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Space Ripper Review
Charle Subketkaew September 9, 2018
With so much choice these days, it's easy to overlook games that have great potential to be a lasting favorite. In an age where 4K graphics, fast internet, and layered game mechanics that affect choices dominate the market, sometimes a simplistic game can remind us of the main reason why we play games: to have fun.
Space Ripper is a shoot'em up space shooter. It sticks to a simple formula of controlling your spaceship and take down the opposing ships for points. The more points you earn, the more you have to spend for future upgrades, dealing more damage, increasing your speed, or a different types of damage ability that destroys enemies quicker.
Graphically, Space Ripper has standard 2D graphics. This allows the game to keep a simple theme, but also incorporates the idea of pin-up models back at the hangar. The hangar is a place you'll visit often as you progress through to the end.
The story in Space Ripper is nonexistent. You are able to fly around through space, in all dimensions, despite this being just a 2D shooter. The main thing that drives the game forward is, as I've mentioned earlier, the upgrades and eventually running into a boss.
The early part of the game you're going to die a lot. It's a run of trial and error. You have little health, but the key is to destroy as many enemies as you can, while you accumulate points to buy upgrades later in the shop. Other than that, the game is straight forward.
Space Ripper is inspired by arcade shooter's of the past. It's high difficulty level and atmosphere of survival brings forth challenges to veterans of this genre, as well as something enticing for new players.
Despite the simple idea and easy to pick up gameplay, Space Ripper does suffer from a few drawbacks. First, the game's simplicity is also its biggest weakness. Instead of just having players control one spaceship, why not let us choose from different models with different specs of speed, armor, or firepower? Or make it modular and let players pick up components to customize how they want to control their spaceship? This is something the developer could explore in future game ideas or a possible sequel.
The second thing that holds the game back from perfection is the initial menu and look of the game. I weigh in all factors of a video game before making a final judgment, but this game felt like an exaggerated tutorial to me. There was no plot development, characters narrating the missions, or anything extra that kept me immersed in this world. If you're going for straight gameplay, Space Ripper can hold your attention for the arcade aspect, but it'd be nice to have some depth as I'm blasting through enemies.
The last thing that holds back Space Ripper from greatness is the curve of difficulty. As mentioned earlier, when you start the game, your basic weapon destroys enemies with a mouse click. This is to the point, but it also feels like a game of chance half the time, dodging enemies and getting a few shots in before your spaceship inevitably blows up, you revive, then repeat the process all over again.
Overall, this is a decent game for a simple arcade shooter. It doesn't offer a story, character development or multiple player choices, but it sticks to the fun factor and a variety of weapons, bosses, and enemies to blast through. The game is currently 1.99 on Steam. If you're wanting to kill some time in quick bursts of an arcade, this is your game. If you want something more, give this game a pass for now.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.
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It doesn't offer a story, character development or multiple player choices, but it sticks to the fun factor and a variety of weapons, bosses, and enemies to blast through.
Charle Subketkaew
Tags:2D, Action, AEY Inc., casual, indie, PC, PC Review, Rating 7/10, Rumata Lab, Shoot 'Em Up, Shooter, Space Ripper, Space Ripper Review, Vertical
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Well, hot on the heels of The Now Now music festival, I'll be heading off to The Short and Sweet theatre festival.
Short+Sweet began life in Newtown (Sydney, and my home base) has expanded nationally to Melbourne, the Central Coast, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, Townsville and Rockhampton; as well as internationally to Auckland, Malaysia, Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. In NSW alone, successful regional festivals have recently taken place in Dubbo and Broken Hill with five more online in 2013. The Short+Sweet family includes dance, cabaret, musical, youth and touring versions.
Pete Malicki (festival director and theatre legend) said that in its ten year history Short+Sweet Sydney has presented more than 2000 of the best ten minute plays from writers all over the world, with more than half of those coming from Australian writers. 3500 actors and 1600 directors have taken part with hundreds more staff, volunteers and crew members.
Highlights this year include "Harry Potter in 10 minutes", the return of award-winning (Short+Sweet and Tropfest) Downs Syndrome actor Gerard O'Dwyer and famed Sydney actor-director Lex Marinos.
I've been to select shows at Short and Sweet when I've supported friends with plays on display but I've never reviewed the entire festival. I'll be missing week one because of The Now Now, but I will be attending at least 1 night of each of the weeks that The Short and Sweet festival will be running.
If you want to get to any of these (you have to be lucky enough to live in Sydney Australia) then you can grab your tickets here.
And I'll see you there.


At Friesz Family Dentistry we have a staff that cares for you and your family with a warm atmosphere, individual attention and a small-business feel. We have one dentist, so you will always know who you are working with, which will ideally minimize the anxiety that may come from a dental appointment. Read on to learn more about our highly qualified dentist, hygienists and staff.
Dr. Friesz and his wife, DeeDee, grew up in Mandan, North Dakota. They both attended the same high school and through the years have raised two wonderful children, Jazmyn and Nevin.
In 2002, Dr. Friesz graduated with his DDS degree from the University of Minnesota and began his search for the right place for his family to call home. St. Cloud seemed perfect from the start. Everyone has welcomed them so warmly and they have enjoyed all the recreation the St. Cloud area has to offer.
Kristi has been with Friesz Family Dentistry as the full-time office receptionist and dental assistant since Dr. Friesz purchased the practice in 2003. She is a graduate of St. Cloud Technical College with her Dental Assisting License and is licensed with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. Kristi is married and has two grown sons. She enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Sarah is a graduate of St. Cloud Technical College with an AAS Degree in Dental Hygiene and is licensed with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. With 14 years of experience, Sarah was a dental assistant prior to returning to school for dental hygiene. Sarah has a son and a daughter. She enjoys going to movies, sporting events, scrapbooking and socializing with family and friends.
Abby is a graduate of Central Lakes College with an AAS degree in Dental Assisting and is licensed with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. She joined the Friesz Family Dentistry team fall of 2012. She enjoys fishing, going to the lake, and playing cards with family and friends.
Theresa is a licensed dental assistant who graduated from Hennepin Technical College and is licensed with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. Theresa joined the Friesz Family Dentistry team in the fall of 2013. Theresa is married with two sons. She enjoys watching her sons play hockey as well as spending time with family and friends.
Leah joined Friesz Family Dentistry in January 2014. She graduated with her dental hygiene degree from St. Cloud Technical and Community College in 2012 and is licensed with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. Leah enjoys spending time with family and friends, dining out, hiking, crafts and antiques. She enjoys taking on new adventures.
Melanie graduated from Hennepin Technical College with an AAS Degree in Dental Assisting. Melanie recently completed the restorative functions program at the U of MN. During her free time, Melanie enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and shopping.


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Q: when storing different values through loop iterations this error appear single positional indexer is out-of-bounds I need to store the output of this loop in a dataframe where I have 2 functions working inside the loop:
-choosing_sec():  takes one input which is number of sectors and provides a tuple of 3 output dataframes used in calculations in the second function
-cal_RSRP(): the second functions which takes two inputs in addition to the output of the fist function and return a dataframe of one column.
I need to store the output of cal_RSRP() for each iteration in a new dataframe so I created this code:
number_sectors = 4
n = 1
while n <= number_sectors :
    sector = choosing_sec(n)
    antenna = sector[0]
    azimuth = sector[1]
    tilt =  sector[2]
    ACP_RSRP = cal_RSRP(250,30)
    from pandas import DataFrame
    ACP_RSRP = DataFrame(ACP_RSRP)
    ACP_RSRP = ACP_RSRP.iloc[:, n-1].values
    n = n+1

and the error is:
single positional indexer is out-of-bounds

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested a North Port woman for Child Neglect after her 2-year-old son suffered severe burns, the office has announced. Devon Rowand, 24, of 425 Granada Blvd., A1, North Port, called the victim's father on Jan. 25 and told him there had been a "little accident," according to the report. Rowand said she was blow-drying the boy's hair after bathing him, but she left him in the tub briefly while she went to check on her two-month- old in the home, the report continues. She said the boy burned himself but she did not want to take him to the emergency room because she would be reported to the Department of Children and Families, the report continues. When Rowand returned the boy to his father on Jan. 29, the man saw the burns on the child's left thigh and genitals and immediately took him to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) satellite unit in North Port for treat- ment, the report says. Doctors determined the boy had first- and second-degree burns, a news release notes. An SMH physician told officers the burns "appeared to be consistent with an accident," the report says. Later, Rowand admitted that the bathtub had not drained completely when she left the older child to check on the younger one, the report continues. She added that she left the blow dryer on the closed toilet seat next to the tub, according to the report. The dryer "stays hot for so long after it's turned off that she never puts it back in the closet until at least 30 min- utes has elapsed," the report adds. Rowand is charged with Child Neglect for knowingly leaving her unclothed toddler unsupervised, next to a defective hot hair dryer that was still plugged in, and next to a bathtub containing water, the release says. She is being held without bond. NORTH PORT WOMAN CHARGED IN CHILD-NEGLECT CASE Devon Rowand/Contributed photo Simply put, Crime Stoppers relies upon the cooperation between the police the media and the community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals. All submitted tips are secure and anonymous. (941) 366-TIPS (8477) • SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com Sarasota News Leader February 7, 2014 Page 90
http://www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com
http://SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Phi Mu Fraternity April 15, 2016 Vibrant Volunteers
Leading into the Future
L to R: Katrina Laskowsky, Gamma Alpha, and Suzann Derickson, Eta Delta.
