What happens when a Christian accepts science?

[Gadfly]

THEU - You are correct. I have made an embarrassing mistake in what I said. As you know, the earliest version we have (and all parchments or partial versions) were in Greek. I suppose my assumption that something existed in Aramaic or Hebrew was based on what I assumed Jesus and his apostles knew how to read and write (and undoubtedly spoke).

This only causes me more concerns. The Link - I wonder why no copy survived until this one?

Mona - I will see if I can find you some respectable sources.

 

[Monahorns]

Gadfly, Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest complete NT. There are older copies but they don't include Matthew-Revelation. There are many copies from late 100s and 200s. Also, the early church fathers quoted the bible in their writings in the same time frame.

 

[THEU]

Gadfly,
Greek was the 'common' language of Jesus day. Little doubt that Jesus spoke more than just Aramaic and Hebrew. The writers writing some years later, would have wanted the writings to be widely read, and so probably chose to write in Greek. Even the earliest pieces known as Kerygma were in Greek though.
Koine, the type of Greek spoken at the time, literally means 'common.'
Also, if you want to look very closely into ancient artifacts and how they are dealt it is a fascinating world indeed. The museum procuring process is just amazing. There are more stories there dealing with artifacts from all over that are just great histories.
One of my favourites is London Bridge being in Arizona. What a wacky thing.

 

[Gadfly]

Mona,

This is the best I can do. It appears the argument is very ambiguous, and the conclusions seem very subjective (from both sides).

Isaiah does use both the words for circle and sphere, so this is evidence that both words have different meanings. YET! To your point, the word chuwg is also used to describe a “vault”, so, wow, this just makes it harder to define what was meant.

I have found some PhD (what type I don’t know) that didn’t satisfy my classification as a good source. Anyhow, this is a great resource that gives us the definitions and the context of the two words. You can see the use of both words throughout the bible too!

Duwr
The Link

Chuwg
The Link

As you can see, it is quite possible to successfully argue BOTH conclusions. Personally, I do think Isaiah meant the circle and not the sphere. When looking at the other uses in the Bible (and Isaiah), it would have said duwr if Isaiah truly meant sphere. I think arguing that Isaiah meant a sphere is stretching. I suppose that is not enough to convince you, and I wouldn’t blame you. But, I hardly doubt Isaiah was attempting to change the idea of a flat earth and geocentric universe which was not even questioned at the time he wrote this.

 

[Gadfly]

Thanks Theu - I've endeavored to look up the things you've said, so that I can be sure to understand. Very interesting scholarship on this subject (much more interesting than semantics haha).

This is a nice article I found (among many) with a rational discussion about the possibility of a Greek speaking Jesus. It also offers some great archeological context.
The Link