Bible

“And then Haile Selassie drove them all out. Sick-ass churches. Sick churches. They have an old version of the Bible that has the book of Enoch in it. They've got old stuff in there that's not in the biblical canon. Are they still Christian? Very interesting. Yeah. Hey, hang on. It's always a mixture with those places.”

“Yeah. As a seminary student, I had to learn Greek and Hebrew because in our Christian Bible, the Hebrew scriptures are written in Hebrew and the New Testament is written in Greek.”

“Okay. So if I tell you guys, you'll know the answer to this. If I tell, if I ask you guys, what's the number one selling book of all time? Bible. Yeah, by far. Did you guys know it's the best-selling book every week? Every week, period. End of story.”

“Not to mention all different versions of it, right? What do you got over there, Doug? Well, according to this, AI, the Bible is not the best-selling book every single week. It is on an annual basis the best-selling book. But weekly, you can have like a Harry Potter.”

“well, I embrace you. I don't embrace you the lifestyle, which feels like a revolt. But also, like, why not? Here's the thing. It's like, it's the evidence in the Bible, it's all Old Testament stuff, right? Leviticus and all that business. But you got to look at what else is in Old Testament stuff.”

“Yeah. Like I enjoy that way more. I mean, I've read the Bible a couple times and it's nice, but I'm not. Like, I just don't buy into any of it. Not just Christianity, not just trying to attack them, but like anybody, really. I think they're trying to tell a story.”

“Moses was like, or Noah. Noah was like 600 years old when he built Methuselah, who's like, I think the oldest person in the Bible, I believe, is Methuselah. I mean, yeah, there's Abraham. Abraham was like, you know, hundreds of years old, I believe.”

“Whether it was through oral tradition, then eventually written down. Like, what was the original event? That fascinates me the most about the Bible. It fascinates me the most about the ancient Sumerian writings. I'm just, I don't think all of it is fiction, but I don't think all of it is literal.”

“Oh, interesting. So I think one of the key things to keep in mind is every text, whether it's a text that's inscribed on a piece of pottery or something that wound up in the Bible, every author wrote it down because they wanted to achieve something. We tend to think of language as just about communicating information, but nothing happens in a vacuum.”

“that phrase is never used anywhere in the Bible to refer to texts specifically as the texts that are in circulation. So word of God is always a reference to just the message, however it's circulating, whether it's oral or whatever, or to Jesus.”

“And so there's not really a case to make that any author of any text that's in the Bible used that phrase to refer to the scriptures or the Bible. And so even in 1 Corinthians, in a couple of places in Paul, he says, this is not coming from the Lord, this is just coming from me.”

“And a year later, I went to serve a two-year proselytizing mission in Uruguay. And I fell in love with studying the Bible when I was doing that. I love the stories. I love learning about the history, the culture. And I wanted to better understand the languages so I could try to engage the texts as they were originally written.”

“There are very, very different ways to go about. So how complicated is that when you're reading an English translation of the Bible? Like, that's when things must get very strange if you're, especially Old Testament, right?”

“fighting a seven-headed serpent dragon beast. So the Ugaritic literature helps us an awful lot with understanding what was going on before the Bible happened, but also helps us better understand the Hebrew of the Bible and also the relationship of these gods to one another.”

“Yeah. Because we have to. Allegedly. I wonder if that's in the Bible. You know, I've always wondered what the original stories were based on. I keep going to the origin story because like Adam and Eve being the one that the Christians share.”

“So these are the kinds of questions that keep us up at night. Well, it's so fascinating because if you just imagine our version of the Bible today, and if we continued to exist as a society a thousand years from now, most likely it would be the exact same version because we're really good at keeping records.”

“We knew something was supposed to be there, but we had no idea what. And we found out what was supposed to be there in the Dead Sea Scrolls. So maybe we discover another cache of ancient manuscripts of the Bible, and maybe they're earlier than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oh, that would be exciting. Oh, it would be phenomenal.”

“And I think people like that will be around a thousand years as well. But I think we will just multiply the available versions of the Bible, and some of them will probably be closer to what was originally written originally. And some of them will be people trying to hold on to their favorite translation or their favorite version.”

“And this might have been one of the ones that was closed down as a result of that. But interestingly enough, people ask me a lot about narcotics in the Bible and stuff like that. But this is one where they tested the burnt residue that was on top of the incense altars.”

“the Bible, down to the kingdom of Aksum, probably late 3rd or early 4th century CE. And so, this is right around the time of the Council of Nicaea. So, this would have been something that looked similar to what we have in Codex Sinaiticus.”

“And there's certain things that get explained today that aren't necessarily really in the Bible. So the concept of hell, let's get into that. Because when is that... So it's first introduced in Enoch?”

