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 Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden right? Nope. That's one of many phantom passages that people think are in the Bible.
June 5th, 2011
01:00 AM ET
Actually, that's not in the BibleBy John Blake, CNN (CNN) - NFL legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being fired as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible. “Scripture tells you that all things shall pass,” a choked-up Ditka said after leading his team to only five wins during the previous season. “This, too, shall pass.” Ditka fumbled his biblical citation, though. The phrase “This, too, shall pass” doesn’t appear in the Bible. Ditka was quoting a phantom scripture that sounds like it belongs in the Bible, but look closer and it’s not there. Ditka’s biblical blunder is as common as preachers delivering long-winded public prayers. The Bible may be the most revered book in America, but it’s also one of the most misquoted. Politicians, motivational speakers, coaches - all types of people - quote passages that actually have no place in the Bible, religious scholars say. These phantom passages include: “God helps those who help themselves.” “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” And there is this often-cited paraphrase: Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden. None of those passages appear in the Bible, and one is actually anti-biblical, scholars say. But people rarely challenge them because biblical ignorance is so pervasive that it even reaches groups of people who should know better, says Steve Bouma-Prediger, a religion professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. “In my college religion classes, I sometimes quote 2 Hesitations 4:3 (‘There are no internal combustion engines in heaven’),” Bouma-Prediger says. “I wait to see if anyone realizes that there is no such book in the Bible and therefore no such verse. “Only a few catch on.” Few catch on because they don’t want to - people prefer knowing biblical passages that reinforce their pre-existing beliefs, a Bible professor says. “Most people who profess a deep love of the Bible have never actually read the book,” says Rabbi Rami Shapiro, who once had to persuade a student in his Bible class at Middle Tennessee State University that the saying “this dog won’t hunt” doesn’t appear in the Book of Proverbs. “They have memorized parts of texts that they can string together to prove the biblical basis for whatever it is they believe in,” he says, “but they ignore the vast majority of the text." Phantom biblical passages work in mysterious ways Ignorance isn’t the only cause for phantom Bible verses. Confusion is another. Some of the most popular faux verses are pithy paraphrases of biblical concepts or bits of folk wisdom. Consider these two: “God works in mysterious ways.” “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Both sound as if they are taken from the Bible, but they’re not. The first is a paraphrase of a 19th century hymn by the English poet William Cowper (“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform). The “cleanliness” passage was coined by John Wesley, the 18th century evangelist who founded Methodism, says Thomas Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas. “No matter if John Wesley or someone else came up with a wise saying - if it sounds proverbish, people figure it must come from the Bible,” Kidd says. Our fondness for the short and tweet-worthy may also explain our fondness for phantom biblical phrases. The pseudo-verses function like theological tweets: They’re pithy summarizations of biblical concepts. “Spare the rod, spoil the child” falls into that category. It’s a popular verse - and painful for many kids. Could some enterprising kid avoid the rod by pointing out to his mother that it's not in the Bible? It’s doubtful. Her possible retort: The popular saying is a distillation of Proverbs 13:24: “The one who withholds [or spares] the rod is one who hates his son.” Another saying that sounds Bible-worthy: “Pride goes before a fall.” But its approximation, Proverbs 16:18, is actually written: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” There are some phantom biblical verses for which no excuse can be offered. The speaker goofed. That’s what Bruce Wells, a theology professor, thinks happened to Ditka, the former NFL coach, when he strayed from the gridiron to biblical commentary during his 1993 press conference in Chicago. Wells watched Ditka’s biblical blunder on local television when he lived in Chicago. After Ditka cited the mysterious passage, reporters scrambled unsuccessfully the next day to find the biblical source. They should have consulted Wells, who is now director of the ancient studies program at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania. Wells says Ditka’s error probably came from a peculiar feature of the King James Bible. “My hunch on the Ditka quote is that it comes from a quirk of the King James translation,” Wells says. “Ancient Hebrew had a particular way of saying things like, ‘and the next thing that happened was…’ The King James translators of the Old Testament consistently rendered this as ‘and it came to pass.’ ’’ When phantom Bible passages turn dangerous People may get verses wrong, but they also mangle plenty of well-known biblical stories as well. Two examples: The scripture never says a whale swallowed Jonah, the Old Testament prophet, nor did any New Testament passages say that three wise men visited baby Jesus, scholars say. Those details may seem minor, but scholars say one popular phantom Bible story stands above the rest: The Genesis story about the fall of humanity. Most people know the popular version - Satan in the guise of a serpent tempts Eve to pick the forbidden apple from the Tree of Life. It’s been downhill ever since. But the story in the book of Genesis never places Satan in the Garden of Eden. “Genesis mentions nothing but a serpent,” says Kevin Dunn, chair of the department of religion at Tufts University in Massachusetts. “Not only does the text not mention Satan, the very idea of Satan as a devilish tempter postdates the composition of the Garden of Eden story by at least 500 years,” Dunn says. Getting biblical scriptures and stories wrong may not seem significant, but it can become dangerous, one scholar says. Most people have heard this one: “God helps those that help themselves.” It’s another phantom scripture that appears nowhere in the Bible, but many people think it does. It's actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the nation's founding fathers. The passage is popular in part because it is a reflection of cherished American values: individual liberty and self-reliance, says Sidnie White Crawford, a religious studies scholar at the University of Nebraska. Yet that passage contradicts the biblical definition of goodness: defining one’s worth by what one does for others, like the poor and the outcast, Crawford says. Crawford cites a scripture from Leviticus that tells people that when they harvest the land, they should leave some “for the poor and the alien” (Leviticus 19:9-10), and another passage from Deuteronomy that declares that people should not be “tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.” “We often infect the Bible with our own values and morals, not asking what the Bible’s values and morals really are,” Crawford says. Where do these phantom passages come from? It’s easy to blame the spread of phantom biblical passages on pervasive biblical illiteracy. But the causes are varied and go back centuries. Some of the guilty parties are anonymous, lost to history. They are artists and storytellers who over the years embellished biblical stories and passages with their own twists. If, say, you were an anonymous artist painting the Garden of Eden during the Renaissance, why not portray the serpent as the devil to give some punch to your creation? And if you’re a preacher telling a story about Jonah, doesn’t it just sound better to say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, not a “great fish”? Others blame the spread of phantom Bible passages on King James, or more specifically the declining popularity of the King James translation of the Bible. That translation, which marks 400 years of existence this year, had a near monopoly on the Bible market as recently as 50 years ago, says Douglas Jacobsen, a professor of church history and theology at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. “If you quoted the Bible and got it wrong then, people were more likely to notice because there was only one text,” he says. “Today, so many different translations are used that almost no one can tell for sure if something supposedly from the Bible is being quoted accurately or not.” Others blame the spread of phantom biblical verses on Martin Luther, the German monk who ignited the Protestant Reformation, the massive “protest” against the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church that led to the formation of Protestant church denominations. “It is a great Protestant tradition for anyone - milkmaid, cobbler, or innkeeper - to be able to pick up the Bible and read for herself. No need for a highly trained scholar or cleric to walk a lay person through the text,” says Craig Hazen, director of the Christian Apologetics program at Biola University in Southern California. But often the milkmaid, the cobbler - and the NFL coach - start creating biblical passages without the guidance of biblical experts, he says. “You can see this manifest today in living room Bible studies across North America where lovely Christian people, with no training whatsoever, drink decaf, eat brownies and ask each other, ‘What does this text mean to you?’’’ Hazen says. “Not only do they get the interpretation wrong, but very often end up quoting verses that really aren’t there.” soundoff (8,604 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 Next »
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"People" mis-quote, "people" attribute sayings to the Bible that aren't in it. "People" don't want to accept the truth because it flies in the face of their "beliefs". Why don't you just be honest? The "people" you speak of are Christians. And, as far as you are concerned, they are stupid. I suppose it would be a waste of breath to tell you that there are thousands of people who study the Bible very seriously and certainly do know what is in it. But, this article wasn't about Bible knowledge, yours or theirs, was it? It was about your contempt for Christians. What a snotty little whine.
Guess you told him.
The biggest mistake in the article was not pointed out. It's not the Tree of Life that Eve ate from, it was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Yikes if you didn't realize that...
What the hell is a tree of knowledge/life... Do you realize how stupid that sounds? What if I told you that there was a tree of life/knowledge in Central Park? You would think I was slightly stupid I assume... So what makes you think there were tree's of knowledge/life back in the day?
Well the bible does specifically state that it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not the tree of life. So get mad at the Bible, not the poster.
Also, that tree was set aside with a choice attached to it. Did the tree itself have anything to do with knowledge? No. Only that it characterized the temptation and choice that was being made.
According to the bible, its ok to have slaves. SIGN ME UP!
Someone help point out where in the Bible there is a mention of Trinity where all 3 parts are equal or where Jesus calls himself God or where Jesus says worship me. Unbelievable how people have twisted their original faith into what it is today. Jesus said, follow my words but all people do is follow Paul and the Council of Nicea – which took place around 300 years after Christ (supposedly) died.