Meet Suzann Hibbard Derickson, ΔH! Suzann is a dedicated fifth grade team leader at North Pointe Elementary in Hebron, Kentucky. Some say teaching is in her blood, as both of her parents were teachers as well. Suzann knew at an early age she wanted to teach 5th grade, as it was a life-changing year for her.
Name: Suzann Hibbard Derickson
Chapter of Initiation: Delta Eta, Georgetown College
Current Location: Florence, Kentucky
When the last school bell rings, Suzann's focus shifts to the ladies of the Delta Zeta Chapter at the University of Cincinnati. As Chapter Adviser since 2014 when the group reopened, she attends chapter events, meetings and is there to assist in any way possible. She also holds a seat as a Delta Eta Advisory Council member (Georgetown College). From 2010-2011, she served as Delta Eta Chapter Association President and from 2012-2014 as Greater Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter President and as an Area Operations and Finance Director.
Suzann shares, "Volunteering for Phi Mu is important to me because it allows me to give back to my Fraternity which has given me so much. Phi Mu has given me unforgettable memories; lasting friendships; countless opportunities to grow as a woman and leader; and mentors, like my chapter adviser, Sharon Henson, who have believed in me so much that I began believing in myself. When asked by unaffiliated friends and family members why I pour hours of my life into the fraternity, my consistent response is, "because someone did it for me." I serve as the chapter adviser to ensure the ladies of the Delta Zeta chapter have a strong sisterhood that operates successfully so the collegians are afforded the same opportunities I was, and I hope I can be to a collegian what my adviser, and other Phi Mu mentors, have been to me."
Pictured from L to R: Natalie Yim, Delta Zeta Chapter President; Nicki Klass, former Delta Zeta Chapter President; Suzann; and Hannah Pfaltzgraff, Delta Zeta Chapter Vice President for Panhellenic and 2015 Greek Woman of the Year. This picture was taken after the Greek Awards Banquet where the chapter was recognized as a Red and Black chapter and for Academic Excellence. Delta Zeta also received the Alumni Engagement Award. Natalie received a Rho Lambda Scholarship and Nicki was awarded Sorority President of the Year. Hannah took home the Greek Woman of the Year Award.
Area Operations and Finance Director Sharon Henson, ΔH, explains, "I am proud of Suzanne for accepting the position of chapter adviser, for serving the Fraternity, and for doing it just because she loves Phi Mu and wants to give back."
The last #vibrantvolunteer that Phi Mu will feature is Katrina Gail Laskowsky, ΓA.
Name: Katrina Gail Laskowsky
Chapter of Initiation: Gamma Alpha, William & Mary
Current Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
In 2013, Katrina started her role as Gamma Alpha Chapter Association President which she continues to serve in today. She also serves on the National Alumnae Membership Committee as the Alumnae Membership Coordinator. Katrina is a Fredericksburg-area Phi Mu activist, keeping many alumnae connected through social media.
Professionally, Katrina serves as the Curriculum and Training Specialist in the Marine and Family Programs Division for the United States Marine Corps. In her civilian position, she partners with subject matter experts to develop and refine training provided to Marines and their families in the realm of Personal and Professional Development.
"A few years after I graduated, I moved from an area with an active alumnae chapter to one too far away for any regular fellowship with either an alumnae chapter or a collegiate chapter. Without the benefit of nearby sisters, I struggled to find myself as an alumna. Then my collegiate chapter closed. (Don't worry, there's great news: we start extension this fall!). I began working with other Gamma Alpha alumnae, and with Phi Mu Headquarters, to establish the Gamma Alpha Chapter Association. I reached out to alumnae so we could show our "last" collegians that Phi Mu sisterhood is "not four years;" that gave me a renewed purpose, with regard to Phi Mu. Since I began volunteering with Phi Mu, my sense of sisterhood has been rekindled. Volunteering allows me the opportunity to give back to our sisterhood in the best way I can — with my time. It also allows me to stay active, engaged, and inspired as an alumna who lives too far away from alumnae and collegiate chapters to be a traditionally active alumna member. I encourage all sisters to bring their experiences, ideas, and skills to Phi Mu and give back to this vibrant sisterhood of ours." – Katrina
Pictured from L to R: Katrina; Carrie Smith, Gamma Alpha; Mindy Maris, Gamma Alpha; and Shelbi Mackenzie, Gamma Alpha.
National Assistant Director of Alumnae Membership Shelly McFall Aull, ΔΛ, shares, "From the day I met Katrina, I could see her passion for Phi Mu. She is incredibly motivated and dedicated to our Fraternity. She is an instrumental leader in her chapter association, and this spills over into the alumnae department. We are lucky to have her as an integral part of our team, and her positive attitude and willingness to serve are contagious."
Suzann and Katrina, thank you so much for all you do for Phi Mu!
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As If Working A Full-Time Job Isn't Enough
12 Girls Night Ideas that Guarantee a Good Time


Warning of the dangers of what she calls "the single story" about any given place or people, the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says that it "creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete." Too often in the United States, we have created a single narrative about foreign countries, particularly African countries: They're impoverished and war-torn and beset by disease or, more benignly, simply teeming with exotic animals.
Thankfully, the single story seems to be giving way as American publishing has embraced a vibrant chorus of voices from the African continent — Adichie, NoViolet Bulawayo and Chigozie Obioma among others. To which we can now add one more, Tendai Huchu, whose debut novel, "The Hairdresser of Harare," while uneven, provides a fresh and moving account of contemporary Zimbabwe. When the novel opens, Huchu's narrator, Vimbai, is a struggling single mother, estranged from her family. But she is also the best hairdresser in Harare — at least until a charismatic fellow named Dumisani arrives at her salon. The secrets Dumi brings with him ultimately transform Vimbai and her understanding of the world around her.
Late in the novel, on a trip to Victoria Falls, Vimbai and Dumi encounter a BBC reporter covering the collapse of the tourist industry. He tells them about an encounter with a man who changed his tire and gave him a live chicken, the kind of story that "doesn't make for great news." Most of Huchu's novel, dealing as it does with the quotidian, wouldn't either. We follow Vimbai as she struggles to catch one of the city's kombi buses (which spend more time queuing for increasingly scarce gas than picking up passengers), watches the latest Will Smith movie, visits an open-air philosophy club and hands over bricks of near-useless currency in exchange for black-market sugar. The novel's characters and their problems aren't extraordinary, but that's precisely what makes them feel so real.
Vimbai's narrative is economical, often comic, but it's sometimes burdened by cliché. (She explains her attraction to a man because he "had a way with words" and, remarking on another man who's interested in her, says his "eyes quickly devoured my body.") Huchu also tends to use overlong stretches of dialogue to convey information.
While the novel doesn't become didactic in its portrayal of complex sociopolitical issues, it never fully engages with them either. Vimbai's professional success is related almost as if it were part of a fairy tale — magically underwritten by characters we're told are rich, at least in part, because of "the numerous palms . . . greased along the way," without much recognition that this sort of patronage, allowing certain people to advance because of status and money, has consequences for others without such connections. Vimbai never seems especially conflicted about the source of her good fortune; since the narrative sticks to her perspective, neither does the novel. And yet, "The Hairdresser of Harare" ultimately wins us over with the vividness of its setting and characters, and with its reminder of the multitude of rich stories to be found in their daily lives.
189 pp. Ohio University Press. Cloth, $35. Paper, $16.95.
Mary Helen Specht's novel, "Migratory Animals," was published in January.


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Sponsored: WGU North Carolina, USO of N.C. to offer eight military scholarships
By Taylor Wanbaugh
Sponsored: WGU North Carolina, USO of N.C. to offer eight military scholarships2019-03-042019-03-04http://businessnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/bncweblogoblacksmall_space-01.pngBusiness North Carolinahttps://businessnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/file-13.jpeg200px200px
This content is brought to you in partnership with WGU North Carolina, an accredited online university offering affordable and personalized online bachelor's and master's degree programs.
