Bøger af David Napier

Newsflash: The world of Irish Dancing was recently thrown into turmoil after the discovery of a book entitled Irish Dancing: Part Two - What to do with your arms. The book was found in a locked box in the basement of Marsh's Library in Dublin, which contains many rare books and manuscripts. The librarian who made the discovery is on long-term compassionate leave.Ok, I have embellished an old joke, which woke me at 3 am one morning! Why was it on my mind? Because I recently watched a TV programme that mentioned the Book of Enoch, which resurrected some thoughts about the debate about possible missing books of the Bible. I am sure the librarian, fictitious as they may be, isn't the only one to have second thoughts about such issues. NB It is important to note that the contents of the many versions I have in my office are not in question in terms of them being the Word of God, which I wholly accept, even though do not wholly understand - BUT - see note below regarding these versions/translations. Yet there has always been a nagging doubt about whether the scriptures we have are the only ones that have ever existed, and why are there so many different versions? Why are there so many accounts of books that are missing, or have been lost, or deliberately omitted from what we call The Holy Bible, even though some are mentioned in the Holy Bible? Who made the decision to include or leave out the various documents that existed at the time of the now accepted format of the Bible, and why? What are the other books or manuscripts that could have been included but were not? Why do some Bibles include the Apocrypha? Thus, the title The Holey Bible, as I and no doubt others have often wondered if there are any gaps, or anything missing from the standard versions we find in abundance.

As is often the case, the ideas for writing a book comes from discussions with fellow believers. This book is no exception, except to say that the logical conclusion to the debate we had would mean that either party isn't a believer! That is, if I believe strongly in the concept of 'Once saved, always saved' (OSAS), and others do not, how could it be considered a secondary matter, rather than a primary one. It is either true or it isn't. If I live my life as a believer of this concept and promote it as being true, and never question it, how would I know if I am one of the ones that my fellow believers say won't make it to a blissful afterlife? The idea of 'wilfully sinning' keeps raising its head as being the main rationale why some Christians will be heading for Hell, yet as this offering hopefully shows, that is a statement which itself needs to be debated. The 'discussion' could have become rather heated, for neither side would 'back down', which is rather an odd situation, for I believe that this is not a secondary issue, for if those who believe in the statement are wrong, there could be additional billions going to Hell - Christians that is, who will join the many other billions who genuinely want nothing to do with God. 'The bible says so' was another phrase being used to defend the opposing argument, but as we shall see this is not a solid argument, for there are verses that each camp could use to defend their stance. As with any scriptural issue there must surely be one answer; 'agreeing to differ' is not an option in this case, for if we firmly believe that Christians can lose their salvation, there must be millions if not billions of believers who are either ignorant of this debate, but if true, will go to Hell, or they are not ignorant but feel unstable, unsafe, and afraid that their lack of perseverance will send them to Hell. Either way, the discussion led to me writing this small book.

This issue has been floating around in my head for years (no pun intended) and have been all at sea with it (pun intended). I have briefly raised it in a paragraph or two in some of my other books, but once again, awoken at 5 am with the idea in my mind I started to write some notes. The Religianity isn't a very good name for a ship I know - but ah well, it matters not - for who cares, it's going to float merrily away as it has done for millennia? I was trying to think of some clever wording for the ship's name but all I could think of is what I mean - the abhorrent merging of Religion and Christianity, as if the two were synonymous, co-working alongside God. The ship should never have been launched! I think the ship was in the dockyard awaiting the chance to show the world how gleaming and enchanting it could be for quite a while, but even though the deck plan may have been organised, the criteria for who may board was certainly not. It soon became a free for all as the ship set sail, but who was responsible for any of this, how did it all start?

Oxford Languages says crucifixion is 'an ancient form of execution in which a person was nailed or bound to a cross. There is little evidence that the Romans used to flog their victims before crucifixion.' (See notes on scourging) 'Crucifixion' comes from the Latin word crucifxio or crucifixus which means 'fixed to a cross'.An article in learnreligions.com says, 'The Jewish historian Josephus, who witnessed live crucifixions during Titus' siege on Jerusalem, called it "the most wretched of deaths." Victims were usually beaten and tortured by various means and then forced to carry their own cross to the crucifixion site. Because of the long, drawn-out suffering and horrible manner of execution, it was viewed as the supreme penalty by the Romans.'Simple explanation? If, as mentioned earlier, we don't delve any further, yes. Yet, even in these opening paragraphs questions can be raised (and will be raised later) about:¿ Nailed or bound¿ Cross or a simple stake¿ Flogging or not¿ Carrying their crossEach of these will be discussed, because there are many sources that debate not only these aspects of crucifixion, but many more. We later see how at one time, so many were crucified at the same time Jerusalem was devoid of trees, yet there is one basic, but important question - was anyone crucified and how can we prove it?

As is often the case, more so over the past year or so, book ideas 'pop up' in my mind when conversing with friends. This one is no exception. I was asked what I thought about doubt, so I said my piece, and the book title immediately sprung to mind. Why are some seemingly afraid to voice their doubts? Why do some keep them under wraps? Both questions highlight a major weakness in society, especially so in a church fellowship setting. We should never feel as if we cannot say what we need to say ('want' is too weak a word here), nor feel that we need to constantly hide our feelings and emotions. The proverbial time-bomb is already primed and many need to diffuse it, for their health and the health of others. It isn't always easy to share with others; indeed, some make matters worse, so we need to choose wisely to weed out the Job's Comforters amongst them!