Brian Butler - Why ARE we here?
Mailing List Subscribe
Subscribe to my mail list to receive occasional emails about the site.
You may be sure that we will never, under any circumstances, give, provide, or sell your details to any other party.
Please enter your details below:
HOME BIBLE STUDY COURSE INTRODUCTION
THIS COURSE IS DEDICATED TO THEOLOGY - the study of God's Word
THE COURSE IS NOT ABOUT RELIGIONS, which are HUMAN IDEAS
Please read this introduction before you fill in the form giving us your details, which by the way, we will never pass on to others in any way,
Having been a student of the Bible for over sixty years, I thought I knew the Book and its contents fairly well. Then in 2013, I came across some lectures by a Theologian and Historian who I had known over forty years ago, and appreciated for his refreshing candour. The nearly two hundred tapes were on many interesting doctrinal topics which I studied carefully. I noticed there were also lectures on a Home Study Course, but I left those until last, as I thought they would be pretty basic.
How wrong I was! Without realising it, in a way, I had left the best to the last. As I listened to these taped lectures, I realised that for the first time in my life I was being shown how to study the Bible in a very down to earth, systematic, non-religious, non-denominational way. I avidly listened to the tapes and made copious notes.
As I completed each of the lessons, I began to realise that I was learning more about the Bible in a few weeks than I had in the previous sixty years of my life!
Previously, like most people who have any interest in religion, God and the Bible, I had learned my approach to the Book, and what I believed it taught, from the ministers of the different churches I had attended. Each had focussed on the parts of the Book that they used to explain the teachings they wanted their parishioners to learn and live by.
I began to realise that what I had learned over sixty years was in most cases very far from what the Bible actually says if one reads it with the direct help of the Holy Spirit without being influenced by the beliefs of others. It was like I was reading it for the first time! Seeing things I had never seen before.
If you decide to take advantage of this course, you will be able to make up your own mind about what to believe. Do not just accept what you read, think it out for yourself. It contains essential 'keys' to effective learning from the Bible that I had never come across before. Studying the Theology of the Bible, learning directly from God's Word without external influences, has completely changed my view of religion.
The course is offered for free at the moment, but there is an investment in terms of many hours of your time. It is a concentrated course, some lessons are longer than others. It is not always easy work, as one comes to realise truths that challenge and perhaps contradict many commonly held views.
Upon receipt of your details, you will be directed to the download page. We suggest you first download the 'Preface', 'Bible - Original Structure', and 'Introduction to the Course'. When you have read and digested these, if you wish to continue, please enter your details to download Lesson1 and subsequent lessons. At present there are fifteen lessons.
We suggest you load each lesson as you need it. If you have any questions or comments please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. You may of course opt out of proceeding with the course at any time.
Brian H. Butler
Please fill in details below:
Theology or Religion
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY?
By Brian H. Butler © 2015
RELIGION: HUMAN BEING'S OWN IDEAS ABOUT GOD AND HIS WORD THE BIBLE
'RELIGION' is a personal set, or an institutionalised system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices regarding the service and worship of God or the supernatural.
There are around 38,000 'Christian' religious organisations and denominations, plus other religions. Each of these has a body of beliefs which they think is the right one, and that they want you to believe.
Each priest, minister, or religious person wants to tell you what they think you need to know about God, and so ultimately to control what you think and believe.
Logic demands that they cannot all be right. There is only one version of 'Truth' and that is the Book God wrote called the Holy Bible. The differences of religious belief historically, and to this day, have caused more wars and trouble between people all claiming to worship the God of Love than any other way of thinking.
THEOLOGY: THE STUDY OF GOD'S WORD, THE BIBLE, WITH DIRECT HELP FROM HIM
Greek 'theos' meaning God, and 'logia' meaning word. So literally, the study of God's Word, the Holy Bible.
The purpose of life is to believe in, and learn about God, and to strive to be like Him. To learn what God wants us to know about Him and His Truth, we need to study the Word of God carefully for ourselves with His help. To seek to understand the Nature of God, and what He is saying to each of us personally and individually. This way we learn Truth directly from God's Word, without it being altered in any way by human minds is with His direct help of Holy Spirit. We have to ask for that help when we study.
My books do not presume to tell others what God is saying to them, or what they should or should not believe or think. They merely provides study tools, and physical and spiritual 'keys' that will aid better understanding of God's Word to us.