WGU North Carolina and the United Service Organization of North Carolina are teaming up on a new scholarship program that will benefit the state's military community. The Military Service Scholarship will provide eight scholarships valued at $2,500 each, available to currently serving military members, veterans and their families.
The scholarships can be applied to any of the more than 60 bachelor's and master's degrees offered by WGU in business, information technology, education and health care. Recipients will be credited with $625 per six-month term, renewable for up to four terms. Tuition is around $3,225 per six-month term for most degree programs.
"Continuing education is the cornerstone of one's professional career progression — whether in the military or transitioning into the civilian workforce," says USO of N.C. President and CEO John Falkenbury. "The USO of North Carolina is proud to be part of this effort to support service members and their families. These scholarships will provide eight awardees the opportunity to further their education and transition into civilian life or a new career."
Scholarships will be awarded based on a candidate's academic record, readiness for online study, current competency, and other considerations. The application deadline is May 31.
WGU has been recognized for 11 consecutive years by Military Advanced Education & Transition magazine as a Top School and for seven consecutive years as a Military Friendly School. Eighteen percent of the nearly 3,000 North Carolina students enrolled in WGU are affiliated with the military community.
"As a military spouse, I know firsthand the sacrifices that servicemen and women make everyday," says WGU North Carolina Chancellor Catherine Truitt. "It's our hope that the Military Service Scholarships will honor their dedication and provide a means for eight deserving North Carolinians in the military community to advance their education and achieve their professional goals."
WGU North Carolina, an online competency-based university, offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs including business, K-12 teacher education, information technology and health professions. Check out their full list of degree programs and admissions guide, sign up for their newsletter, or follow them on social media to jump start your education. For more information about the Military Service Scholarships, visit nc.wgu.edu/militaryservice.
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The fact of the inspiration of the Bible as God's special revelation to man naturally leads to the question what particular books are canonical, that is, what books are inspired and should be recognized as a part of God's authoritative revelation? This is especially true, since many other religious books were written during both the Old and New Testament periods. Are any inspired books missing? Are any books included that should not be in our Bible? Is our Old Testament Bible the same as the Lord's, and is our New Testament the same as the Bible of the church fathers? These are obviously vital questions for the people of God to determine.
Canon was needed because of the actions of people like Marcion and Montanus. A wealthy ship owner named Marcion sailed from his home near the Black Sea to the capital city of Rome. Marcion believed that the God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New Testament. The former was distant and loved justice, while the latter was loving and emphasized grace.
Marcion rejected the Old Testament, along with any writings that might reinforce views other than his own. He developed a list of books he considered acceptable: portions of the Gospel of Luke, ten of Paul's letters, plus a letter purportedly from Paul to the Alexandrians. This list is known as the Marcion Canon. The church had to respond to this. Though nothing had been officially written down, decided, or proclaimed, the church felt most Christians had a sense of what was Scripture and what wasn't.
Between A.D. 156 and 172, another problem appeared on the scene. His name was Montanus. Montanus was accompanied by two prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla. "The Three" spoke in ecstatic visions and encouraged their followers to fast and pray, calling the church to a higher standard of righteousness and zeal. If that was as far as their teaching went, they would have been an asset. But their message included what they called "new prophecy," which pushed Christ and the apostolic message into the background. The age of Jesus was being superseded by the age of the Holy Spirit, and Montanus was its spokesman.
Was Montanus truly bringing a new prophecy with new authority? Was his prophecy more authoritative than Jesus and the apostles? This question prompted the church to respond a second time.
In A.D. 144, the church of Rome excommunicated Marcion and continued the sifting process on what was Scripture and what wasn't. The Montanus controversy pushed the church to ask further questions of their Scriptures. Specifically, was God bringing further revelation? Could that revelation be true if it contradicted things taught by Jesus and the apostles? Could new truth change or add to the basic teachings the church had been feeding on for the past century? The answer was no. From this the church concluded that the canon of Scripture was closed.
Pushed by these dilemmas the church developed its list of canonical books. The following are guidelines for accepting a book into the New Testament:
1. Was the book written by a prophet of God?
2. Was the writer confirmed by acts of God?
3. Does the message tell the truth about God?
4. Did it come with the power of God?
5. Was it accepted by God's people?
These are the marks of canonicity. "Canon" is a Greek word meaning "rule" or "measuring stick." These five questions are used to determine which books "measure up" to being labeled divinely inspired. They exhibit "the marks of canonicity."
Turn to a Bible's table of contents and you'll see that each of the books was written by either a prophet or apostle (Ephesians 2:20), or by someone with a direct relationship to one.
Miracles were the means by which God confirmed the authority of his spokesmen. In Exodus 4, Moses was given miraculous powers to confirm his call. In 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul teaches that the mark of an apostle is "signs, wonders and miracles."
Truth cannot contradict itself, so agreement with the other books of Scripture was only logical. As was historical accuracy. If the facts of a book were inaccurate, it couldn't have been from God.
The inner witness of the Spirit was equally important. A key question these early Christians asked was, "When we read this, is there an inner sense from God, that what is written is right and true?"
Initial acceptance by people to whom the work was addressed was crucial. What was the original audience's sense? Did they accept the book as an authoritative word from God? Daniel, who lived within a few years of Jeremiah, called Jeremiah's book "Scripture" in Daniel 9:2. Paul called the Gospel of Luke "Scripture" in 1 Timothy 5:18. Peter affirmed that Paul's letters were "Scripture" in 2 Peter 3:16.
The Muratorian Fragment: Even before Marcion and Montanus, the church was aware of these important criteria. In A.D. 96, Clement of Rome wrote "The apostles were made evangelists to us by the Lord Christ; Jesus Christ was sent by God. Thus Christ is from God and the apostles from Christ. . . . The Church is built on them as a foundation" (1 Clement 42).
After Marcion and Montanus, lists of New Testament books begin to appear. One of the first was The Muratorian Fragment. It was discovered among the Vatican's sacred documents by historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori in 1740 and dates to about A.D. 190. The fragment is damaged. The portion we possess begins with "the third book of the Gospel is that according to Luke." We assume the first and second Gospels to be Matthew and Mark. The fragment lists John, Acts, all of Paul's letters, James, 1-2 John, Jude and the Revelation of John. It also includes the Revelation of Peter, the Wisdom of Solomon and ("to be used in private, but not public worship") the Shepherd of Hermas.
Eusebius: By the early third century only a handful of books that we now call our New Testament were in question. In western regions of the empire, the book of Hebrews faced opposition, and in the east Revelation was unpopular. Eusebius, a church historian of the fourth century, records that James, 2 Peter, 2-3 John and Jude were the only books "spoken against" (though recognized by others).
Athanasius: In 367, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, wrote an Easter letter that contained all twenty seven books of our present New Testament. In 393 the Synod of Hippo affirmed our current New Testament, and in 397 the Council of Carthage published the same list.
That God would provide and preserve a Canon of Scripture without addition or deletion is not only necessary, but it is logically credible. If we believe that God exists as an almighty God, then revelation and inspiration are clearly possible. If we believe in such a God, it is also probable that He would, out of love and for His own purposes and designs, reveal Himself to men. Because of man's obvious condition in sin, and his obvious inability to meet his spiritual needs (regardless of all his learning and technological advances), special revelation revealed in a God breathed book is not only possible, logical, and probable, but a necessity.
The evidence shows that the Bible is unique and that God is its author. The evidence declares that "all Scripture is God breathed and profitable …" (2 Tim. 3:16) and that "no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Pet. 1:20-21). In view of this, the logical question is: "Would it not be unreasonable for God to fail to providentially care for these inspired documents, to preserve them from destruction, and so guide in their collection and arrangement, so that they would all be present with none missing, and none added that were not inspired?"
There are a number of important considerations that must be kept in mind when considering the issue of canonicity (or how the books of the Bible came to be recognized and held to be a part of the Bible).
A summary of these issues:
1. Self authentication: It is essential to remember that the Bible is self authenticating since its books were breathed out by God (2 Tim. 3:16). In other words, the books were canonical the moment they were written. It was not necessary to wait until various councils could examine the books to determine if they were acceptable or not. Their canonicity was inherent within them, since they came from God. People and councils only recognized and acknowledged what is true because of the intrinsic inspiration of the books as they were written. No Bible book became canonical by action of some church council.
2. Decisions of men: Nevertheless, men and councils did have to consider which books should be recognized as part of the canon, for there were some candidates that were not inspired. Some decisions and choices had to be made, and God guided groups of people to make correct choices (not without guidelines) and to collect the various writings into the canons of the Old and New Testaments.
3. Debates over canonicity: In the process of deciding and collecting, it would not be unexpected that some disputes would arise about some of the books. This was in fact, the case. However, these debates in no way weaken the authenticity of the truly canonical books, nor do they give status to those which were not inspired by God.
