E.G. Lewis's Blog

Hello My Friend and Welcome.
We are pleased to announce that the four books of the Bestselling Seeds of Christianity Series are now available as a Boxed Set in both audio and digital formats.

Get the Kindle Version at Amazon for just $9.99.

You can get the Audio Version, a $29.95 value, is FREE with an Audible trial membership.

GET YOURS TODAY!

Hello My Friend and Welcome.
I want to make you aware of two books (one of them mine) that will be available worldwide for free download for the Amazon Kindle. By the way, both books have been ranked Number One on Amazon Kindle in the past. Readers say — “A great read that makes the First Century come alive. I particularly liked the recipes”…“Everything is well-documented with surprising depth of detail. I feel like I’ve lived there alongside these ancient peoples.”…“This little book, so chocked full of information, is deeply-researched. Serious at times and humorous at others…” “A wonderful resource for the home-schooling Mom…”
Synopsis: Relying upon the Bible and extensive research for his popular Seeds of Christianity™ Series, E. G. Lewis presents an interesting and informative study on foods, cooking and day-to-day life in the early Christian era. All major food groups are covered with specific chapters on Spices & Herbs, Fruits & Nuts, Grains, Vegetables, Salad Greens, Fish & Fowl, Meat, Milk & Cheese, Sweets and Sweeteners, and even one on What They Didn’t Have. Includes bonus chapters on Aviculture, Apiculture, Ancient Beers and Wines, Olive Oil, Manna, the Gladiator’s Diet and lots of Recipes you can try at home. At Table with the Lord - Foods of the First Century has been revised and expanded. It is also available in a print edition for the first time. Download it for free HERE.
Gather the kids and join author Sheila Deeth as this long-time Christian Educator and Sunday School Teacher leads a fun and educational field trip through the Book of Genesis. Designed for independent reading by middle-graders, or reading aloud to younger children, each one of this series of linked short stories is not too long, not too short…but just the right length.
Make learning fun as you and your children come to know these Biblical characters in ways you never have before. All your favorites are here. She begins at the beginning with God, of course, then come Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, Seth, Methuselah, Noah and others. Proceed on to the age of Patriarchs where you meet Terah, Lot, Melchizedek, Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, Sarah and Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, Laban, Leah, Rachel and many more. From there, continue on to the story of Joseph, his brothers who sold him into slavery, and his life in Egypt where he eventually rescues the fledgling nation of Israel.
All-in-all, Genesis People contains nearly 50 separate stories, each one the ideal length for reading at bedtime or before a nap. Using her insights, masterful storytelling skills and gentle way with words, Ms. Deeth creates a series of stories that will have your children begging for “Just one more.” Genesis People is a wonderful way to introduce youngsters to the Bible. Download it HERE

 

I’d like to alert you to an opportunity. My book, In Three Days – The History and Traditions of Lent & Easter, will be free for the Kindle Sunday, 2/3 – Thursday, 2/7/2013. You can use this link to downlaod your copy.  Critics say: “Amazing in its breadth and depth”…“Fun and educational, something new on every page”… “Until I read In Three Days I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.”  Readable and timely, the book takes you on a fact-filled journey through the twenty-eight fascinating chapters that cover a wide variety of topics such as: Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Fasting, Pretzels, the Lenten Food, Prophecies of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, How the Date of Easter is Determined, Maundy Thursday, Burial in the First Century and more. Also includes designated chapters on each of The Four Men who tried Jesus: Annas, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas, along with individual studies of the Three Relics of the Passion: Veronica’s Veil, The Sudarium, and The Shroud of Turin. Special additional chapters deal with Shekers or False Messiahs, Baptism in the Early Church, Did Jesus Wear a Toga, Did Jesus Have Long Hair, The Way Jesus Dressed, The Names of God, and The Names of Jesus. Includes a fun Bonus — What to do with all Those Easter Eggs.
Get yours today and tell your friends.

Until next time,
I wish you Peace and Blessings.

 
Be sure to check out this wonderful Kindle Book by our friend Sheila Deeth. You can download it for free CLICK HERE

Readers say…”Wonderfully interesting…and really teaches. So glad I found this.”

