The Berean Bible

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Ac 17:10 ¶ And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

Ac 17:11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

Before there was a New Testament, the Bereans tested the teachings of Paul against the scriptures that they had; the Old Testament known as the Tanakh ^[2].

The Catholic Church would have us believe that they gave us the Bible, and therefore the Church is the primary authority that supersedes the written word of God. However, the Apostle Paul's doctrine was tested by the Bereans against the Tanakh. Either the Bereans or the Tanakh had more authority than Paul and by extension more authority than Paul's writings which were later canonized by the Catholic Church.

Who were the Bereans?

The Bereans were the Jewish people who lived in Beroea. They were not seminary educated. They were not Rabbis, though there may have been some among them. They were ordinary Jews. The primary difference between them and you is that they knew the Tanakh in Hebrew, and you likely read it in English. They had an intimate knowledge of it, and you likely have a passing knowledge of it. They thought like Hebrews, and you likely think as Greeks. It is unlikely that these people had greater authority than Paul.

What is the Tanakh?

The Tanakh of today is different from the ones the Bereans had. The collection of books is the same, but the Hebrew language has been changed since then. Tiny markings (diacritics ^[3] ) have been added around the letters to indicate vowels, numbers and accents. These seem to be harmless additions to the written word, but they change the essential nature of the Hebrew language.

The Hebrew word for 'said' is 'amar'. The written form is identical to the word 'emeer' for 'lamb'. The diacritical marks hide the fact the when God said "Let there be light" that he created light by the Lamb. the Lamb of God IS the creator. 'Amar' also means 'word', so those harmless little marks hide the fact that the Lamb of God is the Word of God. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches were taught to read Hebrew using the diacritical marks, and so many think that John determined that Christ was the Logos, or the Word from a Greek Philosopher ^[4] .

One can only speculate why disbelieving Jews would add these marks to the scriptures when they aren't even used in modern Hebrew newspapers.

Why did the church accept these additions?

Ac 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written [and] concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

References

1. ↑ American Version, copyright expired
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_diacritics
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos_%28Christianity%29

Books - Topical Books

BB Bible - Exposition of Bible Books