4. Completion of canon: Since A.D. 397 the Christian church has considered the canon of the Bible to be complete; if it is complete, then it must be closed. Therefore, we cannot expect any more books to be discovered or written that would open the canon again and add to its sixty six books. Even if a letter of Paul were discovered, it would not be canonical. After all, Paul must have written many letters during his lifetime in addition to the ones that are in the New Testament; yet the church did not include them in the canon. Not everything an apostle wrote was inspired, for it was not the writer who was inspired but his writings, and not necessarily all of them.
The more recent books of the cults which are placed alongside the Bible are not inspired and have no claim to be part of the canon of Scripture.
The term "canon" is used to describe the books that are divinely inspired and therefore belong in the Bible. The difficulty in determining the biblical canon is that the Bible does not give us a list of the books that belong in the Bible.
Determining the canon was a process conducted first by Jewish rabbis and scholars, and later by early Christians. Ultimately, it was God who decided what books belonged in the biblical canon. A book of Scripture belonged in the canon from the moment God inspired its writing.
The Hebrew Bible of today is substantially the same as the original writings, with only physical changes like the addition of vowel pointings, reading aids in the margins, and a change to a more open form of the letters, etc. In Romans 3:2 we are told that the "oracles of God," the Old Testament Scripture, had been entrusted to the Jews; they were to be the custodians of the Old Testament. This precisely fits what we know about the Jews and the Old Testament. They have always been a people of one book who have guarded it with extreme care and precision. From the time of Ezra and even before, there were priests (Deut. 31:24-26) and later scribes called "sopherim" who were given the responsibility to copy and meticulously care for the sacred text so they could hand down the correct reading.
To ensure this accuracy, later scribes known as the Masoretes developed a number of strict measures to ensure that every fresh copy was an exact reproduction of the original. They established tedious procedures to protect the text against being changed. For instance, (a) when obvious errors were noted in the text, perhaps because a tired scribe fell asleep, the text was still not changed. Instead, a correction was placed in the margin called "qere," ( meaning "to be read") and that which was written in the text was called, "kethibh," (meaning "to be written"); (b) When a word was considered textually, grammatically, or exegetically questionable, dots were placed above that word; (c) Minute statistics were also kept as a further means of guarding against errors: in the Hebrew Bible at Leviticus 8:8, the margin has a reference that this verse is the middle verse of the Torah. According to the note at Leviticus 10:16 the word "darash" is the middle word in the Torah. At the end of each book are statistics as: the total number of verses in Deuteronomy is 955, the total in the entire Torah is 5,845; the total number of words is 97,856, and the total number of letters is 400,945.
In this we see the painstaking procedures the Jews went through to assure the accurate transmission of the text. Our English Bible is a translation of this Hebrew text which has been handed down to us. God made the Jews the custodians of the Old Testament record. Though their eyes may be blind to its truth (Isa. 6:10; John 12:40; Rom. 10:1-3; 11:7), they have guarded its transmission with great accuracy.
The original copies of the Old Testament were written on leather or papyrus from the time of Moses (c. 1450 B.C.) to the time of Malachi (400 B.C.). Until the sensational discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 we did not possess copies of the Old Testament earlier than A.D. 895. The reason for this is simply that the Jews had an almost superstitious veneration for the text which impelled them to bury copies that had become too old for use. Indeed, the "Masoretes" (traditionalists) who between A.D 600 and 950 added accents and vowel points, and in general standardized the Hebrew text, devised complicated safeguards for the making of copies (as described above). When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, they gave us a Hebrew text from the second to first century B.C. of all but one of the books (Esther) of the Old Testament. This was of the greatest importance, for it provided a much earlier check on the accuracy of the Masoretic text, which has now proved to be extremely accurate.
The Masoretic text of the Hebrew Old Testament contains twenty four books, beginning with Genesis and ending with 2 Chronicles. Though this arrangement of the Old Testament is in only twenty four books, the subject matter is identical with the thirty nine book division of our Protestant English Bible. The difference is in the "order" and "division" of the arrangement of the books. The reason for this is that the Protestant canon of the Old Testament has been influenced by the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX) made about 250-160 B.C.
Other early checks on the Hebrew text include the Septuagint translation (middle of third century B.C.), the Aramaic Targums (paraphrases and quotes of the Old Testament), quotations in early Christian writers, and the Latin translation of Jerome (A.D. 400) which was made directly from the Hebrew text of his day. All of these give us the data for being assured of having an accurate text of the Old Testament.
The Three Fold Division of Jewish Scripture:
Tanakh = Hebrew Bible
Torah = The Law/The Way
Nevi'im = Prophets (Former & Latter Prophets)
Ketuvium = Writings
1) (Torah) The Law/The Way or The Pentateuch (5 books)—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
(2) (Nevi'im) The Prophets (originally 8 books, then 21)
The Former Prophets (originally 4 books, then 6)—Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 & 2), Kings (1 & 2)
The Latter Prophets (originally 4 books, then 15) Major: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel (3 books) Minor: The 12 (originally 1 book, then 12)
(3) (Ketuvium) The Writings (originally 11 books, then 13)
Poetical (3 books) —Psalms, Proverbs, Job
The Rolls (5 books) —Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther
Historical (originally 3 books, then 5) —Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (2), Chronicles (1 & 2)
By the time of the New Testament this threefold division was recognized (Luke 24:44). Other designations such as "The Scripture" (John 10:35) and "The Sacred Writings" (2 Tim. 3:15) suggest a generally accepted Old Testament canon. This threefold division was also attested to by Josephus (A.D. 37-95), Bishop Melito of Sardis (ca. A.D. 170), Tertullian (A.D. 160-250), and others. The Council of Jamnia in A.D. 90 is generally considered the occasion whereby the Old Testament canon was publicly recognized, while debating the canonicity of several books.
Evidence for the canonicity of the Old Testament in the New Testament.
(1) Old Testament quotations in the New. There are some 250 quotes from Old Testament books in the New Testament. None are from the Apocrypha. All Old Testament books are quoted except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.
(2) Old Testament quotations by Jesus Christ. In Matthew 5:17-18, the Lord declared that the Law and the Prophets, a reference that includes all of the Old Testament, then summarized as "the Law" in verse 18, would be fulfilled. This declared it was therefore God's authoritative Word.
Compared to the New Testament, there was much less controversy over the canon of the Old Testament. Hebrew believers recognized God's messengers and accepted their writings as inspired of God. While there was undeniably some debate in regards to the Old Testament canon, by A.D. 250 there was nearly universal agreement on the canon of Hebrew Scripture.
The only issue that remained was the Apocrypha, with some debate and discussion continuing today. The vast majority of Hebrew scholars considered the Apocrypha to be good historical and religious documents, but not on the same level as the Hebrew Scriptures. For the New Testament, the process of the recognition and collection began in the first centuries of the Christian church. Very early on, some of the New Testament books were being recognized.
Paul considered Luke's writings to be as authoritative as the Old Testament (1 Timothy 5:18; see also Deuteronomy 25:4 and Luke 10:7). Peter recognized Paul's writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).
Some of the books of the New Testament were being circulated among the churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27).
Clement of Rome mentioned at least eight New Testament books (A.D. 95). Ignatius of Antioch acknowledged about seven books (A.D. 115). Polycarp, a disciple of John the apostle, acknowledged 15 books (A.D. 108). Later, Irenaeus mentioned 21 books (A.D. 185). Hippolytus recognized 22 books (A.D. 170-235).
The New Testament books receiving the most controversy were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.
The first "canon" was the Muratorian Canon, which was compiled in AD 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament books except Hebrews, James, and 3 John. In AD 363, the Council of Laodicea stated that only the Old Testament (along with one book of the Apocrypha) and 26 books of the New Testament (everything but Revelation) were canonical and to be read in the churches. The Council of Hippo (AD 393) and the Council of Carthage (AD 397) also affirmed the same 27 books as authoritative.
The councils followed something similar to the following principles to determine whether a New Testament book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit: 1) Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle? 2) Is the book being accepted by the body of Christ at large? 3) Did the book contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching? 4) Did the book bear evidence of high moral and spiritual values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit?
Again, it is crucial to remember that the church did not determine the canon. No early church council decided on the canon. It is important to note that religious councils at no time had any power to cause books to be inspired, rather they simply recognized that which God had inspired at the exact moment the books were written.
It was God, and God alone, who determined which books belonged in the Bible. It was simply a matter of God's imparting to His followers what He had already decided. The human process of collecting the books of the Bible was flawed, but God, in His sovereignty, and despite our ignorance and stubbornness, brought the early church to the recognition of the books He had inspired.
If Scripture is to be our sole authority, on what authority do we know which books belong in the Bible, since the Bible does not state which books should be in the Bible? This is a very important question, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the chain of communication from God to humanity, is there a weak link? If so, then the whole chain fails, and the communication ultimately cannot be trusted.