In this, the fourth book of her popular Series, Sheila Deeth turns her attention and writing skills to the Book of Psalms. The book contains a whopping 75 delightful Five-Minute Psalm Stories… one for each Psalm. And every one of them consists of a short story that illustrates a moral lesson, an observation or comment, plus a short, meditative prayer to wrap things up. Like every volume in the Five-Minute Bible Story™ Series, it will leave your children begging for “just one more!”

  Hello My Friends and Welcome: I want to share with you that WITNESS, Book One of the Best-Selling Seeds of Christianity Series, willbe free for your Kindle Today (Jan. 6th) through Thursday (Jan. 19th). To get you FREE copy click HERE .  WITNESS has a #1 Ranking on Amazon and a 5-Star Rating by readers. Here's a synopsis:
Things are good for young Rivkah. Her father's just given her a lamb to start her own flock, and Shemu'el wants to marry her. The young shepherdess accompanies her father to Bethlehem where, with Mary’s help, she holds her newborn son. But Mary, Joseph and Jesus are soon gone and Herod’s soldiers begin killing the children of her village. Then her intended, Shemu’el, is dragged away into slavery. Divided by fate, united by love, these two young people grow to separate adulthoods, each with their dreams and desires unfulfilled, while the world of Rome and conquest moves inexorably on.
Rivkah eventually marries and raises a family. Life is good until the day she's in Jerusalem for the Passover when three men pass on their way to crucifixion. As she encounters Jesus a final time, Rivkah makes a life-changing decision and follows to Golgotha. And, when they take him from the cross, this time it’s Rivkah who helps Mary hold her son.
An epic tale of love lost and love found...Biblically and historically accurate.  Get yours today! Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings
   The Book

 CLICK FOR GREAT ROMANTIC SUSPENSEA Recipe for Trouble: Take one jilted Supermodel on the rebound, Add an unscrupulous businessman who'll do anything to save his floundering business, agitate until both are steaming then keep at a low simmer.When looking for love sometimes you find it...and sometimes you don't!Smooth as a sip of Kentucky Bourbon, PROMISESeases you into the Appalachian hill country. That wonderfully wild place of mountains and hollows, creeks and rivers, with its hardscrabble life and whiteboard churches where roots go deep, family matters, and Granny Wright is never wrong. A place where King Coal still rules, and beneath its veneer of respectability lays a hidden web of treachery. Mary Jane Combs may have gotten her Momma's good looks, but her strong-willed determination came straight from Daddy. Growing up in Kentucky she dreamed of a simple life with a loving husband, a home of her own, and healthy kids. Instead she's become an international Supermodel, swapping the Appalachian coal country for New York City's Upper West Side and traveling the world in her private jet. Now she'll need all the determination she can muster when her ex-husband sets out to destroy everything she's accomplished. But two questions remain unanswered: Can she do what needs to be done and still remain true to the promises she made at her mother's deathbed? And when the dust settles, will she at last find the loving relationship she always dreamed of as a girl?______________________________   CLICK FOR WONDERUL CHILDREN'S BIBLE STORIESReaders say, “Charming…Delightful…A marvelous teaching tool…” Gather the kids and join author Sheila Deeth as this long-time Christian Educator and Sunday School Teacher leads a fun and educational field trip through the Book of Genesis. Designed for independent reading by middle-graders, or reading aloud to younger children, each one of this series of linked short stories is not too long, not too short…but just the right length. Make learning fun as you and your children come to know these Biblical characters in ways you never have before. All your favorites are here. She begins at the beginning with God, of course, then come Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, Seth, Methuselah, Noah and others. Proceed on to the age of Patriarchs where you meet Terah, Lot, Melchizedek, Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, Sarah and Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, Laban, Leah, Rachel and many more. From there, continue on to the story of Joseph, his brothers who sold him into slavery, and his life in Egypt where he eventually rescues the fledgling nation of Israel. All-in-all, Genesis People contains nearly 50 separate stories, each one the ideal length for reading at bedtime or before a nap. Using her insights, masterful storytelling skills and gentle way with words, Ms. Deeth creates a series of stories that will have your children begging for “Just one more.” Genesis People is a wonderful way to introduce youngsters to the Bible.Includes Author’s Notes.

