I believe there is one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The body of Christ is one body.  Of what "Christian" denomination is the Father of our Lord Christ Jesus?  Of what denomination is Christ Jesus?  Of what denomination are Christ's apostles and disciples?  Of what denomination are all of the believers of Christ Jesus who believe into his name?  Which denomination invented the Bible?  Jesus wasn't Catholic, he wasn't Protestant, and he wasn't anything else but the chief cornerstone of a spiritual building of which true believers should consider themselves as a part, a part of his one body, not a part of a denomination (Mat. 21:42)!  I believe the organized denominational structures are counterfeits of the truth, because they divide the one body of Christ into different denominations, which mortal-made divisions cannot be substantiated with the texts of God's Word (1 Cor. 1:9-13).  I believe those who don't know the truth about who they are in Christ, follow denominations; they follow the leaders of those denominations as their "heads" instead of following the resurrected Christ Jesus as the head of the one body (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:22; Eph. 4:14-16; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18; 1 Pet. 2:1-10).  They are not yet disciples of Jesus Christ, because they are not yet reporting to the head of the the one body of Christ, Jesus Christ.

The first thing I hear out of "Christians" mouths all the time is, "What denomination are you?."  This tells me instantly that they have not yet established a true and personal ongoing fellowship relationship with the Father and His son Christ Jesus (1 John 1:3).  They have not yet entered the role of discipleship.  If they had they would have an entirely different mind set over their own identity, and why they're here on earth!  If they would have found Christ Jesus they still wouldn't be following what other mortals tell them to think and believe, because they would be fellowshipping with the Father and His son directly, and God's Spirit in them would be teaching and guiding them (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27). 

Do you consider yourself part of the spiritual one body of Christ, or as part of a denomination?  Do you say, "I'm a Catholic", or, "I'm a Protestant", or do you say "I'm a follower and disciple of our risen Lord and savior Christ Jesus"?  What does the Father say in His Word as to how believers should answer every man on this question?  Those that follow the Lord Christ Jesus work in unison with each other, as one body, even if they don't know each other, because the head Christ Jesus is in charge and coordinating his one body to work together!  

 Apostle John says,

1 John 1:3  What (ho) we have gazed at (heōrakamen), and (kai) we have heard (akēkoamen), we report (apaggellomen) to you (humin) also (kai), in order that (hina) you (humeis) also (kai) may keep on having (echēte) fellowship (koinōnian) with (meth) us (hemon).  And (kai) the (hē) fellowship (koinōnia), but (de) the (hē) [Fellowship of] our own (hēmetera), [is] with (meta) the (tou) Father (patros) and (kai) with (meta) the (tou) son (huiou) of Him (autou), Jesus (Iēsou) Christ (christou).

1 John 1:4  And (kai) these things (tauta) we (hēmeis) write (graphomen) in order that (hina) the (hē) joy (chara) of us (hēmōn) may be (ē) fullfilled (peplerōmenē)!

If your regular fellowship is with the people of your "denomination" first, and your fellowship with the Father and His son Christ Jesus is something you really don't know if you do according to the guidelines in the scriptures, then your in trouble!  Socializing isn't fellowshipping!  Socializing is about you and the world.  Fellowshipping is about God, and His kingdom, and His son Christ Jesus, and how you relate to them!  But, there's an easy way out, work the holy scriptures for yourself, and don't let anyone else but the Spirit of Truth, if you've received it, tell you what they mean.  If you don't have a 100% rock solid fellowship relationship with the Father and His son Christ Jesus first, then your fellowship relationship with your "denominational" mortals doesn't mean a thing to the Father, because you're not keeping His commandments to love Him first with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and THEN, THEN, THEN, to love your fellow mortals as yourself!  You need to follow the rule book if you want to get to the point of receiving the promise of the Father's joy fulfilled in your heart!  

Here's what Apostle Paul says about following denominations and mortals;

1 Corinthians 1:11  Because (gar) it was shown (edēlōthē) to me (moi) about (peri) you (humōn), brothers (adelphoi) of me (mou), under (hupo) the (tōn) Chloe, (chloēs) that (hoti) there are (eisi) strifes (epides) in (en) you (humin).

