Devil and Satan Flash Card

Here's what Adrian Paul Miles has come up with for his Devil and Satan Flash Card

Enoch was translated so as not to see death Hebrews 11:5

Born Again, What Does it mean?

The Bible Life's Instruction Manual

To Jehovah's Witnesses leaving the Watchtower

The Bible Gematria project

Does God Hear Prayer?

Children themselves realize child baptism is wrong; baptism is by immersion of adults

Children themselves realize child baptism is wrong; baptism is by immersion of adults

God … endured with much patience”

There is a complete change of theme today in Paul’s letter to the Romans compared to what we read yesterday. In chapters 9 to 11 his thoughts are on Israel: he had formerly been proud of being an Israelite, the chosen nation. The main point he makes in these chapters is that he now sees that everything depends on God’s mercy. Israel, although the chosen nation – is to experience God’s wrath. Although the Gentiles (non-Jews) are now, in a sense, chosen, the underlying foundation fact is that God is calling individuals and each one will depend on God’s “mercy”.

Of course, this has always been the foundation principle in God’s calling; Paul writes, “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy” (9:15,16).

No one can ‘earn’ salvation. Our lives are a training period – it is surprising to read that it even was for Jesus! The point is made in the letter to the Hebrews, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (5:8). We follow in his footsteps. We also, as we read recently, should “walk in the footsteps of the faith that … Abraham had …” (Romans 4:12).

Now, we must take note of Paul’s point and his question, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patiencevessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known …” (verses 22,23). To make known what?

Before we quote his answer, let us appreciate the patience of God in not yet acting to punish the world for its ungodliness. One of the hidden sevens in the book of Revelation is that this word ‘patience’ occurs 7 times. And what does God’s ‘patience’ make known? Verse 23 continues, “… to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory – even us whom he has called”.

Let us more fully respond to his calling, these are the only “riches” in our lives worth having – indeed, it is essential that we have them, otherwise we will not be among the “us” he is calling to experience the incredible “riches of his glory”.

Is the ‘Secret Gospel of Mark’ genuine?

Posted by Jon Burke | Published on July 1, 2012

The Text

The text (supposedly discovered in 1958), appears to be a letter from early Christian writer Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c.215), quoting a ‘secret gospel’ by Mark.^1 2

Analysis

Smith himself noted features of the text which could indicate it was an imitation of Mark’s style by another writer.^3 4 5 6 Physical analysis has been impossible since the original letter disappeared after being photographed in 1972,^7 8 but there is no evidence Smith prevented access to the text.^9 10

Photographs show it has the appearance of age,¹¹ but this could be the product of forgery.^12 1314 Suspicion of forgery was raised immediately.^{15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22} The provenance and style,²³ content,²⁴ date,²⁵ and lack of scribal errors, have all been questioned.^26 27

Scholarly Views

Few scholars believe ‘Secret Mark’ is historically useful to studies of Jesus, even if it is genuine,^2829 30 and most question its authenticity.^{31 32 33 34}