Moses (Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments)
Returns to find the People Worshipping the Golden CalfHello My Friend and Welcome.

Ten days ago we put up a post about the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah. Now, ten days later, we are back to visit Highest Holyday of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement begins at sundown Spetember, 24th.


FORGIVENESS OF SINYom Kippur commemorates the day when God forgave the Jewish people in the desert for the sin of the Golden Calf. Forty days after hearing God say at Mount Sinai: “You shall not have the gods of others in My presence; you shall not make for yourself a graven image,” the Jews committed the cardinal sin of idolatry. Moses spent nearly three months on top of the mountain pleading with God on their behalf, and on the tenth of Tishri it was finally granted. “For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God.” (Leviticus 16:30)

That date has been kept sacred ever after and became known as the Day of Atonement. While this is the most solemn day of the year, underlying it is a joyful confidence that God will forgive the people’s sins. From several minutes before sunset on Tishri 9 until after nightfall on Tishri 10 the people afflict their souls by abstaining from food and drink, they do not wash or anoint their bodies, do not wear leather footwear, and abstain from spousal intimacy. Instead of focusing on the physical, Jews spend much of the day in the synagogue, engaged in repentance and prayer. The Yom Kippur Service in a Modern SynagoguePREPARING FOR THE TIME OF ATONEMENTOn the day prior to Yom Kippur, the people eat and drink in abundance. Two festive meals are eaten, one early in the day, and one just prior to the onset of Yom Kippur fast. Another special observance of the day includes requesting and receiving honey cake. This is done to acknowledge that all we have comes from God. It also gives testimony to the prayerful hope that the following year be a sweet one. Jews also ask forgiveness from anyone they may have wronged during the past year, make extra charitable donations, and ceremonially bless their children. Before sunset, women and girls light holiday candles, and everyone makes their way to the synagogue for the Kol Nidrei services.

RITUAL PRAYERS AND READINGSThere are five prayer services held in the course of Yom Kippur: Maariv, with its solemn Kol Nidrei service, on the eve of Yom Kippur; Shacharit, the morning prayer, Musaf, which includes a detailed account of the Yom Kippur Temple service, Minchah, which includes the reading of the Book of Jonah. They say the Al Chet confession of sins eight times in the course of Yom Kippur, and recite Psalms every available moment. This is in compliance to the command, “In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work...For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord.  (Leviticus 16:29-30)

Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue, in prayer. In Orthodox synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18). Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are buried.

There are many additions to the regular liturgy. Perhaps the most important addition is the confession of the sins of the community, which is inserted into the Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah) prayer. It is important to note that all sins are confessed in the plural (we have done this, we have done that), emphasizing communal responsibility for transgressions. Many in Israel go to the Wailing Wall, The Remaining
Western Wall of the Jerusalem Temple, to Pray During Yom Kippur CONFESSION OF SINSThere are two basic parts of this confession. The Ashamnu contains a shorter, more general list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been slanderous...), the the Al Cheit is a longer and more specific list (for the sin we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed in these prayers. There's also a general confession reminiscent of the Catholic prayer, “…forgive our sins of omission and commission.” The Jewish form is, “Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us.”

It is interesting to note that these confessions do not specifically address the kinds of ritual sins that some people might imagine. For instance, there is no “for the sin we have sinned before you by eating pork, and for the sin we have sinned against you by driving on Shabbat,”…though these are obviously included in the general confession. The vast majority of the sins enumerated involve mistreatment of other people, most of them by speech (offensive speech, scoffing, slander, tale-bearing, and swearing falsely, to name a few). These all come into the category of sin known as lashon ha-ra (the evil tongue), which is considered a very serious sin in Judaism.

