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These Last Days News - March 6, 2012

God's Word: New Exhibit Shows Bible's Evolution, Beauty, Perseverance...

“I say now, My children, that you must understand there are great graces given for reading the Bible, even a short time of fifteen minutes; you will be graced by indulgences.  Have you forgotten, My children, in the modernization of My Son's Church, have you forgotten the meaning of indulgences?  They are applicable to the time you may have to put in purgatory, My children." - Our Lady of the Roses, July 25, 1985

AS A WHOLE
"Those who have little knowledge of the Book of life and love, the Bible, will fall easy prey to false witnesses who go about the world now, deceiving even some of the elect.  You must read your Bible so that you will not be deluded by the written word.  The Bible cannot be taken as sectional or piece by piece, but you must know the whole, for satan has poisoned many minds.  And Satan, too, can expound the Scriptures." - Our Lady, May 26, 1979

CNA reported on March 2, 2012:

Desecration, censorship, the ravages of time and even nesting mice have been unable to destroy the word of God, handed down for millennia by people of faith.

The endurance of sacred Scripture is the centerpiece of a new interfaith exhibit called Verbum Domini, which brings to the Vatican rare biblical texts and artifacts spanning a period from the third century B.C. to the 17th century.

"We seek to tell the amazing story of the preservation and translation of the most loved, most debated and the best-selling book every year and of all time," said Steve Green, an entrepreneur and the primary benefactor of The Green Collection, a private collection of more than 40,000 biblical antiquities.

Plans are under way to set up a permanent museum for a portion of the collection, ideally in Washington, D.C., he said.

He said the exhibition at the Vatican was inspired by "Verbum Domini" ("The Word of the Lord") -- Pope Benedict XVI's reflection on the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Bible.

The show, which brought together about 100 items from The Green Collection and 50 items from other collections, opened to the public March 1 and will run until April 15 in the Vatican's Braccio di Carlo Magno -- a hall next to St. Peter's Basilica.

The rare biblical texts from Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant traditions have been handpicked to reflect the inter-confessional heritage and cooperation behind efforts to preserve and pass on God's word.

The Bible's endurance, however, has at times come at great cost.

"It's a remarkable part of the story (in terms of) both the sacrifice of human investment whether through time and labor or even the cost of life, as well as how the book itself has survived," said Scott Carroll, a manuscripts scholar, director of The Green Collection and curator of the Verbum Domini exhibit.

Carroll said papyrus fragments of some of the earliest known texts of the Gospel from the second and third centuries A.D. have been found at digs at an ancient garbage dump in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt.

Even more surprising has been the discovery of early Old Testament Greek texts inside Egyptian funerary masks, he said. Layers of papyri and plaster had been used to make the papier-mache-like painted masks.

The most precious find, according to Carroll, is the Codex Climaci Rescriptus -- one of the earliest, near-complete Bibles in the world.

On display is one of codex's manuscripts, which was recycled six times between the fourth and ninth centuries by scribes who wrote a new codex over text from the preceding centuries.

What has excited scholars most, Carroll said, is that The Green Collection, together with Oxford University, has devised a way to read and study the original Palestinian Aramaic -- the dialect of Jesus -- under the successive layers of Greek and Syriac lettering.

"It's the earliest example of scripture in Jesus' dialect," Carroll said.

The Bible has had not only the forces of time and nature to contend with, but also human error and ferocity, he said.

One exhibition shows a Torah whose singed edges speak of its escape from the pyres of Spanish Inquisitors; others show how Nazis desecrated sacred texts by cutting them up and turning them into shoe liners, a soldier's satchel and table coverings.

Ironically, "their ill-intentions actually had worked to preserve the book," Carroll said.

Even the church itself had spurred a collection and preservation frenzy, he said, when in medieval times it banned the publication and spread of an English translation of the Latin Bible; censored works often become black market best-sellers.

But as the translation of sacred Scripture into the vernacular became more widely accepted and standardized, the Bible was crucial to the spread of literacy and learning throughout the world, as people sought to deepen their faith.

One illustration of this can be seen in a 13th-century Gospel book -- one of the earliest-surviving Ethiopian manuscripts, whose lower page margins were gnawed through by mice. It had been commissioned by a woman for her daughter, Carroll said, and reflects the extent of female literacy and the importance that families placed on reading Scripture.

The common thread running through the eight-gallery exhibit is how Jews, Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants found ways to cooperate and collaborate in the preservation, translation and dissemination of Scripture.

"I think the untold story in how we got the Bible is the interfaith connection," Carroll said.

People often think sacred texts are used more often as a weapon to hurt or divide, he said.

However, as experts study the different communities' texts and artifacts, "you'll see that Jews, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestants really work together and benefit from each others' devotion to the same book," he said.

Jesuit Father Stephen Pisano, dean of the Pontifical Biblical Institute's biblical faculty, said the ways in which a text is interpreted can be divisive "because when you interpret, you give a particular meaning to something and that meaning may not be necessarily shared by everyone."

However, the different faith communities do have common ground in the biblical text, he said, and an exhibit like Verbum Domini is a reminder of that joint heritage.

The Feb. 29 inauguration was attended by Vatican officials, representatives of Rome's Jewish and Orthodox communities, and numerous members of the Green family, who are evangelical Christians.

Lamar Vest, president of the American Bible Society, said the exhibit doesn't just celebrate history, "we are also making history by making a statement to the world that those of us who do follow Christ are brought together by a single holy Scripture."

The exhibit "is not just a celebration of the past, it's a living book" that speaks to every generation and culture, he said.

So many men and women risked so much and worked so hard to faithfully pass on God's word throughout history and around the world, he said.

He said, "Now it's our responsibility to put (Scripture) into practice in our own lives" and communicate the Bible's message in new ways.