People – read your Bible:
[Matthew 19:16] And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
[Matthew 19:17] And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but ONE, [that is], GOD: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
[John 13:3] Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God.
I'm sorry but the link does not work correctly in that it doesn't take you directly to the article; but here is an excellent website for exploring the truths concerning the Triune God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. If you're inquiry is genuine and you are open then check out the following site: http://www.triunegod.org
Ok I agree that people most often misquote the bible and that a lot of these phantom verses and stories are indeed fabrications of the truth in the scriptures; however, I will not stand to see Satan deceive others, even in a subtle way.
Concerning Genesis, the bible does not say that Eve at an apple; that is false. The Bible DOES say that Satan was in the Garden of Eden to deceive Eve. See the following verses:
And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient aserpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him (Revelation 12:9)
But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Maybe the writer of this article and those who wrongly made this declaration that Satan was not in the Garden of Eden should follow their own advice and criticism and READ THEIR BIBLE.
Satan, consider your lies once again exposed.
Grace be with you all.
Sorry, I accidently worte "aserpent" instead of serpent.
Revelation 12:9 says, And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
This verse clearly shows that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was Satan the Devil; he is the ancient serpent who deceived Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It's sad that a professor at a theology school could teach something so false, yet those of us who know theology schools know they are less scriptural than they are traditional. Perhaps the dear brother at Tufts should read not only Genesis but Revelation and the other 64 books of the bible.
First off, "aserpent" is Latin in origin and means "to creep". And it is true, there is no specific mention of Satan by that or any of his other names in Genesis. As for Revelation, that is a new testament book that is nothing more then a writers over embellishment of a rewrite of the OT book of Daniel.
I'm sorry, I said Genesis chapter 3 verses "1:4" and I meant to write verses1-4 to include all four verses which mention "the serpent" 3 times. Of course it will not say acient in Genesis due to the context of the writing being not in ancient history; however, by John's time it was then to be considered part of ancient history and thus in context Satan is referred to as the ancient serpent.
Religion is just a lie and not a very good one at that.
And for you idiots who said that Jesus never existed or the holocaust never happened. You both are in serious error it's not even funny. I hope you were joking.
There is plenty of hard evidence that the Holocaust did happen but there is no proof that Jesus ever existed.
He is about as real as another lie your parents told you call Santa Clause.
Time to grow out of your last fairytale of childhood.
Jesus is a common name today and was even more common in ancient times. To go out and preach was also common so I myself believe he did exist, at least Jesus the man did. Never once did he say he was divine or even that he was god.
Richard J. please read the following verses:
Because of this therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5:18).
The Jews answered Him, We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, are making Yourself God (John 10:33).
Richard J. you say correctly that never once did Jesus say that He was God; actually, in the gospel of John alone, which was written from the perspective of revealing Jesus as the very God, says it at least twice in the two verses above. So He said it more than once; at least twice.
Some of what this guy is saying sounds ok, but Satan really was in Eden and tempted eve. What do they think that a measly little snake contributed to the fall of man?
All these pearls of wisdom are not in the Bible. That means: ...................................... Man is quite capable of saying things that are reserved for God. Why don't people believe that the Bible was written by ordinary humanbeings?
If you knew the spiritual significance of Psalm 36:8-9; Ephesians 2:18; Luke 15; and Ephesians 4:4-6 you would see the impossibility that man could write something so well coordinated across centuries of time and contrary to the human thought. Most Christians consider the Trinity from the view of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19); yet God reveals the Trinity in the believers' experience to be that of the Son, the Spirit, and the Father as seen in the aforementioned scripture references.
Not to mention the connection between the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle, the temple, and the New Jerusalem; the two lines in the bible: the line of life which begins with the Tree of Life continues to Abel, Sarah (signifying grace, the new covenant, Mt. Zion) then New Jerusalem which consummates in the city of water; contrary to the line of Knowledge of Good and Evil which issues in Cain, Haggar (the law, old covenant, mt. Sinai), Babylon the Great which consummates in the Lake of Fire. These are just a few gems we can see in the bible as a whole, but only if we are poor in spirit, open in our heart to the Lord, and willing to receive revelation from the Triune God. There is too much consistency in the bible for it to be written by man without having been first inspired by God.
