The God of the Impossible or Improbable ?

       My uncle was Jewish, from the tribe of Manashe. I met him late in
life after rather improbable circumstances. My aunt, had married late in
life. It was on one of my trips back to Malaysia that we were acquainted.
He was a Jewish Messianic believer in Christ. I thought, how odd, it
seemed. How could there be any jews in Malaysia. My aunt revealed it
to me. It didn't quite click. Long after his death. The God of the Improbable,
led me to some startling findings. The penang kadesh, stories of jewish
settlements, and the B'nai Manashe  tribe of India.

    Malaysian culture unlike the melting-pot ethnicity of the US tends
to fall across cultural lines. Malays, Indians, Chinese, and a milieu of
aboriginal Orang Asli hold onto language, values, and customs strongly.
Was it a coincidence or providence that our paths met. This was long
after i had moved away from Malaysia. Only the God of the Improbable
knows. The one thing that i know for sure, is that my God, is the God
of the Possible. He speaks more than Aramaic , or Arab, or Hebrew,...
He converses in myriads of text of Hebrew, Greek, Latin,... He appears
to all Peoples, in Vision and Dreams, as he said, he would in the last
days

  

“ ‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

Acts 2:17-18 

Is the Bible the Word of God ? Part IV

         If Hebrews were present in ancient Egypt. We must therefore find
archeological evidence of the presence of the Hebrew peoples.

         Ktemoc Konsiders Blogspot implies, that there were non. Perhaps
he was looking at the wrong place. The name YHWH  (Yahweh) can only
be associated to the Hebrew peoples. As proof, we can therefore look for
the Name Yahweh in Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts . Excerpts from the
archeological document. 

        It is generally accepted that the term Shasu means nomads or 
Bedouin people, referring primarily to the nomadic or semi-nomadic 
peoples of Syria-Palestine. There are two significant hieroglyphic 
references in New Kingdom period texts to an area called “the land of 
the Shasu of Yahweh.” Except for the Old Testament, these are the 
oldest references found in any ancient texts to the God Yahweh. The 
purpose of this paper is to study these two references and assess their 
possible importance in dating the Exodus account...

      So, clearly there was a nomadic tribe called the 'Shasu of Yahweh'
that settled in Ancient Egypt. Again, one can argue about timelines and
come out with another theory to dispute these findings. Again, the name 
Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey clearly only points to one peoples. The Israelites.
 
     We have come to the point where one would say.  Ok, there is a Creator
called Yahweh. What does it have to do with Christianity.  Here i would
say. Look at the name Yahweh in its original form. To the hebrews יהוה ,
the tetragrammaton,  when seen on ancient pictograms,  takes on a whole 
different meaning.     
 



If the Creater was going to reveal his name. Why would it be

Yod 'Arm and Hand',
Hey 'Lo ! Behold "The",
Vav, "Nail/ peg /add/ And ",
Hey 'Lo ! Behold "The"

Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail

It seems that the Hebrew Creator implied that one should,

Look at the Hand ! ,Look at the Nail !

Did i quote any Bible verses ? Did i refer to any passages in the Tanakh (Old Testament) ?
Did i quote any passages in the new testament ? Did i refer to any apocryphal, church
or, religious documents (talmud etc) ?

Is this purely coincidental or improbable ?

Is the Bible the Word of God ? Part III

                  Is the probability, that life in the universe, the result of
chance ? Why do atheists refer to chance as rational, when their
assumptions don't add up. I am reminded of a quote from Sherlock
Holmes:

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated 
the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must 
be the truth?"

Sherlock Holmes Quote

 -The Sign of Four

                  Is there bias in Science ? Each time unexplained phenomena
arises. New theories arise to try to support these phenomenons. It is, as if, to
say. Lets give chance, a chance. Punctuated Equilibrium tries to explain
the sudden explosion of life during the Cambrian Explosion. A multi-verse
universe explains why the universe is finely-tuned

             Hence, when you eliminate the impossible. You are left with the
improbable. If life is not chance, then there must be an Intelligent Designer.
Why is this important ?  It is important, if there are consequences, whether
a relationship,  exists between creator and created. Hence, religions posit
a deity, or deities, or rebirth, and the created. Atheists often correctly point
out that there were many gods, many copy-cat messiahs, virgin birth, and
sacrificial accounts in different holy texts.

            Now, follow me closely. As Raja Petra mentioned. I cannot use the
Bible as proof. Here is the narrative that places the Creator Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey
at the centre of the Story of Humankind. An excerpt from a history course on
civilizations

   The Hebrews, a Semitic-speaking people, first appeared in Mesopotamia. 
For instance, Abraham's family were native to Sumer. But between 1900 and 
1500 B.C., the Hebrews migrated from Mesopotamia to Canaan and then into 
Egypt. At this time, a tribe of Hebrews who claimed to be the descendants of 
Abraham began to call themselves Israelites ("soldiers of God"). The Hebrews 
were enslaved by the Egyptian pharaohs until 1250 B.C. when their leader, 
Moses, led them on an exodus out of Egypt to the Sinai peninsula. Moses 
persuaded his followers to become worshipers of Yahweh or Jehovah.