The concluding service of Yom Kippur, known as Ne'ilah, is unique to the day. It usually runs about an hour. The ark, or cabinet where the scrolls of the Torah are kept, is left open throughout this service. Thus everyone is required to stand throughout the readings, unless physically unable to. There is a tone of desperation in the prayers of this service. The service is sometimes referred to as the closing of the gates. That is, it's the last chance to get in a good word before the holiday ends. The service ends with a very long blast of the Shofar, the tekiah gedolah. 

LOOKING AHEADThe weeks following Rosh HaShanah are a time of feasts and festivals. The next comes just five days after Yom Kippur…the feast of Sukkoth, literally the feast of booths. One of three so-called pilgrim feasts during which the people left their homes and journeyed to Jerusalem, it was also called the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Ingathering. Jesus, being an observant Jew, traveled to Jerusalem each year to observe this feast. One such instance is noted in John’s Gospel. “After this Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand...” (John 7:1-2) “About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.” (John 7:7:14)

Until NEXT TIME, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

Sounding the Shofar at Rosh HaShanah
Hello My Friend and Welcome.
Judaism, like Christianity, has its calendar of Feasts and Festivals. And again, like Christianity, the liturgical year that governs them does not follow the secular calendar.
FROM ADAM TO THE PRESENT DAYThe term Rosh HaShanah, meaning the head of the year, is not found in the Bible. The Torah refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the Shofar). The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25. In Ezekiel 40:1 there is a general reference to the time of Yom Kippur as the "beginning of the year", but it does not specifically refer to the holiday of Rosh HaShanah.

The Jewish ecclesiastical calendar for the year 5773 begins the first day of the month of Tishri. This corresponds to our Gregorian date of September 17th, 2011. However, since each new day by Jewish reckoning begins at sundown, it actually starts at sundown, September 15th. Tradition says that Tishri 1 represents either the creation of the world or the creation of man. In the second case, the creation of the world occurred five days earlier on the 25th of Elul. Either way, the time from Adam to the present time is calculated to be 5,773 years.
HONORING THE HOLYDAYFor the Jew, no work is permitted on Rosh HaShanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In fact, there is a special prayer book called the machzor used for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holydays.

One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the Shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types of Shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, big tekiah), the final blast in a set, which lasts 10 seconds minimum. The Shofar is not blown if the holiday falls on Shabbat.
The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah (for a good year). This is a shortening of L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem (or to women, L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi), which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." A term that references the coming of Yom Kippur.
BEGINNING THE HIGH HOLYDAYSThe celebration of Rosh HaShanah, which lasts either one or two days, has similarities and differences to our celebration of New Year’s Day. Although the Jews gather and celebrate, their celebration is not the all-out party we sometimes see in America. There are no midnight bashes, no Rose Parade floats, no memorial bowl games, and no ball drops in Times Square. Though in one way we are very alike; the Jews, like many Americans, make it a time of introspection, looking back on the mistakes of the past year and planning changes for the year to come.

Rosh HaShanah ushers in what are known as the High Holy Days. This ten-day period begins on Rosh HaShanah and concludes on Yom Kippor, the Day of Atonement. The belief is that this is a time of judgment for each Jewish person. The righteous have their names recorded in the Book of Life. The wicked have their names expunged, and the middle-of-the-roaders have this time in which to repent and join the righteous.
KEEPING MORE THAN ONE YEARThose familiar with the Hebrew Bible may notice an apparent contradiction between Rosh HaShanah, which occurs on the first day of the seventh month and the first month of the Jewish calendar Nissan, which occurs in March and April.

Judaism has several different years. At first glance this may seem strange, but it’s no different than  the American calendar New Year starting in January, while the new school year starts in September, and many businesses have fiscal years that start at various times throughout the year. In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar. Elul 1 in August is the new year for the tithing of animals. Shevat 15 in February is the new year for trees which determines when first fruits can be eaten, etc., and Tishri 1, Rosh HaShanah is when the year number is increased and Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin. The Traditional meal Begins with Apples and Honey
TRADITIONAL FOODSAll holidays, secular and religious, have certain foods associated with them. If you don’t believe this, try serving something other than turkey on Thanksgiving and see what happens. The Rosh HaShanah meal traditionally begins with apples served with honey to give the New Year a sweet start. This is a late medieval Ashkenazi addition that is now almost universally accepted.