Consider the various "links" comprising God's communication to us:
1) First came God's desire to communicate. This was rooted in His love, for the most loving thing a good God can do is reveal Himself to His creation.
2) Next came the actual transmission of God's Word through human writers. This involved a process the Bible calls "inspiration," in which God breathed the words that the human agents recorded (2 Timothy 3:16).
3) After that came dissemination, as the Word was delivered to its audience through preaching or other means.
4) Then came recognition, as God's people distinguished Holy Scripture from other religious writings.
5) Then, preservation, through which God's Word has survived to the present day, despite many attempts to destroy it.
6) Finally, illumination, as the Holy Spirit opens the believer's understanding to receive the Word.
7) That's the "chain," the demonstration of God's love in the inspiration, dissemination, recognition, preservation, and illumination of His Word. We believe that God was involved in each step of the process, for why would God go to such lengths to inspire His Word, and then not preserve it? Why would He speak to us, and then fail to guide us in recognizing His speech?
This recognition of God's Word is usually called "canonization." We are careful to say that God determined the canon, and the church discovered the canon. The canon of Scripture was not created by the church; rather, the church discovered or recognized it. In other words, God's Word was inspired and authoritative from its inception and it "stands firm in the heavens" (Psalm 119:89) and the church simply recognized that fact and accepted it.
The criteria the church used for recognizing and collecting the Word of God are as follows: 1) Was the book written by a prophet of God? 2) Was the writer authenticated by miracles to confirm his message? 3) Does the book tell the truth about God, with no falsehood or contradiction? 4) Does the book evidence a divine capacity to transform lives? 5) Was the book accepted as God's Word by the people to whom it was first delivered?
Of these criteria, the one of most importance was the first one: was the book written by a prophet? If so, the next question would be, "Did the book receive apostolic approval?" This was the chief test of canonicity in the early church. This criterion is a logical result of knowing what an "apostle" was. The apostles were gifted by God to be the founders and leaders of the church, so it is reasonable to accept that through them, came the Word governing the church.
The apostles were promised the Spirit of truth who would bring to their remembrance what Christ had said (John 14:26) and guide them into "all truth" (John 16:13). After the ascension of Christ, the apostles received supernatural gifts to enable their work and confirm their message (Acts 2:4). God's household is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20). Given the apostles' special commission, it only makes sense that the church made apostolicity the number one test of canonicity. Thus, the Gospel of Matthew was considered canonical (it was written by an apostle); and the Gospel of Mark, with its close association with the Apostle Peter (Mark in church tradition a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter), was also accepted.
When the New Testament was being written, the individual books and letters were immediately accepted as God's Word and circulated for the benefits of others. The church of Thessalonica received Paul's word as the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Paul's epistles were circulating among the churches even during apostolic times (Colossians 4:16). Peter recognized Paul's writings as inspired by God and equated them with "the rest of the Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15-16). Paul quoted the Gospel of Luke and called it "Scripture" (1 Timothy 5:18). This widespread acceptance stands in stark contrast to the few debated books, eventually rejected as non canonical, that enjoyed a limited inclusion for a time.
Later, as heresy increased, and some within the church began asking for the acceptance of false religious writings, the church wisely held a council to officially confirm their acceptance of the 27 New Testament books. The criteria they used allowed them to objectively distinguish what God had given them from that of human origin. They concluded that they would stay with the books that were universally accepted. In so doing, they determined to continue in "the apostles' teaching" (Acts 2:42).
The Antilegomena and Homologumena: The "antilegomena" is a collection of Bible texts that were subject to a high level of skepticism while the canon of Scripture was being established. The word "antilegomena" literally means "spoken against" and was applied to those writings that were accepted by the majority of the early church but had more detractors than other books. The books classified as antilegomena were questioned in different ways and for different reasons than those that were rejected as non canonical. Writings that were clearly seen as "non inspired" or "heretical" were branded as such by the early church.
Another group of writings, known as the "homologumena," was recognized as inspired and enjoyed universal acceptance in the early church.
As the early church grew, it became important to distinguish between God's Word, and writings that were not God's Word. The twenty seven books of the modern New Testament quickly became accepted as the canon of Scripture.
However, seven of those twenty seven books were subject to more debate than the others. Those seven were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. Unlike the works that were rejected outright, these books contained no obvious disqualifiers. They did not present heresy, they were not clearly linked to a non orthodox church, and so forth. Rather, each fell short in the minds of some early Christians, according to the criteria given before.
Other categories of ancient writings, such as the "pseudepigrapha" ( books that attempt to imitate Scripture but that were written under false names) and "Apocrypha" (non inspired human writings), were viewed in a completely different light as compared to the "antilegomena" (accepted by majority, but spoken against). Even as the New Testament was being written, the church recognized the existence of false writings (2 Thessalonians 2:2). This explains the abundance of caution the church used in officially recognizing works as inspired. The antilegomena were less readily accepted, not because they were flawed but because the early church was exceedingly careful in what it endorsed as inspired text.
The book of Hebrews was considered antilegomena (accepted by majority, but spoken against) because it is technically anonymous. Other New Testament books either clearly state their author or can be traced directly to an apostle. The book of Hebrews does neither, although it matches all of the other criteria for the biblical canon.
The book of James has always been subject to controversy, mostly because of its complex discussion of the relationship between saving faith and good works. For this reason, some in the early church hesitated to accept it, and it was classified as one of the antilegomena (accepted by majority, but spoken against) .
Second Peter is easily the most heavily disputed book of the antilegomena (accepted by majority, but spoken against). More than anything else, the differences in style between 1 Peter and 2 Peter led to debates over whether or not it was legitimate. Over time, mounting evidence won over the skeptics, and 2 Peter was acknowledged to be canonical.
The letters of 2 John and 3 John do not identify their authors as clearly as other New Testament texts. In particular, they use the term "elder" rather than "apostle," which led to some doubt concerning authorship. This wording was not uncommon for the apostles, however, and the short letters of John's were never doubted to the same extent as 2 Peter.
Jude is an interesting member of the antilegomena. Jude was questioned for making explicit references to non inspired works. Parts of the book of Jude allude to stories told in the non canonical "The Assumption of Moses" and "The Book of Enoch." However, because Jude does not endorse those writings as Scripture (Jude merely uses them as examples to support his points), this controversy was eventually settled.
Revelation has the distinction of being the most persistently questioned of the antilegomena. Though it was never questioned to the same degree as 2 Peter, critics continued to express doubts about it long after other books of the antilegomena had been widely accepted. Revelation's biggest stumbling block was that its symbolism was open to such wide interpretation. A few early sects attempted to use the book to justify bizarre doctrines, which made Revelation guilty by association in the eyes of some early church members.
Most books of the New Testament were accepted very soon after being written: "the homologumena." The "antilegomena" (accepted by majority, but spoken against) were less readily accepted for various reasons. The extreme caution exercised by the early church led to these seven books being more heavily examined prior to their eventual acceptance into the canon of Scripture.
The pseudepigrapha: The "pseudepigrapha" are the books that attempt to imitate Scripture but that were written under false names. The term "pseudepigrapha" comes from the Greek "pseudo," meaning "false," and "epigraphein," meaning "to inscribe," thus, "to write falsely." The pseudepigraphical books were written anywhere from 200 BC to AD 300. They are spurious works written by unknown authors who attempted to gain a readership by tacking on the name of a famous biblical character. Obviously, a book called the "Testament of Abraham" has a better chance of being read than the "Fake Testament of an Unknown Author."
While the pseudepigrapha may be of interest to students of history and ancient religious thought, they are not inspired by God and therefore not part of the canon of Scripture. Reasons to reject the pseudepigrapha are:
1) they were written under false names. Any pretense or falsehood in a book naturally negates its claim of truthfulness.
2) They contain anachronisms and historical errors. For example, in the Apocalypse of Baruch, the fall of Jerusalem occurs "in the 25th year of Jeconiah, king of Judah." The problem is that Jeconiah was 18 years old when he began to reign, and he only reigned 3 months (2 Kings 24:8). There is no way to reconcile the "25th year" statement with the biblical account.
3) They contain outright heresy. In the pseudepigraphal Acts of John, for example, Jesus is presented as a spirit or phantasm who left no footprints when He walked, who could not be touched, and who did not really die on the cross.
The apostle Paul had to deal with pseudepigrapha written in his own day. Addressing the Thessalonian church, Paul says not to be alarmed by a "letter supposed to have come from us" (2 Thessalonians 2:2). Obviously, someone had tried to mislead the believers with a forged letter imitating Paul's style. Paul was forced to take precautions: "I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write" (2 Thessalonians 3:17; see also 1 Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; and Colossians 4:18).