~ The Akkadians, Egyptians and the Hebrews

            

It is a fact that the Hebrew nation was in mortal conflict with these surrounding
nations. Essentially, foreign gods, too many to mention by name. However,
significant to the historicity of how the exodus out of Egypt is narrated.
Essentially, the God of Israel's challenge to the god's of Egypt and the
accounts of the Supernatural. Egyptian papyrus on the Exodus account.
This is a jealous God who takes on other god's.

In an earlier blog, i mentioned the discovery of the Ipuwer Papyrus Manuscript
which parallels the events of the Exodus in the Tanakh. While secular historians
dispute its correlation. It is clear, it makes mention of one called the 'Lord of All'
Notable, Egyptologist Roland Enmarch

  'acknowledges that there are some textual parallels "particularly the striking 
statement that ‘the river is blood and one drinks from it’ (Ipuwer 2.10), and the 
frequent references to servants abandoning their subordinate status 
(e.g. Ipuwer 3.14–4.1; 6.7–8; 10.2–3). On a literal reading, these are similar 
to aspects of the Exodus account." '

They, the Egyptians witnessed and wrote the accounts of what happened to them
paralleling the Tanakh. Separate cultures , separate narrations, witnessing the
same event. One may consider this improbable, but certainly holds more
water, than those who think chance, is a more plausible answer. 


In part iv, i will discuss what is significant about the name Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey

 

Is the Bible the Word of God ? Part II

         On the topic of a 'maker'. The creator of the universe. It is a topic that
i discussed in another article, Evolution atheists and all things considered
There, i gave empirical observations, why life is not, based on the probability
of chance. It is not possible that life as we see it, to exist, without a purposeful
designed creation.

         Often, Christian Apologists will argue from the point of an ontological 
viewpoint i.e. there cannot be a Moral Law without a Moral Law Giver, or
an apparent Designed Universe without an Intelligent Designer. These
arguments themselves are well put forth. So, i will not use those examples,
so as not to be accused of following the herd. I will posit my observation,
and it is up to the reader, to decide for themselves if i make sense.


          Here's the problem i have with Evolutionary Theory. The so called, if
given enough time, simple forms of life. Molecules evolve, to DNA, to Proteins,
to Cells and so forth .....  Evolutionary Statistics whereby life could probably
have occured by mutation. One study, estimated ~ 10²⁰ attempts
(mutations vs time) is flawed.  Here's why.

        It's not a matter of rolling the dice, and the next, and so forth. These building
blocks especially on a cellular level have to be complete for a cell to function.
Before you evolve to a higher life form. The lower life form has to be
completely functional. Human designed machines are built by design, to
operate by, trial, error, prototyping, and mass producing. Engineers use
terms like MTBF (mean time between failures), MTTF (mean time to failure)
and MTTFd (mean time to failure, dangerous condition)

      Cells are biological machines. A working cell i.e. its building blocks DNA,
RNA, protein structure must be complete for the Cell to propagate, and evolve.
How did the first protein structure evolve completely ? Here one would apply the
MTTFd component per cycle, per operation, per time. Every time something
failed (replicating, molecule arrangement, etc,etc). The process would have to
start from the beginning

      Hence, the number of attempts would look like 10²⁰  combined with MTTFd
repeatedly. Here's why, mutation versus time, is non-sequitur.  Scientist believe
that the universe had a beginning, and will have an ending, i.e. time without a
'maker' is finite. One estimate, is that, it is 13.72 billion years old. Assume, that to
account for error, it is 14 billion years old.  If one assumed, 1 mutation per second,
we've only had 7.3584 * 10¹⁵  attempts/sec so far.  Hence, we have not even
completed one cycle of probability !!!

      

Is the Bible the Word of God ? Part I

 Raja Petra or Pete in his Sermon of the Day, 'Is the Bible the Word of God'
makes the assertion that the Bible cannot be the 'Word of God', unless the
maker can be established. Hence, quoting Bible verses or pointing to the
historical figure of the Messiah cannot be used as evidence of it's authenticity

 So, the issue here is, who wrote the Bible? And unless the ‘maker’ can 
be established then the Bible cannot be accepted as evidence. And if the 
Bible cannot be accepted as evidence then you cannot use it to argue 
your case. And if the Bible cannot be used to argue your case how do 
you debate what the Bible says? You need other non-Biblical evidence 
to argue your case since the Bible is not relevant to this debate.

 Again, it is important to determine what the actual benchmark, Pete is
seeking, if any. As i have mentioned many times before. I cannot prove the
Supernatural. Certainly, i've experienced it and have given examples of one's,
if you go through my blog articles.

Pete has made many assertions, that on, face value, presents itself as an
absolute fact. Christianity is a myth, and thus proven via unreliable
documentation, and is mostly based on cultural myths that had Jewish origins.
My intention, is not to convince Pete otherwise. I simply want to point out a
logical flow, really, intended for seekers or followers of Yeshua, to know,
that there are very valid reasons of who he is.

