian mystical traditions, which introduced esoteric knowledge and cosmological ideas into early Jewish spirituality. This influence was further compounded by interactions with the Canaanites and Phoenicians, whose own mystical and philosophical beliefs added to the cultural tapestry (and they influenced Carthaginians, Mycenaean - Ancient Greek).
As Hellenistic culture spread after Alexander the Great, Greek philosophical ideas, particularly those of Neoplatonism, began to permeate Jewish thought, paving the way for the emergence of Gnosticism in the early Common Era. Gnosticism, with its emphasis on hidden knowledge and complex cosmology, echoed themes that would later be central to Kabbalah, which began to formalize in the 12th century. Kabbalah synthesized earlier Jewish mystical practices, reflecting both ancient and contemporary influences. This historical trajectory reveals a continuum of spiritual exploration that secretive groups may have actively shaped, particularly during the Reformation, when renewed interest in scripture and mysticism influenced movements like Calvinism.
These interconnected developments, IMO, illustrate how ancient insights, facilitated by secret societies, have continued to resonate and subtly alter the course of mainstream religious thought throughout history - and point more of a finger at an older group of influence that predates both Jesuits and Knights of Malta.
Massive thanks, TSJ -- appreciate the additional info likewise. I know the papal/Gnostic/"anti-materialist"/ascetic bias Trojan-horsed into the Vulgate and Alexandrian manuscripts stem ultimately from ancient pagan philosophy, so your clarified expansion into the "root" origins is fantastically helpful as always.
Are you aware that the True Orthodox Church considers itself to be the continuation and fulfilment of the Old Testament Church? This is simply Christianity, and latins and Protestants are not Christians in the truest sense of the word. These papal innovations and interpretations do not apply to the True Orthodox Church as far as I am aware, although we do consider chastity to be a virtue, we also allow married priests, so we don't have that strange papal/latin mentality that I think you are referencing. Thanks.
I’ll have to check some of those. As far as I know we do not endorse any syncretic influence. We celebrate the Lord’s Day as the day of the Resurrection and also Pentecost - the founding of the New Testament Church. Broadly though, Eastern Orthodoxy in general is widely corrupted since the fall of all the Orthodox nations to the God-fighting Communists, hence my use of the designation True Orthodox. They allowed the Churches to continue only when they were thoroughly infiltrated by double agents, and now they have almost all joined in the heresy of Ecumenism and are members of the World Council of Churches and consider the papal organisation a ‘sister’ church. We refer to them as the ‘world orthodox’. Off the top of my head as far as I am aware the Feast of Tabernacles is the only remaining OT feast that has not yet found it’s fulfilment in Holy Orthodoxy. Passover has become the Lord’s Pascha - the feast of the Resurrection, Pentecost (Shavuot) has become Pentecost. We find all the types of the Incarnation and the Sacraments of the Church in the Old Testament.
OK, first off, the biblical "Lord's day" is not Sunday. See the prophet Isaiah: it's the seventh-day Sabbath which is called by God "MY holy day." (Isa. 58:13) Again in the Synoptics: "...the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." (Mk. 2:28, Matt. 12:8, Lk. 6:8) Therefore, the "Lord's day" in Rev. 1:10 was on the seventh-day Sabbath since God changes not (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 1:12, 13:8) and "there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecc. 1:9)
Yes indeed, Orthodoxy has been subverted by Bolshevism as part of the Jesuit/Freemasonic cabal's conspiracy -- both the reactionary Okhrana rightists and Bolshevik "leftists" were Anglo-Freemasonic puppets, and nowadays it's my observation that the Russia-Ukraine War is designed to drive a wedge in the Orthodox Church between Russian and Ukrainian to manipulate/control two divided, politicized factions.
Ah yes, the WCC -- they're definitely a NWO subsidiary.
Here's the thing about the feast days: the 1st-2nd century apostolic church observed them on the exact days of the Hebrew year as Leviticus 23 commands -- yes indeed, Jesus is the true pasch, and in biblical antitype that means annual commemoration of the cross on Nisan 14 with the unleavened-bread-and-grape-juice ceremony. As to the Feast of Tabernacles, I also don't know the full antitypical meaning, though I'll be observing it -- in the sense of a holy day of rest to abstain from frivolous earthly influence -- in less than 10 hours when sunset arrives.