Verbum Domini: An Interfaith Celebration of God's Word...

Huffington Post reported on March 6, 2012:

By Scott Carroll, Ph.D.,(2nd from right in the picture to the right) Director of the Green Collection

The Vatican Library is one of the world's great repositories of precious written materials. The treasures are shrouded by suspicion and conspiracy theories that are fostered by a popular, if not accurate, view of the Catholic Church. The inner bowels of the recently refurbished library are filled with endless stacks of the most precious religious tomes, off-limits to most.

Now imagine a private collection of ancient manuscripts and rare books, based in Oklahoma City, Okla., and owned by an American Protestant family, partnering with the Vatican to host an international exhibit on the Bible in St. Peter's Square. The exhibit is called Verbum Domini and it will run at the Braccio di Carlo Magno, just steps from St. Peter's Basilica, from March 1 to April 15.

The relevant details are even more startling. The Green Collection, presently based in America's Protestant Bible belt, is just over 2 years old. The ever-growing collection currently has some 50,000 items and constitutes the largest and most significant collection of ancient biblical and biblically related artifacts, scrolls, manuscripts and rare books in private hands in the world. The collection has been orchestrated by the Green family, owners of the American-based Hobby Lobby arts and crafts chain. Known for their public faith, it should be no surprise that the Greens would have an interest in collecting Bibles and biblical artifacts. After all, people collect things they are passionate about.

The Green Collection is destined to find its permanent home in a non-sectarian museum that takes a scholarly approach to the most popular, most controversial, most influential, best-selling book of all time -- the Bible -- and its related items. While seeking a permanent location, The Green Collection also has a 450-item traveling exhibition called Passages that is presently on display in Atlanta through April 15. Both the Passages and Verbum Domini exhibits display the items in immersive, interactive exhibits. For more information visit ExplorePassages.com and VerbumDominiRome.com.

Verbum Domini is a display of more than 150 items of great historical significance, two-thirds of which come from The Green Collection. The balance comes from significant private collections throughout the world. The exhibit celebrates interfaith contributions to the composition, preservation, adornment and study of the Bible. While it is easy to think of all that divides Jews, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants, they all share a common ground in Scripture. God's Word is not the possession of the Catholic Church or evangelical Protestants, but is shared equally by all who appreciate it.

The name Verbum Domini, meaning "the Word of the Lord," was recently used in an historic work by Pope Benedict XVI calling on Catholics to read and meditate on Scripture. The exhibit contains an array of priceless, little-known treasures preserved by collectors of all faiths, although none of the items were borrowed from the vast collection of the Vatican Library or Museum. It provides a refreshing view of the interaction between Jews and Christians. The exhibit tells the story of the composition and preservation of the Bible, under the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, using items that even the Vatican has never seen.

Verbum Domini underscores the importance of The Green Collection and private repositories. It shows that the preservation of the Bible, much like its survival throughout the ages, is alive and well in private hands. The exhibit provides a refreshing take on a book that is often equated with division and controversy. Verbum Domini also shows the foresight and magnanimity of the Vatican Library -- and the Vatican itself -- to allow such an exhibition in St. Peter's Square at a time when millions will be visiting Rome.

Ironically, the day that Verbum Domini opens in Vatican City, an exhibit by the Vatican Library on secret papal archives will open in Rome. I guess the secret is finally out: Roman Catholics, Jews, Protestants and Orthodox Christians can finally come together and share their love for the Word of God and honor those who have preserved it over the ages for that very purpose.

Dr. Scott Carroll is Director of The Green Collection.  His expertise in ancient languages, ancient history, archaeology and religion, as well as his passion for research, has uniquely prepared him to take the reigns as director of The Green Collection. In less than 24 months, Carroll has helped arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby acquire more than 40,000 items and made The Green Collection, named for Hobby Lobby's founder-owners, the world's newest and largest private collections of rare biblical texts and artifacts in the world.

Carroll's education includes a master's degree in church history from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a doctorate in ancient studies from Miami University of Ohio and post-doctoral studies in ancient languages from Hebrew Union College. His research, which focused on the study of ancient and medieval manuscripts, has made Carroll one of the world's foremost scholars on ancient biblical texts.

An authority on the use of technology in research, Carroll regularly collaborates with a working group at Oxford University developing innovations in multispectral imaging and digital effects to analyze ancient manuscripts. In addition to uncovering previously unknown layers of text in ancient manuscripts, the technology is expected to have further application outside the realm of ancient manuscript studies.

"You must all obtain a copy of the Book of life and love, the Bible. Do not accept the new mods. Try to find in your bookstores the old Bibles, My children, for many are being changed to suit the carnal nature of man. I repeat, sin has become a way of life." - Our Lady of the Roses, October 6, 1992  

John Paul's Comment:  I received a four year degree from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While there I had the honor to take two courses from Dr. Scott Carroll, who asked to be called Doc.  These were two of my favorite classes during those four years.  Please keep Doc in your prayers that God will richly bless, guide and protect him in his work and his loved ones.

EDITOR'S COMMENT:  Evil is accelerating and the Anti-Christ forces are gaining power in the world.  When the persecution starts, all Christian web sites on the internet will be forced to close.  Be sure to have in your possession all the following items: the Bayside Prophecy books, Bayside Medals, Douay-Rheims Bibles, the Protection Packets, Candles, Sacramentals, and Religious Books.  Purchase these items now while they are still available!  You will urgently need them in the days ahead.  Also, you can print out all PDF files for the Directives from Heaven and all of the Bayside Prophecies.  Copy Our Lady's messages and the Directives from Heaven now while they are still available!  Pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance on how to prepare now and for the days ahead when the Antichrist is revealed.  God bless.

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