There are many books that fall under the category of pseudepigrapha, including the Testament of Hezekiah, the Vision of Isaiah, the Books of Enoch, the Secrets of Enoch, the Book of Noah, the Apocalypse of Baruch (Baruch was Jeremiah's scribe according to Jeremiah 36:4), the Rest of the Words of Baruch, the Psalter of Solomon, the Odes of Solomon, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Testament of Adam, the Testament of Abraham, the Testament of Job, the Apocalypse of Ezra, the Prayer of Joseph, Elijah the Prophet, Zechariah the Prophet, Zechariah: Father of John, the Itinerary of Paul, the Acts of Paul, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Itinerary of Peter, the Itinerary of Thomas, the Gospel According to Thomas, the History of James, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Epistles of Barnabas.
The Catholic Bible: The Catholic Bible is different from the Bible used by Protestants. While all 66 books found in Protestant Bibles are also found in the Catholic Bible, the Catholic Bible also contains other books, and additions to books. The Catholic Bible contains a total of 73 books, 46 in the Old Testament (Protestant Bibles have 39) and 27 in the New Testament (the same as Protestant Bibles).
The additional books in the Catholic Bible are known as the deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. They are Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch. The Catholic Bible also includes additions to the books of Esther and Daniel. There was significant debate in the early Christian church, with a majority of the early church fathers rejecting the idea that the Apocrypha belonged in the Bible.
Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate, under tremendous pressure from Rome, included the Apocrypha, despite Jerome's insistence that the Apocrypha did not belong in the Bible. The Latin Vulgate became the dominant and officially sanctioned Catholic Bible, and remained that way for around 1200 years. This is how the Apocrypha became a part of the Catholic Bible.
The Apocrypha was not officially made a part of the Catholic Bible until the Council of Trent, in response to the Protestant Reformation. The early Protestant Reformers, in agreement with Judaism, determined that the Apocrypha did not belong in the Bible, and therefore removed the Apocrypha from Protestant Bibles.
The most popular English translations of the Catholic Bible today are the New American Bible, the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, and the New Jerusalem Bible. Besides the inclusion of the Apocrypha (in books and chapter additions), each of these Bible translations is reasonably good and accurate in how it renders the biblical text into English.
In summary, the Catholic Bible is the version of the Bible promoted by the Roman Catholic Church and used by the majority of the world's Catholics. Aside from the inclusion of the Apocrypha, the Catholic Bible is identical to Protestant Bibles in terms of the canon (the books belonging in the Bible).
The Reliability of New Testament documents:
There are now more than 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other early versions (MSS) and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament. This means that no other document of antiquity even begins to approach such numbers and attestation. In comparison, the "Iliad" by Homer is second with only 643 manuscripts that still survive. The first complete preserved text of Homer dates from the 13th century.
This contrast is startling and tremendously significant.
Perhaps we can appreciate how wealthy the New Testament is in manuscript attestation if we compare the textual material for other ancient historical works. For Caesar's Gallic "War" (composed between 58 and 50 B.C) there are several extant MSS (manuscripts), but only nine or ten are good, and the oldest is some 900 years later than Caesar's day. Of the 142 books of the Roman history of Livy (59 B.C-A.D 17), only 35 survive; these are known to us from not more than twenty MSS of any consequence, only one of which, and that containing fragments of Books III-VI, is as old as the fourth century. Of the fourteen books of "Histories" of Tacitus (c. A.D. 100) only four and a half survive; of the sixteen books of his "Annals," ten survive in full, and two in part. The text of these extant portions of his two great historical works depends entirely on two MSS, one of the ninth century and one of the eleventh. "The History of Thucydides" (c. 460-400 B.C.) is known to us from eight MSS, the earliest belonging to about the beginning of the Christian era. The same is true of the "History of Herodotus" (c. 480-425 B.C.). Yet no classical scholar would listen to an argument that the authenticity of "Herodotus" or "Thucydides" is in doubt because the earliest MSS of their works which are of any use are over 1,300 years later than the originals.
The fact of the many documents, plus the fact that many of the New Testament documents are very early (hundreds of parchment copies from the 4th and 5th centuries with some seventy-five papyri fragments dating from A.D. 135 to the 8th century), assures us we have a very accurate and reliable text in the New Testament.
The Palace of Forgetting
"Why is tonight different from all other nights?" It's a question being asked all over the world as I write these words, because tonight begins the Jewish holiday of Passover. This phrase initiates t
Lean On the Lord
UPDATE: PCF-LA RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS
LATEST UPDATE AS OF MAY 23, 2020 FOR PCF-LA: Dear PCF-LA Family, I'm sharing these articles from May 15 and May 22 written by our International Church of the Foursquare Gospel President-Elect Randy Re
Renewing our Spirit
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The Divine Download
God Speaks!
Daniel Chapter 3: Saved in the Fiery Furnace.
HEBREWS 11 – EXAMPLES OF FAITH
PHILEMON (1:1-25) Paul's plea to a friend; on behalf of a slave.
The Five-Fold Testimony of Who Jesus Is... (John 5:31-47)
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alice in christ. redemtion
being worthy
christ like
commissioned for christ
concern for others
consistent integrity
dead to sin
gods works
greater things
hardened heart
hearing God
how to live a positive life
indwelling Holy Spirit
jose danganan
life focused on excellent things
listen and obey
listening for God
pastor jose dangannan
perceiving
rely on God
servant of the lord
serve the lord
Spirit-filled
Walking in the Spirit
VERSE OF THE WEEK
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
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Spouse and I stood in the clinic two weeks ago and filled in numerous and numberless forms that gave our vital information to the new doctor.
We were there for routine check ups; a double payment, double the wait, double the hope that this time our doctor would be a wise and helpful person, one who cared.
As it turned out she is the kind that makes calls afterward to follow up, and makes them personally.
No silly jokes from her, either.
Our last doctor laughed at Spouse, chucked him under the chin and said, "so, you're not dead then."
We decided right there to move along swiftly and into an era with a serious and honest doctor.
As we stood, then, completing the paperwork, we reached the portion of our respective documents that asked for names of next of kin. The nurse noticed our hesitancy as our pens hovered, synchronised, over the pages.
"That's just in case something happens to you while you're out here today. We need a contact number and name."
Still we wavered. Pitifully, the thought crossed my mind: could we write one another's names? I looked at Spouse. Spouse looked at me. We were thinking exactly the same thing.
It turned out that we could not use the other's name because we were both present and for logical reasons the office administration wanted a third party to be on the list.
We were fortunate to be able to come up with the name of a friend but in an enlightening moment we realised that we were no longer in California where most of our friends live and where we were not a bit isolated.
There, we experienced conversations that started from the air, about nothing, with perfect strangers: people wanting the company of other people. That was our measure of California and our experience of a close society.
I am fortunate these days if a fellow walker on the bridge obliges me with a grunt.
There is certainly a good deal to be said about community, and neighbours taking care of one another.
Loneliness met us in a doctor's office, breathed delicately down our necks and reminded us of the perpetual human need for people.
well-put, tho' there is a sorrowful undertone. and i totally relate, as it reminds me very much of my solitary train trips in to the city in the morning. there are just some places where apparently the human interaction is minimized to the point of despair.
i'm lucky that where i am right now, i get a solid fix of many friendly people and every person you come across greets you with a "good morning" or "good afternoon" or "hello ma'am." when i first visited the philippines, i was so accustomed to denmark that it was taken aback by it, but now i feel very comforted...to be recognized and acknowledged by fellow human beings.
Julie, your comment was so well-thought out and meaningful. everybody wants to be acknowledged. Being forgotten about and having no place in the world is a dreadful thing to come to terms with.
A simple "hello"- makes all the difference.
Dennis needs human companionship on the hour.(this would include being petted and told he is pretty) and food of course. roast duck for example.
Dennis, roast duck sounds very good. Roast duck with a friendly person for dining company...nice.
Hugs to you. I know that this is a different world, this blogosphere, and we aren't here for you in the physical sense, but in spirit, I smile at you every day when I come read your stories.
I understand loneliness as well, having moved to a city where I knew no one. I still find it hard to connect, being somewhat shy. It doesn't help that I do not work with peers my own age.
I think each one of us feels this to some extent. They say no man is an island, but sometimes I question that.
Jaime, thank you so much. You seem like such a lovely person and your comments are something I look forward to.
The blogosphere, I think, is the next best thing for shy people in cold-hearted cities :) It doesn't replace human interaction but when there's a sad lack of that, such thoughtful words like yours do help to ease it.


The Alaska Water Wastewater Management Association is offering an Electrical Troubleshooting and Preventive Maintenance course on April 23-24 in Anchorage.
The Central States Water Environment Association is offering a Classic Systems Conference on June 26 in Naperville.
