Bible Words & Terms

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Faith

Mark Twain defined faith as believin' somethin' that ain't so.

Twain's remark isn't all that far off the mark because the fact of the matter is:
Christianity contains a large number of elements that cannot be proven true by
means of empirical evidence.

● Heb 11:1 . . Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we
do not see.

I'm sometimes asked how I can believe in a religion that cannot be proven true. I
can only say it's an intuitive conviction that I am unable to shake off.

Why does anybody believe what they believe? Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Bahá'í,
Hare Krishna, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Catholic, Baptist, Judaism, Voodoo,
Wiccan, Jain, Druze, Native American, etc, etc, etc. The answer? Because it grips
their heart-- the core of their being --which is very different than persuading
someone with logic and reasoning.

When folks are persuaded to buy into a religion by means of logic and reasoning,
they can be just as easily persuaded to give it up by logic and reasoning. But
someone whose heart is gripped by their religion is not easily removed regardless
of how strong, how sensible, how convincing, nor how logical the opposition's
argument. In point of fact, one of the prerequisites to Christian salvation is
believing with one's heart rather than one's head. (Rom 10:8-9)

● Heb 11:3 . . By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's
command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Intelligent design is impossible to prove true. But we accept it because the first
chapter of Genesis wasn't written for the pragmatic mind, rather, it was written for
the mind of faith; which is able to cope with creation as a reality instead of a myth.

NOTE: Galileo believed that science and religion are allies rather than enemies--
two different languages telling the same story. He believed that science and religion
complement each other, to wit: science answers questions that religion doesn't
bother to answer, and religion answers questions that science cannot answer.

For example: theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking understood pretty well how the
cosmos works; but could never scientifically explain why it should exist at all. Well;
in my estimation, the only possible answer to the "why" is found in intelligent
design; which is a religious explanation rather than scientific. Religion's why is
satisfactory for people of faith. No doubt deep thinkers like Michio Kaku, Neil
deGrasse Tyson, Michelle Thaller, and the late Carl Sagan would prefer something a
bit more down to earth, so to speak.
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Grace

● Eph 2:8 . . For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Grace isn't a substance, rather, it's a characteristic; and tells us a great deal about
the supreme being's personality.

The Greek word basically refers to graciousness, which Webster's defines as kind,
courteous, inclined to good will, generous, charitable, merciful, altruistic,
compassionate, thoughtful, cordial, affable, genial, sociable, cheerful, warm,
sensitive, considerate, and tactful.

Cordial stresses warmth and heartiness

Affable implies easy to approach, and readiness to respond pleasantly to
conversation or requests or proposals

Genial stresses cheerfulness and even joviality

Sociable suggests a genuine liking for the companionship of others

Generous is characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit; viz: magnanimous, kindly,
and liberal in giving

Charitable means full of love for, and goodwill toward, others; viz: benevolent,
tolerant, and lenient.

Altruistic means unselfish regard for, or devotion to, the welfare of others; viz: a
desire to be of service to others for no other reason than it just feels good to do so.

Compassionate pertains to a sympathetic awareness of others' distress combined
with a desire to alleviate it.

Tactful indicates a keen sense of what to do, or say, in order to maintain good
relations with others in order to resolve and/or avoid unnecessary conflict.

Compassion was, and still is, a key element in the overall sphere of salvation. For
example:

● John 3:16-17 . . For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to spare the world through
him.
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Love

There are at least two Greek words for love in the new testament; possibly a third
that I haven't found yet.

One of the words is agape (ag-ah'-pay); spelling varies depending whether it's in
the form of a noun, verb, or an adjective.

Anyway, agape is a sort of general purpose word for love very common throughout
the new testament and may, or may not, include the elements of tenderness,
fondness, and affection. For example:

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into
the world to judge the world, but that the world should be spared through him."
(John 3:16-17)

That passage reveals God's concern for the world but doesn't really say how He
feels about the world.

The other word is phileo (fil-eh'-o); again, spelling varies. Now this word is very
particular in that it always includes the elements of tenderness, fondness, and
affection because this is a brotherly love rather than a generic love. For example:

"The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I
came from God." (John 16:27)

That is an astounding declaration! I mean, speaking for myself: it is nigh unto
impossible to believe that the disgusting sinner I've been could ever stir the
supreme being's affections in any way at all. Well; normally that would never
happen had not Christ made it possible.
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Parable

Jesus is famous for teaching with parables, and for the longest time I was under the
impression it was his peculiar academic technique, but the fact of the matter is:
Jesus' method was punitive.

There were a number of people throughout the land of Israel in his day who had
neither interest in him nor in his message; which wasn't really his message, rather,
it was God's.

● John 3:34 . . For he is sent by God; he speaks God's words, for God's spirit is
upon him without measure or limit.

● John 8:26 . .He that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which
I have heard of Him.

● John 8:28 . . I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the
Father taught me.

● John 12:49 . . I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He
gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

● John 14:24 . .The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent
me.

