Comma Jahoneum

You may already know that in 1522 the first English translation of the Bible was the result of an order by King James of England, resulting in the King James Version of the Bible. The translators did their best to translate from the earliest manuscripts available to them, primarily a text called Textus Receptus.

What you may not know is that the translators expanded a passage in 1st John 5. This passage, now called the Comma Johanneum became a cornerstone argument for the Trinitarian position and a bedrock argument for and against the King James Version.

See for yourself (the comma is in italics):

KJV 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

NKJV 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

NIV 1 John 5:7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Some Christians resist the removal of the Comma even in light of its obvious ommission from original scripts. Most modern translations do not contain the Comma Johanneum.

Preterism

I was just listening to an interview of Steven Gregg author of, Revelation: Four Views, a commentary on the four eschatological views of the Book of Revelations. I did recall these from college, but I thought I might summarize them here for you now:

1. Preterist - The Book of Revelation is about the time of John; forecasting the fall of Jerusalem, the end of the Roman Empire and the conversion of Emperor Constatine.
2. Historicist - The Book of Revelation is the store of the Christian Church through all time, chronicling events that had, were and would happen.
3. Idealist - The Book of Revelation is not intended to be an account real events but rather to communicate principles and truths which are universally valid in Christian experience.
4. Futurist - The Book of Revelation is a foretelling of events yet to occur; is is largely a prophecy of events still to come, especially just prior to the return of Christ.

The Futurist view, which is popularly held by most evangelicals was once uncommon. Tim Lehaye, author of the Left Behind books holds this view. Historic reformationists typically held the Historicist position.

Some People are Really Competitive

It's funny. For some reason I am not a competitive person. Although I get into games and love to play - the prospect of losing barely motivates me to intensify my gameplay. Moreover, the actuality of losing hardly impacts me at all - save the occasion when a poor winner wins and I want to grind their nose for their poor sportsmanship.

For that reason, I don't really like team sports - or even video games based on team sports. For the most part, I can sense the disappointment in my fellow teammates in a pending loss and feel a little Judas-like in how I don't really care.

At first I thought this had to do with me not caring what other people thought; I am nearly immune from the influences of other's opinion of me. But I also don't get emotionally involved with "solitaire" games where others are not part of the equation. In the end, I'm just not competitive.

Here's where it gets fun.

Some people are really competitive. When two competitive people compete, the results can vary as to who is satisfied with the outcome. That's what we see every day. But when someone like me competes against someone who is competitive - especially when I win - the results are quite reliable.

When I win in a situation like that, my opponent is endlessly frustrated. The reality is, when I lose and don't care some of the sugar is soured in his victory as well. For that reason I love to compete - just to see how people react when the conclusion is read. It's a personality test that lets me understand someone quite well and quite quickly.

Few remain well composed.

I realize this is not a moral matter - people are wired to be competitive and it's not their pride or their ambition or whatever, they just feel a sense of urgency based on the outcome of something. I find intense value in the quality of my participation but am simply disconnected from the result (unless it is driven from sub-performance).

This is an interesting twist - I do hate to lose when I feel my performance was not what it should (or could) have been; the converse being that I don't have any opinion of losing (or winning) if my performance was at the level I felt I should have (or at least could have) acted; though I do feel some pleasure when I win - it does not compel me.

So, what's the point? I'm not sure. Just doing some reflection.

Are you competitive?

Do you think you can control it?

Just saw The Forgotten with Julianne Moore tonight.

Jason and I shot out after work this evening because both our wives are away right now. We headed to the movies and saw The Forgotten. Although I initially thought we were going to see Resident Evil who has that girl from The Fifth Element, we got there too late and we switched on the spot.

My rating for the movie would be B+ because the movie was awesome and the acting was great and the story was very good, but the ending was a little weak. In no small part the plot of the movie reminded me of the final endgame to the seven seasons of X-Files. You now, the government reluctantly aids the paranormal activities of unexplained beings - the usual.

Still wanna see Resident Evil though.

40 Days of Community is Starting

Our church Elk Creek started the 40 Days of Community campaign today. Kyndall and I have agreed to host a small group (one of ten in the church) to which it looks like 4 other couples will be attending.

Since Kyndall is out of town it is up to me to clean up the homestead from the XBox party I had last night. I also need to get a little sleep as XBox parties tend to deprive you of the shut eye. Well, I think things are in order. I have some food on hand and the videos which are used as the material are ready to be shown.

Both of us are starting to get more involved in our local church. It took us about a year to square away our life with kids, but the routine we have is stable enough that getting involved is not quite the over-extension of our time that it was.