1. ‘According to Smith, the letter in question was found on the final blank pages of the works of Ignatius of Antioch, the latter of which was copied in 1646. The handwriting of the extract is written in a different hand from the works of Ignatius and has been dated to c. 1750, about a century later than the Ignatius works of which it is a part. In the letter published by Smith, Clement replies to a certain Theodore who has been troubled by the teachings of the gnostic Carpocratians, a sect that indulges in illicit sexual practices based upon a variant version of the Gospel of Mark. Clement refutes the Carpocratians by citing two passagesfrom the suspect version of Mark, which Morton Smith calls the Secret Gospel of Mark.’, Edwards, ‘The Gospel According to Mark’, Pillar New Testament Commentary, p. 509 (2002). [↩]
2. ‘It was not until 1973 that the text, along with Smith’s translation and notes, was finally published.’, Charlesworth & Evans, ‘Jesus in the Agrapha and Apocryphal Gospels’, in Chilton & Evans (eds.), ‘Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research’, p. 526 (1994). [↩]
3. ‘Smith recognized that Markan vocabulary and sentence construction could point either to Mark’s authorship or to imitation of Mark by another author. Smith noted three features that suggested imitation:’, Brown, ‘Mark’s Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery’, p. 6 (2005); Brown is a supporter of the authenticity of the letter, which he defends comprehensively in this work. [↩]
4. ‘More generally, he noted that “The text was more like Mark than a section of Mark should be.”‘, Brown, ‘Mark’s Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery’, p. 6 (2005). [↩]
5. ‘‘The style is certainly Mark’s, but it is too Marcan to be Mark’; such was already C.C. Richardson’s verdict in 1974, and E. Best in 1979 confirmed this judgment in detail. In Mark itself the Marcan peculiarities of style are nowhere so piled up as in the ‘secret Gospel’!’, Merkel, ‘Appendix: the ‘secret Gospel’ of Mark’, in Schneelmelcher & Wilson, ‘New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and related writings’, p. 107 (1991). [↩]
6. ‘Smith refers to three ‘semitisms’, which, however, often occur in the Synoptics; as Smith himself admits, such semitisms are easily imitated.’, ibid., p. 107. [↩]
7. ‘Suspicion surrounded the text in part because after being photographed by Smith in 1958 and then a team of scholars in 1972, the text mysteriously disappeared, making it impossible to subject the text to the testing necessary to authenticate it even as an eighteenth-century production. The text still has its advocates.’, Köstenberger, Kellum, & Quarles (eds.), ‘The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament’, p. 1343 (2009). [↩]
8. ‘M. Smith photographed this text, which breaks off in mid-sentence on the third page, but did nothing about safeguarding the original, which to this day has not been accessible to anyone else. Only in 1973 did he publish the text with an extensive commentary; at the same time he published a popular presentation of the story of the discovery and his work upon it.’, Merkel, ‘Appendix: the ‘secret Gospel’ of Mark’, in Schneelmelcher & Wilson, ‘New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and related writings’, p. 107 (1991). [↩]
9. ‘The truth is that at least three other scholars and two members of the Greek Patriarchate handled the manuscript. The information obtained by various inquirers, moreover, corroborates Smith’s account that he left the book containing the manuscript among the seventy items that he catalogued in the library at Mar Saba.’, Brown, ‘Mark’s Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery’, p. 26 (2005). [↩]
10. ‘It would appear, then, that the manuscript was found at Mar Saba in 1976 rather than 1977, or eighteen years after Smith photographed it, and it disappeared many years after the Archimandrite took it to Jerusalem and a librarian removed it from the book. These facts show how preposterous it is to suggest that Smith prevented other scholars from examining the manuscript.’, ibid., p. 26. [↩]
11. ‘In view of what is known about the fading and browning of inks and the browning of paper in contact with ink, we can conclude that the photos depict a manuscript that looks like it is a few hundred years old.’, ibid., p. 28. [↩]
12. ‘Brown’s research indicates that some formulas of iron gall inks result in writings that would turn brown quite rapidly through exposure to sunlight.’, ibid., p. 28; this would give the ink a false appearance of age. [↩]
13. ‘There was a way of ageing paper artificially that was used in the 1960s by experienced researchers such as Barrow.’, ibid., p. 28; Brown questions whether Smith had the skill for such forgery. [↩]
14. ‘It is also possible to age paper and ink using chemicals that oxidize the ink and paper.’, ibid., p. 28. [↩]
15. ‘Some of the scholars Smith consulted in the 1960s thought the letter was an ancient forgery, although they had difficulty explaining how an ancient author would benefit by creating it. Smith dealt with their arguments in his book.’, ibid., p. 12. [↩]
16. ‘However, the spectre of forgery came back with a vengeance in 1975, when two scholars offered influential arguments that the letter was a modern hoax.’, ibid, p. 12. [↩]
17. Quesnell suggested that an erudite scholar who had access to Otto Stahlin’s 1936 index of Clement’s vocabulary and other modern studies of Clement’s style could have produced the document, especially if he had the help of someone skilled in imitating handwriting. Quesnell added that any scholarly apparatus Smith used to “authenticate” the document could have assisted a forger in imitating Clement. And he pointed out that Smith’s ability to gain access to the tower library at Mar Saba shows that a forger could have planted it there.’, ibid, p. 12. [↩]
