"...the Israelites learned other languages and as a result, the 46 books of the Old Covenant were translated into Greek and this translation was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the version of the Scriptures that Jesus and the Apostles knew and read."
In Jesus' times, the Israelites did NOT speak or read Greek. Their language was Aramaic, which their ancestors had picked during their captivity in Babylon some centuries earlier. The New Covenant books, the Gospels, were written by the Apostles in their own language, Aramaic, then later translated into the languages of the Gentiles, such as Greek.
The Israelites, including Jesus and the Apostles all spoke and read Greek. That's why the vast bulk of the OT citations in the NT books are from the Greek Septuagint. This is objective fact that you need to accept.
What an interesting claim. What is noteworthy, is that you offer no historical sources to support this so called 'objective fact' that just 'needs to be accepted'.
In contrast, the historian Josephus, in his volumes of Jewish history, addresses the language of the first century Israelites. Josephus himself wrote in Aramaic and translated his works into Greek later. He testifies plainly that Greek was not the language of his Israeli countrymen in the 1st century and that Greek was not spoken by the vast majority of the Jews of that time.
It is no one else than Josephus who provides almost all the historical information of first century Israel available today, therefore every serious student of the NT has consulted Josephus for background information on that time period in Israel. Quoting Josephus: "...For our nation does not encourage those that learn the language of many nations. On this account, as there have been many who have done their endeavours, with great patience, to obtain the Greek learning, there have hardly been two or three who have succeeded..." (Antiquities XX, XI 2.)
Josephus, a learned priest and pharisee of his time, wrote that he did not know Greek well enough to speak it fluently; he knew a few who had learned it well. The Jewish rabbis of that time forbade the teaching of pagan tongues to their young men. They taught that it was preferable to feed one's son the flesh of the swine than to teach him Greek. Josephus elsewhere wrote that he wrote his works "in the language of his country" and later "translated his history into Greek". This establishes that Greek was not the language of Israel. The NT was written by Jews in Israel, for the most part, and to Jews originally, since there were no original Christians.
Someone tell me why on earth would they have written in a foreign language that few of their countrymen knew well, a foreign language that had to be deliberately learned, a language the learning of which was discouraged by the elites, instead of writing in their native language?
The reason they wrote in Greek was because it was the language that both Jews and Gentiles could read. And the books of the NT were not for just the Jews. They were for everyone. Most of the letters from Paul were written to cities in Greece and Rome.
We know that Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the Septuagint because many have studied it and found somewhere around 70-75% of the citations in the NT are from the Septuagint. You are free to look it up yourself.
The only book that is probable that it was written in Hebrew/Aramaic was the Gospel of Matthew.
Your comment about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) was somewhat misleading. You gave the impression that we do not believe in the Bible because we have the Book of Mormon, when in actuality we absolutely believe in the Bible, and that the Book of Mormon is a companion to the Bible in testifying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. We are not part of the protestant group you mentioned. I encourage you to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon for yourself to find out if, along with the Bible, it is the word of God.
Correction: You believe your fallible interpretation of the Bible. As all Protestants do. You don't believe the actual Bible.
And no, I'm not going to disobey Jesus. Jesus commanded His followers to listen to the Church. The Church has declared Mormonism and Joseph Smith to be in error. My personal opinions about the Book of Mormon don't determine truth.
"...the Israelites learned other languages and as a result, the 46 books of the Old Covenant were translated into Greek and this translation was called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the version of the Scriptures that Jesus and the Apostles knew and read."
In Jesus' times, the Israelites did NOT speak or read Greek. Their language was Aramaic, which their ancestors had picked during their captivity in Babylon some centuries earlier. The New Covenant books, the Gospels, were written by the Apostles in their own language, Aramaic, then later translated into the languages of the Gentiles, such as Greek.
The Israelites, including Jesus and the Apostles all spoke and read Greek. That's why the vast bulk of the OT citations in the NT books are from the Greek Septuagint. This is objective fact that you need to accept.
What an interesting claim. What is noteworthy, is that you offer no historical sources to support this so called 'objective fact' that just 'needs to be accepted'.
In contrast, the historian Josephus, in his volumes of Jewish history, addresses the language of the first century Israelites. Josephus himself wrote in Aramaic and translated his works into Greek later. He testifies plainly that Greek was not the language of his Israeli countrymen in the 1st century and that Greek was not spoken by the vast majority of the Jews of that time.
It is no one else than Josephus who provides almost all the historical information of first century Israel available today, therefore every serious student of the NT has consulted Josephus for background information on that time period in Israel. Quoting Josephus: "...For our nation does not encourage those that learn the language of many nations. On this account, as there have been many who have done their endeavours, with great patience, to obtain the Greek learning, there have hardly been two or three who have succeeded..." (Antiquities XX, XI 2.)
Josephus, a learned priest and pharisee of his time, wrote that he did not know Greek well enough to speak it fluently; he knew a few who had learned it well. The Jewish rabbis of that time forbade the teaching of pagan tongues to their young men. They taught that it was preferable to feed one's son the flesh of the swine than to teach him Greek. Josephus elsewhere wrote that he wrote his works "in the language of his country" and later "translated his history into Greek". This establishes that Greek was not the language of Israel. The NT was written by Jews in Israel, for the most part, and to Jews originally, since there were no original Christians.
Someone tell me why on earth would they have written in a foreign language that few of their countrymen knew well, a foreign language that had to be deliberately learned, a language the learning of which was discouraged by the elites, instead of writing in their native language?
The reason they wrote in Greek was because it was the language that both Jews and Gentiles could read. And the books of the NT were not for just the Jews. They were for everyone. Most of the letters from Paul were written to cities in Greece and Rome.
We know that Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the Septuagint because many have studied it and found somewhere around 70-75% of the citations in the NT are from the Septuagint. You are free to look it up yourself.
The only book that is probable that it was written in Hebrew/Aramaic was the Gospel of Matthew.
Your comment about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) was somewhat misleading. You gave the impression that we do not believe in the Bible because we have the Book of Mormon, when in actuality we absolutely believe in the Bible, and that the Book of Mormon is a companion to the Bible in testifying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. We are not part of the protestant group you mentioned. I encourage you to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon for yourself to find out if, along with the Bible, it is the word of God.
Correction: You believe your fallible interpretation of the Bible. As all Protestants do. You don't believe the actual Bible.
And no, I'm not going to disobey Jesus. Jesus commanded His followers to listen to the Church. The Church has declared Mormonism and Joseph Smith to be in error. My personal opinions about the Book of Mormon don't determine truth.