New Evidence Suggests:
Forget Everything You Learned in that Scripture Class on Matthew you Took in High School, College, Grad School or Wherever
Matthew written early, by an eyewitness (the Apostle) and the virgin birth really did mean "virgin" not maiden.
From a story in the Kansas City Star:
In an essay written for the book Passover and Easter: Origin and History to Modern Times, Israel J. Yuval of Jerusalem's Hebrew University reported a find in the Talmud that appears to show Matthew could have been written earlier than some scholars contend.
Yuval wrote that a leading rabbinical scholar of the time was "considered to have authored a sophisticated parody of the Gospel according to Matthew."
The parody, written by a rabbi known as Gamaliel, is believed by some well-respected liberal Christian scholars to have been written about A.D. 73 or earlier.
The fact the parody exists and the date when it was believed to be written "would undercut badly (biblical critics') claims of a late date of A.D. 85-90 or later," said Bob Newman, professor of New Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.
"That is very significant and very important," said Tim Skinner, associate professor of Bible and theology at Luther Rise Seminary in Georgia, because that validates the legitimacy of Matthew's Gospel...it confirms the truthfulness of the biblical account in Matthew and confirms the truth of what Jesus did."
Blomberg said a close study of the parody's wording indicates it was based on an existing text. If that text was Matthew, the Gospel existed much earlier than some scholars believe.
Similarly the earlier the Gospel was written, the more likely eyewitnesses to Jesus' life would still be alive.
"(Which) would mean that Matthew's Gospel would be seen by other eyewitnesses who could check and authenticate it," Blomberg said.
Thursday, July 3, 2003
Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Co-Adujutor of Orlando Speaks
From the Lakeland Ledger (a paper that once was delivered daily at my doorstep):
In his remarks, Wenski said he learned of the appointment last week from the papal nuncio, or representative, while at a conference in Texas.
"My own feelings about the task ahead of me are relieved by having as a mentor Bishop Dorsey," he said. "I remember the words of Jesus to Peter, `Put out into the deep,' and I trust in Jesus, who in spite of my unworthiness has chosen me for this task."
Wenski said his primary mission would be "to save souls for Christ."
"We will not be saved by a formula or some new program. We and the promise he gives -- `I am with you always,' " he said, quoting Jesus. "This is a great grace but a daunting challenge. It is a contradiction for us to settle for a life of mediocrity."
Wenski is a native of West Palm Beach. He was ordained a priest in 1976 and has served his entire career in the Archdiocese of Miami. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach and a master's degree in sociology from Fordham University in New York.
Please note several things about Bishop Wenski: First, his point of reference is Jesus and the Scriptures, Secondly, he knew about his apointment for over a week (contrast that with the story below).
From the Lakeland Ledger (a paper that once was delivered daily at my doorstep):
In his remarks, Wenski said he learned of the appointment last week from the papal nuncio, or representative, while at a conference in Texas.
"My own feelings about the task ahead of me are relieved by having as a mentor Bishop Dorsey," he said. "I remember the words of Jesus to Peter, `Put out into the deep,' and I trust in Jesus, who in spite of my unworthiness has chosen me for this task."
Wenski said his primary mission would be "to save souls for Christ."
"We will not be saved by a formula or some new program. We and the promise he gives -- `I am with you always,' " he said, quoting Jesus. "This is a great grace but a daunting challenge. It is a contradiction for us to settle for a life of mediocrity."
Wenski is a native of West Palm Beach. He was ordained a priest in 1976 and has served his entire career in the Archdiocese of Miami. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach and a master's degree in sociology from Fordham University in New York.
Please note several things about Bishop Wenski: First, his point of reference is Jesus and the Scriptures, Secondly, he knew about his apointment for over a week (contrast that with the story below).
New Bishop of Palm Beach's Tale
From the Palm Beach Post:
In contrast to O'Malley's beard, brown friar's robe and sandals, Barbarito stood before his new staff in traditional clerical black and admitted he'd known about his new posting only "since about 5 after 9 yesterday morning." He said he'd barely had time to look at the plane ticket and find his seat for the trip south.