The Ashkenazi are Jews whose history can be traced to the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region, and thus for Germany. They later migrated, forming communities in non German-speaking areas throughout Europe and the United States. Although they composed only 3 percent of the world's Jewish population in the 11th century, at their peak in 1931, Ashkenazi Jews accounted for 92 percent of the world's Jews.
The Usual Oblong Shape of a Braided Loaf of Challah BreadSeveral other traditional foods eaten during this holiday are honey cake, braised brisket of beef, and Challah. The C is silent so this rich, braided, egg bread is pronounced Hallah. Raisins, or other bits of fruit, are typically added to the Rosh HaShanah bread. It can also be formed from multiple types of dough for added variety. Rather than appearing in its typical oblong braid, the holiday Challah comes to the table formed into a round braid representing the crown of God.
The very simplest way to make a round Challah loaf is to take a round baking pan, such as a cake pan, and put about a dozen equally sized balls of dough in it. When the dough rises, it takes on the semblance of a woven loaf. You can also actually weave, or braid, the dough in increasingly complex forms. The video below offers three options; the simple circular spiral, a four-strand braid, and a cut bird applied to the Challah crown. Click Here for Video

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings

A Young St. Joseph with the boy Jesus
Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Though we know little about him, St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, played a critical role in the Holy Family. Most of our information concerning St. Joseph comes from the birth narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. There are also several apocryphal accounts and legends regarding both Joseph and Mary that may, or may not, provide further illumination.  THE FINER DETAILSBoth Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 refer to Joseph as a tekton, a craftsman. Tradition has settled on his craft being wood working, thereby making him a carpenter. Whether he performed general work such as making yokes for oxen, plows and so on, worked mainly in the construction trade, or did fine woodwork such as carvings and finish details, can never be known. We know Joseph was a man of humble means since he presented the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons when he took Jesus to the Temple for Mary’s purification. An offering of birds was the standard for those who could not afford a lamb. We also know that he was a holy and observant Jew since the Gospel refers to him as “a righteous man.”  DID JESUS HAVE BROTHERS & SISTERS?Matthew 13:53-56 says, “And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’” The question would appear to have been settled then and there. However, that is not the case. The three major divisions of Christianity have each developed their own viewpoint on this question. Each of these revolves around Mary as much as Joseph.  THE PROTESTANT VIEWPOINTLuther argued that correct interpretation of scripture rests not with the Church but “in the heart of the pious believer.” This has led the majority of Protestants to follow the practice of plain or explicit interpretation of the Bible. This rule says that when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other; take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, and literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and fundamental truths, indicates otherwise.  At first glance, this passage from Matthew appears to be exactly such a situation. However, it comes with certain suppositions, making it problematic. Mary and Joseph are now assumed to be the parents of at least six additional children after the virginal, and miraculous, conception of Jesus. Joseph would also have to have been young enough to father this brood.   We know Jesus was the firstborn, and therefore the oldest, because they made an offering of two turtledoves or pigeons at the Temple (Luke 2:22-24) to redeem him as required by Numbers 18:15: “…nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem…” This becomes contradictory when one considers that Jesus assigned John with the task of caring for his mother from the cross. Why did he need to do this if he had four younger brothers? Tradition says John moved Mary from Jerusalem to Ephesus to protect her from harm. Wouldn’t her family have been upset by this, and expected her to stay with them rather than John, a non-relative?   An Old St. Joseph Holds the Baby Jesus THE ORTHODOX VIEWPOINTAmong other differences, the Eastern Church holds to a doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity. In their traditions, Joseph was a widower with children when they married. So instead of having siblings, Jesus has step-brothers and step-sisters.  