Archeology and the Bible: we continue our old series with new segments regarding the oldest known Gospel manuscript and its history. All of the books of the New Testament were written within the lifetime of the death of Jesus of Nazareth. To date we have over 5800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, with an astounding 2.6 million pages of biblical text.
While some of these manuscripts are small and fragmentary, the average size of a New Testament manuscript is 450 pages. Add to this the ancient manuscripts in Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, etc., which number in the tens of thousands, and you realize that there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to New Testament manuscripts. No other ancient text can compare with the New Testament when it comes to the sheer volume of manuscripts, nor when we consider how close the earliest manuscripts are to the originals.
We continue our study of the Old Testament with the Book of Micah. The first verse names Micah of Moresheth as the one who received and communicated the vision concerning the future judgment and salvation of Samaria and Jerusalem. The name Micah is common in the Old Testament and means “Who is like Yahweh?” The theology of Micah is largely concerned with divine judgment against sin. Yahweh commissioned Micah to bring this message of judgment against his people. Israel and Judah both departed from the way of the Lord and angered him by their sin. The Lord, accordingly, presses his case against his people who have broken covenant with him.
How to establish a Church in your hometown? We discuss this subject in our program “Legal matters.” Russia has several thresholds that you need to overcome in this path. And we also compare that with Chinese society and problems that someone may encounter when they decide to became Christian.
We continue our study and discussion of the New Testament in the series, “Faith and Society.” Among the letters of Paul, 1 and 2 Corinthians are perhaps most notable for their practical content and personal style. But what was the city of Corinth like at that time? Renowned for its metallurgists, who specialized in bronze work, and for its sponsorship of the biennial Isthmian games, which were second in popularity and prestige only to those of Olympia, the city rapidly attracted a variety of new residents. The populations created a cosmopolitan atmosphere dominated by economic sanctification and cultural diversity. We talk about this great city in the program, “Book of Books.”
We have a number of projects under development that might be interesting to you. Come and download numerous Christian books, listen to our programs, see several video lessons based on Russian Christian art, and take a look at pictures of beautiful Alaska, the home of our first radio station, KNLS.
Thanks for reading and for listening!