“you are. Where's that come from? That's not something that's ever stated anywhere in the Bible. Yeah, that's that is an interpretation, yeah. Because when we, just like just like 1 Enoch, it's a collection of five different books. If you look back on it and you say this all has to mean the same thing, you basically have to create a new sixth narrative that harmonizes it all, that makes it all fit.”

“of the Bible changes from the earliest parts of the Bible to the latest parts of the Bible. So right now we're going with God's biography, a biblical history. But I'm really enjoying writing. Well, what little I've been able to write of it, I've really been enjoying.”

“And I am obviously very interested in Christianity now. And I've read maybe half the Bible, maybe a little bit more, understand maybe 5-10% of what I've read. So what I want to do is, you know, just like I was saying, I think I'm supposed to ask these questions.”

“Yeah. And you think is like now when all this comes out, was that actually literal? And you, and of course, the Bible, Council of Nicaea, was more of a political document before secular government. And, you know, they got together, like, what are all the different books that we can agree upon that are good? Yeah, what gets into the canon.”

“the Torah. Correct. Yeah. Which is like, okay, you fuckers. Imagine if that was in the Bible. Like, if you go to church and you read about the Watchers. Well, there's actually a lot of interesting stuff in the Bible. Like, obviously, and that's another thing. Like, of course, with, you know, I'm Catholic by growing up, CCD confirmation, did the whole thing as a kid.”

“But the Bible is interesting because, once again, it doesn't discuss about other life elsewhere. Like it doesn't talk about bacteria and viruses. Those were unseen. We cohabitated with bacteria and viruses until the invention of the microscope, whatever that was, 1800s or whatnot.”

“Also, like, hey, you can't have your toilet in your living area and all that. And if you look in those books of the Bible, wait, that's like modern sanitization guidance. So it's funny that like the Bible has encoded within it kind of like best practices before man would even understand what viruses and bacteria are.”

“And it does show that there was some sort of higher intelligence kind of influencing the authorship. Either that or the civilization that was writing the Bible was a recreation of civilization that had been destroyed in a cataclysm. Yeah, I mean, I think that, especially when you look at the pyramids and you look at some of these other ancient”

“and then people writing things down and people remembering these stories. I think one of the weirdest books of the Bible is the book of Ezekiel. Yeah. Because the book of Ezekiel is one all the UFO people turn to. Yeah, of course. Because there's that a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually and in the midst of the fire, as it were, gleaming metal.”

“And it says, when you die, open, read your book, see what you have done. And in the Bible, there's the book of life, which comes from the Jewish traditions. And the book of life is often presented in a simplistic way of St. Peter decides who gets into heaven or not at the pearly gates.”

“he's recovered from substance abuse issues. And has been sober a long time. He's not not a fan of psychedelics. He got me right reading the Bible, we can talk about this, like, you know, actually, church, and I know you've been going to church has been interesting thing, because a lot of what's in the Bible is about the dynamic tension between what neuroscientists would call top down and bottom”

“have to acknowledge your humanness, but also your human capacity to control these impulses. And I mean, that's a lot of what's in the Bible. It's not everything, but it's stories about that in many, many ways. Hence the seven deadly sins and the virtues and so on. But, you know, Eddie has been a pretty strong voice for caution in the veterans and other communities about the use of psychedelics.”

“want you shacking up. He doesn't want he doesn't like it, Joe. Is that real that God is that in the Bible? Doesn't the Bible tell you you can't have sex before you're married? It must in some way. It must say some version of two. I don't think so. Let's ask perplexity.”

“Actively persecuted early Christians and voted for their deaths. Although the Bible does not explain that. It doesn't explicitly describe him striking a fatal blow with his own hands. So, he definitely called for the deaths and was responsible for the deaths of people. Yeah. Go back.”

“You couldn't even read. Yeah. And I- Priests read it. So, this is in the 1500s. It wasn't until the 1500s that they had phonetically transcribed and translated the Bible into other languages, so you could actually read it, because it was all Latin back then. Right? I was listening to a- So, they really thought that person was giving the word out.”

“Unclean. God damn it. What is this one, Jeremy? Is that a circumcision story? Yeah. Bible's most cryptic and unsettling scenes. On the journey back to Egypt, God confronts Moses, sought to put him to death. Moses' wife, Zipporah, immediately circumcises their son with a flint, touches his feet with a foreskin, calls Moses a bridegroom of blood, and the threat ends.”

“whereas Christianity did. The Paul thing is very interesting, because the more I read about the Bible and the construction of it, the more it just gives you pause. Like, Paul was really kind of the creator of Christianity, because he never met Jesus.”

