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2.) To that effect, a kindhearted bible-believer pointed me to Rev 22:18-19:
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Problem is, I can't decide whether it refers to the whole Bible or just to Revelations.
On the one hand, it appears at the end of the entire Bible, so it must refer to all of it.
On the other, each biblical book was an actual, separate book when it was first written; and that, together with the wording ("prophecy of this book", "plagues...written in this book") suggest, Revelations only.
If you could show me the passage which clarifies this passage, I'd appreciate it.
After all, I don't want the wrath of St. Peter to fall on me (he used to be a scrapper in his fisherman days, ya know). I am referring to the scary passage, 2Ptr 3:14-18:
15 . . . just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness.
3.) What do you make of these two tidbits from the Book of Jude?
Jud 1:9:
9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
And Jud 1:14-15:
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
Jude, being a God-fearing man, would want to stick as close as possible to the Bible. The only Bible in his day would be the OT, since the NT wasn't finished yet. These two passages refer to OT people, but I looked in vain to find the passages in the OT. Why would he include what were then "extra-biblical" passages? Is this explained anywhere in the Bible?
4.) Finally, there's what I call the "fill in the blank" passage--2Thes 2:5-6:
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
For the life of me, I can't find the passage that explains what the thing that "is holding him back" is. I guess that part isn't important, or the Lord would have St. Paul put it in the Bible. But then, why include the original, mystifying passage? Is
that question answered in the Bible?
5.) Oh, and don't forget the Gospel of St John 21:25:
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.