18. ‘According to Quesnell, Smith’s approach of not producing the original for scientific study and restricting his analysis to the content is congruent with the pattern of known forgers; that fact raises the possibility of recent forgery.’, ibid., p. 35. [↩]
19. ‘many agreed with Quesnell that the manuscript should be subjected to forensic testing before it is deemed authentic.’, ibid, p. 12. [↩]
20. ‘Their suspicions only increased when Charles Murgia offered arguments for modern forger based on the content of the letter. Murgia suggested that the letter consisted mostly of information that was suspiciously self-authenticating, and noted that the manuscriptlacks the major errors that result from a long period of transmission.’, ibid, p. 12. [↩]
21. ‘Murgia noted parallels between the letter and “Classical fakes,” which raised the possibility that this manuscript was written much later than it appears to be.’, ibid, pp. 28-29. [↩]
22. ‘every sentence of the letter, other than the actual quotation of secret Mark, is admirably designed to provide A SEAL OF AUTHENTICITY for the passage of secret Mark. Great care is taken to convince the modern reader of why he has never heard of this gospel before.’, Murgia quoted in ibid., p. 29; Brown notes ‘Smith himself commented in 1976 that Murgia’s “theory of a ‘seal of authenticity’ is the strongest case I have seen yet for the supposition that the letter is a forgery”‘, but criticizes Murgia’s case, ibid., p. 29. [↩]
23. ‘The only manuscript (actually, a photograph of a manuscript) seems to derive from a different provenance than the monastery where it was supposedly found, and evidence seems to suggest that it appeared at the monastery only in recent times. Its attribution to Clement is stylistically open to quesiton;117 it also clearly presupposes modern idiom and perhaps modern custom.’, Keener, ‘The Historical Jesus of the Gospels’, p. 60 (2009). [↩]
24. ‘Attempts to argue that the Secret Gospel of Mark is older than canonical Mark3 are clearly mistaken, and have been judged so by a majority of scholars.4 The most important reason for this judgment is that the material alleged by Smith appears in no other church father and in none of the thousands of ancient manuscript witnesses to the Gospel of Mark. Furthermore, that Secret Mark is a later addition to canonical Mark is virtually proven by the fact that “they came to Bethany” is a glaring anachronism in the text of Mark since Jesus and the disciples have not yet come to Jericho (Mark 10:46), and Bethany lay beyond Jericho. Finally, the Carpocratians mentioned by Theodore to Clement did not arise until the mid-second century, that is, a full century after the composition of Mark.’, Edwards, ‘The Gospel According to Mark’, Pillar New Testament Commentary, p. 512 (2002). [↩]
25. ‘Even if we accept the authenticity of the letter of Clement and grant that he knew a ‘Secret Gospel’, it suffices to posit a mid-second-century date for its composition.’, Klauck, ‘Apocryphal Gospels: An introduction’, p. 35 (2003). [↩]
26. ‘Over against the linguistic indications which speak for authenticity, differences of substance as compared with the rest of Clement’s writing have been noted. Finally, it is striking that the text contains none of the errors typical in manuscript traditions.’, Merkel, ‘Appendix: the ‘secret Gospel’ of Mark’, in Schneelmelcher & Wilson, ‘New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and related writings’, p. 107 (1991). [↩]
27. ‘the lack of serious errors indicative of transmission weighs in Murgia’s favour’, ibid., p. 33., Brown, ‘Mark’s Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery’, p. 8 (2005). [↩]
28. ‘Very few scholars believed that LGM 1 or 2 [the two texts of ‘Secret Mark’] can tell us anything about the historical Jesus or ventured to use this story to reconstruct the tradition that lay behind John 11.’, ibid., p. 11. [↩]
29. ‘Accordingly, everything points to the view that the ‘secret Gospel’ is an apocryphon resting on the foundation of the canonical Gospels. On this ground alone any conclusions relating to the historical Jesus are not possible. The time of origin of the ‘secret Gospel’ probably lies not before the middle of the 2^nd century.’, Merkel, ‘Appendix: the ‘secret Gospel’ of Mark’, in Schneelmelcher & Wilson, ‘New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and related writings’, p. 107 (1991). [↩]
30. ‘Even if the letter is authentic, however, we can deduce no more than that an expanded version of Mark was in existence in Alexandria about A.D. 170. When Smith seeks to go back to the last years of the 1^st century for the composition of the expanded Mark,that rests on pure speculation.’, ibid., p. 107. [↩]
31. ‘By the end of the 1970s, New Testament scholars still mentioned “secret” Mark in an incidental manner, but were generally reluctant to take the gospel too seriously and risk looking foolish should it prove to be a fake.’, Brown, ‘Mark’s Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith’s controversial discovery’, p. 14 (2005). [↩]
32. ‘The novelty value of this text and of the reporting of its find justifies the mention of it in this collection, but its antiquity and genuineness are questioned by many scholars.’, Elliott, ‘The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation based on M.R. James’, p. 148 (1993). [↩]
33. ‘There can be little question that the extract produced by Smith considerably postdates Mark. On the whole, so-called Secret Mark appears to be a forgery, although whether modern or ancient is difficult to say.’, Edwards, ‘The Gospel According to Mark’, Pillar New Testament Commentary, p. 512 (2002). [↩]
34. ‘If the jury is still out, it is seeming more and more likely that their verdict will be that the work is a modern forgery or hoax.’, Collins, & Attridge, ‘Mark: A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark’, Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible, p. 493 (2007)

