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Bible Initiations
LightWorker™ Series
Bible Initiations
Bible Initiation (Dr. Joshua David Stone 139) (LightWorker™ Series)
New Testament Initiation (Dr. Joshua David Stone 141) (LightWorker™ Series)
Book of Life Initiation (Dr. Joshua David Stone 218) (LightWorker™ Series)
The Christian Bible consists of the Hebrew Scriptures, which have been called the Old Testament,
and some later writings known as the New Testament.
Old Testament
The Old Testament is the collection of books written prior to
the life of Jesus but accepted by Christians as scripture.
Broadly speaking, the Old Testament is the same as the
Hebrew Bible. However the two traditions divide order and
interpret the books differently. Some Christian traditions
incorporate additional apocryphal books into their canons of
the Old Testament.
Wisdom Books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon
Major Prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel
Minor Prophets
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah and Malachi
A number of books which are part of the LXX but are not
found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible are often referred to as
deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics, referring to a
later secondary (i.e. deutero) canon. Most Protestants call
these books Apocrypha (meaning “hidden”). Evangelicals
and those of the modern Protestant traditions do not accept
the Apocrypha as canonical. However, the Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches include
these books as part of their Old Testament.
In addition to those, the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes the following: 3 Maccabees, 1
Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151. To complicate matters further, some Orthodox
Churches include a few others, typically: 2 Esdras, Odes and Psalms of Solomon
The Anglican Church officially uses the Apocryphal books liturgically, but not as a basis for
doctrine. Editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include the apocryphal
books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh. In
practice, many Anglicans, especially in the evangelical tradition, use Bibles without any
apocryphal additions,
There is also 4 Maccabees which is not accepted as canonical by any church, but was included
by St. Jerome in an appendix to the Vulgate (the Latin version of the Bible), and it therefore
sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.
New Testament
The Bible as used by the majority of Christians
includes the Rabbinic Hebrew Scripture and the New
Testament, which relates the life and teachings of
Jesus, the letters of the Apostle Paul and other
apostles to the early church plus the Book of
Revelation.
The Gospels
Synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke), John
Pastoral Epistles
1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews
The order of these books varies according to Church tradition. The New Testament books are
ordered differently in the Catholic/Protestant tradition, the Lutheran tradition, the Slavonic
tradition, the Syrian tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.
It seems likely that the books of the New Testament were written in Common Greek (“Koine”),
the language of the earliest surviving manuscripts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in
Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. Some scholars believe that certain books of the Greek New
Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or
Aramaic original.
When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they wrote notes on the margins of the page
(marginal glosses) to correct their text, especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line,
and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes
uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. Over time, different regions
evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions.
The autographs, the Greek manuscripts written by the original authors, have not survived.
Scholars have pieced together the Greek text from the versions that do survive. The three main
textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian text-type
(generally minimalist), the Byzantine text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western text-type
(occasionally wild). Together these categories comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.
The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text which seems to have been the work of
several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books
that are not in the Hebrew Bible. Pope Damasus I assembled the first list of books of the Bible at
the Council of Rome in 382 AD. He commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a reliable and
consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation
became known as the Latin Vulgate Bible and in 1546 at the Council of Trent was declared by
the Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the Latin rite.
The first printed edition incorporating a critical apparatus (noting variant readings among the
manuscripts) was produced by the printer Robert Estienne of Paris in 1550. The Greek text of
this edition and of that of Erasmus became known as the Textus Receptus (Latin for "received
text”).
The churches of the European Protestant Reformation translated the Greek of the Textus
Receptus to produce vernacular Bibles, such as the German Luther Bible, the Geneva Bible and
the English King James Bible (the “Authorized Version”)
The 19th century discovery of older manuscripts, which belong to the Alexandrian text-type,
including the 4th century Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, led scholars to revise their
view about the original Greek text and that work is still ongoing are further discoveries are
made.
Most variants among the manuscripts are minor, such as alternate spelling, alternate word
order, the presence or absence of an optional definite article ("the"), and so on. Occasionally, a
major variant happens when a portion of a text was accidentally omitted (or perhaps even
censored), or was added from a marginal gloss. Fortunately, major variants tend to be easier to
correct. Examples of major variants are the endings of Mark. The strongest textual tradition
shows Mark’s Gospel ending at chapter 16, verse 8. Was it intended to stop there? Or was there
a lost ending? Or was it unfinished? This is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the New
Testament. Clearly, some scribes in the early church also felt that something was missing. There
are two versions of an additional text added at this point. Both are ancient but clearly by a
different hand from the writer of the Gospel.
