Quote: Originally posted by Thomas Covenant on January 14, 2004
>>>>(2) if the three men were astrologers, you can throw your copy of the bible away and live however you want.<<<
The ancient Latin edition of Vulgate (4th century).
Mt 2 : 1 ¶ cum ergo natus esset Iesus in Bethleem Iudaeae in diebus Herodis regis ecce
magi ab oriente venerunt Hierosolymam.
Magi=Magician.
The greek version would be "magoi" or magician. Considering that they were following a star, it
could also mean astrologers.
eck....my computer is spitting and sputtering. have had a hard time getting in here lately. too sloooooooow. my computer is about to take it's last "trip" down memory lane. if i come up missing, it's ONLY because my puter is out.
thomas....there is a huge gap between "was" and "could be" and you know it. even though you don't ascribe to the bibles authority, even you know that it forbids the practice of astrology. but for the sake of destroying the bibles credibility, you attempted to slip in the "could be".
you know perfectly well what the wise men where and wht they weren't and you know they were neither astrologers or magicians. you know that the greek word for "magi" could also be applied to these descriptions as well; sorcerers, teachers, kings, etc. it has both good connotations and bad. but that doesn't indicate that they were. they could have been all but weighing in on what info was given on them, how God uses his people and what he has spoken out against, they were neither astrologers nor magicians. heck you know what God did to people who were magicians that tride to defraud Gods people.
if you go over the text, then you can tell what they were and where not as far as the greek definition. first of all they didn't "follow" a star. they sought wisdom from others as to what it was and where it should appear. then king herod called for them when he had heard of the baby jesus being born and "dispatched" them to the sight. the wisemen saw the star over jerusalem and then didn't see it again until the came to bethlehem. God had prophesied that he would hang the star over the saviors head to verify who he was hundreds of years before the dvent. thier "wisdom" came from God, not a "star".
God would NEVER violate his word by using "wisemen" who practiced something contrary to his word and you know that as well. the wisemen came bearing gifts just as scripture had foretold they would hundreds of years previously. gold , frankensence and myrrh.
myrrh, a curious choice considering that myrrh was used for annoting dead bodies. why would the wise men bring a "gift" that was normally used to annoint a dead body when Jesus was just a baby? because of "who" he was and what he was going to do in the future....to die for the sins of the world. looks like God thinks of everything doesn't he?
here's the rules of debate thomas. if you are going to debate with me thats cool, but don't be dishonest about it for the sake of discrediting something. whether there is a God the way to ANY truth in life is a narrow road. that one MUST be willing to accept the facts whether they are good, bad or ugly. even if you and i don't like certain "portions" of "a" truth, doesn't make it a "non" truth. please don't play the selective memory game with me. if we are debating "a" truth, stick to the facts and we will get there. if you are not interested in truth, you will do everything to circumvent it. including purposefully leaving out "portions" of it.
remember bethlehem ephratah? what was the former name of bethlehem?
20/20 (peripheral now......narrow when i need to be)