THE FALLING CRUCIFIX . . . THE ' FISHY ' ORIGINS OF PAPAL WORSHIP REVEALED

THE FALLING CRUCIFIX . . . THE ' FISHY ' ORIGINS OF PAPAL WORSHIP REVEALED


The bizarre death of a Catholic pilgrim beneath the collapsed crucifix was God's forewarning of coming divine judgment on this 'false religion ' that has its origins in ' Pagan Worship '. Among the Papacy's most notable symbols of its Pagan roots , is the ' Mitre' commonly worn upon the heads of Catholic Popes & Bishops. This unusual headdress originated from the worship of the ancient Pagan Fish god , Dagon. In a stunning parallel , scripture vividly describes the demise of the original worshipped statue ofDagon over 2,000 years ago , in the ' exact identical circumstances ' to the fallen crucifix of recent days ( incl. cutting off of both head & hands of both idolatrous statues ) This terrible crucifix incident was no random event. Its an unmistakable warning from Almighty God of the judgments coming upon the Roman Mother Church & those who would partake of her sins



1 Samuel 5v2-5 - When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon & set it by Dagon & when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow , behold , Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon & set him in his place ' again ' . And when they arose early on the morrow morning , behold , Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD ; & the head of Dagon & both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon , nor any that come into Dagon'shouse , tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day

VATICAN'S DOUBLE SAINTHOOD . . . & AN ' OMINOUS ' MESSAGE ( literally ) FROM ABOVE !!!

VATICAN'S DOUBLE SAINTHOOD . . . & AN ' OMINOUS ' MESSAGE ( literally ) FROM ABOVE !!!

Yet another ' Freak Co-incidence ' - or - ' Sign from Above ' ?!?  On the eve of an extraordinary ' double canonisation to sainthood ' of two Popes ( John XXIII  &  John-Paul II ) an enormous over-hanging crucifix monument  honoring the late John Paul - has collapsed crushing & killing a 21 y.o. man in northern Italy.  This horrifying incident follows a bizarre string of disturbing events plaguing the Vatican.  The ' freak ' mid-winter Lightning Strike on the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ( just hours after Pope Benedict's sudden resignation ) ;   [26-Jan]  Pope Francis' Peace Doves  being attacked & mauled by a crow & seagull ;  [28-Jan]  a giant ' rolling stone ' dislodges & destroys a 300 y.o. Vatican-owned villa in north Italy ( very same week of Pope Francis' unprecedented Papal appearance on the cover of the iconic rock music magazine ' The Rolling Stone ' )  So , are all these mystifying events & their unmistakable timing , simply random meaningless events ??  Obviously not !!  They are clear warnings of the coming ' divine judgment ' on this apostate religion that ' falsely masquerades ' as God's representatives on earth . . .  &  all who hold to her ungodly sorceries.

2Thess 2v3-11 - Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come , except there come a falling away first  &  that man of sin be revealed , the son of perdition ; Who opposeth  &  exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped ; so that  he  as God sitteth in the temple of God , shewing himself that he is God.  Remember ye not , that , when I was yet with you , I told you these things ? . . . For the mystery of iniquity doth already work :  only  he  who now letteth will let , until  he  be taken out of the way. Then shall that wicked be revealed , whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth  &  shall destroy with the brightness of his coming :  Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power & signs & lying wonders & with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ;  because they received not the love of the truth , that they might be saved.  For this cause God shall send them strong delusion , that they should believe ' a lie '

Bible Prophecy Christianity Corrupted

Christianity Corrupted

Nearly all of the writers of the New Testament predicted that changes would occur in key beliefs after their deaths. That people would “fall away” and that “apostasy” would enter the body of believers. Consider the following verses:

“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock… For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:27-30

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come (the return of Christ), except there come a falling away first…” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy…” 1 Timothy 4:1-2

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” 2 Peter 2:1-3

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude v3

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

A Warning

We can see from the verses above that the established church would be deceived by false ideas. The warning is to take heed to what the Bible teaches. We must get back to the word of God. We cannot afford to rely on what a Vicar, Priest, Bishop or Pastor dictates to us.