“Well, which brings us back to religious texts, which is, I mean, the Bible, the Old Testament, there's versions of it in Aramaic and the Dead Sea Scrolls and some of the books.”

“holy ground. And then, depending on which reading of the Bible or translation you're finding, he either finds the tablets or they're, like, presented to him or something. He then takes the tablets down off of the mountain, sees the people worshiping.”

“That's right. I went there to translate the Bible and to plant a church and get everybody believing. And why Pitaha? Why did you go to those people? Well, we were in our training, and the missionary organization, the Wycliffe Bible Translators, offered us three areas.”

“But they said also in the Bible, and the Bible itself says this, Jesus not only healed people, he raised them from the dead. So if somebody claims to be a healer in the same vein as Jesus, I'd like to see them start at cemeteries and start raising people from the dead.”

“You also believe that people tell the truth. That's part of the problem. Part of the problem with all this stuff is like, look, the Bible condones slavery. It talks about slavery in multiple passages. Yeah. That's a person thing. That's a people thing.”

“And I'm not going to let this book tell me anymore. The ironic thing is, you know, I graduated number one in my class at a Bible school, so I know the Bible really well. And when people try to reconvert me, I've had many Christians try to reconvert me. I said, it's not going to work, you know, because I know the Bible probably better than you do, so you're not”

“And I said, well, they don't want to wear clothes. I said, what in the Bible says you have to wear clothes? They said, Adam saw Eve's nakedness and they were ashamed of each other. You must wear clothes. You're not even teaching them the basics of Christianity.”

“And your conversion to Christianity has happened after Charlie's passing. Yes. So I started feeling the urge to read the Bible again because my parents are Christian and I purposely did not become Christian. So I read the Bible properly, like I threw a context and everything.”

“you know, a true Muslim reads the Bible too. And I was like, interesting. So he started again, teaching me everything. These are the books before it. We got to pull from Moses and all this. And we call it. This guy sounds awesome.”

“know you. He goes, but the Bible is about you and it's about Jesus. And I know the Bible. So that's why I kind of know what you're going through. Cause I asked him, how do you even know these things? So anyways, fast forward, I end up meeting with my dad and this is the thing I went viral for essentially, but I, you know, meet my dad.”

“the hardest thing was, okay, I got to let go of my thoughts and my interpretations and my feelings and go against what the Bible is saying. Or I'm sorry, take up what the Bible is saying, which is you can't do anything. He has to do everything. That part- That part scared me. But that was the thing they were saying was going to give me peace.”

“motivated. Right. Cause a lot of people are motivated, but then, you know, how I explain to people is, yeah, you have to plan boldly. The Bible even tells us like who sits back and then plans to build, builds a house without planning, without a blueprint. Right. So I think people get this misunderstanding of Christianity where it's like, you have to just let go control completely.”

“if I had that mindset of, yeah, I'm just going to pray and then it's going to come to me. That's not how it works. Right. But the Bible, again, that's a misconception that people have where it's like, you got to just do nothing. Right. And no, you still have to work, but the outcome is in his hands. It's this idea of grace of going, Hey God, I'm going to put all of my work in.”

“about the word. So what I've learned, I've read the Bible front to back 27 times. It's not to flex. What my pastor taught me was you have to go to the word always. So when you seek something, it cannot come from inside of you because your standard can change.”

“word. It went completely against my thoughts and my feelings literally says in the Bible, my thoughts are not your thoughts. My way is not your way. So get to know me, meaning the word. Um, when I started to read it five times, front to back, you know, cover to cover, I started to get this discernment.”

“but when you're in this desperate situation, you kind of have no choice. I was home and I read a Bible verse, probably that I had read in Sunday school many times: Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, that says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

“And did you have a plan? It had to be supernatural. The Bible calls it the gift of faith. And I know why, because my life revolved around feeling terrible, reading health books, listening to Christian worship music to encourage me, watching the food network, even though I could barely eat anything.”

“of cancer. I didn't put my head in the sand, pretend it didn't exist, but I said, listen, I'm healed. The Bible says I'm healed. You're just going to watch it unfold and I'll be back, but I'm taking 40 days off. And this was in the Blackberry days, which you would have said, Jordan doesn't leave his Blackberry for one second, kind of like an iPhone today.”

“And I've actually sent that to people around the world. It's in the biblio diet book. I offer it free on our website because the power of the spoken word, the Bible says death and life is in the power of the tongue. That's you speaking over yourself and others speaking over you and you speaking over others.”

“And over time, I feel like God's revealed to me, I say, health secrets from the Bible that can help anyone today, even if they don't have the means or the ability or the trust to do what I did and pretty much lead my own program.”

“But I believe the Bible over science. I believe the Bible over research. So if Jesus was referred to as the bread of life and even called himself that, I need to find out what bread is the healthiest because it can't be bad.”