The Water Environment Association of Ontario is offering a Wastewater Treatment and Technologies Seminar on June 20 in Mississauga.


text:
Neat Trick -- Inflation's Chilling Effect on Bar Tabs
Randall W. Forsyth
Aug. 1, 2006 11:59 pm ET
EXCESS LIQUIDITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN at the root of inflation. You don't have to be a disciple of Milton Friedman to believe that. The evidence of that economic verity may have stared you right in the face, though it may have eluded your notice. That's because it was buried on your bar tab, which, after a few rounds, you may not have scrutinized too closely. But it was inescapable nonetheless.
The proof, as it were, is in the new trend of adding an extra dollar to the price of a cocktail served without ice. The justification, or more properly, the excuse is that a drink poured neat supposedly will have more liquor than one on the rocks.
This dastardly deed came to my attention by way of a piece in Monday's USA Today, under the headline "The $1 'straight up' charge has drinkers all stirred up," that Merrill Lynch's chief investment strategist, Rich Bernstein, passed along in his "Thought of the Day" missive to the firm's clients. Of course, given journalists' notorious aversion to picking up a tab, I would have no personal knowledge of this perfidious practice.
Getting clipped for declining a few ice cubes in your cocktail still is a relatively rare phenomenon but one certain to spread unless tipplers stand up and be counted, at least while they're still able to stand. Crush the ice-free surcharge. What next, extra for a twist?
You may ask, what's the big deal for an extra buck for a drink straight up? There was a time that you'd be thought to be quite daft to pay for water. But nobody seems want to venture forth without a bottle of Poland Spring lest they get stranded parched in the wilds of Manhattan. And whether the cuisine is haute or not, no Gotham restaurant will miss the chance to push bottled water, bubbly or still, even though eau du tap is as good or better.
In any case, it's only a small step from paying for something that used to be free to paying for something to be omitted.
The real reason for Rich Bernstein's concern is not that his bar tab might be burgeoning (and there's no reason to think that it is, unless he's entertaining some journalists.) Rather, the straight-up surcharge may be insidiously adding to inflation, he worries.
"So, fight inflation by ordering your martinis on the rocks," is Rich's modest proposal. "With most inflation and wage indicators rising and at cycle highs, Mr. Bernanke needs all the help he can get," he writes.
Not to worry. There's no reason to think that the Fed would see paying an extra buck for a scotch not on the rocks as inflationary. Why, it would be a quality improvement, of course! Through the mixology of hedonic adjustments, paying more for the same thing or less isn't really inflationary, not if there's some perceived improvement in quality -- even if you can't actually tell what that improvement is.
Indeed, I might suggest that the stealth straight-up surcharge is more a sign of weakness in the restaurant industry. If business was so great, who would notice the difference between paying $8 or $9 for a drink (though I'd wince at the $8, if I were paying.)
But judging from the performance of some restaurant-chain stocks recently, it would seem that business is looking anything but fat. I'm not talking about the likes of Burger King (ticker: BKC), about which I'd written skeptically in Up & Down Wall Street in print ("Meet the New Boss," Feb 20), when its initial public offering was filed earlier this year. As it happens, Burger King's shares, at 15.25 Monday, are off 10.3% from the IPO priced in May and 19.4% from their June 2 peak.
High-end eateries, such as Morton's Restaurant Group (MRT) and Ruth's Chris Steak House (RUTH), have been giving investors agita of late. Despite the notion that upscale steak houses should be impervious to the squeeze the hoi polloi are feeling from $3-plus gasoline, Morton's is down about 12% in past three months while Ruth's Chris has shed nearly twice as much over that span, during which the Standard & Poor's 500 is off about 3%.
Though both chains turned in good second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street's forecasts, Merrill's Bernstein may be onto another clue. In a separate note last week, he warned about retailers sending out discount coupons online, which is wrote is a sure sign that business is hurting. Then I saw a coupon from Morton's offering a steak and seafood dinner for two for $99 at "select" locations (forget New York City, Las Vegas or San Francisco, among others.)
Drinks aren't included in the Morton's $99 deal. High-rollers taking advantage of this offer should order their cocktails on the rocks.
E-mail: randall.forsyth@barrons.com
EXCESS LIQUIDITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN at the root of inflation.


text:
Eugene E Hamann
November 3, 1931 ~ December 18, 2018 (age 87)
Eugene Ewalt Hamann was born in Farmington Township, Minnesota on November 3rd, 1931. He and his four siblings Alden, Doris, Dwayne, and Ardell moved to and grew up in Libby, MT. He graduated from Libby High School and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. During that time, he served in the Korean War and years later received medals for his service. After the war, Gene came back to Montana to attend Montana State University in Bozeman to get his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1961. During his time in college, he married Beverly Jean Johnson in a double ring ceremony with his sister Doris and her spouse Kim. They all married on June 22nd, 1958. Not too long after, Gene and Beverly adopted three children together: David, Diane, and Jamie. He then went on to work in construction and lumber production until he retired in the late '80s. He and his family moved numerous times for his career. The two most notable places they lived were Roseburg, OR and Kalispell, MT where they settled down for the rest of his life. During his life, Gene was an avid hunter, fisherman, coffee drinker, and liked to work in his garage. In his pass time, he loved to spend time with his family, especially his grandchildren, friends, and anyone with a good story and some hot coffee.
Gene is preceded in death by his mother, Esther, father, Herbert, and his siblings: Alden, Doris, Dwayne, and Ardell.
Gene is survived by his wife Beverly Hamann and his children and their families. David lives in Pasco, WA with his wife Rosemary, Diane lives in Billings, MT with her husband Roy, and Jamie lives in Kalispell, MT with his wife Lori. Gene is survived by his grandchildren: Patty, Andrew, Travis, Tyler, Alex, and Ashley. He is also survived by his numerous great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
The Memorial Graveside for Gene will be Held May 11, 2019 at 1 PM at Trinity Luthern Cemetery in Kalispell. Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.
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Vice Minister Yu Xinrong and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar Tun Winn co-chaired the first meeting of China-Myanmar Agricultural Cooperation Commission and signed the meeting minutes in Nay Pyi Taw on June 26, 2016.
Vice Minister Yu pointed out that the mechanism of China-Myanmar Agricultural Cooperation Commission was established under the consensus between Premier Li Keqiang and President of Myanmar U Thein Sein during Li's official visit to Myanmar in 2014. The first meeting was an action to implement the consensus and will definitely promote the bilateral agricultural cooperation to a new level.
Mr. Tun Winn noted that he sincerely welcomed Yu and his delegation to the first meeting of China-Myanmar Agricultural Cooperation Commission. It was China's first high-level delegation to Myanmar since Myanmar's new government took office, showing that the Chinese government has attached great importance to the bilateral agricultural cooperation.
At the meeting the two sides agreed to further improve the agricultural cooperation mechanism, intensify technology exchanges, strengthen the demonstration and extension of improved crop varieties, promote joint control and prevention of transboundary animal and plant diseases, enhance collaboration in agricultural capacity building, and push forward agricultural investment cooperation in a down-to-earth manner.


text:
My Top Ten Christmas Songs
Dead Artists Edition, by Rich Paschall
As I listened to holiday songs on the local Christmas songs radio station, one fact became apparent over time. Almost all of the songs I hear are performed by artists who have gone on to that great holiday party in the sky. This is, of course, a nice way of saying they are dead. Nevertheless, we continue to listen to their songs year in and year out. In fact, some of these have been flying across the airwaves for many decades and there is no sign they will ever stop being played.
It is safe to say that all of these songs have been covered many times over. Any singer with staying power in the industry has a Christmas album. It is true that a few of these songs received great success by other artists when released, but there are certain versions of these holiday hits with the ability to live on long after the artist has gone. It is these well-remembered and honored songs that fill my playlist.
Your 8-track and cassette tape versions of these may have become tangled and broken, your records and CDs may have become scratched and broken, but you can still download and stream these hits because they are not going away. First I will offer up an honorable mention.
In 1977, David Bowie (1947-2016) was to appear on the Bing Crosby Christmas television special recorded in London. He was asked to sing Little Drummer Boy, but did not like the song and asked for something else. As a result a counterpoint to the song called Peace on Earth was written for Bowie and Crosby sang Little Drummer Boy. We could simply say the rest is duet history, but that would not exactly be true. The now well-beloved version may have died away if not for the popularity of a bootleg recording. As a result, RCA released the song as a single in 1982. Sadly Crosby died after the show was recorded and before it was ever played for the public.
Now if you will put the yule log on the fire, get a glass of eggnog and some Christmas cookies, we will present my top Christmas tunes from artists whose songs continue to echo down your decked halls.
10. Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley (1935-1977) The song was first recorded in 1948, but the 1957 recording by Elvis remains the most popular.
9. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autrey (1907-1998) The 1949 song hit number 1 on the charts.
8. A Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives (1909-1995) The song was released in 1965 after being featured the previous year in the animated cartoon classic, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
7. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland (1922-1969) The tune was written for the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.
6. Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms (1933-1997) The 1957 "Rockabilly" sound was an immediate hit and eventually went gold for Helms.
5. Christmas Time Is Here, Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976) The jazz musician is best known for composing the score to 17 Peanuts animated television specials and a feature-length film. The first of these was A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965. Words to this jazz tune were provided by the Charlie Brown television producer, Lee Mendelson (1933-2008). The network, as well as the producers, thought the show was too depressing and predicted a failure with the public. It won an Emmy, a Peabody and the love of generations of kids.
4. The Christmas Song, Nat "King" Cole (1919-1965) The tune was written by Bob Wells (1922-1998) and another will known singer, Mel Torme (1925-1999), in 1945. In June 1946 Cole recorded the song, then recorded it again in August with more instruments. The second version was released. There was a third recording, then a fourth in stereo in 1961. It is that last version you here so much today. Torme also recorded the song some years later, but it is the Nat King Cole version that is best remembered.
3. (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays, Perry Como (1912-2001) The popular crooner recorded the song in 1954 and sang it for the next 40 years. "Mr. C" recorded it in stereo in 1959 and it is this version you probably hear today. Like many popular television variety stars of his era, Como continued holiday shows after his weekly TV shows ended. This video is from his 1969 Christmas special.
2. It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Andy Williams (1927-2012). Williams was another popular television crooner. The song was written in 1963 and recorded by Williams for his first Christmas album. It was used on his television show the same year and became a Christmas standard over time. Now it is one of the top 10 Christmas songs of all time. On this video, Williams appears to be singing along with the popular recording.
1. White Christmas, Bing Crosby (1903-1977) The Irving Berlin hit was apparently written for the movie Holiday Inn (no-telling with the prolific Mr. Berlin). Crosby first sang it on his radio show in 1941 but recorded it in 1942 for the Holiday Inn movie. It was recorded again in 1947 as the original master wore out from frequent use. The song appeared in two other movies and Crosby sang it for the rest of his life. This video is the final performance. He died soon after, doing what he liked best, playing golf.
Author Rich PaschallPosted on December 11, 2016 December 3, 2017 Categories Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays, Music, NostalgiaTags Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Christmas music, Holly Jolly Christmas, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Vince Guaraldi, white christmas
13 thoughts on "CHRISTMAS PAST"
gunnardeckare says:
Nostalgia! We listened to the Little drummer boy yesterday.
I like the classic version by the Harry Someone Chorale that we hear so much, but the Bowie/Crosby version is quite unique and they are the only ones who have this version on the air.
Rich, it's a great list. Classics all.
I used "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" for a bittersweet holiday story one year. It was about a homeless, street fellow I knew in Boston. He was found dead on a Manhattan street, 1989 – the day before Christmas – with my business card in his pocket.
A bit mawkish perhaps – but the music conveyed the sentiment I wanted to share with our viewers.
I think it is the right tone for these bittersweet memories. I'll have an up to date version in two weeks.
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Apparently I'm the only person in the world who never heard the Crosby-Bowie duet. You don't hear a lot of descants with songs anymore, maybe because they are not easy to write. I know only one — the descant to "America The Beautiful," which I learned when i was in my high school choir. This one is just wonderful.
It was almost lost, and I image that a lot of great performances from the variety show era are hidden away somewhere.
We just got a Karaoke machine and I'll have to agree with you big time – the modern day songs just aren't any good. It's the golden oldies that are meant to be sung.
I will offer up some newer ones next week, but they have still been around a while.
Thanks Rich.
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Reblogged this on Sunday Night Blog and commented:
It is time again for Ye Merry Olde Christmas tunes from minstrels from days of yore.
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text:
Irene Kamberidou
Professor, Physical Education and Sport Science
Sociology - Gender Studies, Multiculturalism, Gender Issues in Sport and Society, Sociology of Sport, Inclusion, Integration
FULL PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS (NKUA)
THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION: WOMEN AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
Kamberidou, I., Lagos, K., & Seirinidou, V. (2021). THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION: WOMEN AS AGENTS OF CHANGE. Webinar dedicated to the Bicentennial of the Greek Revolution (1821-2021). The NKUA, in collaboration with CSUS California. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/y57wqqn3
program.look_whos_talking._webinar_on_greek_revolution.pdf 902 KB
Kamberidou, Irene; Lagos, Katerina; Seirinidou, Vasso (2021). THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION: WOMEN AS AGENTS OF CHANGE. Webinar dedicated to the Bicentennial of the Greek Revolution (1821-2021). The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), in collaboration with California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) California, 26/11/2021.Presentations on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1p19Px3Nb6w
Also in: Pergamos. https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2967407
This webinar is dedicated to the BICENTENNIAL OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION (1821-2021): The Sociology Studies Lab and the Theoretical and Social Studies Department at the School of Physical Education and Sport Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), in collaboration with the Hellenic Studies Program and History Department at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) California, seek to initiate discussions and activities that include women's contributions.
In thinking across disciplines, our first webinar seeks to explore, inspire, and promote interdisciplinary exchange, discussions, and collaborations on the unknown aspects of the Greek War of independence (including the pre and post revolution period), in addition to women's firsthand accounts, revealing experiences hidden from history.
Live streaming–YouTube: https://youtu.be/1p19Px3Nb6w
Intro – overview: Professor Dr. Irene Kamberidou
Official opening and welcoming address:
§ Professor Dr. Konstantinos Karteroliotis, Dean of the School of Physical Education and Sport Science (SPESS) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA)§ Professor Dr. Nikolaos Patsantaras Director of the Theoretical and Social Studies Department at the SPESS of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).
Professor Dr. Katerina Lagos, Director and Coordinator of the Hellenic Studies Program, Department of History, California State University Sacramento (CSUS) California: "The Global Context of the Greek Revolution"
Professor Dr. Irene Kamberidou, Director of the Sociology Studies Lab at the SPESS (NKUA): "Les Hellenes through the eyes of women travelers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries"
Asst. Professor Dr. Vaso Seirinidou, Department of History and Archaeology, at the School of Philosophy (NKUA): Dealing with violence in revolutionary Greece.
Questions, discussion, collaboration proposals:
Publisher's Version
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UOA)- www.uoa.gr
School of Phys. Ed. & Sport Sciences, Department of Social & Theoretical Sciences: http://en.phed.uoa.gr/human-resources/professional-staff/kamberidou-irine.html
SOCIOLOGY office: (+30) 210-7276093,
Email: ikamper@phed.uoa.gr
Sport and Development.org: https://www.sportanddev.org/en/user/irene-kamberidou
Executive Group of the European Center for Women and Technology (ECWT): http://www.ecwt.eu/en/ecwt-executive-group
-http://www.ecwt.eu/en/irene-kamberidou

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My fascination with Chinese crispy eggplant goes way back to when I lived in Portland, Oregon. I was with a large group of friends at a restaurant called Fu Jin. One person did all the ordering and one dish that arrived at the table was Crispy Eggplant. Sounds simple enough, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable dishes I've ever eaten. In a world where eggplant usually gets pureed and turned into things like Baba Ganoush and Baingan Bhartha, and then to be presented with this – crisp and saucy all at once – was truly a revelation. Sadly, twelve years later I have not been back to that restaurant, or even had the same dish elsewhere that was quite as good. Occasionally I have tried to recreate it on my own, as I did the other day. It is super easy, at least if you have a deep-fryer going. Although it doesn't quite live up to my first experience, it is still a tasty dish. And maybe I'll visit Fu Jin next month on my vacation!
Begin heating the oil in the fryer. Slice the eggplant diagonally into 1/4-inch slices. Toss with cornstarch and shake off the excess. Begin frying the eggplant when the oil is hot. Fry in batches for 5-6 minutes, until very crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels. Continue until all the eggplant is cooked.
Meanwhile, bring the remaining ingredients (except the green onion) to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. When all the eggplant is cooked, mix it with the sauce and green onion and serve immediately.
I love PDX and I love Eggplant! I'll have to check out Fu Jin next time I'm up there. Hawthorne is great – I love Bread and Ink cafe too. Between that and the Powell's Books for Cooks store, I could spend an entire day there just wandering around. I'll be making this eggplant dish next time I make this http://tinyurl.com/6pzagn – i think they would go really well together.
My husband loves this dish! We eat it at Hunan Manor in Columbia, Maryland. Thanks for the recipe. I look forward to making it for my husband with some red pepper added to make it spicy like the dish we get from the restaurant.