So those folks who had neither interest in him, nor in his message, them he
instructed with riddles. It came about they heard the word of God from Jesus but of
course hadn't a clue what he was talking about. But no matter because plain
speech would've bounced off some of them like a .22 bullet off a Russian tank.

● Matt 13:10-15 . . The disciples came to him and asked: Why do you speak to the
people in parables?

. . He replied: The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been
given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an
abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This
is why I speak to them in parables: though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

. .You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but
never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear
with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would
heal them.
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Conscience

In the beginning, mankind's moral perception was created in the image and
likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27) and given a grade of excellence. (Gen 1:31)

But then came the forbidden fruit incident whereby mankind's moral perception
became humanistic.

● Gen 3:22 . . And the Lord God said: The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil.

In other words: man's intuition supplanted the conscience that was given him in the
image and likeness of God; and he took to rationalizing.

● Rom 2:14-16 . . Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature
things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not
have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their
hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing,
now even defending them.
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Prayer

I cannot imagine anyone in the entire cosmos more intelligent, more mature, more
sensible, more reasonable, more dignified, or more superior than the one who
imagined it all, designed it all, and constructed it all to begin with. That being the
case, to wit: the supreme being is a genius without par; then we should be talking
to Him with no less respect for the head on His shoulders than we give our spouses,
our BFF and/or our associates.

In other words: I think it safe to assume the supreme being is a well-adjusted man
for all seasons, so to speak, rather than a quirky, kooky, imbalanced psychopath.

So then, one's prayers should incline towards rapport; defined by Webster's as a
friendly, harmonious relationship especially a relationship characterized by
agreement, mutual understanding, or empathy that makes communication possible
or easy. For example:

● Heb 4:16 . . Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.

The Greek word translated "boldly" basically pertains to all out-spokenness, i.e.
frankness and/or bluntness. In other words: transparency, candor, and straight
talk, heart to heart, as people seeking meaningful diplomatic relations ought.

NOTE: If perchance it hasn't become obvious enough already; then I should point
out that the kind of social interaction I'm talking about here cannot be achieved by
means of artificial connectivity like rosaries, missals, and/or siddurs.
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Sin

Webster's defines sin as 1) an offense against religious or moral law, 2) an action
that is, or is felt, to be highly reprehensible, 3) an often serious shortcoming, i.e. a
fault, and 4) transgression of the law of God.

Sin, then, isn't restricted to the sphere of religion. Violations of any ethical code-
whether natural, man-made, or divine-- in religion, education, finance, criminal
justice, politics, science, medicine, the military branches, labor unions, social
networking, etc, etc, even a sports foul --counts as sin.

Is it any wonder then that the Bible says, in so many words, that all have fallen and
come short of sinless perfection? (Rom 3:23)
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Prophetic Time

Prophetic months and years are sort of like baker's dozens and troy ounces. Though
a baker's dozen isn't a dozen of twelve, and though a troy ounce is heavier than a
standard ounce; baker's dozens and troy ounces are both true values in their own
way.

The same goes for mean solar time vs. sidereal time, and/or geographic north vs.
magnetic north. As long as Bible readers are aware of the existence of such a thing
as prophetic time, they won't be tripped up when they run across it in prophecy; for
example the one below:

● Rev 13:5c . . and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Be advised those are not calendar months, rather, they're prophetic months of 30
days apiece which add up to a 360-day year instead of the usual +/- 365 days. So
then; forty and two months of prophetic time totals exactly 1,260 days.

For another example:

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (Rev
12:6)

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into
the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and
half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Rev 12:14)

Those two passages tell of a 3½ year period of exactly 1,260 days. Well, 3½
common years add up to +/- 1,278 days; which is eighteen days too many. But if
we reckon those 3½ years as prophetic years of 360 days each, then it comes out
perfectly to 1,260 days.

Scripture also reckons time by means of heptads; which are units of time consisting
of seven prophetic years each, e.g. Daniel 9:25-27.

* An especially important use of prophetic time is relative to Dan 9:25 --the date of
Messiah's official introduction to Jerusalem; the so-called Triumphal Entry, a.k.a.
Palm Sunday (Zech 9:9 & Matt 21:1-12 )
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Firstborn

Primogeniture is a rank-- emphasized quite a bit throughout the Bible --and is
always in reference to males, never females.

The position isn't an irrevocable birthright, rather, it can be taken from the eldest
son and bestowed upon a junior sibling, for example: Ishmael to Isaac (Gen 20:11-
-12) Esau to Jacob (Gen 25:23) Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4 & 1Chr 5:1) and
Manasseh to Ephraim. (Gen 48:13-14)

The firstborn is a father's heir apparent, and the position is preeminent, viz: the
firstborn, in a manner of speaking, is a supreme being among his siblings, for
example Gen 27:29 & Gen 27:37.

The position isn't limited to descendants. For example the corporate people of Israel
are God's firstborn among the nations of the world (Ex 4:22) and David is his
firstborn among the world's heads of State. (Ps 89:20-27)

The highest of all firstborn is Christ. (Ps 2:7-8, Col 1:15, Heb 1:2)
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