In the New Testament Church of course we have the Holy Spirit and a doctrine of salvation based on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christians baptised into the faith. The New Testament is a new covenant and although there may be ‘nothing new under the sun’ as it says in Ecclesiastes the Incarnation revealed the ‘mystery hidden from the ages’ that is to say the Trinity, of the unbegotten Father, the Word - Wisdom and Son of God, and the Holy and life-giving Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides and guided the Church to regulate and formalise the Church year. New feasts have been added, since history did not end with the incarnation, and many new miraculous events have occurred throughout history that are worthy of commemoration. So, we find that the 14th Nisan celebration was modified to differentiate from those still keeping the Old Testament feasts, who were often denying the Messiah to boot, and ensure Pascha is celebrated after Passover, as happened in Scripture. I agree that the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath of course, but in the New Testament Book of Acts we find that much of Judaic Law of ritual is rendered obsolete in the New Church, no circumcising required, modified rules of eating etc. My understanding is that we celebrate the Lord’s day as a weekly reminder of the resurrection which took place on a Sunday. Also our rules for keeping this as a Sabbath day focus, as did the Lord on acts of mercy as well as prayer and edifying reading or conversation.
"New feasts have been added" Biblical proof? And where is the scriptural evidence that Sunday is the "Lord's day"?
The reason circumcision (in fleshly terms) is obsolete is because circumcision of the flesh was a typology in the pre-Atonement era pointing to the ultimate circumcision of the heart in the faith of the Son of God -- just as newborns in the OT type had to be circumcised on the eighth day, so too did Christ rise on the eighth day. That the Resurrection was on the first day of the week does not make it a new day of rest -- 7 represents completion and 8 represents newness/new beginnings. And Jesus's walk on the road to Emmaus was clearly longer than a Sabbath day's journey, so even He didn't keep Sunday as a new rest day.
What passed away was the "typical" (in type/antitype terms) format of the law -- as Hebrews says, "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Heb. 7:12) At the same time, not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until heaven and earth pass away (Matt. 5:17-19), which isn't until the Second Coming (II Pet. 3:10), meaning the entire "substance" of the Torah remains intact. If we love Christ, we keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15), and as Paul says, "we establish the law [Torah]." (Rom. 3:31) Sin is transgression of the law [Torah]. (I Jn. 3:4)
The Holy Church does not have Scripture as the sole source of dogmatic teaching - there is Holy Tradition which is just as important. The metaphor I am familiar with is that these are two streams coming down the mountain - they have the same source ultimately, but much of the Church tradition was for many years passed person to person Indeed, New Testament Scriptures post date many Church traditions - the Church is older than the collection of New Testament writings we know today. The Creed is not found in The BIble, for example, nor is the making of the sign of the Cross as Christians have always done. We are not Protestants so Sola Scriptura is not a thing.
We don’t require Biblical proof for everything. Indeed, as St Paul repeatedly says, we are to walk in the Spirit, and the Holy Church holds that many have indeed walked in the Spirit and become sanctified by the grace of God throughout Church history. Ours is a living faith in the living God. The works then of these Holy Fathers, and the traditions instituted by them as the successors of the Apostles are what constitute Church life.
Your assessment of the replacement of circumcision is in line with the teaching of the Church - St Paul speaks of it at length as I’m sure you know.
As for Jesus appearing on the road to Emmaeus, the Lord’s day in the New Church is not a day of rest from work like in the Old Testament Law. Jesus makes it clear, as does St Paul, no one can fulfil all of the Law, and man is not justified by adherence to it, but rather by faith in the Lord Jesus. We do not keep, as mentioned in the book of Acts, many of the OT injunctions about the Sabbath. It is a day for doing good, a day devoted to God. We are not required to limit our steps, just like we are not required to abstain from pork (outside of fast days of course).