Christian theology
While individual books within the Christian Bible present narratives set in certain historical
periods, most Christian denominations teach that the Bible itself has an overarching message.
There are wide differences of opinion as to how particular incidents as described in the Bible are
to be interpreted and as to what meaning should be attached to various prophecies. However,
Christians in general are in agreement as to the Bible's basic message.
Book of Life
The Book of Life is referred to six times in the Book of
Revelation, the last of the books of the New Testament,
attributed to John of Patmos. As described, only those
whose names are written in the Book of Life from the
foundation of the world, and have not been blotted out
by the Lamb, are saved at the Last Judgment; all others
are doomed. Some people would choose to interpret the
Book of Life as being equivalent to the Akashic Records.
The Geneva Bible was a Protestant translation of the Bible into English. This was the Bible read
by William Shakespeare, John Knox, John Donne and
John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress. It was one
of the Bibles taken to America on the “Mayflower.” It
was used by many English Dissenters and by Oliver
Cromwell's soldiers at the time of the English Civil
War.
Like most English translations of the time, the Geneva Bible was translated from scholarly
editions of the Greek New Testament and Hebrew scriptures. The English rendering was
substantially based on the earlier translations by William Tyndale. (80-90% of the language in
the Geneva New Testament is from Tyndale.) However, the Geneva Bible was the first English
version in which all of the Old Testament was translated directly from the Hebrew.
The annotations, which are an important part of the Geneva Bible, are Calvinistic and Puritan in
character, and as such they were disliked by the Protestants of the Church of England, as well
as King James I, who commissioned the "Authorized Version" or King James Bible to replace it.
The Geneva Bible remained popular among Puritans and remained in widespread use until after
the English Civil War. It has been stated by some that the Geneva Bible was the Bible present at
the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, due to the
fact that it was the Bible that the Puritans brought with them to America. This, however, has not
been proved.
Final Comments
The Bible is still the world’s best selling book. It has been used as a source of inspiration for
millions of ordinary people as well as for saints and scholars. Reading it has changed the lives
of many. Equally, people died martyrs’ deaths to ensure that it was open and available to
everyone. The following are only two of thousands of examples.
Though the new islanders learned to survive quite comfortably by farming and fishing, violence
and illness caused many problems. There was fighting, drunkenness and murder. Nearly fifty
years later, two of the Island’s leaders re-discovered the Bounty’s bible and became interested in
Christianity. Those who could read began to teach others, using this bible. This eventually led to
a transformation of the way in which people lived on Pitcairn Island as it virtually became a
Christian community.
Oxford Martyrs
The Oxford Martyrs were tried for heresy in 1555 and subsequently burnt at the stake in
Oxford, England, for their Protestant religious beliefs and teachings, particularly their insistence
that the bible should be available to everyone.
“Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by
God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
These events are also claimed to be the inspiration for the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice".
Alasdair Bothwell Gordon, EdD
Reiki Master and Teacher
Life Coach and Change Agent
Certified NLP Practitioner
The well known author of many books of spiritual nature Dr Joshua David Stone had a Ph.D. in
Transpersonal Psychology and was a Licensed Marriage, Family and Child Counselor in
California. In November 2004 Dr Stone officially launched the "I AM University", which is an
actual university that Dr Stone runs on the inner plane and has been guided by Spirit and the
Ascended Masters to anchor and externalize on Earth. The "I AM University" is the fast path to
becoming a fully realized "Integrated Ascended Master" on Earth in this lifetime!
As part of this whole transition and process, Gloria has been guided by
Spirit, the Masters and Joshua to relocate the I AM University to
Salzburg - the Heart of Europe! Having been born in Austria, this
location has crystallized itself as the perfect place on Planet Earth to
serve as new home for the I AM University Headquarters that allows
Gloria best to run and expand the I AM University according to Spirit
and the Masters’ Plan.
Do you want to know more about Joshua David Stone, Gloria Excelsias and the I AM University,
then you can look at
Adress:
I AM University , Dr Joshua David Stone & Gloria Excelsias
Postfach 13, 4866 Unterach am Attersee, Austria - Europe