1 Corinthians 1:12  But (de) I say (legō) this (touto), that (hoti) each (hekastos) of you (humōn) says (legei), '[It is] true (men), I (egō) am (eimi) of Paul (Paulou);

but (de) I (egō) of Apollos (apollō);

but (de) I (egō) of Cephas (kēpha);

but (de) I (egō) of Christ (christou)!'

1 Corinthians 1:13  Has the (ho) Christ (christos) been divided (memeristai)?  Paul (paulos) was not staked (mē estaurōthē) over (huper) you (humōn)!  Or (ē), into (eis) the (to) name (onoma) of Paul (paulou) were you baptized (ebaptisthēte)?

1 Corinthians 1:30  But (de), out of (ek) Him (autou) you (humeis) are (este) in (en) Christ (christō) Jesus (iōsou), who (hos) became (egenōthē) to us (hōmin) wisdom (sophia) from (apo) God (theou), and (te) righteousness (dikaisunō), and (kai) holiness (hagiasmos), and (kai) redemption (apolutrōsis),

1 Corinthians 1:31 in order that (hina) to get down to (kathōs) what has been written (gegraptai), “The one (ho) boasting (kauchōmenos), let him boast (kauchasthō) in (en) [the] Lord (Kuriō)”.

We were sanctified (i.e., set apart in God's eyes) because we were made righteous by Jesus' shed blood, and we were redeemed because we became wise about Christ Jesus!  Herein lies wisdom, in the knowledge of Christ Jesus!

The acceptable mind set of a believer toward the Father, brags about who they are and what they are, because of what the Father has made them to become through His son Christ Jesus!  If you're a believer, born above, baptized by Christ Jesus in the gift of holy Spirit, then you are not any longer a part of a mortal-made denomination my friend, you're part of the one body of Christ and a member of the household of the God, a paternal son of God, in the kingdom of God.  It's not about what denomination you belong to, but who you are in Christ!  

That denominational talk is all about bigotry and racism, creating and maintaining divisions among mortals.  The qualifications to become part of a denomination are simply to show up and put money in the plate, whereas the qualifications for discipleship, repentance and believing to receive the baptism in the gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus, and then obedience, require much more discipline and a much greater commitment.  Christ Jesus gave revelation to apostle Paul to teach believers how our spiritual walk should appear to another mortal, and to another believer, and especially to God.

1 Corinthians 4:1 So (ohutōs), let a mortal account (logizesthō anthropos) us (hēmas) as (hōs) under-oarsmen (hupēretas) of Christ (christou), and (kai) house stewards (oikonomous) of mysteries (mustēriōn) of God (theou)!

If we keep our true identity a secret, by not openly working for God and speaking for God, speaking His Word, then other mortals cannot account of us as under-oarsman of Christ, and house stewards of the mysteries of God.  If we keep our true identity as a disciple of Jesus Christ a secret from the rest of the world, then we're fooling ourselves, and them.  we have no secret identity as a disciple.  A disciple is as a disciple does!

FORGING TRANSLATIONS TO AGREE WITH THEOLOGY

A spiritually sickening but very common practice during the 20th century, and so far into this century, is to unfaithfully reproduce into a new translation, what mortals from God did NOT speak as they were borne along under holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), to agree with the latest fads in denominational liberal theologies.  The latest fads in denominational theology are nothing more than doctrines of devil spirits working in people posing as ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father has spoken.  That's it, it's over with.  His Word doesn't change in meaning from year to year.  It means exactly the same today as it meant at the moment it left the lips of Jesus Christ, Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul, and all the others about 2,000 years ago and before.  The holy men and women who spoke for God as they were moved with His holy Spirit, said exactly what God wanted them to say, because they were borne along by holy Spirit.  What they spoke was as holy Spirit gave them utterance. What they uttered is the standard by which all theological doctrines and theories should be judged, not the other way around!  If we can preserve what holy men and women spoke for God as He moved them with His holy Spirit, then we'll always have the original "truth" to hold up, to expose false doctrines as devilish lies, and put them down.  That's part of the purpose of this site.