"The Holy Church does not have Scripture as the sole source of dogmatic teaching - there is Holy Tradition which is just as important." ...disagree on this. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20) What matters is whether one is true to the word of God, not the word of man. When you say "Holy Tradition," is it the tradition of God, or of men? If assuredly of God, then the biblical evidence?
Yes, I agree on those specific points: neither the Nicene Creed nor use of the cross as a prominent symbol in Christianity is biblical.
Since I'm a Christian, I believe in Sola Scriptura -- when it comes to biblical authority, what matters is only what the inspired word of God says.
"Holy Father*S*"? "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." (Matt. 23:9)
Glad to see my point on circumcision is of concurrence here. And yes, as someone who did a whole chiasmus study of Galatians, I'm definitely familiar of what Paul the Apostle said on the matter. :)
Well, the Sabbath was instituted at creation and along with the feasts are a sign between Jehovah and His people, Israel. (Ex. 31:13, Ezek. 20:12-20) The church is the true Israel, so the church therefore is to observe the feasts. That is why my response is a bit late -- didn't check Substack earlier on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Speaking of which, I will do a post very soon explaining it... stay tuned. :)
Correct: man is justified by the faith of Christ, not by the works of the law. At the same time, the Bible says that we keep the law once we ARE saved because the Spirit enables us to walk in harmony with God. And on the issue of pork: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD." (Isa. 66:17)
"Fast days"... hmm... please refer back to what I said in this article in ex. X.
Is Eastern Orthodoxy free from syncretist influence? For example, I believe it pushes pagan/papal-syncretist Sunday observance over the Sabbath day, last I checked (though I know the Ethiopian Orthodox Church does keep Sabbath). And what about the positions of the Orthodox Church on the Jewish feast days in Lev. 23?
Great analysis! I enjoyed the breakdown of these two great texts, amplifying some of the underlying motives of the Protestant Reformation (at least the players behind the scenes, not necessarily the followers who saw corruption within the Catholic Church).
Regarding the Gnostic elements within the translation, again kudos. I'd like to add one small element for consideration - namely, when considering Gnostic underpinnings, these could be traced to Ancient Babylon secret societies and the earliest forms of Jewish Mysticism, Merkavah (or Chariot) mysticism.
Therefore, the evolution of 'spiritual thought' from ancient Babylon to Kabbalah can be seen as part of a deliberate and long-planned infiltration of secret societies into mainstream religion, a process that has unfolded over centuries in a piecemeal fashion.
Starting with the Babylonian Exile (586-538 BCE), Jewish thinkers encountered Babylonian mystical traditions, which introduced esoteric knowledge and cosmological ideas into early Jewish spirituality. This influence was further compounded by interactions with the Canaanites and Phoenicians, whose own mystical and philosophical beliefs added to the cultural tapestry (and they influenced Carthaginians, Mycenaean - Ancient Greek).
As Hellenistic culture spread after Alexander the Great, Greek philosophical ideas, particularly those of Neoplatonism, began to permeate Jewish thought, paving the way for the emergence of Gnosticism in the early Common Era. Gnosticism, with its emphasis on hidden knowledge and complex cosmology, echoed themes that would later be central to Kabbalah, which began to formalize in the 12th century. Kabbalah synthesized earlier Jewish mystical practices, reflecting both ancient and contemporary influences. This historical trajectory reveals a continuum of spiritual exploration that secretive groups may have actively shaped, particularly during the Reformation, when renewed interest in scripture and mysticism influenced movements like Calvinism.
These interconnected developments, IMO, illustrate how ancient insights, facilitated by secret societies, have continued to resonate and subtly alter the course of mainstream religious thought throughout history - and point more of a finger at an older group of influence that predates both Jesuits and Knights of Malta.
Massive thanks, TSJ -- appreciate the additional info likewise. I know the papal/Gnostic/"anti-materialist"/ascetic bias Trojan-horsed into the Vulgate and Alexandrian manuscripts stem ultimately from ancient pagan philosophy, so your clarified expansion into the "root" origins is fantastically helpful as always.
