eldritch?

Shoot me an email and let me know how you’re doing. It’s been TOO LONG since we’ve communicated!

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” (Rev 6:9)

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God…” (Rev 20:4)

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt 10:28)

“God, then, made man in His own image. For He created for him a soul endowed with reason and intelligence, so that he might excel all the creatures of earth, air, and sea, which were not so gifted… Wherefore, as regards bodily death, that is, the separation of the soul from the body, it is good unto none while it is being endured by those whom we say are in the article of death. For the very violence with which body and soul are wrenched asunder, which in the living had been conjoined
and closely intertwined, brings with it a harsh experience, jarring horridly on nature so long as it continues, till there comes a total loss of sensation, which arose from the very interpenetration of spirit and flesh.” (Augustine, City of God)

Lintillas 1,2 and 3: “well, why is there only one of you?”
Arthur: “Can I have notice of that question?”

The *identity* doesn’t stop them from having a soul, since identical twins have souls.

The *artificiality* doesn’t stop them from having a soul, since IVF babies have souls.

Of course, cloning humans may not be possible.

I originally used the NIV. I then moved on to other Bibles for a short while at a time to see what else was out there: KJV, NASB, ESV, NIV, ESV. I’m now settled on the ESV. The KJV uses words in a different way than we use them today, so you can read the wrong thing into it a lot. The NASB is good (my bro uses it and my favorite preacher), but sometimes the sentences are a little confusing. The NIV paraphrases a little bit too much for my tastes. The ESV is very literal like the NASB, but with (generally) nice, flowing English. Also, my ESV is a large-print Bible, so I don’t need to squint.

I’d generally recommend ESV, NASB, or NIV. I know plenty of people who like the NLT a lot, so that’s okay too, although it will do more paraphrasing/interpreting for you than the NIV which can be bad sometimes.

I’d recommend against any super-paraphrase Bibles like the Message. Almost every time I’ve compared the ESV’s attempt at an English translation of the original texts to the Message’s paraphrase/interpretation of the text, I’ve been horrified that people actually use that as their Bible.

I believe that the originals would be best, but since we don’t speak Greek and Hebrew, we should read a translation in our own language which seeks to just be a translation of the original. We should read God’s Word for what he actually said, and then apply it to ourselves after that. We shouldn’t begin with a paraphrase of what God meant until we actually hear what he said. It’s up to the Holy Spirit, the individual Christian, and the history of interpretation within the last 2,000 years of Biblical Christianity to decide what the Bible means, not the translator. The translator’s job is just to deliver to us what the Bible says.

It is interesting to consider, is it not?

http://hiraeth.squarespace.com/bookworm-bookmarks/2009/5/14/alphabet-copperplate-capitals.html