He was visiting his 83-year-old widowed mother, Anna Marie, in Brooklyn on Monday when he heard a radio report that O'Malley was being sent to Boston. He said he laughed because he'd heard two weeks ago that Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh was the choice, and besides, he knew O'Malley had been in Palm Beach only a short time.
"About a half-hour after that," he said, "I received a phone call from the apostolic nuncio telling me that I was coming to Palm Beach... I had a spaghetti dinner set with (his mother) for last night, and I had to tell her that I couldn't make it -- but I would get back to her for that dinner."
This is really unusual. Makes me wonder if there was another plan that was changed at the last minute?
From the Palm Beach Post:
In contrast to O'Malley's beard, brown friar's robe and sandals, Barbarito stood before his new staff in traditional clerical black and admitted he'd known about his new posting only "since about 5 after 9 yesterday morning." He said he'd barely had time to look at the plane ticket and find his seat for the trip south.
He was visiting his 83-year-old widowed mother, Anna Marie, in Brooklyn on Monday when he heard a radio report that O'Malley was being sent to Boston. He said he laughed because he'd heard two weeks ago that Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh was the choice, and besides, he knew O'Malley had been in Palm Beach only a short time.
"About a half-hour after that," he said, "I received a phone call from the apostolic nuncio telling me that I was coming to Palm Beach... I had a spaghetti dinner set with (his mother) for last night, and I had to tell her that I couldn't make it -- but I would get back to her for that dinner."
This is really unusual. Makes me wonder if there was another plan that was changed at the last minute?
Will the Mainline Media Report This?
Pro-Abortion Group Finds Majority of Women are Pro-Life
From the Washington Times:
The balance between pro-choice women and women who say abortion should be outlawed or severely restricted is shifting toward the pro-life side, bumping that group into the majority in the debate over reproductive rights, according to a new national poll.
Fifty-one percent of women surveyed by the Center for the Advancement of Women said the government should prohibit abortion or limit it to extreme cases, such as rape, incest, or life-threatening complications.
The findings, with a 3 percent margin of error for the 1,000 women surveyed, tips the scale from the last sampling in 2001, when 45 percent of women sided against making abortion readily available or imposing only mild restrictions. Only 30 percent support making it generally available, down from 34 percent in 2001, the survey found.
The New York-based center that sponsored the survey is a nonpartisan advocacy group for pro-choice women's rights. The center's president, Faye Wattleton, headed the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for 14 years.
Pro-Abortion Group Finds Majority of Women are Pro-Life
From the Washington Times:
The balance between pro-choice women and women who say abortion should be outlawed or severely restricted is shifting toward the pro-life side, bumping that group into the majority in the debate over reproductive rights, according to a new national poll.
Fifty-one percent of women surveyed by the Center for the Advancement of Women said the government should prohibit abortion or limit it to extreme cases, such as rape, incest, or life-threatening complications.
The findings, with a 3 percent margin of error for the 1,000 women surveyed, tips the scale from the last sampling in 2001, when 45 percent of women sided against making abortion readily available or imposing only mild restrictions. Only 30 percent support making it generally available, down from 34 percent in 2001, the survey found.
The New York-based center that sponsored the survey is a nonpartisan advocacy group for pro-choice women's rights. The center's president, Faye Wattleton, headed the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for 14 years.
Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Footnote to Today's Top Story
Also the Pope "appointed Thomas Wenski bishop coadjutor of Orlando, the Vatican said," from Bloomberg.com.
This is the real shocker of the day. Why does Orlando need a coadjutor? Is Bishop Dorsey sick?
Wenski is a good man, a man's man really. He is the son of immigrant Polish parents who grew up in Lake Worth, Florida. Very devout and aggresive. He has been the voice of the Haitian people in South Florida for over 2 1/2 decades. He'll be missed by them down there.
Also the Pope "appointed Thomas Wenski bishop coadjutor of Orlando, the Vatican said," from Bloomberg.com.
This is the real shocker of the day. Why does Orlando need a coadjutor? Is Bishop Dorsey sick?
Wenski is a good man, a man's man really. He is the son of immigrant Polish parents who grew up in Lake Worth, Florida. Very devout and aggresive. He has been the voice of the Haitian people in South Florida for over 2 1/2 decades. He'll be missed by them down there.
Monday, June 30, 2003
Boston to Get Capuchin Friar as Bishop
It is all over the wires this morning that Bishop O'Malley (of Palm Beach since last September, Fall River before that, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands before that) is going to be named the successor of Cardinal Law tomorrow. He is a very close friend of the Cardinal's and I would guess that has more to do with the appointment than his ability to clean up messes.
From CNN:
The Vatican will name Sean Patrick O'Malley, the bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, to replace Bernard Law as the head of the Boston Archdiocese, according to a news report.
The Vatican is expected to make its announcement this week, according to John Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly newspaper.
Law resigned as archbishop of the troubled Boston Archdiocese in December after the archdiocese was shaken by allegations that priests sexually abused children and that the alleged molestations were covered up.
It is all over the wires this morning that Bishop O'Malley (of Palm Beach since last September, Fall River before that, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands before that) is going to be named the successor of Cardinal Law tomorrow. He is a very close friend of the Cardinal's and I would guess that has more to do with the appointment than his ability to clean up messes.
From CNN:
The Vatican will name Sean Patrick O'Malley, the bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, to replace Bernard Law as the head of the Boston Archdiocese, according to a news report.
The Vatican is expected to make its announcement this week, according to John Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly newspaper.
Law resigned as archbishop of the troubled Boston Archdiocese in December after the archdiocese was shaken by allegations that priests sexually abused children and that the alleged molestations were covered up.
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Feast of SS. Peter and Paul
In honor of the feast we'll attend St. Peter's Church this morning. Here is a selection from today's Office of Readings from St. Augustine:
Before his passion the Lord Jesus, as you know, chose those disciples of his whom he called apostles. Among these it was only Peter who almost everywhere was given the privilege of representing the whole Church. It was in the person of the whole Church, which he alone represented, that he was privileged to hear, To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. After all, it is not just one man that received these keys, but the Church in its unity. So this is the reason for Peter’s acknowledged pre-eminence, that he stood for the Church’s universality and unity, when he was told, To you I am entrusting, what has in fact been entrusted to all. To show you that it is the Church which has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit; and immediately afterwards, Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them; whose sins you retain, they will be retained.
Quite rightly, too, did the Lord after his resurrection entrust his sheep to Peter to be fed. It is not, you see, that he alone among the disciples was fit to feed the Lord’s sheep; but when Christ speaks to one man, unity is being commended to us. And he first speaks to Peter, because Peter is the first among the apostles. Do not be sad, Apostle. Answer once, answer again, answer a third time. Let confession conquer three times with love, because self-assurance was conquered three times by fear. What you had bound three times must be loosed three times. Loose through love what you had bound through fear. And for all that, the Lord once, and again, and a third time, entrusted his sheep to Peter.
There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labours, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.
In honor of the feast we'll attend St. Peter's Church this morning. Here is a selection from today's Office of Readings from St. Augustine:
Before his passion the Lord Jesus, as you know, chose those disciples of his whom he called apostles. Among these it was only Peter who almost everywhere was given the privilege of representing the whole Church. It was in the person of the whole Church, which he alone represented, that he was privileged to hear, To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. After all, it is not just one man that received these keys, but the Church in its unity. So this is the reason for Peter’s acknowledged pre-eminence, that he stood for the Church’s universality and unity, when he was told, To you I am entrusting, what has in fact been entrusted to all. To show you that it is the Church which has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit; and immediately afterwards, Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them; whose sins you retain, they will be retained.
Quite rightly, too, did the Lord after his resurrection entrust his sheep to Peter to be fed. It is not, you see, that he alone among the disciples was fit to feed the Lord’s sheep; but when Christ speaks to one man, unity is being commended to us. And he first speaks to Peter, because Peter is the first among the apostles. Do not be sad, Apostle. Answer once, answer again, answer a third time. Let confession conquer three times with love, because self-assurance was conquered three times by fear. What you had bound three times must be loosed three times. Loose through love what you had bound through fear. And for all that, the Lord once, and again, and a third time, entrusted his sheep to Peter.
There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labours, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.
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