We have to search out the scriptures to ensure that we hold the truth as preached by the original believers in Jesus Christ. Such searching can be done by any individual who is seeking for truth. It takes an open and independent mind, one which comes to the Bible to find that truth. The verses above show the importance of finding the true original doctrines as taught in the scriptures and holding fast to them. It clearly does matter what we believe and to ensure we have not been deceived by an apostate system we have to get back to what the Bible teaches.

The Historical Fulfilment

From the verses we have looked at, you can clearly see that the established body of Christians would be infiltrated and deceived by false ideas. History shows that the early church changed its stance on core doctrines quite early on. This changed and corrupted church soon became political under the name of the Catholic church. Many split offs from this “Mother” church have occurred but most of these “daughters” adopted the already changed and corrupted doctrines of their Mother.

The historian Edward Gibbon, in the 15th chapter of his ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’, tells of how the original beliefs of the early Christians were changed over the course of time. He writes the following:

“The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ … a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; when Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had revived, would reign upon earth…”

So the early believer’s hope, as outlined in the Bible (more here) was that Jesus was to return to the earth to set up a Kingdom. Believers were to reign with him on earth for 1000 years. This belief changed. A core doctrine which most churches adopted was that men have an immortal soul (a belief brought in by ancient Greek philosophy) and that, upon death it floated to heaven or hell. Many churches, including the Catholic church, its break off daughters and even churches who claim to have nothing to do with the Catholic church such as Evangelical churches, hold this same corrupted doctrine today.

Justin Martyr, an early Christian, also wrote in 150AD:

“For if you have conversed with some that are indeed called Christians, and do not maintain these opinions, but even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and say that there is no resurrection of the dead, but that the souls, as soon as they leave the body, are received up into heaven, take care that you do not look upon these. But I, and all those Christians that are really orthodox in every respect, do know that there will be a resurrection of the body and a thousand years in Jerusalem, when it is built again, and adorned, and enlarged, as Ezekiel, and Isaiah, and the rest of the prophets declare.” – Dialogue With Trypho, The Jew, section LXXX.

Again we see how that the original church doctrine was changed – and we could cite from many more writers who lived in the early period of the church.

With further study you would find that other core doctrines of modern Christianity are not original beliefs as taught in the scriptures – the four most profound corruptions are on the doctrine of the resurrection, the Kingdom of God on earth, the unity of God and the devil (select a link to find out the true Bible teaching on these topics).

Recent Changes

Many recent changes are occurring in most churches as the pressures of modern, humanistic society challenge already weak church practices and doctrines. In a desperate attempt to keep up their popularity, churches adopt these ideas. There are a few doctrines which have recently been changed in many churches – such as the authority of the Bible, the Holy Spirit, divorce, adultery, cohabitation, homosexuality, and women priests amongst many more.

The Catholic church especially has exposed its changing character with the public ‘apologies’ of its leader (Pope Benedict XVI). One Catholic doctrine is that the Pope is God’s infallible representative on earth. How is it then that one Pope can apologise for another’s declaration – especially for beliefs or decrees which followers died for! Consider the recent declaration that the idea of Limbo for child “souls” is not true. What of other Popes who believed it or indeed the Mothers and Fathers who paid money to the clergy to supposedly get their children from Limbo to heaven? Did God change his mind? What about Pope Benedict XVI’s apology for offending Islam in one of his speeches in 2006 – were the Popes of previous ages sorry when they ordered the destruction of thousands of Muslims?

These recent changes clearly show that change is something which does and will occur – but is it something which should occur?

God’s ways do not change

The Bible clearly teaches that God’s ways and purpose do not change. Consider these verses:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

“For I am the LORD, I change not…” Malachi 3:6

“God is not a man,  that he should lie; neither the son of man,  that he should repent: hath he said,  and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken,  and shall he not make it good?” Numbers 23:19

“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it wasimpossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:” Hebrews 6:17-18

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” Titus 1:2

It is important therefore to read the Bible, for what we find there will not change. Although man changes and society’s rules may change – the Bible will stay constant, both in its doctrines and its teaching on how we should live. What we believe and how we live our lives, should be consistent with the Bible if we claim to be followers of it.