Issue 82
News: Jack T. Chick v. Bart D. Ehrman
As you may know, I am a big fan of Jack T. Chick's insane works. One of them is a tract entitled "The Attack" about the events leading up to the King James Bible's publication. Recently, I also read Bart D. Ehrman's book Misquoting Jesus. In the book, Ehrman recounts the story of how one cannot truly tell what the originals of the Bible are anymore due to there being more derivations from the texts of the New Testament than there are words in it. He mainly writes about the New Testament. The main point of Jack's arguments is that the Catholic church actively tried to destroy the original texts of the Bible in the Textus Receptus (more on this later). I will compare Jack's claims with Ehrman's. Jack begins with a bad start by claiming that Puritans translated the KJV (it was, ironically created to supplant another Bible which supposedly had Puritanical undertones, since King James decided that they were heretics.) In the tract, there were claims that there were corrupt manuscripts in Alexandria, although while there were many manuscripts there, they were not the only ones, because there were many others in Byzantine and the west, although the Alexandian texts are in fact considered the closest to what may have actually happened due to their age being the oldest. Jack claims that St. Jerome used them for the Vulgate, although it is believed that he compared pre-existing translations with whatever Greek manuscripts he could find. Later, he mentions a "Council of Toulouse", where the Bible (presumably the "Textus Receptus") which outside of a few Fundie websites who are most likely either parroting what Jack says or improvising on what Jack says, I have been able to find no information. On this "Textus Receptus", it is claimed by Jack that this was the true word of God that The Church would destroy. The real Textus Receptus was the first publication of a complete edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, cobbled by Desiderius Erasmus from one or two greek manuscripts (and for Revelation, he translated parts of it back into Greek from the Vulgate). Jack claims that as a reaction to the publication of the Textus Receptus, the Church created the Jesuits to destroy all copies. This is, of course, ridiculous. Immediately after this panel, Jack shows the King of England (most likely Henry VIII, even if Jack's portrait looks nothing like him) rebelling against the Church's authority, obstensively due to his distrust of the Pope's authority, but in reality, he rebelled because the Pope wouldn't let him divorce his wife, and so he created his own church (The Church of England, which ironically, now forbids divorce), and after several more decades, the King James Bible was created from the Textus Receptus. Eventually, people resorted to diminishing its credibility with the Alexandrian texts. In the end, Jack admonishes the reader to check 1 John 5:7 to see if it makes the Trinity explicitly mentioned, as a litmus test to see if it is a "true version". Ironically, according to Ehrman, the first edition of the Textus Receptus itself did not contain it (because Erasmus found no manuscript with it), and was widely criticized for this reason. It was instated when a manuscript (created specifically for the occasion) was found with it. This concludes my rant.
Band Name of the Day: The Anglican Fundamentalists. From a routine by Eddie Izzard on "Church of England Fundamentalism".
Film Idea of the Day: A road movie about an early-tewnty-something member of the Illinois State legislature and a political journalism student learning about politics journeying to Springfield to go see the legislature in session, with the former going on his first time, and the student learning from him. A more political Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Review of the Day: It's been a while since I've appraised a television series.
Black Books. A british series about a misanthropic bookstore owner named Bernard Black infamous for his hygeine and rudeness towards customers and his assistant Manny. This has to be the funniest British series I have stumbled upon in a while, even if only two of the three seasons (or series, as the Brits say) are currently on DVD.
Azumanga Daioh. As one can infer from the seemingly incomprehensible title, it is an anime and Manga series. It is, unlike most anime series, set in a Japanese public school, and centered around the personalities of 7 female students and 3 teachers in the school. Even among those who don't normally consider themselves otaku (Japanese for "anime geeks"), it is very funny, if you can get the references to Japanese culture that are explained in the fansubs of the anime and, to a lesser extent, in the manga.
Quote of the Day: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I did an original sin. I poked a badger with a spoon."
"Say five Hail Mary's and six Hello Dolly's!"
__________________Eddie Izzard.
Link of the Day: Type in the words and let the singers (everybody from Bobby Hatfield to Nick Drake to Jim Morrison to Chris Isaak) sing them.
