The AOL 4.0 browser is recommended, but it does have very high requirements: Windows 95 or 98, Pentium 2 processor, 40 mb hard disk space, etc.
THE MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE IS AT ADDRESS:
http://members.aol.com/chasmcmull/godindex.html or
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~chuckdag/godindex.html
CLICK to link to Table of Contents
SUGGESTION #1: Scan through the Highlights of Characteristics of God, available in Chapter 1-3. You may return to this location from the Table of Contents. To start scanning, point and CLICK,
CLICK to link to Chapter 1-3_Highlights of Characteristics of God
SUGGESTION #2: Scan through Chapter 0, on God and Satan, a Cat and Mouse Affair. You may return to this location from the Table of Contents. To start scanning, point and CLICK,
CLICK to link to Chapter 0_God and Satan, a Cat and Mouse Affair
From the results presented in this website, the following DEFINITION of God will evolve:
Expressed in simple language, this DEFINITION means that God's actions (or lack of action) do not have to make sense from a human point of view. It would be nice if they did, but frequently they don't. Keep this thought in mind as you study thru the material in this website on the Characteristics of God.
CLICK to link to Top of Page or Table of Contents
TO MAKE NAVIGATING EASIER ON THIS WEBSITE, there are many, many "links" (CLICK) to other locations. The link above to Top of Page or Table of Contents, calls for a simple change of location. More often links will be taken to get additional information. If you get lost in linking anywhere in this website, first link back to Table of Contents. From there you can link forward to the top of any chapter or appendix. Finally from the menu given at that point you can link down to a spot somewhere close to your original location.
The "back" instruction at the top of the browser screen is VERY GOOD to return to the original location for any single link. However, for multiple links in a row, things can become confused, trying to use the "back" instruction several times in a row.
Material for this discussion was taken from the Bible, which could be either the Protestant Bible or the Catholic Bible. The latter differs only in that it includes the Apocrypha, which does not deal directly with the subject of God as studied in this presentation. Thus for purposes of this discussion, the 2 Bibles are equivalent.The Bible is an extremely difficult book to read and understand. Consequently one finds a wide variety of interpretations coming from good, honest, sincere, intelligent people.
I consider the Bible to be GOD'S WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TO US, nothing more, nothing less. This level of acceptance of the Bible is based largely on faith. For more information on "The Bible," consider the website http://members.aol.com/chasmcmull/bibindex.html.
To access the Bible website immediately, point and CLICK below. To return to this present location you must use the browser "back" instruction. To return to the beginning of this present website, use the Table of Contents. Now point and CLICK,
CLICK to link to the Bible website on AOL or on UM
CLICK to link to Top of Page or Table of Contents
The definition of God used in this website is as follows: God is the Supreme Being and he has the right to: (1)... do what he wants to do, (2)... when he wants to do it and (3)... how he wants to do it. This definition has been tailored to fit what I read in the Bible. In simple terms this definition means that God's actions (or lack of action) do not have to make sense from a human point of view. It would be nice if they did, but frequently they don't.
The God of the Bible seems to be very tolerant. As I look around the world of the living, I see no evidence of any significant consequence for those who totally reject the Bible, as well as the God of the Bible. Also, I see no evidence of any significant benefit for those who totally embrace the Bible, as well as the God of the Bible. Of course, this is for the living. After that who knows for sure what the ground rules are?
Interpretation of the Bible is affected significantly by one's religious beliefs. Consequently I have included only enough of my religious beliefs in this discussion to let the reader know where I am coming from. There is no intent here to convert the reader to my particular beliefs.
The example below illustrates "dishonest" interpretation of the Bible, using the KJV translation. FIRST in Mat 27:3,5 it says Judas went out and hanged himself. NEXT in Luk 10:37 it says Go thou and do likewise. LAST in Joh 13:27 it says That thou doest, do quickly. Thus this sequence of verses proves that each of us should go out and hang ourselves immediately?????? The logic in this example is badly flawed, and the conclusion is totally ridiculous.
EXAMPLE USING VERSES FROM KJV BIBLE:
Mat 27:3 Then JUDAS, which had betrayeth him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and WENT OUT AND HANGED HIMSELF.
Luk 10:37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE.
Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, THAT THOU DOEST, DO QUICKLY.
Yet many of us are frequently guilty of grabbing a verse or two out of the Bible to "prove a point." Here the conclusion is likely to be flawed, as in the example given. We should be careful not to do this. Our beliefs in any Bible concept should always be based on the whole Bible, not on just a few select verses of our choosing. That makes Bible study very hard work. To ease this burden you might consider using an excellent Bible program: WORDsearch for Windows, NavePress Software, 1934 Rutland Drive, Austin, TX 78758.
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The KJV (King James Version) of the Bible is quoted exclusively in this presentation, since it is not copyright. The older type language used in the KJV is largely compensated for by extensive explanatory comments included throughout. Yet for any who may still feel the need for a more up-to-date rendering of some Bible verses, the following Bibles are strongly recommended: (1)... NIV Study Bible, copyright (C) 1985 by The Zondervan Corporation and (2)... The Living Bible, copyright (C) 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.On the Bible program WORDsearch, I have the following translations: NIV, KJV, NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NAB, NJB, Living and The Message. For difficult Bible verses it is sometimes helpful to compare the wording from several of these translations. More often than I would like to see, there are significant differences among these translations on some Bible verses.
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This entire presentation "God of the Bible" is copyright (C) 1997, 1999 by Charles W. McMullen. This copyright notice is intended only to preserve the author's right to use this material without any limitation in a future publication. The material in this presentation may be printed and duplicated without permission of the author.
7 BIBLE WEBSITES AT 2 LOCATIONS:
http://members.aol.com/chasmcmull/Xindex.html or
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~chuckdag/Xindex.html
where
X=pro for "Bible Prophecy"__97 pages
X=pra for "Prayer: New Testament Teaching"__34 pages (Chapter 4 requires 32 more pages)
X=ang for "Angels, Satan & the Spirit World"__79 pages
X=god for "God of the Bible"__102 pages
X=bib for "The Bible"__51 pages
X=arm for "Countdown to Battle of Armageddon"__36 pages
X=sal for "Salvation: Faith, Works, Predestination etc?"__45 pages
E-mail your constructive criticisms to: chasmcmull@aol.com or chuckdag@c.imap.itd.umich.edu
Charles W. McMullen
TO TRANSFER TO ANOTHER WEBSITE ON AOL OR UM COMPUTERS, point and click:
CLICK to link to the Prayer website
on AOL or
on UM
CLICK to link to the Prophecy website
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on UM
CLICK to link to the Angel website
on AOL or
on UM
CLICK to link to the God website
on AOL or
on UM
CLICK to link to the Bible website
on AOL or
on UM
CLICK to link to the Armageddon website
on AOL or
on UM
CLICK to link to the Salvation website
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on UM