Making Joseph an older man solves two other issues. First, if he were not searching for a wife in the fullest sense of the word, but rather a caretaker, it becomes more reasonable to view him as “a most chaste spouse”…a term the Church has applied to him from earliest times. Secondly, making him older conforms to the tradition that Joseph had died by the time Jesus began his public ministry. (The last mention of Joseph in the Bible occurs when the 12-year-old boy Jesus is left behind at the Temple and he is not mentioned at the wedding feast in Cana.) The Orthodox view makes Jesus the youngest child in the family. And, since he was Mary’s only child, he would be solely responsible for her care when Joseph died. Were Joseph not dead, her care would have been a moot point.   THE CATHOLIC VIEWPOINTWhere the Protestant view tends to a younger Joseph and the Orthodox view to an older, the Catholic view demands neither. While agreeing with the Eastern view on Mary’s perpetual virginity and Joseph’s death prior to Jesus’ public ministry, the Catholic Church believes the Holy Family consisted of three persons: Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  This, of course, necessitates charging John with her care since there was no one else. This still leaves the question of his “brothers” and “sisters.” The Bible provides a list of these brothers. If they were not siblings, who were they? A real and close kinship between Jesus and these brethren is clear. But the term brethren, or brother, can be applied to step-brothers as well as to blood brothers, and in Scripture is often extended to near or even distant relatives, like cousins.  Comparing John 19:25 to Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40, we find that Mary of Cleophas, or Clopas, was the sister of Mary the Mother of Jesus. We know she is Clopas’ wife because that is the way a married woman would have been identified. So this Mary is the same Mary who was the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, or Joses. Isn’t James the Lesser named in the list of apostles as the son of Alpheus? Yes, but it is commonly recognized that Clopas and Alpheus are different transcriptions of the same Aramaic word, Halphai.  FOLLOWING THESE BRETHREN THROUGH HISTORYWe know nothing of Joses, or Joseph. Jude, however, is the author of the Epistle of Jude. He is identified Judas Jacobi, Jude the brother of James, in the Douay Version of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. It was Greek custom for a man to append his brother's name instead of his father's when the brother was better known. In his Epistle, Jude calls himself the brother of James.   Simon, like Joseph, remains a bit of a mystery. Many commentators identify him as Symeon, or Simon, who, according to Hegesippus, was a son of Clopas and succeeded James as Bishop of Jerusalem. Others have identified him as the Apostle Simon the Cananean (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18) or Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). The grouping of James, Jude (or Thaddeus), and Simon, after the others, but before Judas Iscariot, seems to indicate a connection between them.   So two, and possibly three, of these cousins were among Jesus’ Apostles. This seems to be verified in 1 Corinthians 9:5 where Paul writes, “Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” The mention of Cephas (Peter) at the end indicates that St. Paul, after speaking of the Apostles in general, calls special attention to the more prominent ones, the brothers (brethren) of the Lord and Cephas.  FURTHER ARGUMENTSSome would object that the brethren of the Lord couldn’t have been Apostles since just months before his death they didn’t believe in him (John 7:3-5). This is based on a misreading of the text. They didn’t doubt his powers, what they misunderstood was his Messianic mission. They wanted him to declare himself a temporal leader. This expectation remained alive among the Apostles even after his resurrection.   The final objection to the Catholic position references Matt 1:24-25, “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son...” It can be demonstrated from other examples that the phrase firstborn son doesn’t necessarily imply that there were, or were not, other children. Nor does the phrase knew her not until she had borne a son necessarily imply that he knew her afterwards.  Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

We are pleased to share with you that for the first time ever E. G. Lewis' eBook At Table with the Lord — Foods of the First Century will be free in the Amazon Kindle store beginning 08/06/2012 through 08/10/2012.

Beginning at Midnight tonight You Can
Click HERE to download your free copy of At Table with the Lord.
Derived from research for The Seeds of Christianity Series™, this easy to read book examines all major food groups as well as what they didn’t have. It also includes special chapters on ancient aviculture, apiculture, olives and olive oil, plus a new look at manna, the gladiator’s diet, and numerous recipes to try at home. Fun and thoughtful, At Table with the Lord is a great resource for the home-schooler or Sunday School teacher.

This is a world-wide promotion. For those outside the US, free copies  are available through all Amazon sites.

Download yours  and help us spread the word.  

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings