Best of
Religion

1844

The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother


Lucy Mack Smith - 1844
    Amidst confusion over several versions of this mother's account of her son, Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, his 5th great grandson for the family foundation reaffirms this version developed in 1996 by Scot & Maurine Proctor, "who restored Lucy's language and feeling through verification with the original notebook."

Septuagint with Apocrypha


Anonymous - 1844
    The name derives from the tradition that it was made by seventy (or seventy-two) Jewish scholars at Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 B.C.). It has been preserved in a large number of manuscript copies of the original, and the Greek text in Brenton's edition is based on Vaticanus, an early fourth-century manuscript, with some reliance on other texts, particularly Alexandrinus, a fifth-century manuscript.Although it is not completely understood either when or why the translation was originally done, it is clear that it in large measure reflects the common language of the period and became the "Bible" of Greek-speaking Jews and then later of the Christians. It is worth noting that the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew Old Testament in certain ways: 1) the Greek text varies at many points from the corresponding Hebrew text; 2) the order of the Biblical Books is not the same--the threefold division of the Hebrew canon into the Law, Prophets, and Writings is not followed in the LXX; and 3) several books not found in the Hebrew are included in the LXX-- these books are known as the Apocrypha in the English Bible.While the majority of the Old Testament quotations rendered by the New Testament authors are borrowed directly from the Septuagint, a number of times they provide their own translation which follows the Hebrew text against the Septuagint. In general, the vocabulary and style of the Septuagint is reflected in the theological terms and phraseology chosen by the New Testament writers, and therefore, takes on particular significance for a better overall understanding of the Scriptures. It is not surprising--due to its early widespread use and enduring influence in the Church--that the order of the Biblical Books in the Septuagint, rather than that of the Hebrew O.T., became the accepted order.Although rejected by Protestants as non-canonical, the Apocryphal writings have enduring value as a literary and historical record of the intertestamental period. They often provide important background and illustrative material for a better understanding of the New Testament "world" and thus the New Testament itself.

Philosophical Fragments/Johannes Climacus


Søren Kierkegaard - 1844
    This book varies in tone and substance from the other works so attributed, but it is dialectically related to them, as well as to the other pseudonymous writings. AnnotationThis translation of Kierkegaard's deals with the nature of doubt and faith in the realm of his existential philosophy.