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Jots and Tittles

Amen! I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the Law . . . (Matthew 5:18) What are jots and tittles? One thing they are is evidence that Yeshua, the Jesus of history, and his followers were very familiar with the Hebrew language. However, to understand this we have to trace the journey of the Hebrews words of Yeshua into the Greek language of the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament and then into the English translations we read today. In order to help you follow that journey I will use English transliterations of Greek and Hebrew words, which means I will replace their letters with English letters that are their equivalents. By the way, “Yeshua” is an English transliteration of the Hebrew word that is his name. If we use a Greek text of Matthew 5:18, the Greek word translators read for “ jot ” is “ iota .” Iota is the name of a Greek letter. It is usually transliterated by the English “ i .”  Howeve

Tackling the Big Elephant in the Room - The Afterlife

Beliefs about the afterlife -- “ salvation ” -- are the biggest barriers keeping many Christians from straying away from their long held beliefs. This is completely understandable when so much is at stake in their minds – spending eternity in Heaven or Hell! Of course, there isn’t just one Christian Belief System in existence today. According to World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD 2200 by David B. Barrett & Todd M. Johnson (© 2001 by David B. Barrett; William Carey Library, Pasadena, CA; p. 33): In 1970 global Christianity had 18,630 denominations/paradenominations. In 2000 global Christianity had 33,820 denominations/paradenominations. Estimates in 2017 indicate there are now probably 40,000 or more. Paradenominations are groups with religious agendas that specialize in specific areas, i.e., families, abortion, etc. What this means is that when someone asks questions about Christian beliefs, creeds, doctrines, etc., they may get a lot of answers that do not agree.