Another additional way to learn about God is to observe the Creation He has made. The heavens and everything on the earth reveal the Power of God. We can now see the invisible intricacies of world's creation by microscopy, for instance, DNA, and the structure of the atom. The amazing variety in the fauna and flora on Earth all speak of His incredible design and His eternal power.
The Holy Bible, the Word of God, is the only book on the planet which contains the Words of God spoken in the first person. For instance: “I am God, and there is none like Me.” (Isaiah 46:9) God inspired His servants the Prophets and Apostles to write down every word in the original texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek as He spoke to each of them.
The King James Version of the Bible is probably the best translation we have in the English language, however... Thanks to a man called Jerome in the 5th Century A.D., who translated the Bible into Latin from the original manuscripts in Hebrew and Greek, all modern printed Bibles contain the wrong number of books jumbled up in an incorrect order. This incorrect format hides the beauty of the structure, and the balance of the original design, and as a result obscures the thread of the Book, and makes understanding the Book more difficult.
The King James Version does contain some inaccuracies due to the rules given to the sixty-five translators by King James. A serious student of the Bible can overcome any difficulties this might cause when they understand that the Canons of the Old and New Testament were inspired to be written by the Prophets and Apostles word for word by Christ, appreciate the original structure of the Bible manuscripts, use concordances Hebrew andd Greek dictionaries and other study aids. And most importantly ask specifically for the direct personal help of Holy Spirit to understand God's Word.
Book: Why ARE we here?
PREVIEW AND A REVIEW OF
'Why ARE we here?'
CHRISTIANITY DIRECT FROM CHRIST - THE WORD OF GOD
A practical, non-denominational way to study and understand
the Scriptures,and discover the meaning and purpose of life.
Compiled by Brian H. Butler
The Holy Bible is God's Word
There is only one Authoritative Book on Earth that contains statements written in the First Person by God. The Bible is the only book that was written by God, and that tells us about God. It is the only reliable source of His Truth.
God, the Word, YHWH the Designer, Creator and Sustainer of all there is, who became Christ Jesus, is the Author of The Holy Bible. The original texts were entirely inspired by God, by YHWH who became Christ Jesus; and were written down by the Prophets of old, and by Christ's Apostles.
The manuscripts (literally hand-written) of the Bible in the original languages were written down by men, but Christ Jesus directly inspired every Word into the minds of the Prophets and Apostles to be recorded exactly as He wanted. Christ Created the Universe, the Earth. He Designed DNA; He originated the millions of species on this earth.
Many people apparently do not think Christ, the Creator of all things, is capable of Creating a Book that is exactly as He ordained it to be. So in fact, they doubt that the Bible is really the Word of God. Others accept that part of the Bible is true, but dismiss other parts. The whole of the Bible in the original texts, both the Canon of the Old Testament in the Hebrew and Aramaic, and the New Testament in Greek are the inspired Word of God.
To be a Christian it is essential to believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
What is a Christian? One who believes that the Bible is the Word of God, believes in Jesus as God the Christ, who lives life based on His life and teachings, and has His Holy Spirit.
Are you sure you are a true Christian? There are over two billion people called Christians on Earth, belonging to many thousands of denominations, each a recognized autonomous branch, group, sect, cult, movement, or faith of the Christian Church; all claiming to be 'the' way. How many 'denominations' of Christian are mentioned in the Bible? None.
Clearly, logic demands that all these denominations or 'churches' cannot be right. Christ is not divided. There cannot be many versions of the Truth. The Christian Churches worldwide are in disarray, and cannot agree on a single set of beliefs or Gospel.
Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
To be 'Christian' means to be 'Christlike'. How do you check out compared with His New Commandments? Is Christ building a divided 'ecclesia'? No. It requires a change of mind, from carnal to spiritual with God's help. Philippians 2:5
What is a 'church'? The word 'church' in the King James version (KJV) is translated from the Greek word 'ekklesia' in the original text, or 'ecclesia' in English. It appears 115 times, and it means 'group' or 'assembly'. It does not mean a buildling, or a religious organisation.
This mistranslation came about because King James ordered the scholars appointed to translate the Bible to retain the word "church" in the translation, and it was not to be replaced with the word "congregation". This was because the King, as head of the Church of England, wanted to establish and maintain his jurisdiction and control over “the church”.
Check out the derivation the origins of the word 'church' for yourself. Any etymological dictionary will tell you, or use the Internet. When you see the historical meaning of 'church', you might want to ask yourself, 'Do I really want to be associated with the meaning of that word?'
The meaning of words is of extreme importance when it comes to Christianity and our relationship with God. We use words to express precise meaning, and to define exactly what we mean when we use them. There is a saying in English: 'Call a spade a spade'. If anyone were to pick up a spade and say 'This is a fork', or call it a rake or a hoe, people would not only think it strange, but insane.
Is it possible to be deceived? Yes! Christ warned us many times to be careful not to be deceived. Christ said that many would claim to be speaking in His name, and would deceive many; not some, not few, but many.
Hundreds of millions of people who consider themselves Christian think it is perfectly all right to participate in Christmas, observe Easter, and allow their children to be involved in Halloe'en. But what does God have to say about these types of activity? A serious Bible student will quickly realise that they originate from pagan, immoral, sexual, idolatrous festivals, which God says in the Bible that He hates. He even likens them to dung!
A person who is deceived does not know they are deceived.
So what is the answer? How can you know whether you are a true Christian, or not? Only by studying the Word of God for yourself with the direct help of the Holy Spirit, to check what you believe is the truth, and not some deception implanted in your mind. This is not easy! We have to allow God to infuse our minds with the pure truth directly from Him.
Christ does not use organisations of human beings to build His ecclesia, His 'assembly'. There is no 'House of God' on earth today, no 'God's Church'. The only true 'assembly' is with Christ, in type, in heaven.
Christ Jesus said, “I will build my 'ecclesia”, My group, My team; and that is exactly what He has been doing ever since His resurrection.
What is a 'good' Christian? How does one become a 'good' anything? It takes a lot of study and a great deal of hard work. Whether one wants to be a 'good' musician, architect, electrician, farmer, or indeed anything, it takes much study, hard work, years of practice, and the help of a 'coach'. That is exactly how to become a 'good' Christian.
Study, work and practice, with the direct help of the only true Christian 'Coach', Christ Jesus, who works through the Holy Spirit in your mind.
Study, yes but how? This book 'Why ARE we here' will not attempt to teach you what to believe, but it will provide you with the many essential 'keys' and useful 'tools' needed to help you to 'master' the study of the true Christianity of the Bible. You can only 'Grow in grace and knowledge' by studying daily the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures of the Bible, with God's help!
Essential 'Key' #1 No human being can fathom the deep meanings in the Bible without asking God for, and receiving, the required Spiritual gifts of Belief, Faith, a changed open mind or 'Repentance', and the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Meaning of and Purpose of Life As you patiently study God's word, you will discover the answer to the question 'Why are we here?' You will see that the Bible clearly reveals 'The Plan, Purpose, and Meaning of Life' as described briefly in the slide show on the home page.
I wish you well on what may prove to be the most exciting 'journey' of your life.
Brian H. Butler.
BOOK REVIEWS
WHY ARE WE HERE?
By Brian H. Butler
Ken Nagele Brian, I am happy to report that I have finally finished your excellent book, "Why Are We Here?" While I am familiar with most of the information in it (though I learned a few new things I didn't know), the book was an excellent refresher course. I highly recommend the book to everyone, both to those new to the Bible and to those who have studied it over the years. Your book is the equivalent to a college course. It is indeed a breath of fresh air and I'm sure Dr. Martin would be pleased. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Somehow we will find a way to get it into the hands of those who are truly searching for God's truth, as revealed in the Bible.
M.L. This book, in teaching how to effectively study the Bible for oneself, also provides intellectual stimulation and the answersto many questions about the Bible which have perplexed me for years.
I have been particularly interested in the explanations and definitions regarding the chronology of lives and events. Especially intriguing was the history of the beginning in the 6th Century B.C.E. of what is known today as 'Western Civilisation'.
The placement of extracts from the Kings James Version into the actual text of the book makes it easier to study and cross-reference.
The diagram setting out how the original Books of the Bible were assembled and the explanations of that structure are fascinating and one can't help but marvel at the symmetry and science behind it. How sacrilegious that man distorted it!
A 'must read' for anyone interested in discovering the Bible for themselves! ML
You can get a copy here: http://ernestworkman.com
Uncategorised