“I say that because oil represents the Holy Spirit. You know, I read a scripture, Gary, post-biblio diet, because the Bible should be a book that we could read once and understand, but it's in my life a living and active book.”

“of a tea. I call it healing leaves. There are two verses in the Bible, Ezekiel 47, 12 and Revelation 22, 2, that says the fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing, or the leaves are for the healing of the nations.”

“And I need to do a better job of it, but I know I'm here on earth to continue to do that. The Bible says to whom much is given, much is expected or required. And it's my duty to help people who are on a journey and want healing. So that's how I become an ultimate human.”

“own, you know, the book of Eugene. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Book of Eugene. And this is Eugene's new prophetic way forward. That is 100% true. And there are actual fail-safes in the Bible that prevent people from writing new Bibles. Right? The entirety of the message of Christ in and of itself. This is what Christian ethics is based on. The teachings of Jesus Christ, the teachings of the scriptures.”

“Giants as like referred to in the Bible in history, the Smithsonian giants. That's right. Biblical and historical accounts of giants. So I was traveling around the world investigating giants.”

“that, these are the, in the New Testament of the Bible, these are the demons that possess people. This is the origin of demons, by the way, in Hebrew cosmology. So there's this pervasive idea, again, especially in the ancient Near East, that dead giants can be communicated with, and, and can possess living human beings, their spirits.”

“they would invoke the spirits of the mighty ones, the great ones, the giants of old, the Rephaim. The biblical account names various different clans of giants that inhabited the Levant during and after the conquest by Joshua and the, and the Hebrews. And you, you had, the Anakim who descended from the Nephilim.”

“These are various clans of giants that are specifically named in the Bible. Of course, we get Goliath of Gath. Gath is a Philistine city. After Joshua entered the promised land, they drove out and eradicated a lot of these giant clans. But some of them remained.”

“or is he talking about mastodons? And the issue is that there are giants in the Bible. And also that when he wrote when he penned this, these lecture notes, there were newspaper articles circulating in the United States announcing the discovery of the bones of giants in the mounds.”

“And so in the Bible you have these angelic beings, the sons of God, who are lusting. They're looking down at the daughters of men. They see that they're beautiful. Yeah. The book of Enoch is even more explicit.”

“Only in— Not in prophetic iconography, but in the historical narrative of the Bible, angels are never depicted with wings. They are depicted as operating what I would describe as advanced aerospace vehicles.”

“and with the addition of the Book of Enoch. Because you cannot separate the Enochian narrative, the Enochic traditions from the Bible. Well, Enoch is referenced in the Bible. And the only reason why the Book of Enoch is not in the canon of the Bible is because of some rabbis, right?”

“the book of Enoch. Yeah. You know, there's a reason I think that those were excluded from the Bible. Well, they were excluded by rabbis. I know. Because they didn't jive with the Torah, which is hilarious. Like you get to discover, they all were in the same, uh, caves in Qumran.”

“I think it's interesting that you can totally accept that David and Goliath is a real story and Goliath was a giant in the Bible. Yeah. Right. How tall was he supposed to be though? Couldn't he be like a really big guy from Iceland? I think he was described, they described, the way that the Hebrews described it is that they made them feel like grasshoppers.”

“One specific thing. Yeah. And the Bible references it like 34 times. What's interesting though is in most of the ancient civilizations, the serpents or the dragons are meant to be guardian figures, right?”

“So they were presented in a positive light. They weren't evil. Right. But in the Bible, the serpent is actually the trickster. You know, so it's one of the only traditions in the ancient world where the serpent is, it's suggested that the serpent is evil.”

“In the beginning was, I don't know a ton about the Bible. I do come from a religious family. Do you? Right, okay. When we grew up as Christians, I think I lost my faith at about 18 years old. Because, you know, my brothers are extremely good at maths.”

“And... That really made me prick up my ears, because I know enough about this book here, the Bible, to realize that the drive for humans towards self-deification is... Self-deification.”

“it's not your responsibility to do so, but where does that journey of believing begin for someone like me? Because, you know, people say the Bible and I go, well, it's kind of like what you said about the computers. It's like, if you're using something to justify the same thing is true, then that circular reasoning I find to be incomplete.”

“I think, yeah, so when I think about what I understand of the Bible, there's a particular part of the Bible that talks about the only way into heaven is through Jesus. And from that I inferred that the only way to get into this great place that everybody wants to go to is by believing in Christianity.”

“And that is hell. One of the things that I grew up believing because of the Bible was that if you repented. Yes. Which is, you know, to ask forgiveness, admit your sins, et cetera. Yes. Acknowledge God, believe, then your sins would be forgiven.”