Are you aware that the True Orthodox Church considers itself to be the continuation and fulfilment of the Old Testament Church? This is simply Christianity, and latins and Protestants are not Christians in the truest sense of the word. These papal innovations and interpretations do not apply to the True Orthodox Church as far as I am aware, although we do consider chastity to be a virtue, we also allow married priests, so we don't have that strange papal/latin mentality that I think you are referencing. Thanks.
I’ll have to check some of those. As far as I know we do not endorse any syncretic influence. We celebrate the Lord’s Day as the day of the Resurrection and also Pentecost - the founding of the New Testament Church. Broadly though, Eastern Orthodoxy in general is widely corrupted since the fall of all the Orthodox nations to the God-fighting Communists, hence my use of the designation True Orthodox. They allowed the Churches to continue only when they were thoroughly infiltrated by double agents, and now they have almost all joined in the heresy of Ecumenism and are members of the World Council of Churches and consider the papal organisation a ‘sister’ church. We refer to them as the ‘world orthodox’. Off the top of my head as far as I am aware the Feast of Tabernacles is the only remaining OT feast that has not yet found it’s fulfilment in Holy Orthodoxy. Passover has become the Lord’s Pascha - the feast of the Resurrection, Pentecost (Shavuot) has become Pentecost. We find all the types of the Incarnation and the Sacraments of the Church in the Old Testament.
Appreciate your zeal, my friend.
OK, first off, the biblical "Lord's day" is not Sunday. See the prophet Isaiah: it's the seventh-day Sabbath which is called by God "MY holy day." (Isa. 58:13) Again in the Synoptics: "...the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." (Mk. 2:28, Matt. 12:8, Lk. 6:8) Therefore, the "Lord's day" in Rev. 1:10 was on the seventh-day Sabbath since God changes not (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 1:12, 13:8) and "there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecc. 1:9)
Yes indeed, Orthodoxy has been subverted by Bolshevism as part of the Jesuit/Freemasonic cabal's conspiracy -- both the reactionary Okhrana rightists and Bolshevik "leftists" were Anglo-Freemasonic puppets, and nowadays it's my observation that the Russia-Ukraine War is designed to drive a wedge in the Orthodox Church between Russian and Ukrainian to manipulate/control two divided, politicized factions.
Ah yes, the WCC -- they're definitely a NWO subsidiary.
Here's the thing about the feast days: the 1st-2nd century apostolic church observed them on the exact days of the Hebrew year as Leviticus 23 commands -- yes indeed, Jesus is the true pasch, and in biblical antitype that means annual commemoration of the cross on Nisan 14 with the unleavened-bread-and-grape-juice ceremony. As to the Feast of Tabernacles, I also don't know the full antitypical meaning, though I'll be observing it -- in the sense of a holy day of rest to abstain from frivolous earthly influence -- in less than 10 hours when sunset arrives.
In the New Testament Church of course we have the Holy Spirit and a doctrine of salvation based on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christians baptised into the faith. The New Testament is a new covenant and although there may be ‘nothing new under the sun’ as it says in Ecclesiastes the Incarnation revealed the ‘mystery hidden from the ages’ that is to say the Trinity, of the unbegotten Father, the Word - Wisdom and Son of God, and the Holy and life-giving Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides and guided the Church to regulate and formalise the Church year. New feasts have been added, since history did not end with the incarnation, and many new miraculous events have occurred throughout history that are worthy of commemoration. So, we find that the 14th Nisan celebration was modified to differentiate from those still keeping the Old Testament feasts, who were often denying the Messiah to boot, and ensure Pascha is celebrated after Passover, as happened in Scripture. I agree that the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath of course, but in the New Testament Book of Acts we find that much of Judaic Law of ritual is rendered obsolete in the New Church, no circumcising required, modified rules of eating etc. My understanding is that we celebrate the Lord’s day as a weekly reminder of the resurrection which took place on a Sunday. Also our rules for keeping this as a Sabbath day focus, as did the Lord on acts of mercy as well as prayer and edifying reading or conversation.
"New feasts have been added" Biblical proof? And where is the scriptural evidence that Sunday is the "Lord's day"?