As such, he has chosen a court of law (lawfare ?), or so it seems i.e. an
evidence based presentation.  Often, when one wants to control a process.
Eg. making widgets of a certain quality. Engineers will use a statistical
analysis known as Six Sigma. In order to build specified widgets with the
lowest numbers of defects (< 3.5 dpmo). The statistical analysis is usually
made once the criteria has been determine. As follows, define a problem,
measure it, analyze it, improve it, after which, establish controls.  In order
to define the problem.  One must come up with a Hypothesis. The Null
Hypothesis from what i can gather is

There is no 'maker' of the universe, thus there is no Messiah God whom
the Christians claim, to have, presented himself


Thus my alternative hyphothesis would be:

There is a maker of the universe,  one referred to as 
YHWH (Yod, Heh Wav, Heh), who revealed himself to human kind 
in flesh as, Yeshua Ben Yusof of Bethlehem Eprathath, who began his 
ministry around  ~ 30 AD

The Jesus, you think, you would like to know

In the sermon of the mount Yeshua supposedly implied that one should not
be judgmental.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, 
you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured 
back to you.

~ Matthew 7:1

In Raja Petra's sermon, the bullshit known as the abrahamic faiths, the New
Testament is just a fabrication. I quote

'The New Testament is not from Jesus. These are fabrications by those 
who came long after Jesus had died'

The Gospels have long been debated. What is Raja Petra's objection? The
scribes and writings that were penned years after his alleged death and
alleged resurrection. You see, the first four gospels (matthew, mark, luke and john),
were written between 65~95AD timeline. The Bible (Codex Vaticanus)
canonization occurred between 325-350AD

I asked Pete (Raja Petra) once, what would be an except-able benchmark.
Pete has never given me an answer. Why ? His approach to his objection,
is really, a philosophical one. Not one, based on pure empiricism. If
time-lines distort manuscripts. One could have applied probability analysis
on these scribers. What is the probability that these documents were
fabricated i.e. followers of the disciples, were lying about a man named
Yeshua Ben Yosef. So given the thousands manuscripts, of copies, and
textual criticism applied. What is the probability based sampling, on
contradictory accounts that would invalidate these accounts. I am talking
about historicity in corroboration with greek, roman and jewish accounts.

 On the eve of the Passover Yeshu (Jesus) was hanged.  For forty days
before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is 
going forth to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed Israel
to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come 
forward and plead on his behalf. " But since nothing was brought 
forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover! -- Ulla 
retorted, "Do you suppose that he one for whom a defense could be made? 
Was he not a mesith [enticer], concerning whom Scripture says, Neither
shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him? With Yeshu, however, it 
was different, for he was connected with royalty [or well-connected]." 

~  Sanhedrin 43a Talmud (200-500ce)
 
I can't prove the Supernatural, but certainly one could apply the test of
historicity. What Pete's benchmark is, i guess. A Messiah who had access to
private scribers, with hundreds of millions of denari, papyrus or leather
parchments, and payment to scribe his personal biography. Furthermore the
Guttenberg Press, to ensure that there were no transmission errors present in
copies proceeding with the original notarized copy, by the religious authorities,
lawyers, and whatnot. One who would conform with his ideal zeitgeist   

Was Yeshua really non-judgemental ?

⁶ “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

 ~ Matthew 7:6 

He seemed to imply that one should not put what is valuable in front of those
who will reject the notion that it has value (the Gospel) and furthermore that
they will seek to diminish or destroy what one offers

Are the events of the biblical Noah plausible ?

         Raja Petra's account of the biblical Noah in his article
Sunday bible studies Noah expounds on the biblical event of
the great flood. He estimates that around 20 million or so
species of vertebrates (excluding fish) and Noah's extended
family were saved from the catastrophic flood.

        The tanakh does not mention numbers or types. It simply
mentions beasts הַבְּהֵמָ֡ה (ha-be-hemah) and birds מֵע֧וֹףo (me-o-p)
genesis 7:3-4

Why did Elohim(YHWH) destroy human kind?

ה  וַיַּרְא יְהוָה, כִּי רַבָּה רָעַת הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ, וְכָל-יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ, רַק רַע כָּל-הַיּוֹם.

Va-yar Elohim(YHWH) ki ra-bah ra-at ha-adam ba-a-ret ve-kal
ye-ser mah-se-bot lib-ow raq ra kal - hayovm.
Vayinahem Elohim(YHWH) ki-asah et ha-adam ba-aret vayiaseb
el lib-ow
 

 And saw, Elohim, that, great, the wickedness, of man, on the earth,
and every, imagine, of the thoughts, his heart, only, evil, all, the time.
And was sorry, Elohim, that, breath made, the man,on earth, and it
grieved, in- (his) heart. ~ Genesis 6:5

 

Noah however found grace in the eyes of the Lord

 

ח  וְנֹחַ, מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה

 

Elohim(YHWH)   b(e)-e-ne  hen  ma-sa  va-no-ah

 

And Noah, found, grace, in the eyes, (the) Lord  ~ Genesis 6:8

The Lord called him a righteous and a wholehearted man. Is it because
the Lord imputed this upon him, or was he righteous by his own strength ?