As you may know, I am a big fan of Jack T. Chick's insane works. One of them is a tract entitled "The Attack" about the events leading up to the King James Bible's publication. Recently, I also read Bart D. Ehrman's book Misquoting Jesus. In the book, Ehrman recounts the story of how one cannot truly tell what the originals of the Bible are anymore due to there being more derivations from the texts of the New Testament than there are words in it. He mainly writes about the New Testament. The main point of Jack's arguments is that the Catholic church actively tried to destroy the original texts of the Bible in the Textus Receptus (more on this later). I will compare Jack's claims with Ehrman's. Jack begins with a bad start by claiming that Puritans translated the KJV (it was, ironically created to supplant another Bible which supposedly had Puritanical undertones, since King James decided that they were heretics.) In the tract, there were claims that there were corrupt manuscripts in Alexandria, although while there were many manuscripts there, they were not the only ones, because there were many others in Byzantine and the west, although the Alexandian texts are in fact considered the closest to what may have actually happened due to their age being the oldest. Jack claims that St. Jerome used them for the Vulgate, although it is believed that he compared pre-existing translations with whatever Greek manuscripts he could find. Later, he mentions a "Council of Toulouse", where the Bible (presumably the "Textus Receptus") which outside of a few Fundie websites who are most likely either parroting what Jack says or improvising on what Jack says, I have been able to find no information. On this "Textus Receptus", it is claimed by Jack that this was the true word of God that The Church would destroy. The real Textus Receptus was the first publication of a complete edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, cobbled by Desiderius Erasmus from one or two greek manuscripts (and for Revelation, he translated parts of it back into Greek from the Vulgate). Jack claims that as a reaction to the publication of the Textus Receptus, the Church created the Jesuits to destroy all copies. This is, of course, ridiculous. Immediately after this panel, Jack shows the King of England (most likely Henry VIII, even if Jack's portrait looks nothing like him) rebelling against the Church's authority, obstensively due to his distrust of the Pope's authority, but in reality, he rebelled because the Pope wouldn't let him divorce his wife, and so he created his own church (The Church of England, which ironically, now forbids divorce), and after several more decades, the King James Bible was created from the Textus Receptus. Eventually, people resorted to diminishing its credibility with the Alexandrian texts. In the end, Jack admonishes the reader to check 1 John 5:7 to see if it makes the Trinity explicitly mentioned, as a litmus test to see if it is a "true version". Ironically, according to Ehrman, the first edition of the Textus Receptus itself did not contain it (because Erasmus found no manuscript with it), and was widely criticized for this reason. It was instated when a manuscript (created specifically for the occasion) was found with it. This concludes my rant.
Band Name of the Day: The Anglican Fundamentalists. From a routine by Eddie Izzard on "Church of England Fundamentalism".
Film Idea of the Day: A road movie about an early-tewnty-something member of the Illinois State legislature and a political journalism student learning about politics journeying to Springfield to go see the legislature in session, with the former going on his first time, and the student learning from him. A more political Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Review of the Day: It's been a while since I've appraised a television series.
Black Books. A british series about a misanthropic bookstore owner named Bernard Black infamous for his hygeine and rudeness towards customers and his assistant Manny. This has to be the funniest British series I have stumbled upon in a while, even if only two of the three seasons (or series, as the Brits say) are currently on DVD.
Azumanga Daioh. As one can infer from the seemingly incomprehensible title, it is an anime and Manga series. It is, unlike most anime series, set in a Japanese public school, and centered around the personalities of 7 female students and 3 teachers in the school. Even among those who don't normally consider themselves otaku (Japanese for "anime geeks"), it is very funny, if you can get the references to Japanese culture that are explained in the fansubs of the anime and, to a lesser extent, in the manga.
Quote of the Day: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I did an original sin. I poked a badger with a spoon."
"Say five Hail Mary's and six Hello Dolly's!"
__________________Eddie Izzard.
Link of the Day: Type in the words and let the singers (everybody from Bobby Hatfield to Nick Drake to Jim Morrison to Chris Isaak) sing them.
Labels: Jack is Whack, The Damn Bible
posted by DerekAxe at 6:51 PM
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