The reason circumcision (in fleshly terms) is obsolete is because circumcision of the flesh was a typology in the pre-Atonement era pointing to the ultimate circumcision of the heart in the faith of the Son of God -- just as newborns in the OT type had to be circumcised on the eighth day, so too did Christ rise on the eighth day. That the Resurrection was on the first day of the week does not make it a new day of rest -- 7 represents completion and 8 represents newness/new beginnings. And Jesus's walk on the road to Emmaus was clearly longer than a Sabbath day's journey, so even He didn't keep Sunday as a new rest day.
What passed away was the "typical" (in type/antitype terms) format of the law -- as Hebrews says, "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." (Heb. 7:12) At the same time, not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until heaven and earth pass away (Matt. 5:17-19), which isn't until the Second Coming (II Pet. 3:10), meaning the entire "substance" of the Torah remains intact. If we love Christ, we keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15), and as Paul says, "we establish the law [Torah]." (Rom. 3:31) Sin is transgression of the law [Torah]. (I Jn. 3:4)
The Holy Church does not have Scripture as the sole source of dogmatic teaching - there is Holy Tradition which is just as important. The metaphor I am familiar with is that these are two streams coming down the mountain - they have the same source ultimately, but much of the Church tradition was for many years passed person to person Indeed, New Testament Scriptures post date many Church traditions - the Church is older than the collection of New Testament writings we know today. The Creed is not found in The BIble, for example, nor is the making of the sign of the Cross as Christians have always done. We are not Protestants so Sola Scriptura is not a thing.
We don’t require Biblical proof for everything. Indeed, as St Paul repeatedly says, we are to walk in the Spirit, and the Holy Church holds that many have indeed walked in the Spirit and become sanctified by the grace of God throughout Church history. Ours is a living faith in the living God. The works then of these Holy Fathers, and the traditions instituted by them as the successors of the Apostles are what constitute Church life.
Your assessment of the replacement of circumcision is in line with the teaching of the Church - St Paul speaks of it at length as I’m sure you know.
As for Jesus appearing on the road to Emmaeus, the Lord’s day in the New Church is not a day of rest from work like in the Old Testament Law. Jesus makes it clear, as does St Paul, no one can fulfil all of the Law, and man is not justified by adherence to it, but rather by faith in the Lord Jesus. We do not keep, as mentioned in the book of Acts, many of the OT injunctions about the Sabbath. It is a day for doing good, a day devoted to God. We are not required to limit our steps, just like we are not required to abstain from pork (outside of fast days of course).
"The Holy Church does not have Scripture as the sole source of dogmatic teaching - there is Holy Tradition which is just as important." ...disagree on this. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isa. 8:20) What matters is whether one is true to the word of God, not the word of man. When you say "Holy Tradition," is it the tradition of God, or of men? If assuredly of God, then the biblical evidence?
Yes, I agree on those specific points: neither the Nicene Creed nor use of the cross as a prominent symbol in Christianity is biblical.
Since I'm a Christian, I believe in Sola Scriptura -- when it comes to biblical authority, what matters is only what the inspired word of God says.
"Holy Father*S*"? "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." (Matt. 23:9)
Glad to see my point on circumcision is of concurrence here. And yes, as someone who did a whole chiasmus study of Galatians, I'm definitely familiar of what Paul the Apostle said on the matter. :)
Well, the Sabbath was instituted at creation and along with the feasts are a sign between Jehovah and His people, Israel. (Ex. 31:13, Ezek. 20:12-20) The church is the true Israel, so the church therefore is to observe the feasts. That is why my response is a bit late -- didn't check Substack earlier on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Speaking of which, I will do a post very soon explaining it... stay tuned. :)
Correct: man is justified by the faith of Christ, not by the works of the law. At the same time, the Bible says that we keep the law once we ARE saved because the Spirit enables us to walk in harmony with God. And on the issue of pork: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD." (Isa. 66:17)
"Fast days"... hmm... please refer back to what I said in this article in ex. X.
Is Eastern Orthodoxy free from syncretist influence? For example, I believe it pushes pagan/papal-syncretist Sunday observance over the Sabbath day, last I checked (though I know the Ethiopian Orthodox Church does keep Sabbath). And what about the positions of the Orthodox Church on the Jewish feast days in Lev. 23?