Good teachings are just good teachings; they're not God teachings. God doesn't care for good, good and evil are of the same tree and result in death. God cares for life (John 10:10b). Abel cared for the things of God and offered the sheep to God as a sacrifice according to life and God's ordination; however, Abel offered a the produce of his labor from the land, a good offering, yet eventually his good behavior issued in his evil work of killing his brother. Good and evil are the same tree and only lead to death. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is too complicated consisting of knowledge, good, evil, and death; the Tree of Life is simple consisting of life and issues in life.
I'm sorry I said Abel offered the produce of the land; I meant to say Cain in that portion of my response. It was Cain who made a selfish offering and killed his brother Abel.
Great article! People of many faiths often quote scriptures (whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Buddhist) without really knowing if that particular passage is in their scriptures. Ignorance of the actual scriptures is pervasive throughout many religious believers. And sometimes some passages are quoted while contradictory passages in the same scripture are conveniently ignored. Many people use religion to achiever their own goals regardless of what the actual religious texts may say.
JESUS NEVER REALLY EXISTED 😉
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/
The Holocaust never happened either.
All things shall pass means this to shall pass- this is part of all things. The bible is a living word and has many passages doors and you may not be able to understand its true meaning! Take the log out of your eye before removing the one from your brothers. Is this too not in the bible are have i said it in away you may understand? Don't try to be smart are open your mouth people will some people will see the true you!
"ing the bible does not mean you understand it!
The Bible is filled with hate, bigotry, murder, revenge and fear.
THAT is how they control you.
Fear.
Someone saying "I am God fearing" tellss all you need to know about religion.
So that they could lay in wait for the heir, they translated it not that the scriptures foretell of the Baal of Israel, unto whom Eleven Sheaves of the Field made obedience unto my Sheaf, and unto whom the Sun and the Moon and Eleven Stars do bow down unto the Earth to!
וילך יוסף אחר אחיו וימצאם בדתן׃
ויראו אתו מרחק ובטרם יקרב אליהם ויתנכלו אתו להמיתו׃
ויאמרו אישׁ אל־אחיו הנה בעל החלמות הלזה בא׃
ועתה לכו ונהרגהו ונשׁלכהו באחד הברות ואמרנו חיה רעה אכלתהו ונראה מה־יהיו חלמתיו׃
“And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them within basin, and when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him, and they said one to another, Behold, this Baal of the dreams comes, come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, some evil beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. “
And though I knew not Yahweh, I wrote unto them how Yahweh in dreams and visions, called me by name, יוסף, Joseph, meaning "he shall add," and in the dreams and visions Yahweh made me, יהוסף, Yahoseph, the fullest filled, and surname me ישׂראל, Israel, and crowned me as King upon Holy Hill Zion with a Rod of Iron within my two hands, but they kept taking my name Israel and kept naming it upon them who hate me, and to rob and murder me, hid the dreams and visions from the Public as their hackers hacked my Computer daily rewriting my religious writing of the dreams and visions ans they and Government and Media set me up to take away my Liberty without Just Cause, and cause caused me serious harm, deeply wounding my soul alike as foretold of that they would do to my soul, trying to the truth that is written of me, and all who are invited in dreams and visions given by Yahweh;
וירד יהוה בעמוד ענן ויעמד פתח האהל ויקרא אהרן ומרים ויצאו שׁניהם׃
ויאמר שׁמעו־נא דברי אם־יהיה נביאכם יהוה במראה אליו אתודע בחלום אדבר־בו׃
"and Yahweh came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and invited Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth, and he said, 'Hear now my words, if there be a prophet among you, I Yahweh will make myself acquainted unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. "
אז אמרתי הנה־באתי במגלת־ספר כתוב עלי׃
לעשׂות־רצונך אלהי חפצתי ותורתך בתוך מעי׃
בשׂרתי צדק בקהל רב הנה שׂפתי לא אכלא יהוה אתה ידעת׃
Then said I, Lo, I come, within the volume of the Scroll it is written of me, I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness within the great congregation, lo, I have not refrained my lips that you O Yahweh, acquainted.
