Thursday, May 27, 2010

Why Jesus Came to Earth?

Jesus came to Earth for you. What is most important about Jesus’ mission to Earth is that it directly affects your life now and forever. Jesus came to restore your relationship to God the Father. The death of Jesus on the cross is the most important event in history that affects your life directly. If you choose to receive Jesus’ body and blood as a sacrifice for your sins, and are willing to give Him your life, then you receive His life. The teachings of Jesus are very important because His Words judge us.

Everything about Jesus mission on Earth is about saving us from our sins. The name Jesus means “Jehovah saves”, the word salvation means to rescue. Jesus’ name describes His mission and purpose of coming to Earth. Jesus gives us the Way, the Truth, and Life. Jesus gave us the way to have unity with God. His sacrifice made it possible for us to live in God and for God to live in us.

In the scriptures below when Jesus talks about bringing division, even in families, He is talking about the cost of loving Him. The greatest commandment is to love God with all of your being. Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37 – 40 There are times when loving God more than people causes division between us and other people. Ultimately Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost, even His enemies and your enemies. Jesus did not come to take sides He came to draw people to His side. This is the kind of division Jesus talks about but which will ultimately bring true unity and peace between the Creator and His creation.


Tuesday, May 4, 2010

World's 1st Printed Book - Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bibleor the B42) was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, marking the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book. Widely hailed for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has iconic status in the West. It is an edition of the Vulgate, printed byJohannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in the 1450s. There are still twenty-one complete copies extant, which are considered the most expensive books on the market if on sale.

The 36-line Bible is also sometimes referred to as a Gutenberg Bible, but is possibly the work of another printer.

Relationship to earlier Bibles

In appearance the Gutenberg Bible closely resembles the large manuscript Bibles that were being produced at the time. The Giant Bible of Mainz, probably produced in Mainz in 1452-3, has been suggested as the particular model Gutenberg used. Around this time large Bibles, designed to be read from a lectern, were returning to popularity for the first time since the twelfth century. In the intervening period, small hand-held Bibles had been usual. The text of the Gutenberg Bible is traditional, falling within the Paris Vulgate group of texts. Manuscript Bibles all had texts that differed slightly, and the copy used by Gutenberg as the exemplar for his Bible has not been discovered.

Printing history

The Bible was not Gutenberg's first work. Preparation of it probably began soon after 1450, and the first finished copies were available in 1454 or 1455. However, it is not known exactly how long the Bible took to print.

Gutenberg made three significant changes during the printing process. The first sheets were rubricated by being passed twice through the printing press, using black and then red ink. This was soon abandoned, with spaces being left for rubrication to be added by hand.

Some time later, after more sheets had been printed, the number of lines per page was increased from 40 to 42, presumably to save paper. Therefore, pages 1 to 9 and pages 256 to 265, presumably the first ones printed, have 40 lines each. Page 10 has 41, and from there on the 42 lines appear. The increase in line number was achieved by decreasing the interline spacing, rather than increasing the printed area of the page.

Finally, the print run was increased, probably to 180 copies, necessitating resetting those pages which had already been printed. The new sheets were all reset to 42 lines per page. Consequently, there are two distinct settings in folios 1-32 and 129-158 of volume I and folios 1-16 and 162 of volume II.

Our most reliable information about the Bible's date comes from a letter. In March 1455, future Pope Pius II wrote that he had seen pages from the Gutenberg Bible, being displayed to promote the edition, in Frankfurt.

It is believed that in total 180 copies of the Bible were produced, 135 on paper and 45 on vellum.


Monday, May 3, 2010

What is the importance of Christian baptism?

Christian baptism is, according to the Bible, an outward testimony of what has occurred inwardly in a believer’s life. Christian baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The Bible declares, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). In Christian baptism, the action of being immersed in the water symbolizes dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection.

In Christian baptism, there are two requirements before a person is baptized: 1) the person being baptized must have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior, and 2) the person must understand what baptism signifies. If a person knows the Lord Jesus as Savior, understands that Christian baptism is a step of obedience in publicly proclaiming his faith in Christ, and desires to be baptized, then there is no reason to prevent the believer from being baptized. According to the Bible, Christian baptism is important because it is a step of obedience—publicly declaring faith in Christ and commitment to Him—an identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.