Another common devilish translation practice which I stand in opposition against, is the "sneaking in" of personal opinion or theology into the translation, actually "twisting" the English translation to favor personal, preconceived ideas and religious ideology, and allowing the reader to unwittingly assume that their English translation accurately represents what is said in the original Hebrew or Greek.  This practice is lying, dishonest, forging false holy scripture, and comes right from the pit of hell.  And those so-called "translators" who do this will pay dearly for this.  If you knew how often this occurs in even the most "accepted" translations, you would be sick to your stomach, and wonder why someone doesn't stand up and say something about it!.  I do!  I don't hold a paid position in a religious organization, so I don't need to worry about offending someone with the truth and losing my job.  If I suggest an alternate meaning of a word or passage of text, I offer along with it clear, detailed evidence for why I believe what I suggest.  I will substantiate my suggestions with ample clear evidence and will not try to "sneak in" anything.  Jesus often said, "it is written...". I'll show you exactly what is written, and exactly where it is written, so you can decide for yourself what you think it means to you.

Compare my translations to the original texts using the best Hebrew and Greek interlinears and lexicons you can find, and see for yourself if I don't faithfully preserve God's names, all the articles, verb tenses, pronouns, conjunctions, and a score of other "important" items of grammatical detail, which preserve the dynamic impact of what was said originally.  How important are these details?  They're God's words of life!  How important do you think they are?  You tell me how important you think they are, and I'll tell you how far you're going to get with God and his son Jesus Christ.  Jesus said: 

TO "EXPERIENTIALLY KNOW"

What I believe will be of tremendous value to any believer who seeks to understand the mind of Jesus Christ and the Father, is to understand the obvious difference in meaning between two Greek words, ginosko and oida, both commonly translated into the English with the word "know" and several others.  Ginosko and oida have a huge difference in meaning in the Greek texts from which we derive our English translations.  

Ginosko specifically means, to experientially learn and come to know through participation and familiarization.  Ginosko "denotes a personal and true relation between the person knowing and the object known" - Bullinger.  Ginosko refers to gaining knowledge through "hands-on" participation.  In Matthew 7:23 Jesus says, "I never knew (egnon) you", in response to those "Christians" who in the day of reckoning will claim that during their life on earth, they served the Lord . The word egnon (1 person singular aorist indicative active voice) is a form of the word ginosko.  An expanded translation of this phrase, according to usage could be, "I never came to experientially know you through fellowship and hands-on personal work with you".  

Oida specifically means, to perceive or have seen with the eyes.  Oida "implies that the subject has simply come within the person's sphere of perception or circle of vision" - Bullinger.  A Latin equivalent would be 'video'.

Because I think the difference in the meaning of these two words is so important in understanding the mind of the Father through what is said in His Word, when quoting scriptures which text contains ginosko or a form of it, I'll translate it as experientially know, and when the text contains oida or a form of it I'll simply translate it as know or see. Using this rule, you'll understand much more clearly the meaning of the thought of the Father in His Word.  My goal is to be transformed by the renewing of my mind to God's Word (Romans 12:2).  If the believer can know (oida) exactly which word is used in the text, the believer can experientially know (ginosko) what steps to take in believing response to the Father's Word, especially in those passages of scripture which deal with the subject of a believer's practical walk in love and in fellowship with the Father and His son (John 14:7).  John 14:17 says that believers will experientially know (ginoskete) the Spirit of Truth, because it abides with us and is in us. The process of experientially knowing the Spirit of Truth is what builds believing in a believer, and it is what transforms a believer from their "old man" self into their "new man" fashioned after Christ. Believers are to experientially learn and come to know Jesus Christ, and the Father through hands-on participation and familiarization with the Spirit of Truth.

The value to a believer from understanding those scriptures where the holy Spirit uses ginosko, relates directly to building the ability of a believer to believe, and to keep the Father's commandments and do those things which are pleasing in His sight, which things relate directly to a believer receiving answers to prayer (1 John 3:21-22)!  

USAGES OF "MORTAL" AND "MAN"

A man (male gender) is a mortal, but not every mortal is a man (male gender).  There are both male and female mortals.  In my translations at this site I preserve the Word's explicit distinction between gender and lack of gender given in the source Hebrew and Greek texts.  For example: I don't translate Gk. anthropos as 'man', but as 'mortal', because man suggests a gender, but anthropos is neuter in its usage, and suggests no gender, and therefore should be rendered simply as 'mortal' which indicates a member of the human race.  

Anthropos explicitly states no gender, but simply means a 'mortal', which could be a male or female.  If the holy Spirit doesn't say whether it is a male or female, that's good enough for me, because it's what God wanted his Word to say!  I consider adding gender where there is no gender given, as forging the holy scripture with lies! 

Likewise, anthropinos means mortalkind, with no gender specified. For these words I use 'mortals' and 'mortalkind' because the usage of these words implies a comparison between mortal Vs spiritual, rather than male Vs female.  Translating anthropos as man or woman is an example of "sneaking in" to the translation one's own personal religious ideology, which has been done by almost every "translator".

When 'man', 'woman', 'boy', 'girl', 'manservant', 'maidservant', etc. words are used in scripture, they imply a comparison to the opposite gender because they explicitly specify a gender within the same Kingdom, Sub-kingdom, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.  Words like human being and humankind, imply a comparison also, but the comparison is between Kingdoms; between the Kingdom on Earth containing soul (psuche, i.e.breath life) mortal beings, and the Kingdom of Heaven containing spirit-based (pneuma, non-breath life) immortal spirit-based beings.  The comparison is between mortal nature Vs. spiritual nature, and between mortal ability Vs. spiritual ability.  I believe these are important distinctions to note in scripture, which when noted provide much more depth and insight into the meaning of a passage or passages.  The flesh is weak, but the Spirit is passionate, i.e. "ready to go" (Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38)!

When anthropos or anthropinos is used in scripture, the implied comparison is between the nature and ability of mortal Vs. spiritual.  This is why I translate these words and some others as 'mortal' or 'mortalkind' when gender is explicitly not given, and use the translation of the words 'man', 'women', 'boy', 'girl', etc. when gender is explicitly given. When holy Spirit "moved" a man or women to speak a word that did not imply a gender, the holy Spirit wanted it spoken that way on purpose.  The holy Spirit did not make a mistake!  We make the mistake by staying ignorant of details like these!  

ORIENTALISMS

The Bible is an Eastern book. Almost all of its passages of scripture describe events which occurred in Eastern lands among ancient Oriental people. Although we received the holy scriptures as "mortals from God spoke as they were carried along under holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21)", the holy Spirit used the settings within the cultures of the ancient Orient, referring to their ways of life, values, thought patterns, languages, customs, geographic locations and climate. These things are all reflected in the scriptures within the Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek source languages, and all need to be understood to insure accurate translation into the English language for us Westerners. Our lifestyles come as much as 6,000 years later, in a technological age, on the opposite side of the planet.  

The translators had very difficult times translating ancient customs and cultural idiosyncrasies into English for Westerners who have no concept of those cultural issues, so far removed in time and distance. Sometimes translator's guesswork leads the English reader right off into outer space. For example, subject matter dealing with marriage and dating customs, private and public social customs like the salt covenant, social customs regarding males and females sharing the same living quarters, social rules regarding when and where it is and isn't appropriate for males to speak to females, slang, idioms, other manners of speaking, adornment, burial customs, religious feasts, covenant responsibilities, details of the Mosaic Law, etc., were, and are still all very challenging to any translator to do a word-for-word rendering into English.

I have been studying ancient Middle Eastern customs and culture for years, and so when I come across those references in my translation I make an entry in the Literal Idiomatic Translation Glossary where I try to explain the cultural reference and how the understanding of it affects the meaning of the text.  Frankly, I can't understand why other translations don't bother to pay attention to these very important cultural details, which are absolutely vital to understanding the intended meaning of God's Word.

TYPES

Types (Gk. tupos) or imprints as I sometimes call them, are similar to figures of speech (coming up next), and go hand-in-hand with them. Wherever there is a type there is a figure of speech. A type is an object or idea which represents another object or idea, and therefore is basically a Metaphorical reference. All throughout scripture, bread is a powerful type which alludes to the broken body of Jesus Christ. How about numerous types within the Mosaic Law alone, who has counted them all? The Passover lamb was a type to Jesus, and specifically to the remission of our sins through his shed blood. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Noah, Moses, David, are all often times types to the great coming redeemer and deliverer, Jesus Christ. The rending of the vale covering the Holy of Holies was a type of Jesus' broken body and shed blood, which gave us access to the Father. "No one comes toward the Father except through me (John 14:6, Ephesians 2:18)."

There are numerous categories of types throughout the scriptures; there are single types, double types, types of Golgatha, types of the resurrection, types of God's dwelling places, types of cleansing, types of offerings, types of colors and substances, types of places, types of Jesus as a shepherd, types of the gift of holy Spirit, and many, many more. Types allude to and bring into the contextual meaning of a passage, other specific ideas related to the subject matter in the verse or passage where the type is used.

Types are placed in God's Word by the perfection of Godly design, and act to trigger a sort of mental hyperlink to other associated passages of scripture. Types steer the thought activity of the disciple to track with the thought pattern of God in those passages where types are used. The knowledge and study of the types slams open your understanding of the mind of God! A very good resource to use to awaken your awareness of many types used throughout scripture is, The Study of the Types by Ada R. Habershon.  Another great resource is Typology of Scripture (two volumes in one) by Patrick Fairbairn. A resource focused specifically upon the types of the Tabernacle is, The Tabernacle The Priesthood and the Offerings by Henry W. Soltau.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

You've heard of the figures of speech Parable, Simile, Metaphor, Allegory, and perhaps more. These are only 4 of over at least 250 distinct documented figures of speech used in scripture. The Father uses figures of speech to supply the believer with yet another tool for rightly dividing His Word, and thus understanding His mind and will. A figure is simply a word or sentence thrown into a peculiar form, a form different from its original or simplest meaning or use. There are often several ways to state something, each way emphasizing a different aspect of what is said. If we say, "The ground is dry", we're stating it in perhaps its simplest form, not putting any more emphasis on either the word "ground" or "dry". But, if we say, "The ground is thirsty", we immediately us a figure of speech, replacing the word "dry" with the word "thirsty", giving the sentence a different form out of its normal or simplest form, and using the word "thirsty" as a characteristic of the ground, putting the emphasis on it. Normally, thirst is a characteristic of something in the animal or vegetable kingdom, as normally used. An animal or plant can be thirsty, but the ground?

Some figures such as the ones mentioned above are common to many languages. Others are peculiar to certain languages. There are figures common to the English language which have no corresponding figure in the Hebrew or Greek languages, and there are Oriental figures which have no corresponding figures in the English language, because of culture differences.  Therefore it's necessary that we should learn and understand not only the meanings of the words themselves in the light of their original usage, but that we learn and understand also the figures (peculiar usages of those words and phrases) in the Oriental culture, and the laws which govern their usage.

The purpose of the Father's use of figures is to draw the believer's attention the that point in the verse or context which is the main point to be emphasized.  They're like highlighters.  Usage of figures down through a passage of scripture, when noticed by the believer, will keep the believer's thinking focused and tracking upon the main points of the subject of the passage, and safely bring the believer's thinking to the proper conclusion of everything the Father has said, like a light guides a ship into a harbor. The usage of the word "like" in the previous phrase should tip you off that the sentence is a figure of speech Simile.  And, I'm using the word "light" to represent "figures of speech", which means the phrase contains a metaphor also.  Plus, I'm using the word "ship" to represent "a believer", which is another metaphor.  Plus, I'm using the word "harbor" to represent the conclusion of scripture build-up of figures of speech, which is yet another metaphor.

Now maybe you can start to understand how important the accuracy of translation is from the source language (Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek) into English.  How much desire do you have to want to know the mind and will of the Father?  How valuable to you is it?  The knowledge of figures of speech, and paying attention to when and how the Father uses them in His Word, opens up scriptures which may otherwise be very difficult to understand or incomprehensible.  I use one Figures Of Speech resource, which is all I need; Figures of Speech Used in the Bible by E. W. Bullinger.  If you find a better text, please let me know.