Within Egypt, the Children of Israel foretold of me as the Holy one of Israel, bowing unto and naming me Lord, but the Children of Israel cast off Yahweh our Maker, and burnt incense unto me their foretold of Baal, like as according as it is written of me where they translate not my name יוסף, Joseph, from Hebrew in Isaiah 29:13-24, so that they could deceive many to lay in wait for me;
ויאמר אדני יען כי נגשׁ העם הזה בפיו ובשׂפתיו כבדוני ולבו רחק ממני ותהי יראתם אתי מצות אנשׁים מלמדה׃
לכן הנני יוסף להפליא את־העם־הזה הפלא ופלא ואבדה חכמת חכמיו ובינת נבניו תסתתר׃
הוי המעמיקים מיהוה לסתר עצה והיה במחשׁך מעשׂיהם ויאמרו מי ראנו ומי יודענו׃
הפככם אם־כחמר היצר יחשׁב כי־יאמר מעשׂה לעשׂהו לא עשׂני ויצר אמר ליוצרו לא הבין׃
הלוא־עוד מעט מזער ושׁב לבנון לכרמל והכרמל ליער יחשׁב׃
ושׁמעו ביום־ההוא החרשׁים דברי־ספר ומאפל ומחשׁך עיני עורים תראינה׃
ויספו ענוים ביהוה שׂמחה ואביוני אדם בקדושׁ ישׂראל יגילו׃
כי־אפס עריץ וכלה לץ ונכרתו כל־שׁקדי און׃
מחטיאי אדם בדבר ולמוכיח בשׁער יקשׁון ויטו בתהו צדיק׃
לכן כה־אמר יהוה אל־בית יעקב אשׁר פדה את־אברהם לא־עתה יבושׁ יעקב ולא עתה פניו יחורו׃
כי בראתו ילדיו מעשׂה ידי בקרבו יקדישׁו שׁמי והקדישׁו את־קדושׁ יעקב ואת־אלהי ישׂראל יעריצו׃
וידעו תעי־רוח בינה ורוגנים ילמדו־לקח׃
"And said as Lord, 'Inasmuch as this people draws near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of Adam, therefore, behold, I Joseph shall proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from Yahweh, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us? and who acquaints us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? Is it not but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the Scroll, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, because the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, who make Adam an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the door, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that strayed from the Spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. '"
kingofisrael.blogspotDOTcom
It does not say a man cannot marry a woman either. just saying
Although Satan is not mentioned in the book of Genesis, his role as Deceiver of Eve in Eden is exposed in Revelation Chapter 12:9 "So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is mesleading the entire inhabited earth... NOTE: the use of the term original serpent to describe God's Adversary, Satan the Devil – NOTE also he is misleading the entire inhabited earth – how? Using his agents who distort truth for their own ends, where religious, political or commercial or a combination of these. To summarise Satan WAS in Eden and it is in the Bible – if you know where to look!
Of course, revelation is in the new testament, and just barely at that !
"And someone came and said to him, Good Master, what good thing should I do, so I might have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? There is no one good but God. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which?" Jesus said, "Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother: and, love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "I have observed all these things since my youth, what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all things that you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." Matt 19:16-21 (AeP Tyndale21 Version)
Seems like a wise man telling people to obey God, keep the commandments, and following him as he teaches others. Nice pick!
Decaf and brownies – sounds like Mormons.
The Bible is most authoritative book coz of its Truth, Precision and Accuracy.
Well sure, the original translation is probably quite precise.
Jesus
[Divisions in our world – Not the Result of Religion-Karen Armstrong talks German journalist, Andrea Bistrich] .
Western people have a responsibility for everybody who is suffering in
the world.
The divisions in our world are not the result of religion or of
culture, but are politically based.
The three religions of Abraham - Judaism, Christianity and Islam -
can and should be viewed as one religious tradition that went in three
different directions.
The Arab Israeli conflict has also become pivotal to Christian fundamentalists in the United States. The Christian Right believes that unless the Jews are in their land, fulfilling the ancient prophecies, Christ cannot return in glory in the Second Coming. So they are passionate Zionists; but this ideology is also anti-Semitic, because in the Last Days they believe that the Antichrist will massacre the Jews in the Holy Land if they do not accept baptism.
(http://www.just-international.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4081:divisions-in-our-world-are-not-the-result-of-religion&catid=45:recent-articles&Itemid=123)
Abraham was the father of all of us...poeple..at his time.
Christ went to his father to prepar a place for his bride and the weddingfeast in heaven..His bride his believers.At the same time of the weddingfeast (3 years) there will be distruction on this earth...all thing will be made new..all of the earth.then christ and his bride with kings and priest will rule over heaven and earth for a tausend years...while satan is bound, so every person ever born will know to christ jesus the saveuor and will have a change of heart and believe on jesus ..then for brief period satan will be loose to tempt anyone ...then comes the day of judgment where every soul will be judge and no one can say I donot know christ or I never heard of the savoiur....so christ will not come to this earth that has been defilde by men and has made wars, killed t each other since the days of cain and abel, read revelation turn your swords into plowshare now.